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CNN Live Saturday
Violence Intensifies in Middle East; Secretary Rice Pushes for Possible Cease-Fire; Gunman Opens Fire at Jewish Center in Seattle; Dr. Gupta Goes Inside Front Line Israeli Hospital; Support For Hezbollah Continues to Grow in Lebanon
Aired July 29, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening it's 6:00 p.m. at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, 3:00 p.m. in the pacific. Hello I'm Carol Lin.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem, where it's already Sunday, 1:00 a.m.
LIN: Wolf, here's what's straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Rockets, air strikes, no end in sight. Israel ignores the United Nations' call for a cease-fire.
Doomed to failure. Hezbollah's leader claims Israel is losing the ground war.
And take two. Can Condoleezza Rice find a peaceful solution on her second trip back to the region in just one week?
Catastrophe and care. We'll take you to a hospital on the front lines. Doctors struggle to care for those caught in the middle.
Shooting spree. A gunman opens fire in a Jewish center. This is a special edition of CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Crisis in the Middle East, Day 18. And here's what we know this hour. Day 18 of the conflict, Israeli Defense Forces kill two Islamic Jihad militants in the West Bank. One is reportedly the reputed head of the group's military wing. And help begins to pour into war torn Lebanon with some 140 tons of humanitarian relief arriving today in Beirut. But it isn't enough.
And as the United Nation's high commissioner of refugees says, as many as 800,000 people are currently displaced by the military action. CNN's Wolf Blitzer joins us live from Jerusalem tonight. And with him is CNN's chief international correspondent John King. But first let's talk with Wolf. Wolf, you have been working the phones today. What are your sources telling you about Hezbollah's claim of victory, retaking a Lebanese town?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there's no doubt that Hezbollah is proving to be a more formidable foe than a lot of Israelis thought it would be going into this war, it's now about 2 1/2 weeks since it started. But Israeli military officials and political leaders insist things are moving much more in their direction than in Hezbollah's direction. As far as the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Bint Jbeil, they're saying that they got their mission done, they have no desire to stay there. They want to be mobile going in and out of that very strategic town. And as a result they're suggesting that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah is simply making false claims trying to rally his forces but they're not taking it Carol all that seriously.
LIN: You have been in Israel for a week now. How are they reacting on the ground to all of the fighting?
BLITZER: Well, there's concern. There's deep concern among the public at large as to how things are going. If you read the Israeli newspapers, you watch Israeli television, there's a tremendous amount of focus on the dead Israelis, whether civilians or military. The hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have either been forced to leave their homes in the northern part of the country are living in shelters more or less. So there's no doubt that there's deep concern. I have learned that the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is planning on addressing the Israeli people in a nationally televised address.
It could come as early as Monday night, designed to make sure that the public knows what he knows, in effect, that it's going to be a long struggle but that it's better to do it now. He's going to make that point rather than wait for Hezbollah to get even stronger. And as all of this takes place, Carol, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now back here in Jerusalem. She's getting ready for more talks. She already met with the prime minister tonight. More talks tomorrow. John King is covering this diplomatic part of this story. And there's a lot riding on what she can achieve over these next several days John.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There certainly is Wolf. And as you know, this trip comes at a time of mounting criticism from European capitals and from Arab capitals. They wanted an immediate cease-fire any way and they wanted the United States to support that. There's a new Lebanese plan out today, those capitals again are saying this should be enough to get an immediate cease fire. But the United States says no and its critics are saying the United States is being way too lopsided in favor of Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Secretary of State Rice sees signs of diplomatic progress but predicts intense give and take in the search for a cease-fire plan. En route back to Israel Secretary Rice spoke of the really hard and emotional decisions for both sides under extreme pressure in a difficult set of circumstances. The goal is agreement within a week, but getting there is a complicated puzzle. First stop, dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Secretary Rice wants assurances Israel is prepared to return disputed land to Lebanon, to exchange Hezbollah prisoners if two kidnapped Israeli soldiers are released and to provide maps of old Israeli land mines in southern Lebanon.
