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American Morning

Picking Peacekeepers for the Middle East; National Guard Troops Sent to U.S./Mexico Border; MTV Turns 25

Aired August 01, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's move on to big news going on in the Middle East. Israel now ready to ramp up its ground offensive in Southern Lebanon. That as the United Nations prepares for more debate on the crisis. President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have their own plan for the U.N. and for eventual peace in the Middle East.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at White House. She's been following these developments for us, and joins us now. Good morning, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.

Of course that dinner meeting that happened last night here at the White House, Secretary Rice, the president, the national security adviser, really meant to convey a renewed sense of urgency in trying to resolve this Middle East conflict. What we had heard before from the president, as well as officials, is that Israel, of course, has a right to defend herself. What we are hearing now in addition to that is that there is certainly a timetable, if you will, or certainly a preference to get this thing wrapped up as quickly as possible.

A U.N. Security Council resolution is what the president as well as Secretary Rice want by the end of this week to try to get together this multi-national stabilization force to help out, to bolster the Lebanese army. The problem here, Rick, of course, is that we have heard from the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who says they may need as much as two more weeks to actually carry out their military campaign against Hezbollah. But privately, U.S. officials here are saying they cannot afford that kind of time, particularly if there's another terrible incident like Qana -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Is the United States prepared for a possible crisis, given the situation with Fidel Castro's health? I mean, if the people of Cuba suddenly realize or start to fear or think that Fidel Castro is actually deceased, which is obviously not the case at this point, and we start seeing another Mariel-like situation. That could be a major crisis. Does the U.S. have a transition in place to deal with that, and what are they telling you at the White House at this point, Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Well, Rick, they're being very careful right now. They don't want to speculate about Fidel Castro's health. They did put out brief statement very briefly, saying we continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom. But they have a plan that is in place. It was formulated by a commission that was established by President Bush three years ago. And essentially what it does, it offers some $80 million over two years, economic incentives, trade incentives, 0to try help a transitional government get to democratic reforms, in the event that Castro would be incapacitated.

So this is something the Bush administration has talked about, they are preparing for. And President Bush, like nine other presidents, American presidents, is simply speculating about Castro's future at this time -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: From the White House. We thank you so much, Suzanne, for bringing us up to date. Certainly a story that we'll be following here at CNN throughout the day as well -- Soledad, over to you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about a cease-fire. A central component in any cease-fire plan is a multi-national peacekeeping force, and that means finding nations that are acceptable to both Israel and Lebanon, and also planning nations that are willing to commit their troops.

General George Joulwan is a former NATO commander. He joins us from Washington, D.C. this morning.

It's nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us.

GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning.

O'BRIEN: If the force was authorized right at this moment, how long would it actually take before we saw that force on the ground in the border between Israel and Lebanon, let's say?

JOULWAN: If you had the clarity in terms of mission and purpose and the right rules of engagement and the right change of command, they have something called the NATO Response Force that I think can act in a matter of days, not more than a week, to be on the ground as an interposition force in Lebanon.

O'BRIEN: How long do you think it would take to search and find troops and nations that are willing to commit their troops to this kind of duty?

JOULWAN: Well, Soledad, the NATO response force exists right now. It's an innovation by NATO as it adapts itself to be able to respond to these sort of contingencies. Remember, NATO has also just taken over in Afghanistan with about 20,000, 24,000 troops, and it does have the capacity, if the conditions are right, to put troops on the ground with this NATO response force pretty fast.

O'BRIEN: You know, they talk about peacekeeping troops. And for those of us lay people would say, well, is it peacekeeping in terms of observing and watching or is it peacekeeping in terms of being able to militarily enforce the mission? Which would it be? Which would it have to be? JOULWAN: Excellent question. And again, this is the political clarity that you need. When I went into Bosnia, UNPROFOR, the U.N. force, was there in what we called a chapter six, which was peacekeeping. What NATO did with a resolution from the United Nations was a chapter seven, which was peace enforcement. Much more muscular.

In my opinion, you need that political clarity, and I would hope that it would be a chapter seven, to separate the force, by force if necessary, in order to create the best conditions for a peace settlement in Lebanon.

O'BRIEN: I know you believe that the Lebanon forces, Lebanese forces, would have to play very big role in this. What specifically do you mean? How big of a role?

JOULWAN: Well, you have to remember, the UNIFIL force, U.N. interim force that was there since '78, one of their missions was to ensure Lebanese sovereignty. Lebanon has to get sovereignty of the country, and to do that, the Lebanese Armed Forces need to get control of the southern part of their country.

And what I would envision this multi-national force would be working with the Lebanese Armed Forces in order to establish those conditions, and that would mean separate the force. And that would mean Hezbollah would have to disband, disarm, get out of the region, and this interposition force would be between the Israelis and the Lebanese in order to bring about a true settlement.

