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CNN Live Saturday

Fighting Between Israel and Hezbollah Continues; U.S. Secretary of State Returns to Middle East; American Muslim Goes on Shooting Rampage at Seattle Jewish Center; Hezbollah Attacks with New Missile; Nashrallah Issues Statement

Aired July 29, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, the crisis in the Middle East nears its third week, it's now in its 18th day. As Israeli forces battle Hezbollah fighters, the Israeli government is rejecting a call for a three-day cease-fire. That call put forth by the United Nations emergency relief coordinator.
Meanwhile, Condoleezza Rice making a return trip to the Middle East just days after her last trip to the region. The Secretary of State is back in Israel. She's scheduled to be meeting right now with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem. No word yet on when she might travel to Beirut to meet with Lebanon's prime minister.

Meanwhile, a Muslim-American man from Washington State is now facing charges in what authorities are calling a hate crime. He's accused of killing one person and wounding five others in a shooting spree at a Jewish center in downtown Seattle.

And raising the minimum wage. The minimum wage gets a boost in Congress. The House has approved an increase from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over a three-year span. But there's a big hurdle ahead. The House bill includes cuts in the estate tax and democrats who oppose those cuts could help kill the measure when the Senate takes it up next week.

Major wild fires still on the move in the western U.S. Among the hot spots the Nebraska panhandle. Half a dozen fires are burning there and the flames have driven hundreds of people from their homes.

Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Fredricka Whitfield. Ahead this hour we are following the diplomatic efforts of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with a live report from Jerusalem. Also we'll get to the latest on that deadly heat wave that is threatening several regions of the country this weekend. But first our top story.

Day 18 of the Middle East crisis. Here's what we know right now. The leader of Hezbollah is taunting Israel. Hassan Nasrallah says, "The Zionist enemy has not been able to reach a military victory." He was delivering a televised address calling for all Lebanese to stand with him.

Meanwhile, the fighting rages on. Lebanon says an Israeli air strike on a house today killed a woman and six children. Israel says 39 rockets landed on its soil today. Also, Israel is rejecting U.N. calls for a three-day cease-fire. The U.N. wants to deliver aid to Lebanese civilians and evacuate those desperate to leave the war zone. But Israel says Hezbollah is blocking safe corridors that already exist.

As the conflict goes on, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is back in the Middle East for the second time this week. She landed in Tel Aviv less than three and a half hours ago and headed for a meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel. CNN's Paula Hancocks is standing by live with the latest.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello Brianna. Well, she should be meeting with Ehud Olmert right about now and they'll be discussing exactly how to end the hostilities. Now she's very unlikely to ask for an immediate cease-fire which many of the countries have been asking for, but the United States and the United Kingdom. Now she will be talking to him about a possible U.N. resolution next week and talking about this international peace keeping force which many international -- many in the international community would like to see in southern Lebanon.

Now she has said that she's not coming to this region with a pinpoint plan which she wants both sides to agree with. She says there will be a lot of give and take and there will also be tense and an emotional time for both sides. She will be also meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. We're not sure at this point when that will be. Now also we've heard from Israel that they have rejected the U.N. call for a 72-hour temporary cease-fire so that they will be able to bring in humanitarian aid into southern Lebanon and those areas that have not seen any aid in 18 days of fighting. Israel says though that is not necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AVI PAZNER, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: There is no need for a 72-hour temporary cease-fire because Israel has opened humanitarian corridors to and from Lebanon. The problem is completely different. It is the Hezbollah who is deliberately preventing the transfer of medical aid and the food to the population of southern Lebanon in order to create humanitarian crisis which they want to blame Israel for.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now the Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah has also been talking this Saturday afternoon saying that he believes Israel did want a truce but was being pushed forward by Washington in continuing this military operation. He also said that if the strikes continue on Lebanon then Hezbollah will target cities in central Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRANSLATION OF HASSAN NASRALLAH, HEZBOLLAH LEADER: It's clear now that the Zionist enemy was not been able to reach a military victory. I'm not saying that. They say that. The whole world is saying that. And the political analysts and the military analysts say that, as well. And what they are saying the continuation of the war they say the enemy is looking for a military victory that would enable them to enter a political solution and everybody says that the enemy has not achieved any military accomplishments.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So Rice and Olmert will be talking at the moment discussing the conditions for a possible cease-fire. But no immediate cease-fire expected to be called on from either side.

