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American Morning

New Wave of Airstrikes Pound Southern Lebanon; U.N. Security Council Responds to Death of U.N. Observers; Blair-Bush Talks

Aired July 28, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli tanks and bombs battering southern Lebanon again this morning. The constant barrage being heard and felt all along the border.
And British Prime Minister Tony Blair is on his way to the White House in the search of a solution to the crisis in the Middle East.

We'll update you on that on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York.

Miles is reporting for us this morning from the border of northern Israel, right near Lebanon. We're going to check in with him in just a little bit.

First, though, a new wave of deadly Israeli air and artillery strikes pounding southern Lebanon this morning, targeting at least three border villages.

CNN's Karl Penhaul live for us in Tyre, Lebanon.

Karl, good morning.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Here, as well on the southern and eastern edges of Tyre, as well, there have been bombardment by Israeli aircraft and also by artillery. As we speak now I can hear some Israeli warplanes in the air. That seems to be because they are hunting a rocket launching position from which Hezbollah about 10 minutes ago fired off a barrage of four rockets.

We're not sure whether they're Katyushas or whether they are a larger caliber rocket which has a longer range. These rockets have, as we know, been dropping in with frequent regularity throughout the morning into northern Israel.

Also, as well, coupled with the situation here in Tyre, we do know from the Israeli Defense Forces that they have been in action, as well, bombarding areas around the village of Maroun al-Ras and also Bint Jbeil. Israeli ground forces locked in what Israeli Defense Forces describe hand-to-hand fighting with Hezbollah militia in those areas -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul for us in Tyre.

Karl, thanks.

The United Nations Security Council finally responding to the deaths of four U.N. observers, striking a balanced tone, calling on Israel to conduct its own review of the incident.

Joining us this morning, Senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth.

Good morning, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

There are still bruised feelings here, but the United Nations is now on record following Israel's attack on a U.N. base in southern Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH (voice over): After two days of contentious haggling, the U.N. Security Council finally responded to the Israeli rocket attack that killed four U.N. observers in southern Lebanon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Israel and all concerned parties must comply fully with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

ROTH: To ensure unanimity, diplomats had to drop any direct condemnation of Israel.

China lost an observer in the attack and pushed hard for a strong statement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we send a clear message to countries and also to different regions that United Nations positions and personnel has to be protected.

ROTH: Israel offered condolences to the countries that lost soldiers.

DAN GILLERMAN, ISRAELI AMB. TO U.N.: War is an ugly thing, and during war mistakes and tragedies do happen.

ROTH: Immediately after the incident, Secretary-General Kofi Annan accused Israel of apparently deliberately targeting the U.N. outpost. Israel has denied that and says it will conduct its own investigation of the bombing. Israel's U.N. ambassador also blames the U.N. force in southern Lebanon for being part of the problem there for failing to stop Hezbollah attacks and abductions of Israeli soldiers.

GILLERMAN: This very volatile and very delicate situation needs a much more professional, dedicated and well-equipped force with a very clear mandate. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: The wife of the dead Canadian peacekeeper said her husband told her that the base was constantly under attack from Israel, but a former U.N. general says that soldier told him in an e-mail that it was probably due to tactical reasons that Hezbollah fighters were all around.

Still, a lot to be investigated -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, clearly there.

Richard Roth for us.

Thanks, Richard.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants an agreement on a U.N. resolution next week. He's on his way to Washington for meetings with President Bush today.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House for us this morning.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the Oval Office in a few hours. The visit by Prime Minister Blair was actually planned well before these latest hostilities broke out. But today, of course, the Middle East crisis will be the central focus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice over): When they last met, President Bush's frank and off-color assessment to British Prime Minister Tony Blair dominated the news and showed the president's frustration with the diplomatic effort.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I feel like telling Kofi to get on the phone with Assad and make something happen.

QUIJANO: But that was 11 days ago. Since then, the fighting has not stopped. And the civilian death toll continues to climb.

Against that backdrop, President Bush is set to welcome Blair, his staunchest ally in the war on terror, to the White House. Both the president and the prime minister are facing intense pressure from European allies to support an immediate cease-fire.

WENDY SHERMAN, FMR. STATE DEPT. OFFICIAL: Europe and the United States are not on the same path, and we'll see if Tony Blair is going to stick with Europe or stick with the United States.

QUIJANO: So far, the Bush administration has not budged, with the president restating that peace and a cease-fire are not the same thing. At an Oval Office meeting with Romania's president, Mr. Bush laid out his Mideast goal.

BUSH: ... to hopefully end this as quickly as possible, and at the same time making sure there's a lasting peace. Not a fake peace, not a fake, you know, circumstances that make us all feel better and sure enough the problem arises again.

QUIJANO: With the secretary of state expected to return to the Middle East this weekend, the White House is forcefully rejecting any notion her earlier trip there was a failure.