Secretary Rice spoke positively of a new Lebanese government plan that would deploy the army to stabilize southern Lebanon, expand the U.N. peacekeeping force already there and eventually disarm Hezbollah. Hezbollah embraced most of the Lebanese plan but did not commit to disarming. And its leader Hassan Nasrallah hours later said attacks would continue and that Secretary Rice was back in the region to impose conditions and do Israel's bidding. Complicating her diplomacy is deep skepticism Hezbollah would honor any cease-fire deal demanding it disarm.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, SR. FELLOW BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: There may be some agreement by Hezbollah to at least pretend to do it or do it partially or temporarily. But it's not going to be lasting. And that's, again, why the international force in south Lebanon is so crucial. It is the one piece of this whole equation that gives Israel some confidence the Hezbollah threat will not be as serious as it once was.
KING: U.S. officials envision a new force of perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 troops and its mission also could include patrolling the Lebanon-Syria border to prevent weapons shipments to Hezbollah. Syria's official (INAUDIBLE) criticize the plan, an attempt perhaps to stir anti-American sentiment on the Arab street and perhaps looking to influence next week's United Nations Security Council debate about the scope of any Lebanon peacekeeping mission.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, this diplomacy is so sensitive, the State Department is not giving an official readout of the dinner with Prime Minister Olmert tonight. The Israelis are saying very little in public. But so far Wolf from our sources, indications are that the Israelis have no major problems with anything the United States is putting forward, either what the United States wants from Israel or what is in the plan. Their biggest question is, can this Lebanese government deliver on the Hezbollah front. Off to Lebanon after more conversations here in Israel tomorrow, they're leaving open the possibility the Secretary of State will stay. She's supposed to head back to Washington late tomorrow but don't be surprised if she thinks coming back again, a little shuttle diplomacy, she may stay longer.
BLITZER: But they're already planning later in the week for all of the ministers, the foreign ministers, the Secretary of State, to show up at the United Nations.
KING: That's when they hope to write the resolution that would put a cease-fire plan on the table, hopefully get the Security Council to endorse it. But we are many days from that. The fighting will continue and so will the horse trading in all these negotiations.
BLITZER: All right John. Thanks very much, John King reporting from here in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, blasting Israel, the Hezbollah leader says the Israeli military will not chase Hezbollah out of Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel is changing its military strategy and going after Hezbollah strong holds to a certain degree. Let's get more now from CNN's John Roberts on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm on a road in northern Israel, which is only a couple of hundred yards away from the Israeli border. Behind me you can see some of the troops who have come back from the fighting in the town of Bint Jbeil. The armored personnel carriers, the tanks covered in dust, the soldiers as well, bone tired from all of the fighting, getting re-supplied and rested so that they can go back into southern Lebanon.
(voice-over): The big news from the front lines today is that the Israeli army has pulled its forces out of the Hezbollah strong hold of Bint Jbeil. That's been the scene of such intense fighting over the last five days as they have tried to gain control of the city and met stiff Hezbollah resistance, resulting at least in a number of Israeli casualties. However, the Israeli army says it has exacted a far greater toll on Hezbollah and you can hear now the sound of artillery firing over my head hitting some targets maybe a couple of miles away from here. So the fighting is still very close in.
The reason that they have pulled their forces back is because they want to launch some more pinpoint attacks into Bint Jbeil and they're also bombing the city because they believe that they still have pockets of Hezbollah resistance in there that they need to soften up in order to degrade their capabilities. We're also today learning more about that rocket that landed in Affulah yesterday.
That's south of Haifa but still north of Tel Aviv, but deep into Israeli territory. We believe that it could be a modification of an Iranian rocket called a Fajr, which is about ten inches around, carries a 220 pound warhead on it, which is a very powerful warhead, much more powerful than these Katyusha rockets. And it carries the name Khaybar 1, which is a very significant word here in the Arabic world. Khaybar was a Jewish oasis about 95 miles north of the Holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. When the Islamic world rose up in the early 600s, the Jews who lived there were decimated in a large battle in 629. And Khaybar also is the center piece of a famous old Arabic saying that says Khaybar, Khaybar o Jews, Muslim, Mohammed's army is rising again.