KEILAR: Paula Hancocks live for us from the Middle East. Thanks so much for that report Paula.

Meanwhile, President Bush talked about the Middle East crisis during his weekly radio address today.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BUSH: As we work to resolve this current crisis we must recognize that Lebanon is the latest flash point in a broader struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region. For decades American policy sought to achieve peace in the Middle East by promoting stability in the Middle East, yet these policies gave us neither.

(END OF AUDIO CLIP)

KEILAR: We have breaking news now out of Lebanon concerning U.N. peacekeepers. Let's get right to CNN's Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler. Brent, what do you have for us?

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Brianna I can confirm according to United Nations officials here in Lebanon that two more casualties have been sustained by the U.N. force in south Lebanon this day. According to those officials, two members, Indians of the Indian battalion of peace keepers were at work in their post in south Lebanon just on the Lebanese side of the border overlooking the Israeli northern settlement town of Metula. And according to U.N. sources these latest casualties, moderate injuries according to sources, were as a result of air -- Israeli air strikes. We'll waiting for more information on that.

Meanwhile, as we heard from Paula Hancocks in Israel there, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expected to come to Beirut at some stage. Any movements that she make -- might have planned of course shrouded in secrecy because of the security issues involving the secretary's visit here as she would be expected to come to discuss the plan by the Lebanese government under Prime Minister Fouad Siniora which really embraces four main points that the U.S. Secretary of State has said are positive. Those four points essentially are an immediate cease-fire, number one. Exchange of prisoners between Israel and Lebanon. And also the composition and introduction of a United Nations or perhaps under NATO umbrella stabilization force here in Lebanon. So these are the kind of diplomatic activities that are under way as Lebanese continue to have deepening anxiety as the longer this conflict goes on for -- that Israel might at some stage choose to expand its military operations against Hezbollah. Brianna?

KEILAR: Brent Sadler live for us from Beirut. Thanks for that report.

Going to Seattle now. Many questions still unanswered in a deadly shooting spree. One person was killed, five others were injured in the attack at a Jewish center and a Muslim man is now in custody in the case that's being called a hate crime. CNN's Katherine Barrett has the latest.

KATHERINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This Sabbath will be a day of mourning for Seattle's Jewish community, stunned and shocked at the shootings that took the life of one woman here at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle office and left five others wounded and in the hospital. Of the three most seriously injured their conditions have been upgraded at this hour to serious an improvement over where they spent last night. Leaders of both Jewish and Muslim communities in Seattle are struggling to come to terms with what's being called a hate crime. A man proclaiming himself a Muslim American angry with the situation in Israel forced his way into the building here and allegedly guns down those six people.

Then apparently police say called 911 himself and was on the phone with dispatchers and was then arrested with relative peace. He is now in police custody. Police say he is a 31-year-old man from eastern Washington named Navid (INAUDIBLE) Hawk. He may perhaps have been living most recently closer to the Seattle area in Everett. Police say they are stepping up security in both Jewish and Islamic religious sites around this area. Just in case there is any further backlash to this crime. But they do say they are confident that this was one individual acting alone.

KEILAR: This just in to CNN. The "Associated Press" reporting that Lebanese security officials say the main Syrian Lebanese border crossing has been closed for the first time in the conflict after an Israeli strike hit nearby. CNN is working to confirm this story and we will bring you the latest details as soon as we get them.

Just ahead, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks out on the crisis in the Middle East. We'll get his reaction to -- we'll get reaction to his comments and a look at what's ahead for the region.

