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Hundreds of Americans Flee Lebanon; Cruise Ship Tips Off Florida Coast; Hundreds Confirmed Dead in Indonesian Tsunami

Aired July 19, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Mideast crisis enters its second week.
Here's what we know right now: hundreds of Americans due to arrive in Cyprus in about three hours. They evacuated Lebanon this morning on a U.S.-chartered cruise ship. U.S. military ships and helicopters plan to take out thousands more by the weekend.

Three hundred dead, 1,000 wounded, half-a-million displaced -- Lebanon's prime minister says that's a week of Israeli bombing that has cost his country. Israel reports 29 deaths, including two children killed today in a Hezbollah rocket attack.

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the U.N. later this week. She and Secretary-General Kofi Annan will get briefed on the crisis by a U.N. team that is coming back from the region.

It's a Mediterranean island and a popular haven when things go bad in the Middle East. Cyprus is getting crowded. And it's about to get a lot more so.

Our Chris Burns is there.

Hey, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Well, just any minute now, we are expecting a Swedish ship with some 1,600 passengers on board. Others are steaming in this direction from Beirut. This is a virtual flotilla of eight ships -- at least eight ships -- coming over, with more than 7,000 evacuees -- count them, 7,000 -- among them, the Americans aboard the Orient Queen that are supposed to arrive some time after midnight tonight with some 800 people, that being escorted by the destroyer the USS Gonzalez.

The U.S. military wants to make sure that this -- that this is a very secure, as well as orderly evacuation. The U.S. has also commissioned another passenger ship that will also be escorted by another destroyer to bring some -- another 1,400 people at a time.

So, the ships involved could at least bring 2,200 people over, Americans, over from Beirut at a time. Also, these are other ships from other countries that are being commissioned that are also taking a handful of Americans here and there.

We talked to some American University students who evacuated very quickly overnight an a Norwegian-chartered vessel that took some 1,000 aboard. They said they had about 10 minutes to pack their bags and go. They had to let -- leave a lot of things behind -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chris, and there's a lot -- there's talk about exactly what time all these ships will be in place, and -- and how fast they will be able to work, from bringing people in and out of there, and, also, who will be able to -- to be able to stay on these ships, those that don't have any other place to go.

Do you have any idea how that's going to coordinate?

BURNS: It's an awesome assembly-line process. We're talking to people here at the port authority. There's a -- there's a building here where they process people through.

That has been busy and buzzing for the last few nights, and, again tonight, is going to be an amazing feat to pull that off, as ships come every hour, or every couple of hours, and they try to process them through here every few hours, and move them on what they hope to -- to the airport, and put them on planes.

But many of them, they can't do that. So, they are arranging hotel space. There are people who have friends here. They are also even thinking about putting people up in halls on a temporary basis.

So, it is an emergency situation. They have to do something about the people who are coming through here. But they're, of course, attuned and experienced in this. They have been through a number of situations where they were -- this place was a byway for people coming out of various crises in the Middle East, including the Lebanese civil war that ended 15 years ago -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chris Burns, appreciate it.

Well, pressed into evac duty, the U.S. Navy -- the USS Nashville is steaming toward the Lebanese coast, not to fight, but to invite Americans in Lebanon who want to leave.

Nashville and its Navy and Marine crew will deliver as many people as possible from Beirut to Cyprus beginning tomorrow.

CNN's Barbara Starr is on board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The 400 Marines on board this ship are awaiting their final orders to sail to Beirut to pick up hundreds of stranded Americans and bring them back here to Cyprus to safety.

But this will be an extraordinarily emotional mission for the Marines, because there are some historic circumstances evolving here that are almost very difficult to believe.

We are on board the USS Nashville. Twenty-four years ago, the Nashville went to Beirut and helped evacuate Americans from the civil war raging in Lebanon at that time. Some of the Marines on board the ship now, they are from the same unit of Marines that lost 241 of their members at Beirut international airport in 1983 in that bombing that killed 241 Marines.

So, when the final order comes and the Marines go to Beirut tomorrow, there will be extraordinary security measures in place. The Marines say they are going to take every precaution to make sure they are safe, the ship is safe, and all of the Americans that come on board this ship will have a very secure situation when they board the ship, and they leave Lebanon.