(on camera): So in a place where symbolism is a very, very powerful issue, obviously, they want to attach as much of that symbolism as they can in the rockets that they're sending in here to Israel. And again it just proves that regardless of how much fighting the Israeli army engages in, Hezbollah's still very capable of firing those rockets into northern Israel. John Roberts, CNN, along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Families in Lebanon are trying to bury their dead, but with no letup in the shelling. There's no safe time for funerals. Many victims are actually being put up in mass graves. Our Karl Penhaul reports from the city of Tyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most of the dead have names. (INAUDIBLE) and the list goes on. But this baby was killed before his mother even had time to give him a name. The note on the coffin says he died when he was just a day old. (INAUDIBLE) is weeping for her 15-year-old granddaughter Mary-Anne (PH), killed by an Israeli war plane (INAUDIBLE) says, as she tried to flee to safety. "She was on the road from Bint Jbeil and suddenly a bomb fell. She was on a motorcycle," she tells me. Her granddaughter's coffin is number 84.
The corpses are unloaded close to the burial ground. The names on the body bags are matched to the names on the coffins. All that's left for the doctors to do is nail down the lids. 87 victims were buried a week ago, 34 more are being buried today. Doctors say all are civilians killed by Israeli bombardments.
Tyre's mayor says many more lie where they fell. It's still too dangerous to recover the remains. "There are 13 villages with people still under the ruins, and the dogs are eating the bodies. What can we do," he says. Lebanese army soldiers form the honor guard, Muslim clerics offer a final prayer.
(on camera): This grave may only in fact be temporary. City officials have said when relatives who have fled return, the victims may be reburied in their own villages.
(voice-over): But no one knows when it may finally be safe enough for the living to reclaim the dead. Karl Penhaul, CNN, Tyre, South Lebanon.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And this just in to the CNN Center. According to the "Associated Press," a plane crash in Sullivan, Missouri -- it's in eastern Missouri. Four people dead. Unknown number of injuries. And according to the "Associated Press" report, which quotes the county sheriff out there, early reports show that this plane may have struck a telephone pole and then clipped a house before hitting the ground. Apparently this plane belonged to a skydiving group which was taking skydivers up for their trip. There were eight people on board according to this Quantum Leap skydiving company. There is going to be an FAA investigation. So far nobody wants to speculate on the cause of that plane crash. Look at that landing right there in the middle of a neighborhood.
All right much more ahead. Running for cover. A lone gunman opens fire on a Jewish center. The deadly outcome and the community in shock.
And travel warnings ignored. Despite the deadly rocket attacks, one group of college students trek to Israel.
Plus, summer sizzler. Will you get a piece of this heat wave? Your weather update in just 11 minutes. You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocking, terrible, that somebody would do something like that to hurt innocents.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A community still reeling in disbelief after a gunman attacks a Jewish center. His victims and his motive coming up when we take you live to the scene in just one minute.
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LIN: Among the most popular stories on CNN.com, the trip to Tehran of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Iranian television reports that Chavez pledged to support the Islamic Republic. The Venezuelan leader is known for his staunch opposition to Washington.
Ten people injured, two critically at a Starbucks in Almonte, California. Police say an elderly man mistakenly drove his car into the coffee shop's patio.
And a new study shows that being overweight is a greater health risk to women than it is to men. You can find out why at CNN.com.
Shock after a Muslim man opens fire at a Jewish center. One woman was killed and five others wounded. Police are calling it a hate crime. Katharine Barrett live on the scene in Seattle. Katherine I understand we're going to hear from authorities pretty soon in a news conference.
KATHERINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Within about a half an hour, Carol. The Jewish Federation building across the street behind me here remains an active crime scene. Investigators are in there right now. We saw them escort people who looked perhaps more like employees into the building, returning to the scene of yesterday's horror. We've been here since before dawn this morning and seen what started as a trickle grow to a steady flow of mourners bringing flowers in effort to comfort and console this community in shock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARRETT (voice-over): At this suburban Seattle synagogue, worship and mourning went on under extra tight security and the grip of grief. This congregation lost one of its members, 58-year-old Pam Wechter in Friday's shooting at the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.
ROBIN BOEHLER, JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER SEATTLE: Every one's a target, every Jewish organization is a target. If someone goes on the Internet and looks for a Jewish organization, we don't know which one they'll pick. So yeah, we're all -- when it comes to someone looking for a Jewish target, any Jewish agency is a target.
BARRETT: But even in grief, local Muslim and Jewish community leaders vow the flames of the Middle East will not find fuel here. Interfaith community groups are active in the area. It was with some fear but equal determination that these two Muslim women played a condolence call to Temple B'Nai Torah Saturday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever hurts one part hurts the other part.
