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Israel Forces Attack Hospital; On Board an Israeli Warship; Alice Cooper of Kiss Founds Youth Center in Phoenix

Aired August 02, 2006 - 15:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: : Let's go straight to Carol Lin working a developing story in the news room, Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Following the story of Fidel Castro and his health and Kyra this is the first time we're going to be hearing from Fidel Castro's estranged sister who left Cuba in 1964, lives in Miami.

Our affiliate WSVN caught up with Juanita Castro. It was an impromptu interview at her door. This is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUANITA CASTRO, SISTER OF FIDEL CASTRO: The same blood and I feel respect in this moment for the person who are perhaps value or who knows. It's my brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you one thing. Does it hurt you as a human being to see everyone celebrating?

CASTRO: Of course. I think it's not good for the world to celebrate a situation like this when it's, I don't think it's a good deal for us in the world, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the day, he's still blood. You still love him.

CASTRO: I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the day, at the end of the day, he's still (SPANISH).

CASTRO: Yes of course, at the end of the day he's my brother. He has been my brother all the time. It doesn't matter the difference between his ideology and what he is doing and has done in Cuba. And it's my brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Juanita, why can't we get past --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right. There you go, Kyra. I heard it as you heard it. Fidel Castro's sister. They've been separated, estranged since she left Cuba in 1964. But you can see such feeling in her eyes and her voice as she talked about her brother. And she has been watching the news coverage, as all of us have been here in the news room, of people celebrating in the streets with the prospect that Fidel Castro may be very ill or, you know, some of the reports are saying that he was dead, although his own people have released statements that after intestinal surgery that he's in good health. He's doing fine. Hopefully the truth will be told someday. But there, a family member, a blood relative of Fidel Castro speaking on behalf of her brother.

PHILLIPS: Rarely do you get that sort of insight. I mean his entire life is shrouded in secrecy and those interviews are few and far between.

LIN: You bet. There she was, right at her doorstep.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Carol.

Just a hospital or a Hezbollah base? Israel is providing new images of a daring raid. Here's what we know right now. This is Israeli military video of commandos storming a hospital in Lebanon over night. Israel says that Hezbollah used the building as headquarters and says five militants were captured and ten were killed in that raid. Hezbollah counters that the five people captured are civilians and it's retaliating for the operation. It fired more rockets than any other day since fighting began. Some 215 rained down on Israel today, killing at least one person. Israeli media reports 6,000 Israeli soldiers are in Southern Lebanon, fighting to disarm Hezbollah. Israeli war planes are once again part of that offensive. Witnesses report at least five new air strikes in that region.

Well, it's not often a hospital becomes a target in a conflict but the Israeli army says this was no ordinary hospital. It sent in commandos for a dramatic raid.

CNN's Michael Ware is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the northeastern city of Baalbeck, close to the Syrian border, where less than 12 hours ago airborne Israeli troops assaulted this hospital (INAUDIBLE). Locals here say that the Israeli troops either landed on the roof of the hospital or dropped troops onto the hospital and as many as ten helicopters swirled in the air. They say that there was then a firefight.

There are clearly signs here of fire going into the hospital. There is pock marks from bullets and fire coming out of the hospital by the gouges the bullets have left on surrounding buildings.

The story is still unclear how the locals on the ground here say that one person was killed here at the hospital and at least three people were taken prisoner by the Israeli troops and whisked away. They say that 500 meters north of this position on the road, another eight civilians, they told them, were killed on the roadway in their cars and walking besides the road.

This is Michael Ware for CNN in Baalbeck, Lebanon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: While we've heard a lot about air strikes and ground fighting in the Middle East, Israel's military strategy also includes a naval blockade.

CNN's John Vause is aboard an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean Sea to give us an exclusive look at Israel's naval power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the INS Lahav, the flag ship of the Israeli navy. It's a Corvette Class missile ship, slightly smaller than a Frigate, but still it is heavily armed. Right here there are torpedoes. Part of the armaments include Harpoon missiles and what they call the Barak anti-missile defense system.

