Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Airstrike on Crowded Neighborhood in Beirut; Tyre, Lebanon Virtually Cut Off From Rest of Lebanon; Arab League Delegation to Press for Changes in U.N. Draft Resolution; New Details Emerging in Alleged Murders of Iraqi Civilians

Aired August 07, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good afternoon. We also want to welcome our international viewers to LIVE FROM.
We do have some breaking news out of Beirut to tell you about. Our Brent Sadler is there.

Brent, we understand there's been an airstrike on a crowded neighborhood. Tell us what you know.

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Betty. Just over an hour ago, I heard two loud explosions and saw black smoke rising from an area of the southern suburbs. This is an area that has not specifically been bombed before. It's known as the Shia district of the southern suburbs, and we can show you some live pictures now that are coming out in the aftermath of that strike.

We understand, according to security sources here, five people have been killed and two dozen others injured. But they're still looking for either possible survivors trapped under that rubble or more bodies.

And so, this really is a developing breaking news story coming on a day that the Arab foreign ministers were here in Beirut just a few miles from scene of this strike, deciding that they would try to help Lebanon at the United Nations craft a new draft Security Council resolution more favorable to Lebanese demands, let Israel withdraw its troops from south Lebanon, in line with a cease-fire on both sides. And now we have attention focused very much on more casualties on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital.

Earlier, Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, choked back tears when he was talking to the Arab foreign ministers as he recounted the deaths of many Lebanese, more than 900 casualties in this near-month-long war. And Fouad Siniora clearly bearing the nation's sorrows on his shoulders as he appealed for help from Arab ministers, from their capitals, to throw their weight behind Lebanon's calls for what Lebanon believes will be a more equitable U.N. draft resolution.

So, there we are, Betty, the latest pictures coming out of Beirut. Pictures that again show the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, looking at these pictures just a few minutes ago, we saw them digging with their bare hands through the dirt trying to determine if there are people still trapped under this rubble. You say five killed, at least two dozen injured.

It's hard to tell, Brent -- and maybe you know more about this neighborhood -- exactly what was hit. There was a large building there. I couldn't tell if it was a residential building -- here is another shot it -- or if it was a mall.

What is housed in this area?

SADLER: Well, this is part of the southern suburbs of Beirut, a densely populated part of the city on the outskirts. And really, politically speaking, the southern suburbs is divided into political interests of Hezbollah, led by Hassan Nasrallah, and also of Amal. That's the political party that supports the speaker of the parliament, Nabih Beri.

Essentially, they're all Shia Muslims in this area. We know that Amal, the speaker of the parliament's political party, is very much against what's happened with that U.N. draft Security Council resolution, and also Hezbollah, that their areas have been repeatedly hit since the air campaign against the suburbs began.

But Shia, this district, is not in the same place, we understand, that is being repeatedly hit. In fact, this area is very close to what you would have called during the old civil war years the edge of the green line, where once upon a time the southern suburbs were split from the eastern part of the city, populated by mostly Christians.

So, the reason for this airstrike not been made clear by the Israeli Defense Forces. What we can confirm are that security services and Lebanese civilians have been using their hands to dig through the rubble to life up pieces of concrete as best they can to try to reach people who were caught in this latest air raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes. We're looking at that video right now of people frantically trying to determine if those are still alive underneath the rubble.

And Brent, we'll check in with you shortly.

In the meantime, we want to go to our senior Arab affairs editor, Ovtavia Nasr, to get a better idea of this area.

Octavia, we were just speaking with Brent, and the question now is, why was this particular area a target? Is Hezbollah known to operate out of this area?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: Well, of course it's hard for us to know why Israel has hit this area. What we can do is explain a little bit for our audience where this area is.

What I did here, I highlighted the area that has been the center of most of the strikes since the beginning of this crisis on July 12th. You see it here in the shaded area. What I want to point out here is this road, right above this line here. This road is called the Old Sidon Road. It's very known for anyone who has lived in Lebanon or known Lebanon very well. And basically, this line, as Brent Sadler was just mentioning, it starts here and basically continues beyond this point. But what it does, it separates the old west Beirut from east Beirut.