Also, it's a rocket that landed deeper into Israel than those in previous attacks and it carries a name from history that shows how deep this conflict really goes. And later, we'll get an update on the deadly heat wave threatening various regions of the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Day 18 of the Mideast crisis, here's what we know right now. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Rice is in Jerusalem to try to broker a halt to the hostilities.

And the leader of Hezbollah taunts Israel in a TV address. Hassan Nasrallah says quote, "The Zionist enemy has not been able to reach a military victory." And of course the fighting rages on. Israeli war planes blast several sites in Lebanon including an air strike on a house that Lebanese forces say killed a woman and six children. At the same time 39 Hezbollah rockets were fired into Israel today.

As our world leaders look for solutions to the Mideast crisis, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is mocking peace efforts by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and threatening to strike even deeper into the heart of Israel. Nasrallah's televised speech comes just one day after Hezbollah representatives and Lebanese ministers hashed out their own proposal to end the crisis. Shortly after the tape aired we spoke with the Lebanese minister Marwan Hamadeh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARWAN HAMADEH, LEBANON TELECOMMUNICATIONS MINISTER: The attitude of the Hezbollah ministers are colleagues in the government the day before yesterday, was clear and it announced a little bit -- The Nasrallah speech that we heard just a few moments ago, which means giving the Lebanese government the mandate to negotiate through third parties, essentially the U.N. and the United States for a settlement of the present crisis.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: But former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells CNN Hezbollah is the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Obviously, you can't just declare a cease-fire and just say, okay, keep doing it. Because we're only the first target. Iran that uses these proxies will target other countries including Arab countries. Everybody knows it and the question is how long can the world sit by and allow these criminal organizations to continue their deadly deeds.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's talk now Middle East politics and players, Jonathan Paris is a Middle East analyst and Senior Associate at Oxford University. He joins me in New York today. Jonathan thanks for being with us. Now the U.S. is talking to Israel. The U.S. is talking to Lebanon. But the U.S. is obviously not talking to Hezbollah, Lebanon has to talk to Hezbollah. Is this an effective strategy?

JONATHAN PARIS, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST: Well I think it's the only strategy available right now. Except I would add that the real key to Hezbollah doing something or not doing something does not lie in Lebanon, does not lie in Beirut, it lies in Damascus. A year and a half ago when there was a suicide bombing in Israel, I wrote back then that while it was a good thing Abbas was elected president, there were some negative things going on. And that is that Syria and Iran were using proxies to undermine the peace process. And I think what we're seeing now is the evolution of this strategy in Damascus to undermine any peace with Israel and divert attention from Damascus' own problems. I think the key is to put pressure on Damascus to reign in Hezbollah.

KEILAR: Now, President Bush said in this past week that Syria facilitates terrorism and that the U.S. cut off ties with Syria following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, for whom the U.S. believes that Syria had a hand in that. Is it realistic to expect that the U.S. will reach out to Syria?

PARIS: I don't think the U.S. needs to reach out to Syria as Secretary of State Rice has said, Syria knows what it has to do. I would phrase it differently. The regime in Syria, because it really is not the Syrian people we're talking about, we're talking about a very narrow click of maybe 15 people who have hijacked that country and who are running that country. They know what they need to do. They need to stop supplying or facilitating the re-supply of Hezbollah with missiles that are being launched into Israel. And they need to do it rather quickly. They also need to give up people like (INAUDIBLE) who started this whole thing by launching the tunnel attack in Gaza a month ago.

KEILAR: So Jonathan we're not expecting this to really happen publicly, we're expecting this to happen or you would imagine that this would happen behind the scenes if it were to take place at all?

PARIS: Oh I'm not sure you have to be so secretive about this. For instance, following the Michele incident earlier, a month ago, when they kidnapped Shalit, the Israeli soldier in Israel near Gaza, the Israeli planes buzzed Lapathia which is the summer palace of Bashar Assad. It was a very clever move, it was humiliating to Bashar, he was quite angered by it. But since then nobody has raised a finger, nobody has pointed a finger at Syria. This whole crisis and I find it puzzling. I think maybe the reason is because people in Israel and the United States fear that without Bashar Assad and his clique of 15 there might be chaos in Syria similar to what happened in Iraq after the regime change there.