This is the flagship of the Israeli Navy and right now it is serving as the command post, essentially, for the Israeli naval blockade off the coast of Lebanon. A lot the technology aboard this ship we can't show you because of the Israeli censorship rules during wartime. But some of the technology is in a room down here, the CIC, command in control center, essentially the nerve center of Israel's blockade off the coast of Lebanon.

A lot of the technology in this room we're not allowed to show you because of the Israeli censorship rules. It's high tech. But effectively what happens in here is that the Israeli Navy can see a radius of around 180 nautical miles, virtually up and down the coast of Lebanon, able to see every vessel which comes and goes. The purpose of the naval blockade, Israel says, is to stop weapons, in particular missiles from Iran and Syria, reaching Hezbollah and also to prevent the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers from being smuggled out of Lebanon. John Vause, CNN, on board the INS Lahav.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the war in Iraq hits home for a member of the U.S. Senate. The office of Montana Senator Max Baucus confirms the death of the senator's nephew Marine Corporal Philip Baucus. He was 28. The Pentagon says Corporal Baucus died in combat operations Saturday in Iraq's al-Anbar province.

Senator Baucus, a Democrat, voted in 2002 to give the president the option to invade Iraq. In June he joined other Democrats and voted to begin withdrawing U.S. troops by the end of the year. The senator's nephew, Marine Corporal Philip Baucus, just one of 2,578 men and women who have sacrificed their lives in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A woman and her grandson were killed in a house explosion today. That blast was powerful enough to destroy the house and seriously damage another. It happened in Carlonville, Illinois, just about 65 miles north of St. Louis. Nothing specific on the cause yet, but the local utility has crews on the scene. And a pretty scary situation in Daytona Beach, Florida. Check this out, officers say a woman told them that a man strapped a bomb on to her and told her to go into a pharmacy and get drugs for him. Well nearby businesses were evacuated and the bomb squad was called in, but police say it turned out that there wasn't a bomb or a threatening man. That woman surrendered to police.

Ready to go. The Shuttle Atlantis has moved, ever so slowly, to the launchpad. The four-mile trek took about eight hours. Next, all the fuel and power cables will be hooked up, and cargo will be loaded on board. Then the crew arrives for a few final dress rehearsals before its scheduled liftoff August 27.

Well, he symbolized the shock rock of the early 1970s.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: The make-up, the wild lyrics and the scare you-know- what out of your parents stage shows. Alice Cooper was one wild dude. To use his words now, the hippies wanted peace and love, and he wanted Ferraris, blondes and switch blades. But Alice Cooper is a changed man. Today he's all about family, faith and philanthropy.

Reporter Kim Holcomb of KPNX is in Phoenix with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM HOLCOMB, KPNX REPORTER (voice-over): He got his star in Hollywood three years ago, but it's the sidewalks on this west Phoenix campus where Alice Cooper hopes to truly leave his mark.

ALICE COOPER, MUSICIAN: That's the one I really would be -- like to be known for.

HOLCOMB: Most students here are too young to even recognize his name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would just think it was a girl somewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not really familiar with his music.

HOLCOMB: But the lifelong Phoenix resident hopes to impact an even younger generation: at-risk teens who need a place to go after school.

COOPER: The same kids that could be in gangs and be -- you never know how creative that kid really is.

HOLCOMB: Creativity he hopes to tap through the Rock. Unveiled at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a teen center on the Grand Canyon University campus, specializing in music, but also offering amenities like a basketball court and rock wall.

Cooper's Christian foundation, Solid Rock aiming to raise $3 million to fund the project, and he'll play an active role, from start to finish. COOPER: Put all these kids together and see how creative they really are.

HOLCOMB (on camera): Does this mean you'll giving singing lessons?

COOPER: Not singing. But, you know, they'll get probably a good singer to do that!