But emerging here now is the second half of the story, Cyprus. As hundreds and hundreds of people leave Lebanon, they are coming to Cyprus. And it's not clear how quickly they can be moved on to charter aircraft and be returned to the United States, or, in the case of other people, to their home countries.

Over the next several days, what is likely to emerge here on Cyprus, we are told, is a situation where people may be having to stay in local schools, fairgrounds and other facilities here on Cyprus, until they can be moved out.

But the U.S. State Department and the U.S. military says they don't want any tent cities here on Cyprus. They want to get people home and back to their families as quickly as possible.

Barbara Starr, CNN, on board the USS Nashville in Cyprus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, a small town in Israel 54 miles from Beirut in the middle of the fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli troops.

Our Christiane Amanpour is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fiercest clashes yet between the Israeli army and Hezbollah guerrillas are here in Avivim, right on the Lebanese border, Israeli tanks pitted against Hezbollah mortars and rockets.

Israel has taken casualties in this operation. Two soldiers were killed, and the injured were loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the nearest hospital. All the while, sirens wail, warning of the next rocket salvo. And it's not just humans, but hardware, too. An Israeli tank is pulled, limping off the battlefield.

The Israeli military says this action is aimed at taking out Hezbollah posts along the border.

(on camera): Israel has sent in tanks to this battle, and we have been hearing the sound of outgoing tank fire. Meantime, around the hills in this region, peppered with smoke and flames, as Hezbollah rockets are still making their mark. (voice-over): Two children were killed when rockets hit the town of Nazareth. They have also again struck Haifa, Tiberias, and all this part of northern Israel. Villages and hillsides are billowing with smoke. Buildings here in Dishon are aflame.

Overhead comes a flying fire extinguisher, dropping red powder to dampen the blaze. It circles again and again over the village, over the slopes.

Meantime, the air raid siren sounds again, as the town of Avivim, scene of the worst fighting, finally gets a direct Hezbollah hit.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Avivim, on the Israel-Lebanon border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the newsroom now.

Carol Lin with details on two developing stories -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Let me show you some pictures out of DeLand, Florida, right now. This is about all we know, that a small plane has crashed. You're not seeing the plane, but the rescue response. And two gentlemen there, we have been watching as they circle the plane, one in a red shirt, one in a black shirt.

But there it is, two passengers on board. It appears that they survived. All right, this is just southwest of Daytona Beach.

Also, Kyra, a very interesting report has come out about the Sago Mine disaster. You remember that one, where 12 miners died. One miraculously survived back in January. Well, the governor of West Virginia had commissioned an independent report and got a former federal mine safety investigator to come on board to take a look at the evidence.

Now, what he says is that the miners would have survived the explosion at that Sago Mine, if the -- the blocks that are designed to seal off an abandoned mine area there, if the blocks in the walls had actually held. They did not. They failed.

Now, this report was shared with the families of the victims, who now are demanding that -- that federal safety officials take on the recommendations made in this preliminary report, which include strengthening the underground communication, requiring that there be shelters in there, where miners can retreat to and be safe, and evaluate the existing seal standards, and -- and try to figure out a tracking standard, Kyra, inside those mines, so that survivors can be identified more quickly, their location, to get to them.

PHILLIPS: What about any personal detail about what the miners did to try and survive after that explosion, Carol?

LIN: Oh, yes. Some of those personal details came from the survivor, Randal McCloy, who -- who said that -- that the air packs, OK, oxygen, the life-giving oxygen inside these mines, four air packs actually failed on them, so, the miners inside had to share what little oxygen that they had, and that there was a critical decision, when they were trying to, you know, figure out what direction inside the mine that they should go.

Should they try to take one path, knowing that a few of the miners would probably die along the way? Should they try to stay together, or should they separate? Well, eventually, the story that Randal McCloy told was that the supervisor recommend that they stay together, strength and safety in numbers. That turned out to be a fateful decision, as -- as 12 of the miners succumbed to the fumes.

And Randal McCloy also described the scene where the miners got their tools. And, Kyra, they were banging on pipes and rocks and hollering, believing that somebody outside was actually listening and hearing their voices.

But that was not the case -- and, so, the emphasis on having some kind of reliable communication center for these miners to be able to communicate to the outside world. The -- the frustration for the families, Kyra, is that the technology exists. It's a question of whether the federal government is going to force the mines to -- to implement the latest technology.

