Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Israeli Cabinet Holds Critical Meeting Regarding Expanding Ground War in Lebanon; Israel's Air War on Southern Lebanon Shows No Signs of Slowing Down; U.S. Black Hawk Goes Down in Iraq

Aired August 09, 2006 - 06:31   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And happening this morning in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, rescue workers say at least five people are trapped in the rubble of a building leveled by Israeli warplanes. Arab language TV networks say at least six people were killed in the strike.
In Boston, part of the Big Dig highway project is back open. It's an entrance ramp that was closed last month after a fatal ceiling collapse in a nearby tunnel.

And BP is looking for workers to repair pipelines in the country's biggest oilfield. Alaska's Prudhoe Bay oilfield was shut down Sunday because of corrosion and a leak.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Let's begin with what is sure to be a political shocker. Late last night, incumbent Democratic senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut lost his primary election. Senator Lieberman was beaten by antiwar candidate Ned Lamont. And now, as expected, he's going to run -- that is, Lieberman -- in the general election as an Independent.

We're going to have more on the Connecticut race. Senator Joe Lieberman is going to be our guest this morning around 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and then Ned Lamont, the victor, will be our guest as well, around 8:15 a.m., Eastern Time.

Turning to Georgia now, controversial congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, she lost. The race wasn't even close. Attorney Hank Johnson won 59 percent of the vote there -- Tony.

HARRIS: A critical meeting going on right now in Israel. A decision could be made to expand the ground war in Lebanon.

We get the latest from CNN's John Vause, who is live now in Jerusalem.

John, good morning.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

The cabinet expected to meet for another hour at least. It's expected to approve expanding this military ground offensive all the way to the Litani River, about 13 miles into Lebanese territory.

The defense minister wants it, the northern commanders of Israel also want to expand the ground offensive. And a sign that escalation could be coming.

Israel has sidelined its northern commander. Analysts suggesting it was because he was too slow, too cautious in the early stages of this war. He is being replaced with his deputy.

Sources, though, here in Jerusalem say the Israeli prime minister went into this cabinet meeting yet to be convinced of the expanded ground offensive. Apparently, he is concerned about the high cost of Israeli soldiers. Possibly as many as 300 to 500 could be killed in any expanded ground offensive into Lebanon.

Military sources have said that all of southern Lebanon now is essentially one gigantic missile firing range, and the only way to cleanse it, in their words, is for this massive ground operation. There is also a bigger picture here.

Many Israelis are worried that if Hezbollah emerges from this, in some kind of political or military capacity at the end of it, it will be seen as a victory for Hezbollah, and that could have serious implications for Israel and its deterrent ability in the years to come, in the eyes of the Arab world. So many things for the cabinet and for the Israel prime minister to consider, but it is expected that the cabinet will approve expanding the ground operation, probably that decision coming within the next hour -- Tony.

HARRIS: That sounds like the very definition of a dilemma.

John Vause for us.

John, thank you.

Israel's air war on southern Lebanon doesn't seem to be slowing down. One of the new attacks devastating the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp. It happened in and around Sidon, about halfway between Beirut and Tyre.

Anthony Mills live in Beirut right now.

Anthony, good morning.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

That's right, a strike this morning on the Palestinian refugee camp of 'Ayn al-Hilwah. That's Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp. It's just south of Beirut. According to Sultan Abu al-Aynain -- he's the head of the Palestinian fatah movement in Lebanon -- one person was killed in that attack and six people injured.

There's also been bombardments, Tony, elsewhere in this east, in the Bekaa Valley, where rescue workers told us that between five and seven people are underneath the rubble of a three-story house. And, of course, yesterday evening, the bombardment again of Beirut's southern suburbs.

Also, the death toll of a bombing two evenings ago in the Shiyah neighborhood, close to central Beirut has risen from 15 to 41, according to internal security forces.

Now, Tony, in another development here in Beirut, in a part of the southern suburbs, flyers like this were sent down onto that part of the city. Now, what they effectively say is -- they ask why Hassan, a clear reference to Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, attacked Israel. They question the suggestion that he has done so to get Lebanese prisoners in Israel prisons, saying he could have done that through negotiations.

And ominously, Tony, they say Hassan -- Hassan Nasrallah is playing with fire, and now Beirut is burning. It also says, this flyer, that "Hassan has gambled with your future" -- "your," a clear reference to the Lebanese -- "and now you are paying the price."