HOLCOMB: Whoever staffs the center, most students here say they'd welcome the new neighbors, and what their presence here would mean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a great ministry opportunity for the school as a whole, as well as for the foundation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well now the man who, yes, kissed snakes and watched late night TV with Groucho Marx. Let's talk about the building the Rock for teenagers.

Alice Cooper joins me live from Phoenix. But I get to call him Coop!

COOPER: Yes.

PHILLIPS: How you doing, Coop?

COOPER: Yes, good friends get to call me Coop. So you can me Coop.

PHILLIPS: I got the inside -- the inside block. Hey listen, I've always wanted to ask you -- Groucho Marx. I know this was one of the few men you really respected. You thought he was a real guy. Tell me about this relationship.

COOPER: Well, he saw the show, and he actually said that what was one of the best compliments of my life. He says, Alice is the last hope for Vaudeville. And I kind of thought, you know, that's probably true. I mean, horror, comedy and music all together in one show, it would be kind of like Vaudeville.

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine the two of you. That's just -- I would loved to have been a fly on the wall.

COOPER: That was -- I'll tell you what -- he was one of the most brilliant -- he could still tear you to shreds with his wit at 86 years old.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right. I want to talk about -- let's just go back a little bit. Because you're working on this project now for at-risk kids, the Rock. You were, what, 17 when you started Earwigs, is that right?

COOPER: Yes. Well, actually, 16. PHILLIPS: Sixteen. All right. A lot of temptations at that age, the same age that these kids, you know, at the Rock will be -- you know, it's the same time.

COOPER: Well, yes, except that the ante is up a lot higher now with the kids of this generation. I mean, I figure that we're the fifth biggest city, Phoenix is, in the United States. We got the fifth biggest problem with guns, gangs and drugs.

And I think that a kid's worst enemy is having too much time on his hands. So why not try to tap a certain amount of -- see what kind of artistic value the kid has. Bring him in there, let him come in and play guitar, learn guitar, learn piano, learn lyric-writing.

My wife teaches ballet at Destiny Dance International. She has her own ballet studio. Have the street kids come in there and learn to dance. I mean, you know, in other words, put these kids -- put them in a creative situation rather than just a, you know, go out and sell drugs and shoot somebody.

PHILLIPS: And, you know, I know you watched your friends -- Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin -- die because of drugs. I know you battled alcohol. Did you use drugs? Did you struggle with that as well?

COOPER: I think that if you lived in L.A. in the '60s, you had been involved in everything. But I was -- alcohol was my choice only because of the fact that it was legal and I traveled a lot and I didn't really want to get busted for anything. You could get whiskey anywhere. It ends up whiskey is probably -- I mean, alcohol is probably the worst drug of all because it's available. And it's the most destructive drug.

So I've been straight for like 25 years now. And it's really showed up. I'm still doing 100 shows a year. They're still cutting my head off. And somehow I can still talk to you.

PHILLIPS: And you're not biting the heads off chickens. We'll get back to that in a moment. That's a famous bit, thanks to Frank Zappa. But how do you tell these kids, Coop, hey, look, you can be rebellious, you can be out of the box, you can be crazy just like me, but you know what, you don't need the booze or the drugs? Do you think they'll listen to you?

COOPER: Well, I think that this generation is finally smart enough to figure out that drugs have never worked for any generation. It never worked in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s. It never has worked. I do not know one touring band -- one major touring band that's a successful band that does drugs. I mean, I don't know one. If you're a drug addict anymore and you're in a band, you're out so fast you can't even -- you know, it's amazing.

PHILLIPS: It's a different scene and you get sucked dry; not only politically, but physically.

COOPER: Well, physically, yes, I mean, you're doing -- out there doing a two-hour show and you can't be on drugs. It's so obvious to people if you are. And nobody in a real band wants anybody in the band on drugs. So, I mean, don't -- if you're a young kid, don't look at that as -- that rock bands are into drugs. We're just not.