DAVID SERKIN-POOLE, CANTOR: They stand with us as we mourn our terrible loss. And this was a very comforting moment.
BARRETT: Seattle police are calling Friday's shooting a hate crime based on suspect Naveed Haq's statements. The 31-year-old Washington man, a U.S. citizen, is in custody facing charges of murder and attempted murder. But authorities also say they're confident he acted alone.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
BARRETT: Investigators have just brought some evidence out of the building. Again, they call this an ongoing investigation. The first law enforcement press conference of the day to update us on the status of that investigation, the status of the suspect and his court appearance a little bit ago this afternoon will take place again within a half hour here. We'll bring you the latest when we have it. Carol?
LIN: All right Katherine, look forward to that new, fresh information that you're going to be getting in about 30 minutes and bring it to us when you do.
Now CNN has made efforts to reach Haq's attorney but hasn't yet been able to speak with him.
Oh, boy, the scorch of summer. Are cooling temperatures too little too late? Your weather update in three minutes.
And not ready for a cease-fire. Staying on our top story, the crisis in the Middle East. A top Israeli official tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer why his government isn't backing down. Stay with us.
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LIN: Here's some news from across America. Five people are dead from shooting attacks in New Orleans. Four people died in an assault not far from the French quarter. Police say the killers are at large.
And some people near a South Dakota wildfire are being allowed to return home at this hour. But the fire is keeping other homes near Rapid City off limits.
And the California heat wave appears to have finally broken, but not before officials raise the official death toll to 141.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: When CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues, a city divided by war and by world views. Nic Robertson tells the tale of two Beiruts. Plus, this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
We have no intention whatsoever to expand this conflict. We don't want to see a shooting war with Syria, nor do we want to see a war with Iran.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Laying it on the line for Wolf Blitzer. An Israeli's thoughts on peacekeeping. Coming up in three minutes.
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LIN: They're all packed up and headed to Israel, despite the travel warnings. Coming up, we're going to tell you why American college students are so determined to get into the region.
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LIN: Now in the news, a new message from the leader of the Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah says Israeli efforts to get his fighters out of the area are doomed to failure.
And U.S. Secretary of State Rice returns to the Middle East tonight. Her first stop is in Israel, where she met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Perhaps that dinner is over by now.
And four U.S. marines have been killed in Iraq fighting. Now the military says all of them died on Thursday in the violent Anbar Province.
Colorado police are flooded with calls. People want to know whether their relatives were victims of Robert Charles Browne. He is the convicted killer who's claiming to have killed 49 people around the country.
And more on the breaking news we're covering out of Missouri this afternoon. The "Associated Press" reports four people were killed after a small plane crashed 70 miles southwest of St. Louis. Now four others were injured. The plane was making a skydiving flight. And the local sheriff says early reports say that the plane may have hit a telephone pole and then clipped a house before crashing.
Day 18 of the Middle East crisis. This is what we know right now. Israel launched another round of attacks in southern Lebanon today and Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into northern Israel.
Israel has rejected a U.N. request for a three-day cease-fire to evacuate civilians in Lebanon. Israeli officials say a humanitarian evacuation route is already open, so a cease-fire isn't needed.
And on the diplomatic front, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Israel right now, trying to negotiate an end to the fighting. Wolf Blitzer covering all those events in Israel right now standing by in Jerusalem. Wolf?
BLITZER: Thanks, Carol. And just a little while ago here in Jerusalem, I spoke to Mark Regev, he's the spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry. He told me in no uncertain terms that Israel has no intention of expanding its military campaign to include any targets in Syria and he supports the idea of an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, but one that's strong. I also asked him about his hopes for Secretary Rice's second visit. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK REGEV, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY: The idea is to come out of this visit and to go to New York and at the U.N. to get the international community as galvanized as could be behind its own resolution. That's security council resolution 1559, which talks about disarming Hezbollah and empowering the Lebanese government to put the Lebanese army in control of every inch of Lebanese territory.
BLITZER: That's what you're hoping she manages to get a consensus at the Security Council. In the interim, before that happens and that meeting at the U.N. is probably not going to happen until much later in the week. Will there be a cease fire or will the fighting continue?