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You're laboring under the presumption that she was supposed to come with a magic wand and say a cease-fire. What's she has said is, what on earth is the good of having another empty handed cease-fire in the Middle East?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: And after the Oval Office meeting, the president and the prime minister will appear before reporters in the East Room here at the White House. A senior administration official says at that time President Bush is expected to lay out a time frame for Secretary Rice's expected return to the Middle East region -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And with all that they will still find time to meet with some of the "American Idol" winners, runner ups, everybody?

QUIJANO: That's exactly right.

S. O'BRIEN: Who gets to go?

QUIJANO: It's the 10 finalists, Soledad. And Taylor Hicks of course, the White House connection there. Susan Whitson, who is the first lady's press secretary, actually taught Taylor Hicks ninth grade English in Birmingham, Alabama. So she did a lot to make sure that they got here today.

And they're in town for a conference, so...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: And now they are all going. That's kind of cool.

All right.

Elaine Quijano for us at the White House.

Thanks, Elaine.

And of course we're going to have live coverage of the president's news conference with Tony Blair. We're expecting it at 12:30 Eastern Time.

Let's turn to Iraq now. Increased violence in Baghdad is leading U.S. military commanders to divert about 3,500 combat troops. They're going to head to the Iraqi capital instead of heading home.

CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre live in Washington this morning for us.

Jamie, good morning.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, it's becoming apparent that that hope for significant reduction in U.S. troop levels in Iraq simply not in the cards. The troop cut plan was based on the idea that things would be better by now, but they aren't. At least not in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice over): The need for battle-tested troops with top-of-the-line vehicles has prompted General George Casey to order an Army brigade equipped with Stryker armored vehicle to stay in Iraq as much as four months beyond its scheduled 12-month deployment, breaking the pentagon's promise to U.S. troops that they will only serve one year in Iraq is something that had to be personally approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: If you extend somebody is there some disappointment that they won't be home when they thought they might be home? Sure. And -- but, as I say, these are -- this is professional military, and they're doing a superb job.

MCINTYRE : While about 200 of the soldiers from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based in Alaska have already left Iraq after a year-long tour, 3,500 of the remaining soldiers now in Mosul have been told they will go to Baghdad instead of going home.

REP. IKE SKELTON (D), MISSOURI: What this does with that particular brigade is it's going to cause morale problems with the troops and also with their families who are expecting them to come home at the end of the year.

MCINTYRE: The Army has prepared messages to the families of the affected troops who will likely to be eligible for pay bonuses but will get no firm promises of how much longer they will have to stay in the war zone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: The extension of the troops was part of a larger announcement of troops rotating into Iraq. The idea that some of those forces might not have to go has basically been scrapped. If you look at the schedule, it shows basically that the U.S. is maintaining the current force of between 127,000 and 130,000 troops in Iraq, at least for the foreseeable future -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Jamie McIntyre for us in D.C. this morning.

Thanks, Jamie.

Here at home, heavy rain and flooding to talk about happening in Ohio. Take a look at some live pictures coming to us from our affiliate WJW. People in the northeastern part of that state overnight were warned to just stay home. Some of the areas got hit with nine inches of water.

Todd Meany of our affiliate WJW has a report this morning from the town of Eastlake in Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD MEANY, REPORTER, WJW: We're here just east of Cleveland, where the flooding has continued overnight. The rain has stopped, and that is good news. But you can see this parking lot behind me is a virtual lake.

They have been squeezing water out of this supermarket as quickly as they could. They're trying to get back into business because there are a lot of people who need these types of things from a grocery store.

There's also just stuff floating in the water here. Not only things, but just cars. Cars have been stuck here overnight.

People tried to go through the water, and, of course, as you know, they are not going to make it when the water is three or four feet deep. It comes over the hood and they get stalled out.

There is one truck over there that is trying to get out. And those are about the only trucks that can get out, are those big 4x4s. That is how they have been transporting some people back and forth, mainly the Wal-Mart people who have been working here.

People have been trying to get to work because the night crew was stuck there overnight. So they have been transporting people back and forth.

There have been several evacuations out here just east of the Cleveland area. They have about 50 to 70 homes just in one city that had to be evacuated. Those people going to the nearby city hall as temporary shelter to get things taken care of.

There's also what we're told is a missing boater who may have gone into the Chagrin River, which crested about nine feet above flood stage earlier this morning. And that man still missing at this point. Coast Guard helicopters in the area trying to find him.

In the meantime, the cleanup continues, and hopefully the water will recede so people can try to get things back to normal.

For CNN, I'm Todd Meany, in Cleveland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Todd.

Thanks for that report.

The death toll from the California heat wave keeps climbing. More than 100 people have died in the triple-digit temperatures. Most of them in the central valley.

