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More Palestinian Deaths in Gaza; Many Overlooked Faulty Firestone Spares

Aired July 21, 2006 - 14:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Gaza today, Israel's other front, Palestinians report more deaths in an Israeli attack on home suspected of harboring a Hamas militant.
Our Matthew Chance is not forgetting the other side of this battle that's taking place in Gaza.

Hey, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Kyra.

Nor is Israel, in fact, forgetting this other front on which they're fighting. There's a lot of very significant military action taking place here over the course of the past 24 hours or so. Israeli forces really pounding areas of this densely populated Gaza Strip. The main objective, of course, their stated objective, is to force Palestinian militants to release that abducated Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, abducted about a month ago, being held somewhere in the Gaza Strip. But in the process, a lot of people, a lot of militants, a lot of civilians, are being killed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): The grim task of retrieving remains of the latest casualties in Israel's raids to free its captured soldier here in Gaza. All members of one family blown apart by Israeli fire in clashes with Palestinian militants.

"We'll not give the soldier back unless Israel releases all our prisoners," this family member says, "and we'll ask Hezbollah not to give the soldiers they're holding either until Israel releases Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians."

Prisoners, Arab and Israeli, are now at the core of this Middle East crisis. Israel has about 10,000 in its jails. Many have murdered, and bombed or plotted against the Jewish state. Some are held without trial.

In Gaza, there's even a ministry of prisoners dedicated to their release. There's only an acting Palestinian minister from Hamas -- the regular one is a prisoner himself in Israel.

ATIF EDWAN, ACTING MIN., PALESTINIAN DETAINEES: All of this world closes its eyes regarding the suffering, but when the Israeli soldiers are captured by some Palestinians, everybody just opens his eyes and tries to pay a very important, you know, attention to this issue.

CHANCE: For Hamas, the Israeli soldier everyone's watching is a valuable bargaining chip.

(on camera): How many prisoners do you think that you can expect to get back in exchange for Gilad Shalit?

EDWAN: I hope a lot of them, thousands. I hope so.

CHANCE (voice-over): There have been deals in the past. Jamal was convicted of terrorism in Israel and sentenced to 30 years, but after serving 12 he was back in Gaza with his family, freed in a political deal. There must now be another, he says, before the soldiers being held by Hamas and Hezbollah are handed back, too.

JAMAL MUKAHHAL, FMR. PRISONER: I'm sure of that. And nobody in the Palestinian (INAUDIBLE) will accept have another solution. The hope of the prisoners is in Gilad.

CHANCE: Hope Israel has yet to fulfill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well so far, Kyra, Israel has refused to negotiate either with Hezbollah or with Hamas here in Gaza on the release of its captured soldiers. But it says rather that the military action hasn't produced their release, either, and so many people believe some kind of deal in the future may have to be done.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Matthew Chance in Gaza. Thanks, Matthew.

We've heard little from the Israeli military today, only that they're assembling for a possible invasion of Lebanon. Do they have the go-ahead? We don't know how. How many troops are involved? We don't know.

Some insight into how the IDF works in times like these. Adam Harmon served in the Israeli Special Forces for 13 years in Lebanon, in Gaza, in the West Bank. Today he's an author and lives in Washington.

Adam, I know you're still with the Israeli Special Operations Reserve. Do you think you could get called in to fight?

ADAM HARMON, FORMER ISRAELI SOLDIER: It's possible. I'm in touch with my unit, the members of my team. At this point we have not been called up, and -- but I'm just staying in touch.

PHILLIPS: So do you have a number of friends that are this fight right now?

HARMON: I know of one person who's in it right now.

PHILLIPS: Have you been in touch with that individual? HARMON: Yes, I have, through e-mail just prior to his leaving.

PHILLIPS: Well, tell me what he's been telling you firsthand about what the mission is and how deep he thinks it's going to get.

HARMON: Well, I think that it's -- one of the interesting things is that the Israeli government has now called up about 5,000 troops. And to give you some perspective, in Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, when Israel's stated objective was to retake control of the West Bank, Israel called up 20,000 troops. So t looks to me that this call up is actually just a reinforcement of the current activities, which are surgical strikes at Hezbollah in placements really close to the border.