REGEV: There's no point having a cease-fire that allows Hezbollah to rearm, re-equip. We don't want to see a cease-fire the day the fighting stops, the day that we stop military operations, we'll see convoys of trucks coming from Syria with more Iranian missiles, more Iranian rockets, more Iranian explosives. The idea is that the cease-fire, when it happens, should bring us well into the implementation of that resolution 1559 which says Hezbollah must be disarmed.
BLITZER: So this dramatic appeal from the United Nations emergency relief coordinator for a 72 hour stop in the fighting to allow people, civilians to either get some assistance or get out of there, Israel is rejecting that.
REGEV: We're working very closely with the U.N. to make sure that vital medicines and food stuffs reach the people in Lebanon who need it. We've got a U.N. personnel now in the army headquarters in Tel Aviv coordinating that relief effort and we're doing everything we can. Ultimately, Wolf, the Lebanese people are not our enemy. We want peace with the Lebanese people. If we can help with the humanitarian effort, we will.
BLITZER: The whole notion of a peacekeeping force, how many troops do you think it will require to get the job done to secure that border between Israel and Lebanon, 5,000, 10,000, 30,000?
REGEV: It wasn't our idea. It came from Kofi Annan and from Tony Blair, this whole idea of an international force. But we will support a force that can be used to bring about the full implementation of that Security Council resolution. Disarm Hezbollah and of course help the Lebanese army be strong and take control of every inch of Lebanese territory. BLITZER: There's a lot of concern here in Israel, I've heard it the past week I've been here, that this war between Israel and Hezbollah, because of a miscalculation, could expand to include Syria and maybe even Iran. Does it make sense at this stage, from Israel's perspective, for the United States to engage directly with Damascus, to talk to the Syrian government, to try to make sure cooler heads prevail?
REGEV: Let me say unequivocally we have no intention whatsoever to expand this. We don't want to see a shooting war with Syria, nor do we want to see a war with Iran. Lebanon, we want to get Lebanon right. We want to see Lebanon returned to the Lebanese people. We want to see Hezbollah disarmed so they can never again, never again, launch the sort of crisis we've seen in the last couple of weeks.
BLITZER: Israel has had a stable relationships for 30 years plus with Syria. No incidents along the Golan Heights. What's wrong with trying to wean Syria away from Iran, to make Syria perhaps become a more, from your perspective, productive player in the region?
REGEV: We would be very happy to see the Syrians change their policies. I mean ultimately Iran channels all that equipment, all that military hardware, those missiles, those rockets from Iran to Lebanon, through Syria. And if Syria would move out of the chain and Syria would stop supporting terrorists, and it's not just Hezbollah, Wolf, it's Hamas, it's Islamic Jihad, all of these organizations are supported by the Syrians. If the Syrians did an about face, of course we would support that.
BLITZER: There was a dramatic speech today by the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, in which he said he's winning, in effect, and you're losing. He said you're lying to your own people, that the war is going badly for Israel. I wondered if you noticed what he had to say and if you want to respond directly to what he said.
REGEV: I noticed what he had to say and there was more bravado than fact in what he was saying. It reminded a bit of Saddam Hussein in the last couple of days of hanging on to power there in Baghdad. He's losing. He knows he's losing. His organization of Hezbollah is part of the past. It's not part of the future. And it's not just Israel that says so. The whole international community is united in saying Hezbollah must be dismantled. It must be disarmed and we have to save Lebanon for the Lebanese.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry joining me here in Jerusalem just a little while ago. Meanwhile, Beirut is a city clearly divided. One section bombed out ruins. The other busy with everyday life. Covering the conflict is growing much more complicated though. Here's our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In Beirut, a relative lull in bombing is allowing repairs to roads. And amid a new round of U.S.-led diplomacy, a hardening of attitudes against America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel has the hand of America. Israel is the hand of America only. Why, why did they did that? Why? There is Hezbollah here. No water in whole area.
ROBERTSON (on camera): This is where the damage begins, the southern suburbs are up here, the roads are much quieter. That's where we're going to go now, but quite often when we get up there we're not given permission to film and see what's going on.
(voice-over): Driving through, the streets are almost deserted. Then a car horn, a militia pulling us over, telling us to stop filming. Our troubles are only just beginning.
(on camera): Right now I'm just sitting here waiting to get permission to film in this grocery store. One faction came by and gave us permission, now we're waiting for another faction to give us their permission. It's getting complicated to do anything around here.
