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Diplomats and Aid Groups Trying to Ease Crisis in Lebanon; Israeli Military Calling Up Reservists; Back to Beirut for Marines

Aired July 21, 2006 - 13:59   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefing reporters on here trip that she is going to. A lot of people wondering when she was going to finally head to the region. She said now is the time.
She's going to stop off in Israel, meet with Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and then move on to Rome. And she's going to meet with Arab and other -- or Western, Arab and other diplomats to discuss the Lebanese crisis and try to work out a diplomatic answer to what is happening overseas.

We're also told that the conference is going to tackle the framework for implementations of U.N. Security Council 1559. This is the resolution we've been talking about from the very beginning. It was actually from 2004, where the Lebanese government was supposed to work to disarm Hezbollah. Obviously, that never happened because we're seeing what's happening overseas.

And the secretary of state continuing to push the point that, how do you have a democratic government and a group like Hezbollah, which she says is trying to dip one foot in the diplomatic side and the other foot into terrorism? There is no way you can work out a U.N. resolution when that's taking place. Going to try to bring that back to the forefront to find a reason to get a cease-fire in place.

We're going to follow her trip, of course,.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army growing in size and massing at the Lebanese border. Let me tell you what we have for you right now.

An Israeli general is saying that his troops and tanks are ready for action. Israel activated reservists today believed to number in the thousands by now.

And then inside Lebanon, Red Cross relief arrives in the battered town of Tyre. Israel's ambassador to the U.N. says that humanitarian missions will be allowed to parts of Lebanon cut off by the fighting.

And then a group of U.S. lawmakers will go with this preplanned visit to the Middle East this weekend, but probably not to Lebanon. The delegation that we've been telling you about with the secretary of state is expected to meet with U.S. and Israeli intelligence experts, among a number of others.

Now, CNN has reporters all across the region. LIVE FROM will have live reports throughout this program. Now, night has fallen on Beirut, a city shaken by airstrikes, but still a functioning national capital. Diplomats and aid groups are working there, trying to ease the crisis without further bloodshed.

Let's get straight to Beirut and CNN's Ben Wedemen -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra.

I spent part of the day today going with Mercy Corps, which is a U.S.-based charity that was up in the mountains just south of Beirut, where they were going from various schools and government buildings and hotels which have all been converted into centers for refugees from the south of the country. They're handing out food and other supplies, diapers, and that sort of thing, to the people up there.

And in this particular town, which normally has a population of just about 5,000, it's huge now. The population is 47,000.

Apparently, it's so many people that the local water reservoir has gone dry. The food has been all brought up from the local markets. So people are in desperate need of food, medicine. The electricity doesn't work up there much of the time.

Many of these people, though, are thankful to be there. They fled from places like Tyre, from southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded for the last 10 days by Israeli artillery and aircraft -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ben Wedemen, thanks so much.

You mentioned Mercy Corps. We're actually going to talk to a representative from Mercy Corps.

Cassandra Nelson (ph) coming up in the 3:00 Eastern hour to talk more about those efforts and what Mercy Corps is trying to do, in addition to what Ben Wedemen was telling us there as he reports from Beirut.

Now, let's get back to the U.N. and Richard Roth.

Richard, here it comes to the forefront again and again and again. We were talking about this a couple weeks ago when this all started, and that's Resolution 1559, where back in 2004, the Lebanese government was supposed to try to disarm Hezbollah. Here we are in 2006, still an issue.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. The United States and Israel certainly pointed this out.

Lebanon said there haven't been that many incidents. The U.S. and Israel sharply disagree regarding Hezbollah and whether it complied.

They never put any enforcement mechanism into the resolution. They've always had to get tougher after passing a resolution. That happened with Syria, and getting Syria out of Lebanon. The U.S. and France worked together on that.

Secretary of State Rice, again, pointing to Hezbollah and whether Hezbollah would comply, and how Hezbollah is a member of the Lebanese parliament, but yet the Lebanese government was not officially notified that missile attacks or rocket would be launched at Israel. She also talked about any hope of some type of cease-fire being obtained at this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: A cease-fire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo, allowing terrorists to launch attacks at the time and terms of their choosing and to threaten innocent people, Arab and Israeli, throughout the region. That would be a guarantee of future violence.