PHILLIPS: Do you think that troops -- so you don't think that these tanks and these troops are going to roll right in to Southern Lebanon?

HARMON: Well, I think it's certainly possible. But if they to, I think that they will be very close to the border. It's important to keep in mind that after Israel left in 2000, returning to the international border, Hezbollah was allowed by the Lebanese government to actually provide -- to put in placements and right up literally 30 yards from the border with Israel.

And so the -- when you think of Israel returning to Southern Lebanon, it's possible they will, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to have to go 20 miles, 30 miles, in order to make Hezbollah less effective.

PHILLIPS: Put it into perspective for me, Adam. Tell me what it's like to fight Hezbollah?

HARMON: Well, it's important to keep in mind, they are very well-trained. They are determined. If you are to compare them to Hamas -- Hamas is a terrorist organization. They're very good at suicide bombings, creating improvised devices, but they're not a military force. Hezbollah has been trained by Iran, by Syria, has received funds and equipment. They are a military force in every way, and Israel is going to attack them as if they are fighting another military force.

PHILLIPS: Now, obviously, you are a reserve. You were active Israeli defense force soldier. Tell me the mindset. Is this over once you get those comrades back, those Israeli soldiers? Or has it gone beyond that now? Is this all about dismantling Hezbollah; whatever it takes at any cost, that's the end game?

HARMON: Yes, without question, the end game is the dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure of Hezbollah. You know, we focus on the kidnapping of the soldiers and that's very important to all of us. But one of the things that is missing is that during that very same attack, there was a Katyusha rocket strike on northern -- on border towns along the northerns -- the border with Lebanon. And, you know, this was not the first time that occurred. This is a regular occurrence. Every three, four months, Hezbollah shells Israeli towns. And, at this point, Israel has said, enough is enough.

PHILLIPS: The Lebanese president spoke to us exclusively in an interview, Adam. I want to get you -- get your response of what he had to say about if troops did enter into Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. EMILE LAHOUD, LEBANON: Of course, the army is going to defend its strength. And inside Lebanon, they can do a lot. They cannot be strong enough to be against Israel on the frontier, because they have much more stronger material and weaponry. But inside Lebanon, they know the land. And, of course, they would fight the invading force of Israel if it tries to come inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So tell me what the mentality is here with the Lebanese army and the IDF? Do they fight against each other so, indeed, Israeli troops entered in that you would have the Lebanese army to contend with?

HARMON: I mean, that's certainly a possibility. But it's important to remember that the prime minister is in a very tough spot. Lebanon is still recovering from a civil war that started over 20 years ago. And, as a result, it is a fractured society, and it's very difficult for the government to actually, on its own, to have the political will, as well as the actual material strength, to actually combat Hezbollah.

It's important to keep in mind -- I understand his thoughts, but at the same time, he also was quoted in an Italian newspaper the other day, also saying that Hezbollah is a problem, and he wishes the international community would help him.

PHILLIPS: Adam Harmon, Israeli Special Ops Reserve. Appreciate your insight, Adam.

HARMON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Coming up, a tragic oversight after of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history. We're going to tell you why a mother is suing a tiremaker after her son's deadly accident.

First, our weekly series, "Welcome to the Future."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most of the time, you just don't even think about not having any cash in your pocket anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't carry cash. I hate carrying cash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm definitely always depending on my debit card. I never have cash with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You always want to charge it on your credit card.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had a wish, it would be that the operation behind all that I carry -- keys, wallet and cell phone -- could all be combined into one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One thing that just did everything for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If everything was put into one thing, maybe you could actually keep track of it a lot better.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Or you could spend it faster. Either way, saying good-bye to greenbacks is something people have dreamed about for years.

(voice-over): Technology analyst Rob Enderly (ph) sees a sea change on the horizon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: E-cash is a system that allows you to use a cell phone or other electronic device to make your transaction. It replaces the credit card, and it replaces cash, to do a transaction.