Now, this report does not make any sort of conclusions about the Sago Mine owner's claim that lightning strike, and that's what caused that explosion to ignite. There are other federal investigations ongoing -- but little comfort in this report, Kyra, for the -- for the families of the miners.

PHILLIPS: Carol Lin, thank you.

One hundred and ten miles of devastation, hundreds dead and missing, tens of thousands homeless -- a snapshot of the misery in Indonesia, hit by a tsunami on Monday, rattled again today. LIVE FROM takes you there next.

And our reporting from the Middle East continues. I am going to speak with the military general in charge of coordinating evacuations in Cyprus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MAURA HARTY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONSULAR AFFAIRS: ... conditions on the ground, that they would not yet move. So, they are in a holding pattern, until such time as we think it is appropriate and safe and prudent to move them forward.

So, we will be happy to give you additional information on that when they do begin to move, just as soon as we can. But, again, we are always going to err on the side of caution, safe, orderly, continually monitoring the situation on the ground, to make sure that what we are doing is the safest possible thing to be doing for our citizens at any given moment.

With that, I will turn it over to the general. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're -- we're following, actually, the State Department briefing here. You just heard from Maura Harty. She's assistant secretary of state. And now Brigadier General Michael Barbero is speaking about the evacuation process, what's taking place overseas.

If you want to continue to watch that, you can go to CNN.com/Pipeline.

Meanwhile, we are going to get more details on what exactly they're allowing and what they're talking about with Brigadier General Carl Jensen. He's the commander of the Expeditionary Strike Group 3. He is based there in Cyprus. He's in charge of those Marines that are going to be going in and getting the other Americans that want to get out of Lebanon that haven't been able to make it to Beirut. We're going to talk more about those operations with him coming up in just a little bit.

Religious hatred strikes again in Iraq. Gunmen today kidnapped more than 20 people who work for an agency that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines. It happened as they were driving to their homes just north of Baghdad. Their employer, the Sunni Endowment, says it's suspending its work in protest. Sunni clerics are blaming Shiite militias for the kidnapping.

Now, who is in charge here? Two Afghan villages overrun the other day by the Taliban are said to be back under coalition control. They are Helmand Province, near the Pakistani border. The Combined Forces Command says Taliban fighters left one town even before Afghan and coalition soldiers got there. But the troops reported skirmishes before retaking the other village. The U.S. military spokesman describes the Taliban as -- quote -- "bullying their way around the area."

Another undersea earthquake rattles Indonesia, this one centered about 120 miles west of Jakarta, in the Indian Ocean -- unlike Monday, no tsunami threat, no reports of injury or death.

On Java, meanwhile, a desperate search for the missing, as survivors burying victims of Monday's tsunami -- there are 531 people that have died in that tsunami so far.

A firsthand look at the misery now from ITN's Harry Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY SMITH, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): It was the second tsunami to hit this land in as many years. And although the effect is not on the same scale, nature has once again devastated miles of coastline.

Thousands of homes have been shattered, along with the live of those who lived here. This woman still sits in the ruins of her home, waiting in despair for news of her missing son. Others search the debris for personal possessions. Officials search everywhere for survivors. What they find now are usually only the dead. This Belgian tourist was among the lucky ones who survived.

JAN BOEKEN, BELGIAN TOURIST/TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: And the water grabbed me and pulled me under. And I was thinking: "This is the end. Now I'm going to die. I'm going to drown." And, then, suddenly, the wall of the kitchen collapsed, and it freed me.

SMITH: This Saudi man and his son survived. His wife and younger son are missing.

HAMES ABUKHAMISS, SAUDI TOURIST/TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: I have half of my family left. Now just pick up the pieces and move on.

SMITH: With the death toll certain to rise still further, such grief will touch many more in this land.

Harry Smith, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, coming up: Talk about job pressure. When this man speaks, markets react. so, what did the fed chief have to say today? We are going to check in with Ali Velshi -- he always knows -- coming up next on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Fed chairman talks, and Wall Street jumps.

Ali Velshi listens. Ali Velshi listens, then explains it all to the rest of us.

OK, you're saying, what did you say, 11000? Is that what I just got...

(CROSSTALK)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We're -- we're doing better than 11000 on the Dow, 11011 right now, which is brought on by a 212- point gain on the Dow.