So ominous words there on the leaflet -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Anthony Mills for us in Beirut.

Anthony, thank you.

O'BRIEN: And, in fact, supplies are running out for people across southern Lebanon. Some convoys carrying aid have been unable to move because of the ongoing Israeli airstrikes, and Israel now saying any vehicle in Tyre is going to be considered to be carrying enemy combatants.

Let's get right to Tyre. That's where CNN's Karl Penhaul is.

Karl, good morning.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And that pretty much is the situation still this morning inside the city of Tyre. I've walked around there this morning, and in about an hour, hour and a half on the streets there, I only saw one motorcycle driving past. There are no vehicles around. Everybody is taking very seriously this threat by Israel to target any moving vehicles.

But talking to some of the Lebanese intelligence officer that I've spoken to, one or two military experts, as well, they believe that what we've seen over the last 48 hours, a long, sustained bombardment in an area about six miles south of where we are, may possibly be the prelude to some kind of ground attack if the Israeli cabinet does approve some wider ground offensive.

To my south, as I said, about six miles, you can just make out a hilly region there. It's a hilly ridge. And what the Lebanese intelligence officers are saying is that they believe that Israel may be trying to soften up that target. They've been trying to do that over the last couple of days, and eventually what they may do is move their artillery pieces forward to there, if they're able to, and that will give them a great vantage point to then be able to range on the city of Tyre with their artillery pieces. And also, the ground in between, which is the ground that Hezbollah fighters have been using to fire off rockets.

But certainly at this stage, certainly no sign of the Israeli ground troops. But people in Tyre, city officials, intelligence officers, they're all on the tender hooks waiting to see if that does actually happen -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul for us in Tyre with the very latest developments.

Karl, thanks.

A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter has gone down in Iraq's Anbar Province. Six people on board, two still missing.

CNN's Harris Whitbeck live in Baghdad with the very latest on that.

Hey, Harris. Good morning.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad.

We have very little information on that incident. We know, as you said, a U.S. military Black Hawk was on a familiarization trip west of Baghdad in Anbar Province when it went down. The U.S. military says it doesn't believe enemy fire was involved in the incident, but it is investigating it.

There were six people on board, four of them were wounded and are being treated, or said to be in stable condition. But two of those people on board are missing.

Now, the interesting thing about this is that, normally, these Black Hawk helicopters fly in pairs. You see them all the time around the skies of Baghdad and elsewhere, and they're always flying in pairs. In this case, we don't know if there was a second helicopter in that region when the incident occurred that might have seen what happened to those two missing crew members.

Again, no word on what might have happened. We do know from the U.S. military that a search is ongoing at this time.

Meanwhile, there was a large explosion in the city of Baquba, which is about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The explosion occurred near a mosque in that town.

There were four people killed and 16 wounded, all civilians. Some reports indicate a Katyusha rocket might have exploded, might have been fired in the vicinity of that mosque. Local police are saying they cannot confirm that. Another theory is that a local bomb maker's workshop might have exploded, causing the deaths of those people.

Meanwhile, we've gotten new reports in Baghdad of the threat that local journalists working in Iraq face day to day. Just today, we were able to confirm the deaths of two more local reporters in Baghdad. One of them was shot as he visited his relatives in western Baghdad. The body of another one was found. That body showed signs of torture.

The head of the Iraqi Journalists Association says 135 journalists have been killed here in the last three years -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Harris Whitbeck for us in Baghdad.

Harris, thanks -- Tony.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning, wildfires in the West. Dozens of people evacuated. The latest on who's under threat.

O'BRIEN: And those 4-year-old girls, the conjoined twins, pictures of them before the surgery, well, they've been successfully separated. And last night, they did something they had never done before. We'll tell you what it was just ahead.

HARRIS: And, Soledad, royal eavesdroppers? It seems someone has been listening in on Prince Charles' staff.

A live report from London straight ahead.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning, those two little girls who were conjoined twins in Utah, well, they're now sleeping in separate beds for the very first time. The girls went through 26 hours of surgery to separate them and then reconstruct their organs. They say the 4-year-olds are doing very well, both of them. They're expected to be in the hospital, though, for at least a month.