KEILAR: So Jonathan Paris, Middle East Analyst, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us.

PARIS: Thank you Brianna.

And just ahead we'll get an update on the heat that's bringing so much suffering to many this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The heat is on. The move that is, the hot weather that wilted California is sliding east today. Heat alerts are posted for places like St. Louis, Philly and South Jersey, and the triple digits will stretch from Minneapolis to Dallas. Power crews are scrambling to keep air conditioners humming. Meanwhile, California finally, finally, finally getting a break this weekend. A two-week scorcher is over. Temperatures hit 115 in some spots. The heat is blamed for more than 100 deaths.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KEILAR: Across America this weekend a tremendous explosion lights up the Las Vegas skyline overnight. You can blame it on lightning. Firefighters say a bolt hit a propane plant and tank after tank erupted domino style and thunderous blasts. Here's the amazing part, though, our affiliate KBVC says apparently nobody was hurt.

And reckless driving charges in Connecticut. The 85-year-old man who plowed his station wagon into a crowd goes to court in a few days. The incident happened at a sailing festival early this month. The driver claims his gas pedal got stuck. 28 people were hurt.

And police put the brakes on Oscar winning actor-director Mel Gibson. He's accused of speeding and drunken driving on California's pacific coast highway. The sheriff's office in Malibu says Gibson was released after he posted $5,000 bail.

A rocket with an ominous name from the past, we'll get the background on that just ahead.

And in our legal brief segment did Andrea Yates find justice in a Texas courtroom?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Half past the hour. Here's what's happening now in the news. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Israel. She's talking with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about ending the Middle East crisis. This is her second visit to the region this week.

And the main border crossing between Syria and Lebanon has been closed today because of Israeli air strikes. Israel has accused Syria of providing military aid to Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, there could be a court appearance later today for a man accused of staging a shooting spree at a Seattle Jewish center yesterday. One woman was killed and five were injured. Authorities say the suspect is a U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent and they're calling the attack a hate crime. Meanwhile, a draft U.N. resolution would give Iran until August 31st to stop enriching and processing uranium or face possible sanctions. The resolution was unveiled yesterday. The Security Council could vote on it as early as Monday.

And California is getting a break from a deadly heat wave. No triple digit temperatures are in the forecast this weekend, but the sizzling weather is moving east now. Heat advisories are now in place from the Plains to the Northeast. In California, at least 141 deaths are blamed on the heat wave.

Back to the Middle East crisis now. Here's what we know.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel today for talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The Lebanese government has a new cease-fire proposal, but it only calls for a limited international peacekeeping force. The leader of Hezbollah appeared on television again today, and declared that Israel has been unable to win a military victory. He warned of new Hezbollah rocket attacks on central Israel.

And there were new air strikes and ground fighting in Southern Lebanon today, but Israeli -- or Israel largely withdrew from one border town.

There have been dozens of Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel in recent days, but an attack that took place yesterday is raising special concerns.

CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli police say at least one the missiles that struck the outskirts of Afula was more powerful than any of the rockets Hezbollah has fired at Israel before, judging by the fires and the damage, experts say had a much larger warhead than a regular Katyusha rocket.

DOV LUTZKI, AFULA, ISRAEL, CHIEF OF POLICE: what we can tell about it, it's a new thing in the area. We didn't find it before. It's a -- a bigger caliber than we're used to seeing in other areas. I don't know the name of it, but we can estimate that it has a longer range, and it has more explosives in -- inside it.

CHANCE: After the attack, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah appeared on the group's television station to boast, his militia had launched what he called a Khaybar rocket into the Jewish state.