That's not as high as it's been, but this has been -- the Dow charged more than 100 points ahead right after Ben Bernanke started speaking today. Kyra, this is twice a year he gets before Congress, and sort of answers questions about -- about the state of the economy. And here -- you know -- you know what he said? You know what made markets soar?

PHILLIPS: What?

VELSHI: Let's see. Let's take a look at this. This is -- this is one of those fun things that Fed governors get to say that the rest of us don't quite understand. So, here's the quote. The -- the -- the question is, are we going to see more interest rate hikes? And his answer is: "I think the risk that we are considering -- and ,again, it's just a risk -- that inflation might move up, it might force us to be more aggressive, which we don't want to do, because we hope that inflation will stay under control and come down, as we expect it to. I think that is a risk to short-term expansion."

PHILLIPS: Huh?

VELSHI: It's not -- it's not the -- not the...

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: ... straightest answer in the world. But...

PHILLIPS: OK, Green-speak...

VELSHI: ... the markets...

PHILLIPS: ... Bernanke-speak...

VELSHI: Totally.

PHILLIPS: ... all right, they're both very confusing.

VELSHI: And what the...

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: What investors took that to mean, clearly, by -- by sending the market up by 217 points, is that he thinks that inflation is kind of under control, and, while there's some chance the Fed could continue to increase interest rates, it may just decide not to.

It meets again on August 8. And, as you know, rates have gone up for the last 17 times, 17 quarter-point increases, to 5.25 right now. And that costs everybody money. It costs businesses money that -- that borrow. It costs investors money. It costs consumers money.

So, the idea is that, if the Fed stops raising interest rates, we might all have a little more money to spend -- good for the economy, good for stocks.

PHILLIPS: So, Bernanke says, inflation remains contained?

VELSHI: Yes. He said...

PHILLIPS: Explain to me...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Explain to me what that means.

VELSHI: Yes. Now, this is the -- the issue. It's contained. The threat, of course, is energy. So, when they measure inflation, you measure two things. You measure the overall inflation number. And then you measure core inflation. Core inflation is everything in inflation without food and energy, because those are the two most volatile things when you measure price increases.

So, if you take those out, you get a sense of, OK, other than hurricanes, and oil, and Mideast tensions, how are prices moving along of regular things? The danger is that core inflation is starting to tick up. Why?

Here's my example: Barbie. This is Fashion Barbie, by the way, brand-new acquisition of mine. Barbie is...

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: ... got no direct connection to energy, right? You would -- you would agree, no direct connection to a barrel of oil?

(MUSIC)

Is that theme music?

PHILLIPS: Probably.

VELSHI: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Yes.

VELSHI: So, Barbie here, however, the raw materials are petroleum-based. So, it costs more to make Barbie, costs more to ship Barbie, costs more...

(MUSIC)

VELSHI: This is unbelievable music -- costs more to send Barbie to the store. So...

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: ... things like Barbie...

PHILLIPS: So, the whole thing costs more.

VELSHI: ... cost more. And that's core inflation.

When Barbie costs you more, and it has got nothing to do with energy -- check out the fashion hair. That's the...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: I just want to know why you have a Barbie. I'm listening to you, but I want to know. VELSHI: To illustrate my point.

PHILLIPS: I can't get past the blonde hair and the green dress.

VELSHI: I also have an egg, but that's for an unrelated story for Headline News later on.

PHILLIPS: Thank you. I guess we won't go there?

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: No. But we will be back to talk. So, if you actually want to ask me about the egg later, you can, because we -- the market is still up, 222 points right now, 11021.

So, rock on, Barbie.

PHILLIPS: Wages likely to increase, though -- American companies report having trouble...

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: ... finding skilled workers, like Barbie.

VELSHI: Yes. Yes.

And -- and -- and that's another big issue that Bernanke talked about, that, if -- if you -- you know, you raise wages, could mean that you can't employ as many people. So, you want to be able to raise wages, so people can spend more, without costing the economy. So, that is another issue.

Bernanke did say -- and we have been reporting this -- believe it or not, the unemployment level is very low in this country. And there are companies saying they're having trouble finding workers. And that's something, if you recall, Kyra, the Democrats have said. If they win the election in November, the first thing they are going to do is move to increase minimum wage from a level that it's been at since 1997.