During the war in the '70s, '80s in Lebanon, Beirut was separated with this line, and the Muslim population was on the west side and the Christian population was on the east side. So, this has a lot of significance, it has a lot of symbolism.

People that I've spoken with many, many times were saying that this area beyond this line has been spared, with the exception of some bridges and some roads that Israel believed that were used to send supplies to Hezbollah. So, basically, people were feeling that this line is not going to be crossed.

What happened tonight, this airstrike is right here, right on the border, if you can see it, between the shaded area and this area that I'm talking about, which is the old east side of Beirut, which is the Christian area. And basically, that's the -- that's why people are concerned.

Number one, many people in this area were feeling a bit safe. There is a mall in that area, the Beirut Mall. There is a library. There's life.

Life was going on. It was not the same situation as the rest of the southern suburbs of Beirut. So people were going about their lives when this strike hit. That's why the Arab networks and many officials in Lebanon are saying that there will be a lot of casualties in this strike.

So, basically, people were feeling a bit safe in that little area here, and now they were struck. So, the question mark is, will this end here at this demarcation line or will it go beyond -- Betty.

NGUYEN: That is a big question. And so far, here's what we know.

A strike has occurred, five people killed. At least two dozen injured. And as you saw the pictures -- here are more of them -- people digging by their bare hands -- we shall see that shortly -- trying to determine if there are any survivors in this strike.

It's a desperate situation, obviously. And we will stay on top of those developments.

Now, for weeks, it has been a city under fire, a city under siege. We're talking about Tyre -- Tyre, Lebanon. It's a city unto itself and virtually cut off from the rest of the country.

Our Karl Penhaul is there.

And Karl, bring us up to speed on the developments there so far today.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, Israeli warplanes and artillery guns have stepped up the bombardment on Tyre and on an area south of Tyre for the last 36 hours. The heaviest bombardments in three weeks here.

In the course of the day, Israeli warplanes have destroyed apartment buildings in the north of the city, and as night began to fall, shells were falling on Tyre's southern outskirts. Humanitarian aid organizations and other city officials now think that a ground attack on Tyre could be imminent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL (voice over): Smoke rises as Israeli warplanes and artillery guns pound suspected Hezbollah positions south of Tyre. Airplane gun camera video released by the Israeli military shows explosions hitting targets. But that's not enough to stop Hezbollah firing more Katyusha rockets off to Israel.

Humanitarian aide workers say they fear a two-day Israeli bombardment six miles or 10 kilometers south of Tyre may be the prelude to a ground attack on the port city.

(on camera): A Lebanese military intelligence officer has told me that Israeli ground troops did reach the outskirts of a Lebanese village on high ground just south of here, but he says they were repelled by Hezbollah fighters.

(voice over): And to the north, bridges along the highway to Beirut have been bombed, destroying the only route in for humanitarian supplies.

ROLAND HUGUENIN, RED CROSS: The roads from Tyre to Saidar (ph) has been damaged by bombing last night. So Tyre is beginning to look like a city under siege.

PENHAUL: No way out either for aide workers to help the thousands of civilians thought to be stranded in outlying villages.

HUGUENIN: And now for two or three days we are just getting red lights on our security clearances. We aren't able to move out of Tyre.

PENHAUL: In the Old Quarter, the Doctors Without Borders aid group is preparing incase there is an all-out attack on central Tyre. "What we fear over the next few days is that Tyre is a high-stake target and this could be the theater of a larger military operation," he says.

The deck (ph) and his team are rushing to refit this operating theater in Bashur (ph) hospital. It has not been used for the last year.

He says a potential Israeli assault could split Tyre in two, cutting off this hospital in the west of the city from three others in the east. "We're preparing for the worst in the event the fighting spreads into downtown Tyre, so we can tend to the wounded from street battles," he says.