The Israeli air force released a video showing what it described as a strike on the missile's launch site in southern Lebanon -- one reason Hezbollah hasn't fired more big rockets into Israel, maybe their vulnerability at launch to a quick Israeli response.

There has been mounting concern in Israel about Hezbollah's missile arsenal. And Nasrallah has vowed to strike even farther south, at Tel Aviv, Israel's biggest city. And the Israeli army's efforts on the ground in southern Lebanon to crush Hezbollah are meeting stiff resistance.

Military officials say there have been more heavy clashes in Bint Jbeil. Helicopter gunships fired at Hezbollah positions. But establishing control over these strongholds near the Lebanon-Israel border is proving difficult. Israeli officials say they are determined to press on.

MIRI EISIN, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESWOMAN: We're determined to go the whole course here. But we're not walking into a trap. Israel is going to do it at our own pace, at our own time, to make sure that, when we go in, we go in carefully, and that we don't walk into their booby traps. We want to stop the rocket fire, but we also want to make sure that Hezbollah will not be there afterwards.

CHANCE: For now, the rocket launches continue from southern Lebanon, more than 100 fired into Israel today. At least one struck a hospital in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya. There were no injuries. Most patients are already in underground shelters. On day 17 of the fighting, Hezbollah's ability to strike seems undiminished.

Matthew Chance, CNN, on the Israeli/Lebanese border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And for more on the Khaybar-1 missile and also on the latest statement from Hassan Nasrallah, we go now to CNN senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr.

So this missile, it has a larger warhead and longer range, but it also has a name that's very emotionally loaded.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: That's true. Actually, when Hezbollah announced yesterday that they launched a new missile called Khaybar-1, of course, all military experts were poring into their research and calling the contacts to see what this missile is. And there's no information to be found about it.

Now, military experts looking at these images are saying, OK, this looks like a modified Fajr missile, which was used by Hezbollah before. So basically they're saying it's a Fajr missile that was modified in order to reach a longer range. And today, you're certainly -- you're right. The leader of Hezbollah did talk about the phase basically after Haifa and after Afula.

You know, yesterday, Afula was reached. Afula is about ten kilometers away from Haifa, inside the Israeli heartland. But, it's not the first time that it was hit by Hezbollah missiles. The difference is this new rocket that was used, the Khaybar-1.

KEILAR: What does it mean?

NASR: It has Muslim historical significance. Basically, it talks about a battle, a specific battle actually referred to in Hadith (ph) and also in Islamic circles. It's the one time when Muslims -- when the Prophet Muhammad actually, and the Imam Ali, who's a Shiite, defeated the Jews. It is known that Khaybar is an oasis in Saudi Arabia, basically. And back then, it was inhabited by Jews before Islam. And when Islam arrived, Muslims fought the Jews and defeated them in Khaybar, and that was a major victory that is talked about in the Hadith, as I said. And it's important in Islamic history.

KEILAR: So also today, we have a new message from Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah. What is really the crux of this message that we heard today?

NASR: You know, interesting -- we've heard from this man a few times since the events of July 12th. We heard from him several times. Look at him. On the left-hand side is today; on the right-hand side is him before. The man gestures a lot. And he keeps a smile and he looks like he has an energy all the time. Basically, his supporters refer to that energy and they say that it's something that they look forward to.

On the left-hand side, you see him kind of down, but pale. He looks like he lost weight. And he looks tired. He looks tired. He sounds tired. No movement. You see his hands barely moving.

And also another significant fact about today's speech -- he was reading it. Hassan Nasrallah is known to improvise most of his speeches. And basically, that's where the energy comes, from according to his supporters and followers. So today he looked a bit tired. And of course, he did mention the 18th day of the crisis. So basically he looks like he's lived through it.

KEILAR: Anything new that we're hearing from him?

NASR: The new thing that we're hearing from him, really, is the fact that he is talking about letting the government speak for Lebanon and all the Lebanese, including his group. All experts in Lebanon were waiting for Hassan Nasrallah to speak of that, basically.