PHILLIPS: We will see you and Barbie at the closing bell.

VELSHI: Bye, Kyra.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Oh, lord.

All right.

Straight ahead: Americans trying to get out of Lebanon -- for many, including the family of one of our CNN reporters, it's been a nightmare -- that story ahead when LIVE FROM continues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FELIX BERYTUS, AMERICAN EVACUEE FROM LEBANON: This is the first opportunity to leave the country. And, so, anybody who wants to, like, continue matters outside of the country, aren't sure of their own, like, complete safety, then this is the best bet.

BRENNAN BERRY, AMERICAN EVACUEE FROM LEBANON: Extremely chaotic, very disorganized. We got on the boat around 4:30 in the afternoon. And, so, we just got off now. So, it's good to be on ground, but, yes, very -- and no food. So...

(LAUGHTER)

BERRY: So, it could have gone better.

ADELAIDE BYRUM, AMERICAN EVACUEE FROM LEBANON: It was pretty dirty, but, you know, it could have been worse. It was fine. Like, there were flies. But, you know, we lived.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We have all seen worse in the movies, but this was real -- a brand-new cruise ship, with more than 4,000 passengers and crew, leans hard to one side. Dozens of people are hurt, two critically.

It happened yesterday off Port Canaveral, Florida, where, today, we find CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti.

What's the latest, Susan.?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

One woman, a passenger from California, told me that what happened reminded her of an earthquake. Nearly 100 people who were injured were taken to the hospital, after the Crown Princess, that was just christened last month, suddenly tilted as it was leaving Port Canaveral yesterday afternoon.

Passengers were thrown off their feet, tumbled down hallways, down staircases, some thrown out of the pool. And all but three passengers, as you are taking a look at home video shot by New York passenger Renee Gutierrez (ph), all but three passengers and two crew members remain hospitalized at this time.

The Crown Princess cruise ship says that all people are expected to recover, including one child, who earlier, it had been said, was critically injured. That turned out not to be the case, fortunately.

Here's what one passenger said about what it was like being on the pool deck when this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in the pool, and it slowly starts to tip. And you don't -- we didn't think anything was happening, because it's a boat. It tips a little bit. And then, all of a sudden, you just -- it -- it -- it just hit a tipping point. It just started going like that.

And it -- it felt like it was like this for about 15 seconds. And, you know, everybody went flying, and people landed into each other. Tables and chairs slid. And, actually, once I picked myself up, I had to start digging people out of lounge chairs, and...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: The U.S. Coast Guard said, despite earlier reports, when people said that the tilt was much steeper, so far, their early estimate is that the cruise ship tilted about 15 degrees.

Again, that's not what some people felt, but that's what the Coast Guard says at this time. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating, as it always does. They figure this could take around three to five days to get an idea of what exactly happened here.

Princess Cruise Lines is giving a full refund to all of the about 3,000 or so passengers who were on this cruise at the end of what was nearly a nine day cruise to the western Caribbean. Many of the passengers praising the crew for how they handled the situation. And, believe it or not, a lot of people said that this wouldn't scare them off from cruising again. One last thing, Kyra. Believe it or not, the film that they had planned to show on the ship last night, "The Titanic." I guess times have changed. Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Quite a bit. Susan Candiotti, thanks.

Well, getting out of Dodge, French, British, Canadians, Americans, thousands of them. And by Dodge, I mean of course Beirut. Here's what we know. It's after 10:00 at night in the eastern Mediterranean and the first of an eight-ship flotilla of refugees is due at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. More than 7,000 people, mostly Europeans, all fleeing the fighting in Lebanon.

Plenty more expected to make the trip tomorrow. About a thousand Americans will set sail on a U.S. Navy vessel due to arrive in Beirut from the Red Sea. Now on the diplomatic front, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets tomorrow with the U.N. Secretary-General and the European Union. A firm date still has not been set for Rice to travel to the Middle East.

Now moving thousands of people from a war zone to safe haven, it's a huge job. And for the U.S. military, it's only beginning. Brigadier General Carl Jensen is on the phone with me right now from Cyprus. He's the man in charge of U.S. forces helping to evacuate Americans from Lebanon.