PHILLIPS: All right, so -- you know, and I'm thinking of, like, your album covers and I'm just thinking of pictures of you through the years, you know, from "Killer," "Poison," "Hell Is," "Trash," "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell." How can we forget all those album covers? But you have made this turnaround. What was it? I know your dad was a pastor, your grandfather was a pastor, did amazing things in their lives. Was -- did you rebel against that or did that finally find you? Or was this -- when was the moment that you said, OK, I'm flipping it around?

COOPER: Well, here's -- you know, I mean, I was the -- I always introduced myself as the prodigal son. You know, I mean, I grew up in a church, I grew up with my dad being a pastor. I had a great relationship with my dad and my granddad and the church. I had no problem with that. It's just I ended up being at the right place at the right time to be -- and I did create Alice to be rock's villain. I wanted Alice to be rock's villain and I still do. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. He's a fictitious character. And he's, you know, I mean -- he's Captain Hook of rock 'n' roll.

PHILLIPS: What do you think of these metal bands dabbling in Satanism?

COOPER: Well, that's the one thing that I write a lot about. I mean, I've been -- I've never been into that. But I've certainly seen a lot of it. And it's the one thing that I warn against in a lot of my songs. But at the same time, I still do a full-out show. I still do a full-out Alice Cooper show. It's just the fact that I don't think that that interferes, really, with my Christianity. The show I do, if people aren't laughing in that show, there's something wrong, you know.

But, I mean, I went out and I became one of the great alcoholics of all time in rock. And it nearly killed me. I almost went the way of Jim, Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, who were friends of mine. But I got ahold of myself and I really started searching for what I was really looking for. And in my real life, I've been married 30 years.

PHILLIPS: Sheryl is amazing.

COOPER: Sheryl is great. She's the best thing in the world. And I've never cheated on her. She's never cheated on me. So our kids are very happy and healthy. And, yes, we're Christians. We go to church every Sunday.

PHILLIPS: You know, Coop, it makes me think back to when you were a teenager. And it's that same discipline that you had. You want to convince Frank Zappa that you had something. And didn't you play outside his home until he finally said, OK, I'll sign you? You said, either call the cops or sign me, Zappa.

COOPER: You know, I'll tell you the truth, what it was was, he told me to be there at 7:00 to rehearse -- I mean, to do an audition. Well, we got there at 7:00 in the morning. We were so anxious to get there, that we got there at 7:00 in the morning. We were so anxious to get there that we showed up at 7:00 in the morning, and started playing. And Frank came downstairs and he goes, what are you doing? And I said, you said 7:00. And he said, I meant 7:00 at night. And he said, I'll sign you. Just leave, OK? Go away. And that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

PHILLIPS: I tell you what, and a pretty incredible career. Hey, the center is called the Rock. You are an incredible mentor to so many of those teens out there. I can just imagine how it's going to go. Hope we can follow up with you.

COOPER: Well, thanks a lot. And, you know, I mean, what I'm trying to do is take some kids that might be gang bangers, might be drug addicts, and turn them into artists, turn them into something that's creative. You know, I think that that's in every kid, you just have to find it.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely agree. Alice Cooper, stick around. We want to do another interview with you for CNN.com/pipeline if you don't mind so more people on the Web can logon and see the interview with you, OK, if they missed this one.

COOPER: OK.

PHILLIPS: Okay, Coop. See you in a minute.

COOPER: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, speculation and celebration. Reaction to Fidel Castro's health crisis. We're live in Havana, Cuba, and Miami's Little Havana, right here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Cramped, crowded and a little dingy. The White House press room will get a long-needed remodeling. Today was the final day for the briefings in the West Wing until the current room gets a 21st century upgrade. To mark the occasion, several former White House press secretaries joined Tony Snow for today's briefing.

Our Elaine Quijano is live at the White House with more. Elaine, were you in that group yelling out questions at the president?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I was sitting in the second row, actually. It was interesting to watch Tony Snow try and stall. I don't know if you saw it, but he was trying to vamp -- he said it so himself -- when the president wasn't quite coming out on cue.