Because, you know, his critics are saying, look, on June -- on July 12, he decided on his own to start this whole crisis by crossing into Israel, kidnapping the two soldiers and saying that soldiers will return home only if there's a prisoners exchange. So basically, many, many Lebanese, the majority of Lebanese, said they didn't agree with this decision. As a matter of fact, the prime minister of Lebanon said that he doesn't support this decision, that they had no knowledge of it and they don't back it up.

So basically, the majority of Lebanon and the Arab world a bit upset with Hassan Nasrallah for taking it upon himself to start this war with Israel, to start the crisis. And basically, you can feel that he's trying to reach out to the people, saying that -- trying to include them, basically. Saying that this is their war as much as it is his, and basically calling on them to stand around the government. And he's showing signs that he wants to do the same.

KEILAR: All right, Octavia Nasr, senior editor for Arab affairs. Thanks so much for giving us that insight.

NASR: Any time.

KEILAR: And threats from the sea now for Israel's constant vigilance is just part of the security program.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer shows us those threats, captured on camera just ahead.

Also, our legal experts will debate this week's verdict in the Andrea Yates case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The fighting rages on. It's day 18 of the Middle East crisis, and here's what we know right now.

Word just coming in from the U.N. that two of its peacekeepers have been wounded in Israeli air strikes. The peacekeepers were stationed on the Lebanese border.

Also just in, news that the main border crossing between Syria and Lebanon has been closed due to Israeli air strikes. It's the first time this has happened since the crisis began.

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Jerusalem right now. She's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to try to broker a halt to hostility.

Also, Israel is on constant watch for terrorist attacks, and our Wolf Blitzer reports on threats from the sea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Take a close look at this extraordinary video provided to CNN by the Israeli navy. A seemingly innocent jet-skier races toward Israeli shores, ignoring repeated orders to stop. As a result, he's shot and killed. A senior Israeli navy officer says the jet-ski was loaded with explosives.

And check out this video. An Israeli naval vessel intercepts this small boat with two men on board. The same Israeli navy officer says, they are suicide bombers. The Israeli sailors survive, but are seriously injured.

Finally, take a look at this deflated raft the Israeli navy comes upon. Israeli sailors open machine gun fire to make sure there's nothing hidden inside. But, under fire, it explodes.

Here's how it looked from a second Israeli camera on shore.

(on camera): Most people think of the threats facing Israel coming from the north, whether from Lebanon, or from the east from the West Bank, or from the south from Gaza.

But there's another major threat facing Israel, and that's a threat from right behind me, the Mediterranean Sea.

(voice-over): The senior Israeli navy officer tells CNN, there have been 80 maritime terror plots that Israel has detected over the years. Most have been foiled.

Still, Israel has established an elaborate network of early- warning devices to monitor threats from the sea, including the nightmare of a cargo ship loaded with explosives.

And there's now heightened fear involving the Katyusha rockets that Hezbollah has been firing into northern Israel.

RON BEN-YISHAI, ISRAELI DEFENSE ANALYST: The very same rockets that hit, say, Nahariya these days can be launched from the sea as easy, and even easier, than they are launched from -- from the ground. They have a prolonged-range Katyusha rockets, range of about 30 kilometers, that can be launched from very deep in the sea, way beyond the Israeli territorial water.

KING (on camera): We're here in Ashdod, Israel's major port along the Mediterranean. You can see the facilities right behind me -- waiting off the coast here, right off the beach, a few ships. They're waiting to bring some cargo into Ashdod -- Ashdod, all of a sudden, becoming even more important, now that Haifa, the big port up in the north, has been effectively shut down because of the rockets coming in from Lebanon, from Hezbollah.

If you go down a little bit further, down this beach is Ashkelon, another big Israeli town. That town, earlier today, saw two Israeli kids who were injured as a result of Palestinian Qassam rockets landing in Ashkelon, landing in a park.

Right down the road, only a few miles down from where I -- I am right now, is Gaza.