General, we started to talk a little bit yesterday, then Admiral Walsh had a briefing via DOD videophone. I'm so glad you were able to come back and talk with us. I actually had a chance to talk to him today and I asked him about the families still stuck in Lebanon that couldn't get to Beirut. He said, Kyra, that's what General Jensen is for and the U.S. Marines.

BRIG. GEN. CARL JENSEN, U.S. MARINES: Well, Kyra, we have every expectation that the embassy will be able to facilitate their withdrawal. I assume you're talking about some of the Americans who may still be in southern Lebanon, is that correct?

PHILLIPS: That's exactly correct. We've actually got pictures of some families that have even written in to us, sir, saying, help us. We're trying to get to the embassy. We're trying to get anyone to get us out of here. This is one specific family. I don't know if you're able to see it now on the screen because I'm not quite sure where you are. But, we've been collecting these so I would be able to say to you, what about these families? How are you going to get them out of there?

JENSEN: Well, again, the American embassy in Beirut is working toward their pickup and looking toward moving, looking to moving them north as soon as possible. I really can't tell you more about it at this point in time. I can tell you that it has the entire interest of the embassy and the ambassador and I think in the coming days you'll see some fairly significant movement in that regard, we hope. I just got back from the embassy about three or four hours ago. And I spoke with the ambassador personally. And they are working toward that very issue. And I really am not at any liberty to say any more.

PHILLIPS: Totally understand because, obviously, this is a hostile situation. We're talking about hostile territory, General. But you know hostile territories well. You're commander of the Expeditionary Strike Group Three. You have helicopters that are part of the 24th, with special operations capability. No doubt you're the man to do it, if need be. Why don't you tell me about your assets, about your helicopters, about your men and women and why you're ready for whatever needs to be done.

JENSEN: Well, we are ready. But in my capacity here, current capacity, I'm the commander of Task Force 59, which has been given the responsibility for the assisted departure of Americans who wish to leave Lebanon. And this is being done in a permissive environment. So where I will certainly use the assets of the Iwo Jima Strike Group, for instance, which will shortly be on the scene, and the 24th MEU, which is embarked, I will use it in such a way to assist in the departure of those Americans who wish to leave Lebanon.

As I said, I just left Beirut hours ago. And I will tell you that it was a scene of calm. And so I'm convinced that we will be able to peacefully and without resorting to any kinetics, get those Americans out of Lebanon who wish to depart. I would also like to clarify something that, there seems to be, or I get the sense that in some circles, this is viewed as an evacuation of Lebanon by Americans. And it's not. We're facilitating the departure of those who wish to leave. Many are choosing to stay.

The American embassy is open. It will remain open. And this is certainly not a mass exodus. As you can imagine, many, if not most of the Americans who are over there, have families there. They have businesses there. They have lives there. So some of them may choose to leave and others will not.

PHILLIPS: Well, General, you're also one tough soldier and there's a lot of people there that definitely don't have the physical or mental strength that you do. There's a lot of pretty scared families, mothers, children. They want to get out there. For them, this is a war zone. And with the attacks going on between Hezbollah guerrillas and going up against the IDF, there is a major concern that it's not going to be an easy thing for them and they want to get out of there.

So I guess what can you say to just give them a little bit of, just peace of mind right now for those that are still stranded outside of Beirut, in Lebanon? I think they just want to know that at some point they're going to get out of there.

JENSEN: As I said earlier, this has the full attention of the ambassador. And I believe, I really ought not to go into any more details than that. This is something that the embassy is working on and I think that in the next few days, soon, we hope to see some definitive action in that regard. And to those families who are down there, I think that we can say a solution will be found. And that's probably about all I ought to say.

PHILLIPS: Brigadier General Carl Jensen, well understood. We look forward to following up on what you're going to do in, of course, the next couple of days. We'll be watching closely. Thanks, sir.

JENSEN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well war between Israel and Hezbollah is a nightmare for countless families far from the Middle East, families that we've been talking about, families with relatives caught in the crossfire. That includes some of our own CNN family.

Chris Lawrence has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA CHOKR, SISTER OF THELMA GUTIERREZ: I know that the roads are all being bombed, bridges. And those are being bombed. And we just all kind of wondered how the heck we're going to get out of here.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN correspondent Thelma Gutierrez has interviewed hundreds of families with loved ones in danger but hearing her own sister on the phone from Lebanon hits way too close to home.

CHOKR: Tell mom and dad that we're fine. We're a little shaky, but we're fine.