O'BRIEN: In Japan, nearly 50 million people use e-cash every day. When it's time to pay, instead of reaching for their wallet, they wave their cell phone over a scanner and then enter a secret p.i.n. The transaction is included on their phone bill. But it may be a while before American consumers embrace this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I figure around 2012, 2013, we'll probably have the crossover point where most purchases will be done through some type of electronic device.

O'BRIEN: Worried about electronic pickpockets? E-cash is actually more secure than credit cards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to enter in a pin code to make the transaction complete, so they can get your phone, but they can't really do much with them but make phone calls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to Carol Lin working some severe weather for us coming down the pike.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, take a look at these pictures, Kyra, that we're just get into the CNN Center. Two states, Illinois and Missouri -- you're looking at pictures out of Missouri, courtesy of our affiliate KMOV.

Severe weather there. It's being described on the wire services as hurricane force-like winds. But look at that. It looks like that rooftop from what appears to be a warehouse was just peeled off like you're peeling a potato. And then earlier I saw a building that -- it looked like a giant had stopped on the roof. I mean, there was virtually nothing left of what was covering the rest of the that building.

Also reported on the wires, about 450,000 customers over Illinois, Missouri, serviced by one particular power company -- 450,000 people without power and it's being reported that repairs could take at least three days.

So, people in this area, particularly Carlyle, Illinois, that we're looking at right now are going to be without power and perhaps even without water. But a lot of bad weather there, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll monitor it, especially as the various stations cover all the areas within Illinois. Carol, thanks so much.

Well, you may recall Firestone recalling thousands and thousands of faulty tires a few years back, and every tire that was turned in was replaced. But some drivers overlooked the tires they didn't happen to be using at the time, their spares.

CNN's Drew Griffin joins me with more on that. This is one of the big stories that you were working on awhile back. I remember even having to turn in my car.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You remember that?

PHILLIPS: Remember the Explorer that I drove with the tires? Yes, you remember that. That was like 10 years ago.

GRIFFIN: Right, so why are they coming back? That's the deal. These tires should not be on the road. It's a problem that should have been taken care of, but they're on these older Firestone tires still failing on some Ford SUVs in these deadly rollovers because drivers overlooked them. Why? They were the spare tires that few owners worried about until they actually tried to use them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Six years ago Firestone recalled 6.5 million tires because they were vulnerable to sudden tread separations. The offer to replace those older radial ATX and Wilderness tires still stands.

But according to data from Firestone, as many as 200,000 of these tires were never turned in. One reason, Sean Kane, an auto safety consultant, says, during the height of the recall, substitute tires were scarce.

SEAN KANE, SAFETY RESEARCH AND STRATEGIES: Some folks brought their vehicles in. Unbeknownst to them, the spare wasn't replaced. They didn't crawl under the vehicle to see if it was a new tire and if it was not a Firestone, for example. There's many, many circumstances why these tires ended up in the spare wells on Explorers.

GRIFFIN: The spare tire on an Explorer is attached to the underbelly of the vehicle. You can't even see the brand name without crawling underneath the car. Linda Scudera's 20-year-old son was killed two years ago when his '93 Ford Explorer flipped over near Miami. It was a used vehicle with 100,000 miles on it and four new tires.

But just days before the accident, her son, Anthony, noticed a leak in one of those tires and replaced it with the spare he found under his vehicle. The spare was a recalled Firestone and took only three days to fall apart. Scudera, not wearing his seatbelt, was ejected and killed.

LINDA SCUDERA, VICTIM'S MOTHER: The treads peeled completely off the tire. My car went out of control. My son didn't even have a chance.

KANE: These are clearly classic scenarios. In the crashes we've seen, tires go on the vehicles. Within a short period of time, in one case as soon as a couple of days, the tire suffers a catastrophic tread belt separation, the vehicle becomes uncontrollable and tends to roll over.

SCUDERA: I don't want any other mother to go through what I went through. It's the worst thing in the world to bury your child. I had no idea how dangerous that tire was.