Scorching heat has also killed livestock, thousands of livestock. It destroyed crops, put the state's power supply on overload. Slightly cooler temperatures, though, are expected over the weekend.

That brings us right to the forecast and Chad at the CNN Center.

So, a little bit of good news there.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Anything is a relief at that point, yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Soledad, back to you.

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

Coming up this morning, the latest poll numbers on the Mideast crisis seem to show a boost for the president. We'll take a closer look at those numbers just ahead.

And Israeli forces call up thousand of reservists for training as the fighting drags on. Is Israel gearing up for a full-scale invasion?

And later this morning, an update on what some might call the forgotten war, the war in Afghanistan. There's been a surge in violence there. What's behind it?

We'll take a closer look on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Middle East diplomacy has given President Bush a boost in the latest polls. The good news for the White House might end right there, though.

CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider in Washington, D.C., makes some sense of the poll numbers for us.

Good morning to you, Bill. Nice to see you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: How do the polls say overall the president is handling the crisis in the Middle East?

SCHNEIDER: Well, actually, relatively speaking, his rating on the Middle East aren't too bad. Forty-seven percent in the latest "New York Times"-CBS poll give the president positive marks. They say they approve of the way he's handling the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

That is pretty good for this president, whose ratings are otherwise pretty low. The economy, 33 percent; Iraq, 32 percent.

Why is he getting pretty good marks on the Middle East? Well, Americans have two priorities. One is sympathy for Israel, which the president expresses. And the second is to stay out of the conflict. And so far the United States is doing that.

S. O'BRIEN: Taking a closer look at that 32 percent you just mentioned on Iraq, gauge for me how that number is.

SCHNEIDER: Well, that number is very low. There's a lot of pessimism about Iraq. Americans have heard the reports of 100 civilians being killed on the average every day. The report came out of the U.N.

The situation is deteriorating. Security in Baghdad is serious. Troops are being moved into Baghdad. So, all the optimistic talk about progress in Iraq doesn't look very good right now. And Americans are actually quite alarmed over the security situation there, where Americans are fighting.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, you look at that poll that says, are Americans confident that it's going to come to a successful conclusion? Take a look at what -- throw that poll up on the screen right there. I mean, that's a -- that's a bad number, 58 percent say no, no it's not.

When you consider that this is a president who many people say is going to be defined by how things turn out in Iraq, that's a big problem.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, it's a defining issue for this president, along with 9/11. I think he will be remembered mostly for his dealing with these crises.

Of course we don't know how Iraq is going to turn out. But right now the signs are not good, and deepening pessimism is what is happening in America. And not just about the Iraq situation, but also about the Middle East in general.

The president's vision that Iraq would be a beacon of democracy and stability that would spread throughout the Middle East, that does not look like a very convincing argument right now with what is happening.

S. O'BRIEN: How is all that affecting his overall approval numbers?

SCHNEIDER: He's stuck, in a single word. He's stuck below 40 percent, where he's been for months now.

There have been Four polls that have come out in the last few days. All of them show the president below 40 percent. As you can see, the average is 38, the range is between 36 and 39 percent in the various polls.

Stuck below 40 percent. Not a good place to be, because it bodes very poorly for his party's fortunes in this year's midterm election. Even though the president is not on the ballot, the president's job rating has historically been the key indicator for how his party does in the midterm election.

S. O'BRIEN: We have been talking a lot, obviously, about what's happening in the Middle East, but that's not the only thing that's on the minds of Americans, or, maybe more relevantly, the minds of voters. What else is happening that matters to people who eventually are going to go to the polls?

SCHNEIDER: Well, one of the key issues was the president's first and so far his only veto, which was the legislation that would have allowed federal subsidies of embryonic stem cell research. How did the public feel about that? Very, very negative.

The judgment was harsh. By about two to one in this poll, the American public said that they oppose the president's veto of stem cell legislation. It's a very tough issue for a lot of people, where they have to weigh different moral concerns. But on balance, Americans disagree with the president because they think that kind of research is very promising for some very serious diseases and disabilities.

S. O'BRIEN: What about the polls that show how the Democrats are doing? Are you seeing Democrats leveraging opportunity where they see the polls showing the president and the Republicans declining?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the Democrats are doing very well, not necessarily because people have a burst of confidence in the Democrats -- they don't -- but because they are very angry right now at the Republicans. And if people are angry at the situation, at the status quo, as they are domestically, nervous about the economy, angry about gas prices, they see a deteriorating international situation, they vote for change. And right now change means Democrats.

Well, the problem for Democrats, of course, is that expectations are rising very fast. In any election there's a phantom candidate called "expected." You don't just have to win, you have to do better than expected. And expectations are rising very fast for Democrats.