In one in one of the narrow alleys nearby, fisherman Abdul Hussein Nashraf (ph) mends his net. He, too, believes Israeli troops may be getting ready to occupy the city. "If the Israelis come to these streets I will fight with Hezbollah. I will give my life and blood for Hezbollah," he says. By late Monday there was still no sign of a lull in the Israeli shelling, but no sign either of Israeli ground troops at Tyre's gates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL: Now, as I say, as night began to fall, that Israeli shelling came right into the southern outskirts of Tyre. City officials say that they do believe that ground attack could come. They say it will be the nightmare scenario because they estimated 20,000 civilians are still left in this city. And also, we've heard in the last short while warnings from Israeli government officials for everybody to stay in their house after 10:00 p.m. local time. They say anybody on the streets after that will be considered Hezbollah fighters and legitimate targets -- Betty.

NGUYEN: A nightmare situation, as it was quoted there. Wow.

OK. Karl Penhaul, thank you for that.

We do want to let you, the viewer, know that our Matthew Chance is on the Israeli side of the border. We are going to speak with him shortly.

But in the meantime, disagreement, debate, dissent all surrounding a proposed U.N. resolution on the Middle East. Now, the Security Council is calling for a consensus. Arab leaders are calling for change. And nobody is ready for a vote.

Let's get more from our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth.

I understand that this was supposed to take place, what, tomorrow, perhaps? Get a vote? Does it look like it may be stalled?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, not everybody is in total disagreement on this resolution. Many members of the Security Council will be happy to vote for it now, but there's concerns and objections from Lebanon.

The earliest a vote will be is Wednesday evening here in New York. A delegation from the Arab League is going to come to New York and brief the Security Council in full public view at a session stating objections. And one of the major ones is that Israeli troops under this proposed resolution are allowed to stay in southern Lebanon until maybe weeks from now, when a larger international peacekeeping force goes there.

United States Ambassador John Bolton is well aware that these concerns have surfaced from Lebanon. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It's not as though we drafted this resolution in a closet somewhere and suddenly sprang the text on any member government. We, the United States and France, were in close touch with both the government of Lebanon and Israel throughout this entire negotiation process, not just here in New York, but in the critical early discussions among capitals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Well, for the -- representing the Arab countries, Qatar is the lone Arab nation sitting on the U.N. Security Council, and its ambassador has not exactly rejected the resolution completely out of hand, but appeals to understanding from the other council members as to why Lebanon is so upset.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER, QATARI AMB. TO U.N.: We just adopt a very unclear for us language that will create domestic problem for the Lebanese. We will not be responsible for that as Qatar. Qatar always want to be responsible -- responsible for a draft that will bring peace to Lebanon, not to create more problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: So somehow the backers of this resolution, the United States, France, and the others, will have to come up with some offer, some language tweaking to placate Lebanon, or else the resolution might be voted but it won't be accepted -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. A lot of work sounds like needs to be done, but for Wednesday.

Richard Roth, thank you for that.

Well, the message is this: Get off the roads, get inside, or you might get hurt. That is the warning from the Israeli military to the people of southern Lebanon effective 10:00 p.m. local time. That is 3:00 Eastern, 45 minutes from now, as darkness falls on the 27th day of this Middle East crisis.

CNN's Matthew Chance is on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Matthew, have you seen any movement yet?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, Betty. But over the past several days we have been seeing a gradual buildup of military forces along this border area with tanks and armored vehicles and troops really positioning themselves, poised, it seems, waiting for the order to go into southern Lebanon. Already on the ground there is fierce fighting with as many as 12,000 Israeli troops deployed in south Lebanon already.

They have been battling in close combat in villages across south Lebanon. Some of those villages they had already told us they had control of, but it seems that as they move their forces away to other areas, Hezbollah guerrillas come back and attack Israeli soldiers.

The town of Bint Jbeil, for instance, which you may remember a week -- a few weeks ago was the scene of ferocious fighting between Israeli soldiers and Lebanese guerrillas, Hezbollah guerrillas. Today, another two Israeli soldiers were killed there in clashes with Hezbollah fighters.