Instead, we must be more effective and more ambitious than that. We must work urgently to create the conditions for stability and lasting peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Rice said she wasn't really interested in going to the Middle East earlier because she just didn't want to do diplomacy for diplomacy sake when she said she stressed a long-term solution is needed, otherwise you're going to have the same problem with Hezbollah, she said, festering immediately if you get some type of quick cease-fire -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Richard Roth at the U.N.

Appreciate it.

From crisis to conflict, the full-scale incursion. Well, Israel is calling up thousands of reserve troops, and a top Israeli general tells CNN, "Our reinforcements are going in the direction of Lebanon."

CNN's Paula Newton is watching.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are seeing along this border a mobilization of forces and weaponry towards the Lebanese front here behind me. What is happening here is that the Israeli army is getting prepared for some type of a ground incursion. That doesn't mean that the defense department has taken that kind of a decision yet, but they're preparing, nonetheless, and we are seeing some of that along the border here.

What has happened is that the airstrikes, while limited in its effectiveness, have had some type of effect on Hezbollah's capability. But, really, here in Israel, they are still getting Katyushas landing on cities like Haifa. And the Israeli officials yesterday admitted as much, saying, look, to try and wipe out that last half of Hezbollah's capability, we may need to go in on the ground to try to flush Hezbollah guerrillas out and get to caves and tunnels where that weaponry is buried.

They are also talking about trying to put into force a buffer zone in southern Lebanon that is quite large, perhaps as long as 30 kilometers. And they may start to go in and do some of that work for themselves.

Again, I stress the decision has not been made, but we are expecting that in meetings on the weekend that the Israeli government will have a decision on exactly how far to go into southern Lebanon and how many troops to send in.

Paula Newton, CNN, on the Israel-Lebanese border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Lebanese who are able -- are able -- streaming over land into Syria now, some 130,000 at last count.

CNN's Hala Gorani is in Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Night has fallen on the Syria- Lebanon border, and all of the number of people fleeing the violence in Lebanon went down this Friday. Still, we're told upwards of 20,000 people made this crossing into Syria.

I'm at a Red Crescent distribution center right now, where even though it's nighttime, refugees and evacuees are lining up for handouts of water and food. And they're telling harrowing stories of what they saw when they fled their homeland. I met one man whose car windows were entirely blown out by debris falling from a building as bombs fell right near to where his family was.

The question now is, where do these people go once they make it well into Syria? Some Syrian homes have opened their doors to them. And a few schools, as well, in the Syrian capital of Damascus are welcoming them in.

The question is, is the number of refugees today, 20,000 or so, going to continue to go down, or if the violence does continue in Lebanon, will we see this number of refugees swell once again?

Hala Gorani, at the Yubusk (ph) crossing in Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, U.S. Marines in Beirut. If you're old enough to remember 1983, the Marines' current mission of mercy conjures images of a different time, a different mission, and a disastrous Hezbollah attack.

CNN's Brian Todd looks back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Snapshots of success. The accomplishments of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East. 1973, Henry Kissinger negotiates peace after the Yom Kippur war. Five years later, Jimmy Carter brokers the Camp David Accords. 1993, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands on Palestinian self rule and better Israeli security.

The consensus now, don't expect any historic photo ops with leaders who could help end this conflict.

RICHARD MURPHY, FORMER ASST. SECRETARY OF STATE: Obviously, that's Syria and Iran. We don't have contact, any meaningful nature in either capital.

TODD: Former top U.S. diplomats say the days when Condoleezza Rice could even think of shuttling between Israel and Syria or Lebanon to broker a cease fire are long gone. Gone since the United States pulled its ambassador out of Damascus last year, over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Gone, because of tensions over Syria's alleged sheltering of insurgents from Iraq. And gone in light of the Bush administration's hard line towards Syria and the war on terror and toward Iran in the nuclear standoff. Another reason for diminished diplomatic opportunity, analysts say, one overriding perception of America's role in this conflict.

FAWAZ GERGES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: The idea that I hear from really across the board is that the United States has given Israel a green line to continue its bombing of Lebanon.

TODD: An opinion so widely shared, it's forced the White House to deny even greater complicity.

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're not engaged in military strategy sessions with the Israelis, we're not colluding, we're not cooperating, we're not conspiring.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, no one knows the Middle East conflict as clearly as one who's been there and been a victim of it. My guest is the author of this book, "Terror: Is America Safe?"