(voice-over): Eventually we get permission. Most people have left the area. The store is not as busy as before the bombing. Mohammed, the owner, says he wants the war to end soon, but on Hezbollah's terms. "The resistance will win. Israel can't last five days" he says. "Hezbollah can last years and they will win." But only a few miles from these empty streets, Beirut could not be more different.
(on camera): You've got top of the line Porsches, you've got Mercedes, all jostling for parking position. And down here you've got a predominantly Christian neighborhood where it appears life is going on almost as normal. I'm standing outside of the restaurant here and I'm looking across the road and it looks like the situation is normal. Is it normal?
HODA BAROUDI, HER FAMILY LEFT BEIRUT: Well, you should know better. It's not normal at all actually.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Hoda Baroudi, a designer, tells me she moved her family out of Beirut to the mountains for safety.
BAROUDI: I lived in Beirut throughout the whole war years, until '89 and I've had enough. I don't want to hear anything. I don't want to know anything and I want to be out of all this.
ROBERTSON: Many in this affluent cafe have their own businesses. Jad Khourny was doing well.
JAD KHOURNY, BEIRUT RESIDENT: I'm pissed off because we've always been building, trying to build a future in this country. And something happens every few years that destroys it all.
ROBERTSON: Jad's company made the massive banners for the U.S. supported anti-Syria Cedar Revolution rallies last year. Most of the rallies thought America was supporting democracy. Now they think the U.S. backs Israel at their expense.
ASMA ANDROS, BEIRUT RESIDENT: I think the United States, especially this administration, has a very superficial understanding of the mechanisms of this part of the world.
ROBERTSON: Asma and Jad have been friends for years. Listening to them, their frustrations are clear.
ANDROS: I'm not particularly aligned with Lebanon. The Lebanon they fight for or the ideology they fight under is not mine. But today we stand united and I think we have proved that we will not be divided.
ROBERTSON: Reality is in this cafe, most accept Hezbollah will ultimately have to be disarmed. On the other side of the city, that's not such a popular view.
(on camera): This is where Beirut's old front line used to be, the so-called green line with Muslims on one side, Christians on the other. Today the bombing in the southern suburbs is over here and the busy cafe society is in this direction. This building has been left to help people remember just how bad the civil war was. Right now it's a stark reminder of how bad divisions could become again. Nic Robertson, CNN, Beirut.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: All right, right now, we're going to take you to the scene of a developing story as we're about to hear from this Seattle police chief on a man who opened fire on a Jewish center in Seattle. Let's listen in.
CHIEF GIL KERLIKOWSKE, SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: The conversation that he had, Mr. Haq had with our two 911 operators. I can tell you that I think, along with this young woman who was the victim of this crime and the heroism that she displayed, our two 911 operators did an absolutely amazing job.
And at first, when you listen to this tape and we're certainly not going to release it, because it's part of an active criminal investigation. But I can tell you that I was absolutely stunned by the level of calmness and coolness that both of our operators used in dealing with him. And you can tell he is so enraged at first. Let me tell you some of the things that he talked about. He said that he wanted the United States to leave Iraq, that his people were being mistreated and that the United States was arming Israel. And he pointedly blamed Jewish people for all of these problems.
He stated he didn't care if he lived. And as the operators continued to talk with him, it became quite clear that he was losing his, the rampage that had driven him to do what he did. He then laid down the gun. He said, I'm going to surrender and I'm laying down the gun. Then this was confirmed by the victim, the young woman that had called 911 originally. He laid down the gun. The operators directed him to exit the building with his hands on his head. He did so and he surrendered to the police officers. Next let me tell you a little bit about the two handguns that were recovered inside the offices of the federation. They're both semi-automatics. One is a .40 caliber and one is a .45 caliber. They were purchased from two different gun shops in the tri-cities areas of the state of Washington and they were both picked up on July 27th, along with ammunition for each of the weapons. He went through the waiting period. It doesn't appear that the guns were obtained unlawfully.