And I think that shows just how problematic this advance in south Lebanon has become for the Israeli soldiers. In the past six years, since 2000, when the Israeli army withdrew from Lebanon, it finished its occupation there, Hezbollah has been using the opportunity to rearm, to retrain, and to really dig in. And that's why it's proving very difficult for the Israelis to go back in and exert their control.

If there is an expanded ground operation, as we are hearing maybe the case over the next several days, possibly even starting tonight, then that problem will come up again and again and again. And it may prove very costly for the Israeli forces as they advance into southern Lebanon -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Matthew Chance on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border.

Matthew, thank you.

And when we come back, an angry Arab leader. We're going to talk about what this president of the Arab League had to say today about the situation and the crisis in this Mideast. Also, what does he offer as a solution?

We're going to ask some questions, find out the answers coming up on CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. Let's get you caught up on the situation at LAX.

We told you that there was a major backup because of an instrument landing system that had failed. Well, here's what we know now, that landings are almost back to normal at LAX. And here's the reason.

They eventually restored both runways by reversing the direction of the approach for these landings. Essentially, one runway was down because of this guidance system which helps pilots land, especially in cloudy and bad weather. Well, by reversing it, the weather was better on that approach when planes were coming from the west and, therefore, the guidance system wasn't need.

So, both runways back up and running. It looks like delays not as bad as had been predicted. In fact, landings are almost back to normal at LAX. So it appears, for the moment, the problem has seemed to be resolved with some quick thinking, obviously. Back to the crisis in the Middle East. Beirut still under attack as day 27 of the Middle East crisis. Here's what we know.

Within the past hour, an Israeli airstrike hit a crowded street in a southern Beirut neighborhood that until now had not been touched. Lebanese security sources say at least five people are dead.

Israel is warning people in southern Lebanon to stay inside after 10:00 p.m. local time. That is 3:00 p.m. Eastern, about 40 minutes from now. They say anyone on the streets after that may be considered a target.

And President Bush wants both sides to stand down. He is pushing for two U.N. resolutions. One to end the fighting, the other to send in peacekeeping forces.

One word from the Arab world about the U.N. cease-fire proposal, and that word is no. Arab League foreign ministers want changes and won't support a resolution as written.

To Damascus now and CNN's Aneesh Raman, who heard that from the group's secretary-general.

Aneesh, what did he say?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "Unacceptable," Betty, were his words. I met with the Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, yesterday, and you got a glimpse of the high emotions that are now crippling this process.

We heard earlier today from the Lebanese prime minister, who broke down as he spoke to Arab foreign ministers. Yesterday the secretary-general visibly angry as I asked him about the situation taking place, where there was room for compromise with moderate Arab governments. That now seems to be dwindling as Arab governments unify to back the Lebanese government in whatever it wants out of this U.N. deal.

And I asked the secretary-general, as well, what he is seeing, not just in terms of anger on the streets, but among Arab leaders, as well. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMR MOUSSA, SECRETARY-GENERAL, ARAB LEAGUE: Everybody -- and I want you to know that everybody is angry. And I'm not talking about the street. I'm talking about the heads of state and high officials and members of government and the educated class and the street. They are all angry. They are all agitated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: Now, this is a potential concern for the United States, because we have seen scenarios before where countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, other more moderate Arab countries, the people might have been behind Hezbollah, but the governments were more moderate. But it seems now there isn't much room for modern governance when it comes to this situation.

We saw at the beginning, Betty, some of those governments condemning Hezbollah for its initial abduction of the Israeli soldiers. I asked the secretary-general, "Does the Arab League now condemn Hezbollah for that incident?"

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOUSSA: Why should we? Why?