Right now, I would say a lot of observers -- the consensus, really, is that Democrats will carry the House in the midterm election and have a good chance of carrying the Senate. So, Democrats are in a race to kind of dampen down those expectations because if they don't do it, it will look like a loss.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know what? There's a lot of time between now and then, Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Lots of things can change.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll be talking -- exactly. You always say that, don't you?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, I do.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Bill Schneider for us this morning.

Day 17 of the fighting in the Middle East. Israel is calling up thousands of reservists. Is this the beginning of a bigger offensive into Lebanon? We're going to take a closer look coming up on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

We've got a short break. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back from northern Israel.

A couple of Apache attack helicopters hovering over our position right now. We're at a kibbutz 2,600 feet above sea level, overlooking just the latest battle along this border, along this valley here.

Everything you see behind me in green is Israel. The brown beyond there is Lebanon. And just over that hill is Bint Jbeil, where there's a fierce battle under way. The artillery actually has slowed down a little bit, but we're told there's fighting on the ground as we speak.

We ran into somebody up here who is -- offers an interesting perspective. He is a major in the Israeli Defense Forces reserve, and he's also a historian of some note. He's written a book which is sort of the definitive account of the 1967 Six Day War.

Michael Oren is his name. The name of his book is "Six Days of War."

He's been activated in the reserve. And we spoke with him about the historical significance of this just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJ. MICHAEL OREN, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES: Well, first of all, Israel is proceeding at Israel's pace and not Hezbollah's pace. Israeli is proceeding cautiously, Miles.

It's rugged terrain, as you see. Israel's tank power here is of limited usage in this type of terrain. Even its air power -- the enemy is deeply built in. They've had six years to dig in trenches, in caves and in underground chambers. And Israel's proceeding cautiously to reduce casualties on its side, but also to reduce casualties on the Lebanese side. We've had reports now that Hezbollah has prevented Lebanese civilians from leaving the town of Bint Jbeil, often by force.

So we have to proceed very cautiously, slowly, and assure that all of these underground caches of rockets and munitions are destroyed.

M. O'BRIEN: Boy, if I'm a civilian, I'm going to be afraid to leave my home, much less Bint Jbeil, because of the bombardment that is coming from the sky from artillery and from Israeli bombs.

OREN: Well, we had leafleted this area days in advance, informing the local population that there would a battle here, that we would take on Hezbollah here. They gave them fair time to leave, but Hezbollah apparently has prevented them from leaving.

M. O'BRIEN: We're sitting here in a spot that has a lot of historic significance. Behind us here, just over the crest of those bushes there, is the ruins of an old Israeli fort.

This goes back to when?

OREN: Oh, probably about seventh, eighth century BC.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. And across there, on the ridge, tell me what that fort is over there.

OREN: That fort was built by a British engineer named Tagert (ph) in 1937 to prevent infiltrators from Syria and Lebanon from attacking the land of Israel, then called Palestine, during the Arab revolt of 1937.

M. O'BRIEN: So, one thing that is constant in these hills, besides the wind that we have here right now, is war.

Why?

OREN: Well, this is an area -- the land of Israel has always been a crossroads of civilizations, always an area that has been fought over by various empires. We're standing on a very strategic ridge. You can see what a tremendous panoramic view this affords us.

And, of course, it has a great strategic interest and value here. I guess I'm part of the historical landscape, because 24 years ago, as a younger paratrooper, I fought in Bint Jbeil during Israel's first Lebanon first war.

M. O'BRIEN: What is it like in there, do you suppose, right now, Bint Jbeil.

OREN: I think it's -- it's sort of an infantryman's nightmare. It is these high ridges, dense forest, underbrush, and where it's not sort of this very rugged terrain it's built up with small alleyways where snipers can hide, where gunmen can set ambushes. But, at the end of the day, there's really no alternative but to send infantry in there.

M. O'BRIEN: A full-scale invasion?

OREN: No. I think it's sort of a limited probing by the Israeli army. Right now most of the people in there are regular soldiers. That is, the soldiers who are doing their compulsory army service between the ages of 18 and 21. The older guys, like myself, we're along the border, still.

(END VIDEOTAPE) M. O'BRIEN: That was Michael Oren, a reserve major in the Israeli Defense Forces and a historian. His book, "The Six Days of War," chronicles the 1967 war, which, once again, was over the same turf on which I stand -- Soledad.

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

Much more on the Middle East crisis in just a moment.

What is life like for Israelis who are living right across the border from Lebanon? Miles will talk to a resident of a kibbutz just ahead.

Then later, a closer look at the wave of violence in Afghanistan. We'll ask Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S. what he thinks is driving these attacks.

That's all ahead on a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: This news just in to CNN. The United Nations taking precautions this morning following the deaths of four U.N. observers. Two outposts in southern Lebanon will be temporarily relocated.

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