And then somebody threatened to start singing "Auld Lang Syne" and miraculously, the president appeared. So they kind of joked about that, but it was a host of familiar faces, Kyra.

Former White House press secretaries joining the current White House press secretary, Tony Snow, for the last briefing before the big White House briefing room renovation. Joe Lockhart, Dee Dee Myers, Marlin Fitzwater, Ron Nessen, and James Brady, for whom, of course, the briefing room was renamed. Brady's wife, Sarah, was also there.

And in the packed room, not only current, but also some former White House correspondents. Then of course, the president and the first lady walked in, the president making some brief remarks and then joking with reporters. Here's a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The last time I had a press conference in here it felt like it was outside. As a matter of fact, some of your makeup was running.

QUESTION: Mr. President, should Mel Gibson be forgiven?

BUSH: Is that you and Gregory standing back there?

QUESTION: You know, you should have respect for your elders. He's claiming that the Jews started all the wars.

BUSH: Is that Sam Donaldson? Forget it. You're a has-been. We don't have to answer has-beens' questions.

QUESTION: Mr. President, you want to say anything about the White House press corps, please?

BUSH: Say something about the White House press corps?

QUESTION: Yes, sir.

BUSH: It's a beautiful bunch of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, he was also asked about what his best moment in the briefing room was. He said, well, the end of the last press conference. But one of our own, actually, one of my colleagues got a good one in, Ken Herman from Cox Newspapers.

He was basically -- right after the president said, well, how long are you going to be out of the briefing room, how long is this thing supposed to take, the president said six, seven, eight, nine months and at which point Ken Herman said, "well, we don't want to put a timetable on it, Mr. President -- Kyra."

PHILLIPS: Well, it was great to see, you know, sort of a loose environment considering all, you know, the rough news lately coming out of the White House there. Elaine, thanks so much.

Well, 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. I spent seven years in that White House briefing room. Good to get a little refurbished White House going on. Thanks very much.

Coming up at the top of the hour, Hezbollah rockets showering down on Israel while Israeli ground forces by the thousands moving into Lebanon. We're covering the war from all the fronts.

Plus, I'll speak live with Senator John McCain.

And father and son -- President Bush following a different path on the Mideast than his dad. A look at both strategies.

Also, some desperate aid -- a city pounded by bombing gets some needed relief. We're going to take you there live.

And Iraqis taking over the security of their own country -- can they make that happen by Christmas? We're doing a reality check.

Kyra, all that coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

PHILLIPS: Now, Wolf, you've heard the scoop on the new briefing room at the White House, right?

BLITZER: You see this video wall behind me?

PHILLIPS: Tony Snow, everyone there at the White House, watches you in "THE SITUATION ROOM" and that's exactly why they're switching the room up.

BLITZER: That's flattery, I guess.

PHILLIPS: Yes, you're the mentor. Wolf Blitzer, seven years. You made quite an impression there.

BLITZER: Well, only in the last year that "THE SITUATION ROOM" has been on the air.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll see you in a little bit.

Well, the "Closing Bell" and a wrap of the action on Wall Street straight ahead. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, from Texas, another viewer says, I-Report for CNN. Check this out. When you have pictures of video of breaking news or cool stories from your part of the world, all you've got to do is just go to CNN.com and click onto I-Report.

Now, look fast at this. We're going to slow the tape down a little bit. Lionel Huizar caught a truck sliding into a sinkhole in El Paso, Texas. Heavy rains in that area over the last couple of days left mud and standing water all over the town.

Now, for more information, on I-Report, you can logon to CNN.com. You'll get complete instructions how to submit your stories. It's fast, it's easy, and hey, we'll use your pictures and video on air so you can say I-Report for CNN. All right. Let's get to the "Closing Bell." It's just about to ring, Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange. Susan, take it away.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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