(voice-over): The bottom line for Israel, the threats come in all sizes and from all directions.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Ashtud (ph), Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Two juries, two very different verdicts. Andrea Yates, the woman who drowned her five children in a bathtub, is now out of prison and in a state mental hospital.

CNN's Michelle Wright reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDGE BELINDA HILL, PRESIDED OVER YATES TRIAL: The state of Texas versus Andrea Pia Yates. We the jury find the defendant Andrea Pia Yates not guilty by reason of insanity.

MICHELLE WRIGHT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The jurors returned the verdict after deliberating 13 hours over three days. Andrea Yates had been convicted of murder for drowning her children in the family's bathtub in 2001. Yates' former husband says he's proud of the jurors.

RUSTY YATES, YATES EX-HUSBAND: The jury was able to see, you know, past what happened, look at why it happened, understand that Andrea was ordinarily just a loving mother who fell to this disease and did an unthinkable act.

WRIGHT: Yates' attorney argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis at the times of the drownings, but the prosecution says Yates knew what she was doing.

JOE OWMBY, LEAD PROSECUTOR: The evidence in the case was Andrea Yates knew it was wrong. And five children are dead because she made a decision that it was right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: .... find the defendant Andrea Pia Yates guilty of capital murder.

WRIGHT: During Yates' first trial back in 2002, a jury rejected her insanity defense and sentenced her to life in prison. But that decision was overturned by a state appeals court that have ruled erroneous testimony might have influenced that jury. Michelle Wright, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And of course that's quite a turnaround, so let's check in with our legal experts now. Law professor Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney, and Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney. Thanks, guys, for being with us.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nice to be here.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Brianna.

KEILAR: Now, Harris County, Texas, where this took place. Jurors there are not exactly well known for going easy on defendants. So starting with Avery, are you surprised by this turnaround?

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, you're right, it's the murder conviction capital of America, Brianna. And so a lot of people are surprised. I am. I thought the expert witness, Dr. Wellner (ph), introduced 60 reasons why Andrea knew what she was doing. And therefore, given what Harris County is, I'm a little bit surprised. And I think a lot of other people are, also.

KEILAR: Richard?

HERMAN: Well, Brianna, you know, the first jury was a death qualified jury. All those jurors had to ask a question and tell the judge they could impose a death sentence. That was not the jury here. This jury was not death qualified. And that first verdict was publicized so much in the area, and the absolute misconduct by Park Dietz, who was the prosecution witness who was personally responsible for the reversal in the appeal court, was published all over -- up, down and around.

So I mean, I'm surprised at the verdict. I think she should have been convicted of murder here. And I think her husband should also have been indicted on this. How could he leave this woman? How could he leave her?

FRIEDMAN: What crime -- what crime is the husband?

HERMAN: How could he leave her with these five kids, this husband, knowing that she was in the condition she was in?

FRIEDMAN: That's a moral argument. That's a moral argument, Richard. There's no legal basis for charging the husband.

HERMAN: I don't know. It...

KEILAR: Let's talk about what the jurors knew. Richard, you had talked about the fact that there was so much publicity around this case. Going into this, ideally the jurors wouldn't have known what the sentence would be. Presumably, they could have, you know, reversed this, made her -- could have come down with a verdict that was not guilty, and she could have walked out onto the street. HERMAN: Absolutely.

KEILAR: Do you think they knew anything about what the sentence would be?

HERMAN: Brianna, you know, in a perfect world, they wouldn't. But this case garnered so much publicity, and I've got to believe this jury knew, look, if they convict her, she's going to be in prison for the rest of her life, she's not facing a death penalty. If they acquit her by reason of insanity, then she goes and gets medical treatment in a mental facility.

But Brianna, one scary thought. The prosecution's witness Michael -- Doctor Michael Weiner (ph) -- he believes that she's going to be out soon. He does not think it's going to be a lengthy stay. And he said she's going home soon.

FRIEDMAN: Way off.

HERMAN: That's the government's lead expert who examined her in May this year.