We do not know of any felony convictions that he has, although one misdemeanor arrest has been widely reported, although that would not preclude you from being able to get a gun. Let me also mention that two search warrants were served last night, again in the tri- cities area. One was at his parents' residence. The other was at his apartment. A number of items of evidence were recovered. They're being transported or, in fact, have just arrived back here in Seattle. And they will be examined, including several computers. Lastly, I'll tell you that he selected the federation after an Internet search in which, with a generic search of looking for something Jewish, buildings, foundations or groups, he came across the federation. And that's how he selected this particular target. With that, I'll answer the questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old was the young woman that he initially got to the door with?
KERLIKOWSKE: I believe she was a teenager, 13, 14 years old.
LIN: All right, we're listening to police chief Gil Kerlikowske of the Seattle police department talking about a 30-year-old man, Naveed Haq, who opened fire, allegedly opened fire, at A Jewish community center in Seattle, spewing hatred, saying that he was a Muslim angry at Israel. He is accused and now charged with killing one woman and of attempting to kill five others. There are wounded in the hospital. A judge determined this afternoon that there is probable cause to hold Naveed Haq.
Want to quickly go back to Wolf Blitzer standing by in Jerusalem. Wolf, as I understand it, there is deep concern in Israel that Hezbollah may actually try to attack targets outside of Israel. What have you heard?
BLITZER: First of all, Carol, there's no indication, at least none that we've seen, that this individual accused of this crime in Seattle, Washington, had anything whatsoever, any association directly or indirectly with Hezbollah or any terror group. That's point number one. In fact, Pakistani American Organizations have issued a very strong statement over the past several hours condemning this and saying it had no association with any Pakistani move or anything along those lines, this individual of Pakistani origin.
What I do know is that the Israeli cabinet the other day, Carol, was briefed by Israeli security service leadership, saying that there is deep concern that there could be, as a result of Israel's war with Hezbollah, terror attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets outside of this area. No indication that has happened yet. No indication yet that there's a serious effort to see it happen. But there's concern and as a result security precautions have been intensified and all Israeli diplomatic posts around the world as well as many Jewish institutions around the world, including the United States.
LIN: Wolf, thank you. You know, we also want to share with people the victims in this war, that just terrorized patients are pouring into Israeli hospitals as doctors struggle to care for those caught in the middle of this conflict.
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LIN: Every week we like to bring you the more personal stories from the front lines and today we're going to talk about caring for the wounded in the Middle East. For medical personnel, the hours are long and the supplies are often in short supply or non-existent. CNN's medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta sets the scene at a trauma center in Haifa, Israel.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rambam hospital, the largest hospital in northern Israel. Now, for the first time ever, in the target zone. Doctors under fire.
(on camera): We're in the operating suite at Rambam hospital. I want to show you something that has really not been seen before. Doctors who are actually operating under situations of conflict. While under attack themselves, they're responsible for saving others lives.
(voice-over): There is a calmness here as Dr. Tony Karam operates. A few floors above, gurneys and ambulances waiting. Today they will all get used.
A loud thud and an explosion close, too close. And then an increasingly familiar routine.
(on camera): See, here we get a sense of what he happening out here. You saw the ambulance take off after that thud, not even 100 meters away, probably, here. It's total pandemonium here but everyone is getting ready. They're getting their gloves on. They're getting their garb on. They're waiting for any traumas that might actually come into the hospital. This is where they will come, in this particular area.
(voice-over): Within minutes patients come pouring in, all of them civilians. Hard to say how badly wounded, but bloodied, banged up and certainly terrorized. Suddenly all those sirens and thuds come to life.
(on camera): Just to give you a sense, you get the sense there's been a lot of shrapnel injury here, probably some blast injury as well. Obviously, a lot of bleeding here from the shrapnel.
(voice-over): Many of the injuries come from these vicious ball bearings packed into the rockets. I saw them firsthand. (on camera): Take a look at these pellets. The rockets we've been talking so much about are filled with thousands, tens of thousands of these pellets. I want to give you an idea of how much damage they can do. Take a look at this car. This is close to the blast site. Look how these have gone straight through the body of the car, shattered out all these windows, in the car seat as well. This car has been completely devastated by these ball bearings. Imagine what they would do to the human body.
(voice-over): Today, no one dies from the missile strike. Quickly, breathing tubes are placed and the blood is replenished, patient stabilized. Rambam is one of the finest trauma centers anywhere in the world. Still, I saw it in Beirut and now here in Haifa, hospitals are not immune in this war.
(on camera): We used to think that hospitals and ambulances and healthcare workers should be given some immunity from a war but it doesn't appear the case this time around.