O'BRIEN: You know, when you say taking over, or taking back the sovereignty of the southern part of that nation, I mean, that could be a very tall order. Certainly we've seen that historically. And also, just in what we've seen over the last three weeks, Lebanon and the Lebanese elected officials have never, to some degree, been closer to leaders of Hezbollah, after the weeks of bombing that we've seen.

JOULWAN: Well I think, you know, you have to -- that has to be worked out. I truly think that Lebanon, for the last couple decades, has been occupied in the north by the Syrians, and occupied in the south by Israel. And a state within a state, Hezbollah, has been operating in the south for the last 10 to 15 years. That dynamic must change, and that's why NATO and the United States must play a real role.

The international community must play a role now. You cannot allow this to go on. And I think time is not on our side or the Israeli side, or the Lebanese side. And I think there has to be firm action now in separating the forces. By the way, we did that with the warring factions in the Balkans and Bosnia, and we separated and disarmed the militia within six months. Something like that needs to happen if you're going to have peace and stability in the region.

O'BRIEN: When you look at everything that's happening in the globe -- you've got civil unrest in many African nations; of course what's happening in Iraq; in Afghanistan, which you mentioned just a little while ago; North Korea; Iran. The peacekeeping force in the Balkans also. Where do you think this conflict fits in that fairly long list of big problems globally?

JOULWAN: Personally, I've felt that this issue has been this Palestinian/Israeli issue. The unsettlement of that has been, to me, one of the key flashpoints in the world. If we can get this under control and the international community, to include NATO and the United States, I think that many of the other issues in Afghanistan, in Iraq, even in Iran, we will help mitigate some of that by helping to solve this issue.

That's why U.S. and NATO leadership, essential here. NATO knows how to do this mission. It does have the capability and the capacity to do it. They bring what I call an integrative command and control element into this, which is absolutely crucial for success. So I think the Israeli/Palestinian issue is one that I think can have an impact globally.

O'BRIEN: General George Joulwan, joining us this morning. Thank you, sir. He's a former NATO commander. Appreciate it.

JOULWAN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Rick?

SANCHEZ: Today is the deadline. President Bush has temporarily ordered 6,000 National Guard troops to the U.S./Mexico border. The goal, help stop illegal immigration into the United States. But is the extra help really making a difference at this point?

CNN's Ted Rowlands checks the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the border city of Tecate, Mexico, people say they're aware that the National Guard is now patrolling the other side of the border.

David Guiterrez, who drives a taxi in Tecate, says he doesn't think it will make a difference.

DAVID GUTIERREZ, MEXICAN TAXI DRIVER: I think it will be the same.

ROWLANDS (on camera): People could still get across?

GUTIERREZ: You know, nobody can stop the people cross.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): But according to the Border Patrol, the National Guard is already making a difference. In just over two months, guard troops, according to the U.S. government, have helped border agents apprehend more than 2,200 people trying to cross, and have helped confiscate about 1,400 pounds of marijuana and 200 pounds of cocaine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's highly effective. These guys are able to come down with their equipment, with their personnel who are experienced and skilled. That frees up our agents and that gives a very, very solid border infrastructure.

ROWLANDS: According to the Border Patrol, the main role of the National Guard is to support border agents by repairing fences, improving roads and helping to spot people trying to cross into the United States.

(on camera): What do you look at as your function here?

SGT. MICHAEL LYNCH, NATL. GUARD: We are the eyes and ears for sure. We're not really detaining anybody ourselves. We're not to have any contact with any illegal immigrants at all. We're here to help the Border Patrol do their job better.

ROWLANDS: Wilmer Valladres is a Guardsman from Utah who says he crossed the border illegally 10 years ago from Honduras. Valladres is now a U.S. citizen. He says he volunteered to help secure the border, because he wants to help stop drug traffic, but even he thinks people will find a way to get across.

WILMER VALLADRES, NATL. GUARD: I know it's going to be hard for my people to cross. I know they will find a way to cross anyway. I know they will.

ROWLANDS: The best way to combat that, according to the federal government, is to add more Border Patrol agents. The plan is to have an additional 6,000 agents on the border by the end of 2008.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Tecate, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(NEWSBREAK)

O'BRIEN: We've got some news just in to CNN. We want to show you Some pictures coming to us from the border town of Aita al-Shaab in Lebanon. You can see there shelling is going on. New fighting is happening right on that Israeli/Lebanese border. Israel's security cabinet, you'll remember, approving the expansion of the ground campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, and we are watching more attacks this morning on the border town of Aita al-Shaab.

You can see some -- I think this is videotape in moments ago to us at CNN. Looks like a pretty major attack as we watch the smoke wafting off in the distance. We have got reporters, obviously, all over Lebanon this morning, but we'll bring you live reports as soon as we can get that up.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, ah, forget the diamonds. Take a look at this -- technology, gadgets, these are now girls' best friend.