LAWRENCE: Sandra Chokr lives in Seattle with her husband and sons. Before the bombs started falling she took the boys to visit Lebanon. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plan was they go to spend the summer there so my mom and my dad would have the opportunity to get to know their grandkids.

LAWRENCE: Now they're tripped in Bekaa Valley, two hours' drive from Beirut.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If that's where the evacuations are going to be happening, how exactly are you going to get to Beirut?

CHOKR: It's all speculation. They're telling me the army is going to come and pick you up, they're going to pick you up in a helicopter. No, they're going to land a plane somewhere in the middle of the field. And nobody knows.

LAWRENCE: Her nephew and sister have been calling or e-mailing whenever they can.

GUTIERREZ: It's incredibly difficult to sit on this side and worry. And, again, you know, we're not alone.

LAWRENCE: Thousands of Americans could be making the exact same call.

GUTIERREZ: All right, Sandra. Well, love you.

CHOKR: Love you, too, Thelma. Talk to you later, OK?

GUTIERREZ: Bye, bye.

CHOKR: Bye.

LAWRENCE: And like those other families, there's nothing to do but wait and hope the next call brings better news.

(on camera): Right now, they know Americans are being evacuated from Beirut, but the roads are so dangerous, they've been ordered not to travel. So they sit and wait to hear if anyone's coming to get them.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, we just spoke with Thelma to get the latest on her sister. She says that they slept in the hall last night because they didn't have a bomb shelter, and they're close to the Syrian border and continue to hear bombs dropping. We're going to continue to follow her story as all of those other families we've been talking about and how they want to get to get of there, as well.

Rockets in the air one day, boots on the ground the next. What's ahead in the battle between Israel and Hezbollah? We're going to take a look, right after the break.

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PHILLIPS: An air war has its advantages; chiefly, that it's a whole lot easier and a lot less costly than a ground war.

CNN's Tom Foreman got the big picture for "A.C. 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israel is trying to wipe out Hezbollah's rockets, the old short range ones which can reach only 10 or 12 miles into Israel; the new midrange rockets, which have been hitting Haifa about 20 miles inside the border; and even longer range rockets that they suspect exist and could reach all the way to Tel Aviv, about 75 miles in.

(on camera): Israeli intelligence believes the bulk of Hezbollah's rockets are hidden in this triangle, in the south and east of Lebanon. This is where Hezbollah operates, not in the whole country. So it's a limited area.

How many rockets? Look at this. Down the southern border, they think there may be about 10,000 of those short range rockets hidden in bedrooms and office buildings and garages and sheds, under the ground, all that sort of stuff.

Up here toward Beirut, though, they think there may be about 300 of those longer range, more advanced rockets. Those are the ones they really want to get.

Right now Israel is pounding all the places that they think these things may be hidden, because frankly, they think the rockets are the backbone of Hezbollah.

EDWARD LUTTWAK, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL. STUDIES: Without rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is nothing. It's 5,000, 6,000 armed men with middling level of training. So if the Israelis decide that they're not being successful at reducing the inventory, then they'll cross the border.

FOREMAN: But a ground invasion of this area, if Israel tried to come in and surround Hezbollah, would be tough. This is mountainous terrain. It's covered with all sorts of little villages. Military analysts say each one would have to be secured and searched, and each one could absorb 300, 400, 500 troops. That's a lot of people.

On top of which, look at the nature of these buildings. They're made of stone. If homes and building here were made of plywood or wallboard, you could shoot through them. Because they're made of stone, they offer easy safe hiding places for snipers and insurgents, where it's hard to get at them. And likely, that's what Hezbollah would become. An insurgency that would grind on.

Could the Lebanese army help? Maybe. They could come in from the north. But so far they've indicated they can't handle Hezbollah.

LUTTWAK: The idea of a pincer, of a squeeze by the Israelis advancing into Lebanon from the south and the Lebanese army stands firm and holds and squeeze Hezbollah, that could be hoped for and wished for. But it's not -- doesn't seem to be likely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, you've been sending us your thoughts and pleas for help, and we've been reading all of them. Carol Lin joins us with a few more of your stories, coming up.

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PHILLIPS: CNN's Carol Lin has an eye on the CNN International desk, the various Mideast television stations, as well as all your e- mails and photos. Wow, we're getting a lot of them -- Carol.