Robert Jordan is no stranger to Beirut. He was the U.S. Marines spokesman that was there when the embassy barracks was bombed in 1983. He joins me now from Orlando, Florida.

Good to see you, Robert. I appreciate you being with us. It definitely gives a different insight to what is happening right now.

This must be deja vu for you.

MAJ. ROBERT JORDAN, U.S. MARINE CORP. (RET.): It certainly is. And, you know, you don't like to see this kind of thing happening. PHILLIPS: Well, let me tell you -- let me ask you, what concerns you the most as you watch this battle unfold and you watch U.S. Marines come in and try to evacuate the people that want to get out of there?

JORDAN: Well, my two primary concerns are the lack of understanding by the general public on what is going on. They do not understand the agenda of Hezbollah and Syria and Lebanon -- or Syria and Iran.

My other concern is that the Israelis, in aggressively pursuing their defense, have probably overstepped a little bit. And I'm glad to see that they're now restraining their actions.

I have a lot of Lebanese friends who are concerned about their loved ones who are in Lebanon. They're concerned about the lack of fundamental staples, food and milk and so forth.

PHILLIPS: When you...

JORDAN: They're concerned about transportation.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you, sir, when you say that you don't think the general public understands what Hezbollah is really trying to do, what do you -- what do you mean by that? Are you talking about how bad the threat is or could be?

JORDAN: I don't think they understand how determined Hezbollah is and how determined the fundamentalist Islamists are.

They don't understand that on their part this is a long-term thing. They're willing to take generations to accomplish their goal of world domination by Islam. They're willing to die for that cause. And too often, the Western civilizations kind of just slough it off and think it's just a temporary aberration, that it's going to go away, we can get a cease-fire, and then we can have peace for another day.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you. Let's go back to 1983, when 200-plus Marines were killed because of a Hezbollah attack. You were there, you were in the thick of it, you had to try to pull your comrades out of the rubble.

Knowing what Hezbollah was capable of then, and seeing what is happening right now, do you think it's worse? Do you think that we could see something happen to U.S. Marines that are trying to get involved in helping with the evacuations right now?

What are you thinking about when you think of '83 and what happened to the Marines and what's happening right now with regard to efforts on behalf of the Marines?

JORDAN: I think my primary feeling is one of frustration, anger and disappointment that we were not allowed to complete our mission. Hezbollah was founded in 19 -- or in 1982 with Iranian support and Syrian support. And at that time, they were not the power that they are today.

Over the intervening years, they have taken a page out of Sinn Fein. They have developed a political arm. They're an interracial part of the Lebanese government. They have sophisticated arms from Iran and they have support from Syria, and now they're a much more difficult power to deal with than they would have been in 1983, if we had been allowed to complete our mission.

PHILLIPS: So -- OK. So you think -- well, let me ask you this. Do you think that you could have prevented Hezbollah -- do you think Hezbollah could have gone away at that point? After you saw that -- that attack on the U.S. Marines -- you lost 241 Marines, I believe, is the number. Correct me if I'm wrong.

JORDAN: Two hundred and forty-one in one day while they were sleeping. We lost over 270 during the whole deployment.

PHILLIPS: So if you would have stayed in that fight and gone up against Hezbollah, do you think you could have dismantled Hezbollah so it wouldn't even be an active organization right now?

JORDAN: I believe that had we been allowed the versatility that the Marine Corps has and its amphibious air and ground support, amphibious lift, we could have merged with the Lebanese armed forces. We could have gone into strategically more tenable ground than we were at, at the airport.

We could have deployed throughout Lebanon and reestablished the rule of law. And we may not have eliminated Hezbollah, but we certainly could have neutralized them.

PHILLIPS: You have the pictures, the before and the after, of the embassy barracks before Hezbollah attacked. And then you have another picture showing the explosions from far away.

When you look back at these pictures we're going to bring up in just a second, the before -- there's the before. And then we'll see the after in just a minute. What do you remember from that moment? Did everything change the moment that happened?

JORDAN: Well, I certainly lost my political naivete. When the blast went off, it was the loudest explosion I had ever heard. And the intelligence was saying that the Russians had been supplying the Syrians and the Iranians with intercontinental ballistic missiles that might be employed against us.