We condemn the destruction of Lebanon. As for the abduction, today the Israelis abducted the speaker of the Palestinian house. So why should we condemn an abduction and allow another abduction? This double standard is killing the people in this region and agitating them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: Now, all of this matters not just in terms of what's happening between Israel and Lebanon, but long term in the region. The secretary-general painting a very stark picture. Every day that these air assaults go on in Lebanon by the Israeli army and air force is another day that we're seeing basically the Arab countries come together to unify against Israel, and it makes peace in this region now every day harder to come by -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Aneesh, let me ask you this. As this Arab League gathered today, the Syrian foreign minister came out and said that this resolution could be a -- basically a recipe for a possible civil war in Lebanon.

Did he go into any more detail as to what he meant by that and why?

RAMAN: Well, what they're essentially saying is that if Israel continues to occupy in some form or another, whether it's a short period or a longer period, southern Lebanon, until those international troops come, that will further infuriate the people there. It will not lead to peace.

They have issues, as well, with the prisoner swap. They say that the language in this draft resolution mandates that the Israeli soldiers be brought back home, but it suggests almost that something be done with the Lebanese prisoners that the Israelis have.

So, what he means, essentially, is no one is going to stand by. He has also -- the Syrian foreign minister said this country is ready for a regional war. If Israel attacks here, it will respond in kind.

And as this goes on and as the U.N. still debates some sort of diplomatic solution, there are still people dying on both sides. And the Arab governments are growing more and more angry. And it is leading them towards more and more sort of vitriolic statements. And all of that is dangerous given the climate we already have in the region -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Aneesh Raman.

We thank you for that, joining us from Damascus.

Well, the camera doesn't lie, right? Well, a photographer is out of a job today because of this picture. Check it out from the Middle East.

See anything wrong with the picture, the before and the after? Can you tell the difference? We'll give you a show and tell when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Numbers there. Well, oil prices, they are surging after BP announced it will shut down a huge oilfield in Alaska.

Susan Lisovicz is live from the New York Stock Exchange with a look at how the market is reacting.

The market? How am I going to react when I see those gas prices, Susan?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, even in an era of volatility you have to do a double take on this one, Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, back to London now. A flight headed for Boston is ordered to turn around because of a potential security issue. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joins us with the latest on that. What caused this turnaround? What was that security issue, Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the problem was, a passenger on that aircraft who was on the no-fly list. This was American Airlines Flight 109. It was flying from London's Heathrow Airport to Logan Airport in Boston. It took off at about 6:23 a.m. Eastern time. At about 8:20, it was determined that this passenger who might have been a security threat was on board. The flight was ordered to turn around and at about 10:30 it touched back down in Heathrow. Authorities were there. They are now working with U.S. officials, questioning this individual to determine exactly what the threat might be.

I am told by a Transportation Security Administration official that there were communications between air traffic control and the airplane, and that there were no reports of unusual activity on board the flight. Another official says this flight was never in danger. The question, of course, is why this individual was on board a flight that was en route to the United States. At present, it is up to the airlines to run passenger manifests against the no-fly list. American Airlines -- at this time, we do not know why they did not get a hit. But the when U.S. government got that list when the flight was in the air, they determined that this individual might be a threat.

These incidents happen from time to time; I'm told six or seven or so in the past year. And it is why the United States is working hard to try and get those passenger manifests from the carriers before those flights take off, something that has been resisted by the European Union because of privacy concerns. Back to you.

NGUYEN: All right, the bottom line, no threat to the flight at any time. Jeanne Meserve, thank you for that.

MESERVE: You bet.

NGUYEN: There are new details emerging today of the alleged murders of a family in Iraq by a group of U.S. troops. Last hour, we got the story from Baghdad.

Well, now, let's check in with the Pentagon and CNN's Barbara Starr.

Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello to you, Betty. Very gruesome details, indeed. Five soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division now in a so-called Article 32 proceeding in Baghdad. They are all facing the possibility of going to court-martial to trial if the evidence is now found to warrant that. All of them facing various levels of being accused in the involvement in the rape and killing of a young Iraqi girl, and then the killing of her and her family. Extraordinarily gruesome details.