LIN: You bet. Want to share some of the most intriguing pictures that I've found so far. These are by Associated -- the Associated Press. Gives you an idea of the tense situation on the ground in Lebanon, as people are trying to flee the violence there.

This is a picture of two Cypriot women helping their elderly father before boarding the Greek gunship Ekaria (ph) as they were trying to evacuate Beirut. The fear and the tension there as they try to get their elderly father onboard.

You hear about the chaos from several of the Americans reporting into CNN. The scene on the cruise ship there as you see an unidentified American federal agent and a U.S. embassy security officer searching the bags of American citizens as they wait to board the Orient Queen cruise ship in the port capital of Beirut in Lebanon.

Can you imagine? I mean, we have a hard time through airport security, but trying to flee a war zone and having people go through your things one item at a time to try to offer some sense of security. But once onboard, Kyra -- this is a photo that really caught my eye. Drinks being served onboard the Orient Queen cruise ship. These are American citizens Fawad Galat (ph) and his wife Mona (ph). They're drinking what we are reportedly saying is orange juice. All right, these folks from Baltimore, Maryland.

PHILLIPS: All right, that's a Mai Tai. Come on now.

LIN: Orange juice. Yes, you know, a little suspicious, that red at the bottom. But, hey. And speaking of drinks, Kyra, everybody has got to eat, even in a war zone. These pictures of American citizens Kelly Kasab (ph) and her husband, Fawsi Kasab (ph) from Boston, Massachusetts, feeding their twin 8-month-old sons. Nathan (ph) is on the left, and Liam (ph) on the deck of the Orient Queen. You know, just another day in paradise as far as the 8-month-olds are concerned.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

LIN: Yes, that's a great family picture, don't you think?

PHILLIPS: Yes, it is. No, it's great getting that sort of personal insight, because there's a lot of people that are really handling this well. Others are having a tougher time. And we're monitoring all the various images. Thanks, Carol.

LIN: We are.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by in "THE SIT ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour.

Hey, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kyra, very much. We'll have the latest on the crisis in the Middle East, including fresh attacks in both Lebanon and in Israel.

Plus, relieved U.S. citizens streaming into Cyprus as part of the massive evacuation. We're going to take you live to both Beirut and to Cyprus.

And U.S. officials now preparing for tomorrow's meeting at the United Nations Security council, where the Middle East crisis is front and center. We're going to hear live from the Israeli ambassador to the U.N.

And could Hezbollah strike here in the United States? There's new information coming out. CNN's Kelli Arena will report from Washington on the intelligence and the threat. All that coming up right here at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.

Relief in the East, but the heat's hanging on across the western half of the country. Temperatures 100 and above are expected to last through the week. The heat is blamed for almost a dozen deaths and countless blackouts. Utility companies are pleading with consumers to conserve.

Temperatures aren't fit for man nor beast in western Europe, either. In Britain, it's so hot the pavement is melting on the roads. London hit 97 today, an all-time high for any date in July, and saying it in Celsius, 36, doesn't make it feel any cooler. Heat is blamed for nine deaths in France, two in Spain, two more in the Netherlands. Temperatures are expected to cool slightly over the next few days.

Well, if you've ever complained about your aching back, your sore muscles, well, take a page from this man. He's 94 years old and he puts people half his age to shame. Who is he? You should know if you're a baseball fan. More LIVE FROM, coming up next.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it seems as if the Tour de France has come to feature some incredible stories of perseverance. In the past, it was cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. Now it's another American, Floyd Landis. Landis the overall leader of the tour until today's stage. That's even, though -- well, listen to this. He's got a degenerative hip condition that leaves him in constant pain. Doctors say many people with that problem can't even manage simple tasks without agony. Well, Landis, a one-time teammate of Armstrong, does plan to have hip replacement surgery after the racing season.

Well, he hadn't been up to bat since the 1950s, but Buck O'Neil stepped up to the plate last night. Check this out. Oh! He had a good eye on that one. The former Negro League standout was the lead- off hitter at a Minor League all-star game in Kansas City at the age of 94. The one-day contract made O'Neil the oldest man ever to play professional baseball. O'Neil made it to first base twice, both on intentional walks. Buck's made history before. He was Major League baseball's first black coach back in 1962. Just watch him.

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