KEILAR: So let's move on to the next thing we're going to discuss, and that is the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee is actually suing Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld for what they allege to be a bungled evacuation of American citizens from Lebanon. Avery, does this seem odd to you that this topic is being taken into a court of law?

FRIEDMAN: Well, on one level, we have to respect the suffering and the concern of people. But I studied the 20-page complaint, I studied the materials. Brianna, this case -- Donald Rumsfeld will show up in an ACLU meeting before these people can prevail. This case is going nowhere. This is political. It is not constitutional.

KEILAR: So you're saying they have no chance, is what you're saying?

FRIEDMAN: I mean, if there's such a thing as less than no chance, that's where this case is going. Unfortunately, it's a serious issue. But this pleading is terrible. The case is going to be dismissed.

KEILAR: Richard, what do you think?

HERMAN: Brianna, for about $275, anybody in the United States can file a lawsuit. That's really it. Just because someone files a lawsuit doesn't mean there's any merit to it.

FRIEDMAN: Right

HERMAN: And here we are, Avery and I, agreeing again. There's something wrong with this. But he is 100 percent right. There is going to be sanctions imposed here. They're going to dismiss this case so fast.

FRIEDMAN: There won't be sanctions. There we won't be sanctions.

HERMAN: There should be.

FRIEDMAN: But we both agree, this case has got to go.

KEILAR: Well, guys, I'm glad we got end on some consensus here. I want to say good-bye to you, but thanks for joining with us today. Law professor Avery Friedman and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you. Take care.

HERMAN: Bye, Brianna.

KEILAR: And next, some thoughts from CNN's Anderson Cooper about what he's found in the battleground of the Mideast crisis.

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KEILAR: Our very own Anderson Cooper has been front and center with Middle East crisis coverage. He reflects on his time in the war zone in this "Reporter's Notebook."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): This has been a day of much activity...

(voice-over): Every place we've gone to report this story has a different feel to it. In Haifa, the war still seems far away. I mean, you hear the sirens, see the rockets landing, people die. But you don't see where the shells are coming from. They just seem to fall out of the sky.

Here in the very north of Israel, it feels much more like a front line. You can actually see where the troops are crossing the border. The fighting seems very personal: small units, guerrilla warfare.

When the soldiers come back, some smile. They wave Lebanese flags they picked up, or the yellow flag of Hezbollah. Not all the soldiers return so triumphant, of course. The fighting is tough, and the casualties are mounting.

After a while, you don't even notice the sound of shelling. Two weeks ago I couldn't tell the difference between incoming and outgoing fire. Now it seems so obvious.

Standing next to these artillery pieces when they fire, the power of it is overwhelming. A percussive blast washes over you. A shock wave of heat and dust, smoke and steel, grease and gun powder. If you're not wearing ear plugs, it's deafening.

Everywhere you look these days it seems like there's smoke, small fires constantly burning. A Katyusha hit here along the side of a road we just happened to drive by. That's the rocket still sticking out from the ground. The mountains are on fire, as well. The Katyushas ignite forest fires that are hard to fight. It's a tough hike up these steep slopes.

When you actually see the Katyushas, they're sickeningly simple. They're filled with scrap metal and ball bearings, designed simply to maim or kill.

Today, during the afternoon more than a dozen rockets fell around the town of Kiryat Shemona. A warehouse was hit. We got there just as the first rescue workers did. There were no tears, no bloodshed, just flames and water; men, Israelis, working together trying to save what they could. It's the daily struggle here.

As we stood there watching the building burn, one man pointed to the flames and shrugged. "Makes us want to fight harder," he said to me softly. "It makes us more determined to win."

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Kiryat Shemona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: "ANDERSON COOPER 360" follows all the breaking news in the Middle East. And you can join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

Coming up, "CNN PRESENTS: Inside Hezbollah." And ahead, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, we'll take a close-up look at the two Beirut. A check of the day's headlines is next, and then "CNN PRESENTS."

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