If you drop the banner, we might be able to see it even better.

Advertisers better start paying attention. First, though, remember the good old days of MTV. And yes, officially, their old days. It's been 25 years. We're going to take a look back at the breakthroughs and what's happening now on MTV. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everyone. Ready to feel old? Remember, I want my MTV? Remember that? It's been 25 years. And MTV is now a quarter of a century old. That makes the rest of us -- you do the math -- the channel has revolutionized pop culture from music to reality TV.

CNN's Brooke Anderson takes a look at what MTV doing to try and stay hip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The channel that told us that video killed the radio star.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boxers or briefs?

ANDERSON: That brought politics back to the campuses, and gave us reality TV before reality TV was everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start getting real.

ANDERSON: The rebellious music channel that many of us grew up with turns 25 today.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ENTERTAINER: MTV was birthed in '81, right?

BEYONCE KNOWLES, ENTERTAINER: It was.

TIMBERLAKE: And so was I. Coincidence? I think not.

ANDERSON: Not that it's ready to grow up.

BRIAN GRADEN, HEAD OF PROGRAMMING, MTV: I think we, as culture, we never want to grow up, and so the fact that we're turning 25, maybe that's all the older than we want to be; maybe that's part of it.

ANDERSON: Older, and facing more competition to stay in the center of pop culture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically when they started out, they were competing against, you know, other TV channels or maybe the radio. Today, you know, they're competing against the person that has their own kind of Web site and can create something that's unique and fun and catches a lot buzz on the Internet. You know, sites like MySpace and YouTube that basically pop up overnight and have these huge communities.

ANDERSON: Now that cable is old school, the battle for young viewers has moved on to the Web and into your cell phones.

GRADEN: It's different for every platform. And what's working on MTV the channel is very different than what works on MTV Overdrive or on a telephone.

ANDERSON: And while Graden admits that keeping up with new forms of technology and entertainment will be challenging, he thinks there will be some constants.

GRADEN: The only thing that I think will be constant is that "The Real World" will still be in its 27th season and Madonna will still be having top 10 hits.

ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. They're old.

Want to update you on what's happening in the Middle East this morning. Getting some new pictures in; let's show those pictures if we can. This is the border town of Aita Al-Shaab. Shells. Live pictures now. And you can see, the shelling goes on. It's inside Lebanon. And we've been monitoring the pictures from there as the new fighting is on the Lebanese/Israeli border. Israel's security cabinet approved an expansion of the ground war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Unclear exactly what kind of attack we're watching that is now underway. We're going to continue to monitor it this is shells that are falling, or if its tanks have now crossed into the region and are -- this is the escalation of the ground war that they've been promising after that Israeli cabinet meeting.

We're going to continue to monitor the pictures and bring you an update on what's happening there. But some of the latest live pictures of the action, right along that Israeli/Lebanese border.

SANCHEZ: Wow. Look at that. And whether or not that's part of the ground war, as we said, you can see -- certainly hear it and see it. But you know, since we've been on the air, we haven't been seeing any of those buildings hit. We've seen the ground around the buildings.

O'BRIEN: Right, right.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure if they're just trying to clear the area for that ground incursion that Paula Hancocks has been telling us about out of Jerusalem that might be taking place sometime today. It that's -- if this is part of that or not. At this point we don't know, right?

O'BRIEN: We do not know. We're going to continue to monitor it. And it's been an area -- you know, checking it out here -- it's been an area where there has been much fighting going on between the Hezbollah guerrillas and the Israeli fighters. And, in fact, Hezbollah guerrillas were claiming that a couple of Israeli soldiers were killed over the last couple days on those border clashes.

But, you're right. It's certainly coming close to that group of buildings behind it. But as far as we've seen it, and we've been monitoring it for a little while, has not actually made a hit.

SANCHEZ: This would almost seem to be what the Israelis have been talking about, creating that buffer in that southern part of Lebanon, that buffer zone, if you will, that would -- which is what they say they need do to be able to keep safe from Hezbollah rockets if nothing else. And this is that area. This is that area of Southern Lebanon that we've been talking about for several days now.

And, again, we don't know if these are missiles or ground artillery coming from tanks, as you alluded to just moments ago. So whether it's part of something larger or not, at this point, it's hard to tell.

O'BRIEN: But clearly, this town, Aita al-Shaab, is one of the towns that has been a very contested position by both the Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli Defense Forces. Fighting here going on for many days now, and losses, from some reports, on both sides.

So we're going to continue to monitor it. You're looking at some live pictures. And again, all this comes as the Israeli security cabinet approves an expansion of the ground war. We will continue to cover the story, obviously.

Got to take a short break. We're back on the other side of that break with some business news, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

O'BRIEN: We've got a look at the day's top stories, right after this short break. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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