We were down on the flat land, they were up in the ridges. And I thought somebody had gone crazy and unleashed an intercontinental ballistic missile against us.

I realized that the peacekeeping mission was a very noble, but naive concept. And I realized that if we were not allowed to adapt our mission to the environment that we were in, that it was a lose- lose situation. And that's what it proved to be.

PHILLIPS: My final question. The Marines that are there helping with evacuations, do you think they need to get involved in this fight to dismantle Hezbollah?

JORDAN: I think they need to protect our interests, and the primary interest there is safeguarding the Americans who are in Lebanon. Secondary, helping to shore up the Lebanese armed forces and the Lebanese government.

I would hate to see them become part of a multinational peacekeeping force. I don't think you can make peace where no peace exists, but I would like to see our Marines extract our fellow citizens and then back away and let an international force come in and try to establish control.

PHILLIPS: Retired Major Robert Jordan, appreciate your time in sharing your story with me today.

JORDAN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Israel's top guns targeting Hezbollah. Next, a first- hand look at how fighter pilots try to find enemy positions.

Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Carol Lin has an eye on the CNN International Desk and various Mideast television stations, as well as the e-mails and the pictures that keep coming in -- Carol.

LIN: And we keep hearing, Kyra, from people who are stuck in Lebanon or can't get a hold of anybody at the U.S. Embassy to help their family that is stuck somewhere in Lebanon.

On the telephone with me right now is a father and the husband of a woman who is waiting in Texas to hear what's going to happen to her family.

Nasser Hajj-Ali, can you hear me?

NASSER HAJJ-ALI, STRANDED IN BEIRUT: Yes, Carol. How are you today?

LIN: I'm doing fine. And I want to know how you and your 6- year-old daughter are right now.

HAJJ-ALI: We're very tired, exhausted, and very stressed out. The situation has been very, very scary for my daughter. She has not experienced something like that before, so it's been really overwhelming for her.

LIN: It must be. You actually registered with the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, is that right? You were supposed to be evacuated, at least that was your impression?

HAJJ-ALI: Multiple times through the State Department, although also through the U.S. Embassy here, yes.

LIN: And what did they tell you? What happened?

HAJJ-ALI: I go back and they say I have to pre-register again. And, you know, I go and wait in line and they say my name is not there and my daughter's name is not there, it's not on the list.

LIN: Even though you filled out the paperwork?

HAJJ-ALI: Yes.

LONG: So they're telling you to fill out paperwork, and in the meantime, your 6-year-old daughter collapses.

HAJJ-ALI: That is correct. Today was my fourth attempt, and my daughter collapsed. So I had to bail out again. And I went later on this afternoon and I was told I had have to wait in line again. And I don't think that was feasible for my daughter. She wasn't feeling well again.

LIN: She was dehydrated because of the heat?

HAJJ-ALI: Yes, that's correct.

LIN: So you have no idea if or when you'll ever be able to get out?

HAJJ-ALI: No clue, because right now I've been told I have don't have to pre-register again. It's on a first come, first serve basis, but the lines are long lines and, unfortunately, it's a bit unorganized.

LIN: What if you just wait out the situation, you stay there in Beirut, you stayed inside? Is it safe enough for you to at least feel some hope that you might be able to, you know, at least be safe for a few days or a few weeks?

HAJJ-ALI: I had considered that option; however, since the bombing is nearby, only four miles away from where the suburbs of Beirut are being bombed -- and you can hear the bombs throughout the night, and my daughter is extremely scared -- I decided to attempt and see if I could evacuate with all the U.S. citizens that are trying to evacuate there. But, under the circumstances, this has been my fourth attempt. It has been very difficult to debate whether I should attempt again or stay and wait it out again.

LIN: Your wife, you, your daughter, you're all three American citizens, aren't you?

HAJJ-ALI: Yes, that's correct.

LIN: So, what can you tell your daughter about what's happening around her? How do you explain the situation to her?

HAJJ-ALI: I have been telling her, unfortunately, there are problems, and they're just bombing. And she doesn't know why. I can't explain more than that. She just wonders why they bomb. And I say there are some problems. That's all I can say. LIN: All a father can do.

Nasser, if there is anybody at the U.S. Embassy watching CNN right now or at the State Department, what do you want to say to them?