Interest rates will stay right where they are, at least for now. For the first time in two years, the Federal Reserve is keeping key short-term interest rates unchanged. They're now at 5.25 percent. Because of inflation risk, though, that pause might just be temporary.

HARRIS: And we've showed you this video throughout the morning so far. We're going to show it to you again. It's just so outrageous. But we can tell you, that robbery suspect there caught on videotape at a Texas liquor store...

O'BRIEN: Oh, my god.

HARRIS: ... this is in Waco -- yes, it's insane. That suspect is under arrest.

The security video shows the man just sort of slamming this woman, 62 years old, over the head with a bottle during a robbery. You don't see it on camera, but police say the woman was then severely beaten.

Soledad, didn't you say that the kids, the grandchildren, a couple of grandchildren were...

O'BRIEN: Yes, she's got two little grandchildren who were in the store with her, 7 and 10 years old, and they were watching and they were just horrified. And then he hit her with the cash register, too.

HARRIS: Oh, that's insane.

O'BRIEN: Pummeled her. But they released the video to the public and they caught the guy.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. And it helped. It led to a tip.

O'BRIEN: They caught the suspect.

HARRIS: Caught the suspect, yes.

Well, the NFL has a new commissioner this morning. Roger Goodell has been chosen as Paul Tagliabue's successor. The 47-year-old beat out four other contenders. He was elected by the league's 32 owners. Goodell started his career -- listen to this -- in the NFL as a public relations intern.

O'BRIEN: He was an intern. There's hope for everybody.

A serious story now. Firefighters in the state of Washington trying to get a handle on four separate wildfires there. Dozens of people have had to evacuate their homes. Flames have already destroyed, in fact, nine homes, 74,000 acres have been burned there.

And fire also racing through southern California. Firefighters there are fighting two brushfires they believe to have burned a thousand acres in Riverside County. No word there, though, of any injuries.

Let's get right to the forecast. Chad Myers has got that.

Chad, how's it looking in both of those fire locations?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, not windy, at least. And the -- but the air is dry and in the 80s in the afternoon.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

HARRIS: Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

HARRIS: And still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, to what lengths will some British tabloids go to, to get a story? Has one editor stepped over the line by eavesdropping? We will take you live to London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: In London, police have arrested an editor of a tabloid newspaper and two other men for possibly eavesdropping on telephone conversations at Prince Charles's office. Police are now trying to learn if the royal's security was threatened.

Let's get details. CNN's Isha Sesay joins us live from London.

Isha, good to see you. It's been a while.

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, good morning. Here's what we know.

Just as you were saying there, that three men have been arrested on suspicion of intercepting the phone calls of staff working for the heir to the thrown at his official residence, Clarence House. These men were arrested on Tuesday and they included, as you just mentioned, the royal editor of a top-selling tabloid newspaper. One man has been released on bail, but we do not believe that to be Clyde Goodman (ph), the editor in question.

Now, this whole episode was sparked by complaints made by staff of Prince Charles, who complained to the police, and it sparked a massive inquiry. As we understand it, these complaints were made to the police back in December. But this isn't the first time, Tony, that Buckingham palace, the royals have been subject to security breach.

Back in 1989, as you'll remember, there was that infamous Camillagate episode. In that, a late-night phone conversation between -- between Prince Charles and his now wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, as she was then, was recorded, a very embarrassing affair, where intimate details were discussed and blushes all around.

Then, in 2003, there was a whole episode of a tabloid journalist who managed to infiltrate palace security to serve as a footman for two months by using a false reference. And this coming to light just before U.S. President Bush was about to make a state visit to Great Britain.

Then, in 2004 -- yes, Tony, there is more. Back in 2004, there was a Batman and Robin episode, where a campaigner climbed on to the balcony of Buckingham Palace just behind me to protest the rights that fathers have as access to their children. His accomplice, Robin, though, never made it onto the balcony -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Isha, here's where I'm a little confused here. Either you're listening or you're not. Either there's a tap on the line or there isn't.

Do we have any transcripts? Do we have any tape? What's going on here?

SESAY: Well, Tony, at this point in time, details are thin on the ground, it must be said. Clarence House themselves are refusing to comment, as you'd imagine, because a police investigation is ongoing. HARRIS: Yes.

SESAY: All we are hearing at this point in time from the police -- and, by the way, Tony, this is being handled by the anti-terrorist branch -- anti-terrorist branch, because, you know, there is a feeling that this could have security implications.