GRIFFIN: Linda Scudera is suing Firestone over her son's death. Firestone denies responsibility and blames her son. Firestone says it continues to reach out to anyone who still owns one of these tires made in the 1990s, the Firestone radial ATX and Wilderness AT tires.

A spokesperson says "Bring them into a company-owned store, and we will replace them. No questions asked. Free of charge. It is in everyone's interest," she said, "to get those tires off the road."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And just about an hour ago, Firestone, this afternoon, released what they're calling a renewed recall effort, a renewed recall to get all these tires back because so many of these spares are still out there.

Now, these are the tires that you need to be looking for. If you have one of these vehicles made before 2000, you should get out, climb underneath and see if you have one of these suspect tires, these ATX tires, AT tires, underneath it and bring it to a Firestone dealer. They'll replace it free. But please, do not use that spare tire until you know it is not one of these vehicles.

PHILLIPS: All right, now I remember when I did switch out the tires and I got on it right away and got four new tires. Never touched the spare, and now I've sold that car, so now I'm thinking to myself, you know, I wonder whatever happened to that spare. But is this going to be the type of thing where you need to act now because it's going to take forever? Because I saw how people -- it took a long time for other folks to get their tires, you know ...

GRIFFIN: Well remember, they recalled 6.5 million tires, 6.3 million were replaced. So, it should not be a problem. Supply should not be a problem this time. The problem is reaching out to these people who have that used car and did not know about the Firestone recall initially because they weren't driving that car then. So, now, they have this deadly spare underneath there that they should not use and you really need to check it out, climb underneath and see if you have it and get rid of it.

PHILLIPS: Can they exchange it for a free one?

GRIFFIN: Brand new free tire from Firestone. That's what Firestone is telling us today. Take it into a Firestone dealer and they will replace it free, no questions asked.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, drew.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well Wall Street had one great day this week on Wednesday, but it's been all down hill since then unfortunately. Susan Lisovicz monitoring everything for us. Hey Susan.

(MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Susan, thanks.

Well Tiger is back on the prowl at the British Open. That's not good news though for the rest of the field. A live update from Royal Liverpool Golf Club straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it was just a matter of time, Tiger Woods reclaiming the top of the leader board at a major tournament. The major in question is the British Open.

Let's check in with CNN's Patrick Snell at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club with more. How's he doing?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kyra, welcome to England's northwest coast line. A very blustery evening here but the sun was shining earlier on the aforementioned world number one Tiger Woods. He really did come out all guns blazing this day, Friday. Go right at the leader board and right to the very top, in fact. He got himself to 12 under par for the championship and his 65 with 7 under for the day, but he wasn't just holing those putts from 50 feet out or so.

He was also at it from long range. A fantastic eagle on hole 14 with his approach on the fairway rolling in. He didn't know it immediately but the crowd soon told him it was in the hole. But great story developing, though. We have to say Friday, Woods' fellow American Chris Dimarco, like Woods, he, too, is grieving over the loss of a parent. Dimarco also shooting 65 to end three back from Tiger at 9 under par at close of play. Difficult times, indeed, for the man who was runner up at last year's masters. This is one tournament he felt he had to play in, despite the death of his mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS DIMARCO, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I never considered pulling out. She was such a fan of mine and she loved golf so much and she loved watching me play that I know that she'd be very upset with me if I just stayed home. I know that she watched me hit every shot today and I know she's pulling for me.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I did it differently, I took a lot of time off, where as Chris is trying to get back on the horse as fast as he possibly could and, you know, to each his own. But for him to be out here competing and then playing well, on top of that, it's not easy. I just went through it myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Emotional stuff, indeed. Quick word on the world number two, Phil Mickelson. Rather disappointing for him. He ended at 4 under par for the championship. That makes him tied for 23rd at this 135th British Open championship. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, Patrick Snell, great story. We're big fans of Chris Dimarco over here.

Well, headed north and ready for action. Israeli troops at the Lebanon border. Is a full-scale ground invasion next? The third hour of LIVE FROM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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