DR. TONY KARAM, VASCULAR SURGEON, RAMBAM HOSPITAL: Actually, it doesn't. You know, my daughter asked me some days ago when she was crying when the sirens went on. She asked me why do I continue to go to work. I told her that it is accepted usually in different, in the whole world that no one sends rockets to hospitals. So I would be safe here, even safer than any other places. But it seems it's not the case anymore.
GUPTA: And as the operation continues, this is just another day in the life of Rambam hospital. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Haifa.
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LIN: The other side of the medical crisis involves the so-called walking wounded. Now, in Lebanon, many people die before they can even reach help. And those who do get help are diagnosed with some very serious illnesses. Earlier I spoke with Doctor Hiba Osman on the ground in Lebanon.
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HIBA OSMAN, PHYSICIAN: We're seeing a lot of infectious diseases. We have lots of children with Diarrhea and rashes. We have a lot of bites, insect bites, bed bugs, they're sleeping on sponge mattresses on the floor. We have a lot of uncontrolled chronic diseases, diabetics, people with hyper tension, people with heart failure. They have no access to medications and they have no access to the appropriate diets they need to be on. So they're completely not controlled.
So we're seeing worsening of heart failure, poorly controlled diabetes and obviously we're seeing a lot of anxiety and depression and insomnia in people who have been through a lot of trauma. We know that the predictions are 800,000 to a million people have fled their homes. Now, if everything were to end tomorrow, a good chunk of these people have no homes to return to. So we know that even if the crisis ended now, these people are still going to be refugees. They're still going to be living under refugee conditions.
LIN: Now, we can give you the news and the latest and all that breaks. But sometimes it's hard to follow a conflict like this and really understand the depths of it and where it may go next. John Roberts is going to host a program coming up in less than ten minutes, a week at war, to give you everything you need to know about the Middle East conflict. John has been reporting from northern Israel all this week. And we've got much more coming up as well.
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BLITZER: Coming up right at the top of the hour, a special edition of "THIS WEEK AT WAR." Let's bring in our John Roberts, he's in northern Israel, for a preview. John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening to you Wolf. I'm in the town of Matula, which is the northern most population center in Israel. We're hearing the sounds of artillery barrage tonight. There's one of those drones overhead. We've also heard machine gunfire. It seems like something big is happening very close by. We'll take a look at all of the fighting in the Middle East, what it means for the future of this region and also the diplomatic track to urgently bring an end to hostilities.
As well, it was a deadly week of sectarian fighting in Iraq. Many, many civilians caught in the crossfire. Many, many civilians died. We'll take a look at that and what it means for U.S. troops. All coming up, Wolf, at the top of the hour in a special edition of "THIS WEEK AT WAR." We hope you'll join us from Matula, Israel. Stay tuned. Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: John, sounds good. We certainly will.
Carol, what a week here in the Middle East. This war continuing. No immediate letup in sight, although the diplomacy is going to the next level.
LIN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meeting with the Israeli prime minister. Wolf, how soon do you think we'll hear concrete results out of that meeting?
BLITZER: I think there will be statements made Sunday after she meets with the defense minister of Israel, a separate meeting with the foreign minister. Tonight, as you know, she had dinner with the prime minister. At some point tomorrow we expect her to leave Jerusalem, make her way to Beirut and then eventually she could come back here or she could head back to Washington. We're just going to have to wait and see. I don't think she necessarily knows herself what her next step is. We'll have a special edition of "LATE EDITION" tomorrow, 11:00 Eastern. We'll speak to top U.S., Israeli, and Lebanese leaders. We'll also have a special interview with a top Syrian official. That comes up Sunday morning, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Carol.
LIN: Look forward to it Wolf. Thank you so much. Much more here on CNN LIVE sATURDAY. In fact, quick reminder coming up at 7:00 Eastern, John Roberts live on the Israeli-Lebanon border with "THIS WEEK AT WAR." All the day's news. All the week's news out of the war zone. Get caught up on all the big issues.
Also at 8:00, "CNN PRESENTS:" Marine barracks bombing. A terrific investigation by our documentary unit on the dramatic look at the lessons learned in the 1983 attack on the marine barracks in Beirut, 200 marines were killed in that attack. Much more straight ahead. Stay right there.
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