HARRIS: I see.

SESAY: All we know is that phone calls were intercepted, and what we're hearing is that other high-profile people may have been involved. But for now, that's what we know. We'll bring you the details as soon as we have them -- any more.

HARRIS: OK. Isha Sesay, in London for us.

Isha, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" up next.

Andy, later this morning we're going to talk about your predictions of yesterday.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Do I have to eat some crow? Is that what you're telling me?

O'BRIEN: A little bit. A little bit.

SERWER: All right. We'll get to...

O'BRIEN: Because I have a 24-hour memory, but that's about it.

SERWER: We'll get the crow pie out a little bit later.

For now, Soledad, a hot new Mustang and a cool old brand of rum being reintroduced.

We'll tell you about both coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Ford Motor Company, right, making a big announcement today.

O'BRIEN: You all right?

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. I just needed to add that. It needed to be the Ford Motor -- Ford Motor Company.

Andy is here "Minding Your Business."

Good morning, Andy.

SERWER: Good morning, Tony.

O'BRIEN: What are they announcing? SERWER: Yes -- well, we'll tell you right now.

They've been criticized for a while, Soledad, of not announcing and not producing and not introducing enough new vehicles. And it seems like they're making up for that big time now.

They're introducing nine new Ford and Lincoln Mercury models that will be coming out over the next six months, highlighted by a new Ford Mustang Shelby GT. And these things are always very cool.

O'BRIEN: Ooh, I like that.

SERWER: The new Mustang that they have is very, very hot.

O'BRIEN: How much is it?

You don't like that?

SERWER: This model is going to be less than $27,000.

Now, you've got to be careful, because there are different Shelbies. There's a real expensive one that's over $100,000.

HARRIS: Oh.

O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: So this is the street version. This is the one that was sold only to Hertz. So you could rent it, but you couldn't own it. Now you can rent (sic) it.

There's also going to be a new Lincoln NKS (ph) that would presumably replace the Town Car. This is not going to come out for a little while, but that's kind of cool looking.

HARRIS: Yes.

SERWER: And, you know...

HARRIS: I like four doors.

SERWER: Speed is -- yes. Speed is essential here in this business.

Ford -- like I said, the Mustang's hot, the Fusion is hot. Not the Freestyle, the 500 and the F series, still the nation's best- selling vehicle, the pickup truck, but losing ground and losing market share rather rapidly. Given gas prices, maybe that's not such a big surprise.

Those are the new cars. Now let me tell you about the old rum. This is a very interesting story.

Political events in Cuba having a major impact on business here in the United States, specifically in the rum business. Bacardi, the venerable rum maker, is going to be rolling out a brand called Havana Club.

Havana Club was a brand of rum produced in Cuba for decades and decades, taken over, nationalized by Castro back when he took over that nation. Then it was produced and sold around the world, except in the United States, of course, where it was illegal.

Now Bacardi has taken over the U.S. patent, sort of a little complicated here, and will be producing this brand of rum in the United States.

O'BRIEN: Now, how could they do that if there's an embargo?

SERWER: It's called the anti -- well, they're going -- but they're going to produce it themselves, see. They're going to take the recipe and make it here.

HARRIS: Oh.

SERWER: It has nothing to do with the Cuban brand.

O'BRIEN: So there's still going to be the Cuban Havana Club...

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... and there'll be the American Havana Club, Bacardi's theory being, well, we were nationalized, we were taken over.

SERWER: Right. Well, they were nationalized, also as sort of a competitor. So they're taking over the competitor's recipe.

It's complicated stuff, but with the family's permission of the competing company. So, you've got the anti-Castro lobby protesting, the Cuban lobby here in the United States. It's a nice legal battle, but it's a new brand of rum and it's going to be coming to the United States.

That's the bottom line.

OK. We're going to be talking about how Saudi Arabia and Mexico are providing more oil to the U.S.

And, in fact, the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy.

A stunning defeat for incumbent senator Joe Lieberman. He's now vowing to run as an Independent. We'll talk to him live in this hour.

And the Iraq factor. Were voters sending Lieberman an antiwar message? This morning, what it means for all the midterm elections.

HARRIS: Israel deciding right now whether to expand the ground war in southern Lebanon.

And 9/11 on the big screen. A controversial director takes on an emotionally charged subject and finds some unexpected support on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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