HAJJ-ALI: We need some help. We are asking them, and I know they are doing their best. Our government is doing its best to help, but we just need a little bit of organization at the evacuation point. That is the problem. It's not organized.

LIN: Well, Nasser, we're hearing that international aid agencies are trying to get in, they're on their way to Lebanon and parts of Israel. The U.S. secretary of state is leaving on Sunday. Let's hope that may offer some comfort and, at least, perhaps, a break in the fighting.

Nasser Hajj-Ali, good luck, and good luck to you and your daughter.

HAJJ-ALI: Thank you, Carol. OK. Bye-bye.

LIN: Kyra, it is heart-rendering. I mean, these are the kinds of stories and the frustration we're hearing. I would have to say that Nasser was sounding a heck of a lot more patient and giving the U.S. government more credit than some of the viewers we've been talking to.

PHILLIPS: I was surprised how calm he was. Understood.

LIN: Well, I think he's exhausted. Yes, he'd have to be.

PHILLIPS: Yes. All right, Carol. Thanks.

Well, U.S. Marines rescue Americans trapped in Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There may be some 25,000 Americans currently living in Lebanon. But the problem for the Marine Corps is that the U.S. Embassy officials trying to plan this evacuation, is that they simply don't know how many Americans actually want to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Anderson Cooper gives us a first-hand look at the flight to safety. His report straight ahead on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The ships have the size, but the choppers have the speed. The Port of Beirut is the gateway to safety for thousands of Westerners anxious to get out of Lebanon, but hundreds of Americans are leaving from the U.S. Embassy on an air bridge operated by U.S. military helicopters.

CNN's Anderson Cooper hitched a ride on one of them yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The evacuation of Americans from Lebanon began in earnest. Early in the morning, we hitched a ride on a Marine Corps helicopter flying into Beirut.

(on camera): On Sunday, Marines began evacuating Americans out of Beirut. They created this air bridge that links Cyprus to Beirut. And using these large Marine Corps helicopters, they've been able to get out as many as 400 or 500 Americans as of Wednesday night. It's now Thursday, the big ships have come, and today they say they will be able to get out as many as 3,000 Americans.

(voice-over): We flew over one of the ferries now regularly bringing foreigners out of war torn Lebanon.

(on camera): By now we've all heard the figure that there may be some 25,000 Americans currently living in Lebanon, but the problem for the Marine Corps and for the U.S. Embassy officials trying to plan this evacuation is that they simply don't know how many Americans actually want to get out.

(voice-over): The flight takes just one hour. The ferries can take up to 12. Beirut only becomes visible moments before you land, suddenly appearing outside the rear hatch. When the chopper landed at the U.S. Embassy, we rushed off. Nearby, anxious Americans waited to board.

Embassy personnel made sure all the passengers had helmets. Even the youngest were protected. They then were quickly ushered onboard.

(on camera): It's the first chopper flight out today. From the time it landed to the time the Americans boarded and it took off was probably about five or 10 minutes maximum. It's able to carry 30 American at any one time. And there'll be three more flights out of Beirut today.

(voice-over): In a nearby embassy lounge, another group of Americans waited for their flight out. Tired, anxious, some still sat glued to the latest news.

Amanda Martinez and her friends came here on holiday.

AMANDA MARTINEZ, DEPARTING BEIRUT: I have mixed emotions leaving. It's bittersweet. I'm happy to be going home, to reunite with my family and my friends, get back to my life there. But it was very sad to say goodbye to people here who have no way to evacuate and are going to be staying here.

COOPER (on camera): For you, what was it like seeing that chopper?

MARTINEZ: It makes you feel proud. Just really proud to be an American, that we have -- that we can get people out. And I know that we'll be back, and I know we'll be here to help. And I know that our -- that our people have big hearts, and we're here to help.

COOPER (voice-over): Outside, another chopper arrives. The U.S. has flown in the patriarch of the Lebanese Maraniss (ph) church, assigned to Lebanese, say State Department officials, but the U.S. government is not abandoning them.

And another group of Americans is ushered onboard. A few more steps, a few more minutes and they're safe. It has been a long week, a difficult journey. But now this group of Americans finally headed home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN's Anderson Cooper is live on the frontlines from Beirut. "A.C. 360" airs weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

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