One of the others, a sixth man accused, is former Private Steven Green. He is out of the army, but now facing charges in federal court here in the United States. At the Article 32 hearing, the former battalion commander of this unit said that three of the soldiers, including Green, who you see here, had actually sought help for combat stress that, indeed, a quarter of that unit of that 101st Airborne Division unit, had reported that they felt they were suffering from combat stress. This is unit that had taken heavy casualties, was in an area of very heavy insurgent activity.

But, of course, whether any military proceeding is going to take into account stress allegations in such a gruesome case remains to be seen. It was found -- testimony included details that the men had drunk alcohol prior to their alleged committing of this rape and murder, and that afterwards they had grilled chicken. So, a lot of details indicating that this whole situation was extremely, extremely unusual.

One of the soldiers that testified in the unit indicated that when he heard about it -- this was someone not accused -- he heard about it and started to look into it because he wanted to know what had happened here. And he testified in the proceeding today, quote: "There's nothing I've read about that says what you do if your buddies have raped and murdered a family."

So, still, this hearing expected to go on several more days, Betty. And more details expected to emerge -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Barbara Starr. Barbara, thank you for that update.

Well, there are mixed signals from the terrorists. An Egyptian militant group says the number two man in al Qaeda was making things up when he announced the two groups had merged. The group says it rejects the claim by Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri, who portrayed the purported merger as a major coup. The group renounced violence years ago, and Egyptian jails have since freed hundreds of its members.

He'll be back. In few weeks, that is. That word from Cuba's vice president, who insists Fidel Castro is recovering favorably. His exact condition, well, that remains a mystery. In fact, President Bush says the U.S. is still in the dark about exactly what's wrong with the Cuban leader, who turns 80 on Sunday and has ceded power temporarily to his brother Raul.

Well, the camera doesn't lie, right? A photographer is out of his job today because of this picture. Is it lying to you? Well, look at the before and look at the after. Do you see anything wrong? We'll show and tell when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: This just into CNN. The Republican Party of Texas has filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court seeking to block a lower court ruling last week that prevented Tom DeLay's name from being removed from the ballot. Now, as you recall last week a federal judge ruled that his name must remain on that ballot, but if you will also recall, DeLay won a primary back in March just before he resigned his congressional seat.

Now, what the GOP wants is to pick a new nominee and put that person on the ballot. But according to this lower ruling, this federal judge says that DeLay's name must stay on that ballot and now the Republican Party of Texas has filed an emergency application to block that lower ruling and get Tom DeLay's name taken off of the ballot. We'll see how that plays out.

A case now of journalistic license that cost a newsman his job. A freelance photographer suspended by a major wire story for breaking the No. 1 rule of responsible reporting. CNN's Tim Lister has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the photograph that launched 1,000 blogs. It shows the Beirut skyline shrouded in smoke. The caption reads, "Smoke billows from burning buildings destroyed during an overnight Israeli air raid." The photographer was Reuters' freelancer, Adnan Hajj.

But the plumes of smoke raised suspicions among bloggers, especially Charles Johnson of the site Little Green Footballs. He said the smoke had been added to the image, probably using a photoshop clone tool. Reuters pulled the photograph and posted the original on his Web site. The agency also disclosed it has learned that Adnan Hajj doctored another photo last week, increasing the number of flares being fired by an Israeli F-16 from one to three.

Its now suspended Hajj, whose recent work includes this front- page photograph in Saturday's "New York Times." Reuters has also withdrawn all his photos from its database. Reuters said Hajj had denied deliberately attempting to manipulate the Beirut image, saying he was trying to remove dust marks and that he had made mistakes due to bad lighting conditions. It's not the first time that Charles Johnson, who edits the blog Little Green Footballs from Los Angeles, has claimed a scalp.

Two years ago he examined documents used by CBS News in its reporting of President George W. Bush's service in the Texas National Guard. And he found the type style used proved they could not have been from 1972 as claimed. CBS eventually withdrew the report and fired its producer. Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. So the man who discovered the photo was a fake, Web blogger Charles Johnson joins me now live from Los Angeles. Charles, first of all, let's go through these two pictures, the original one and the one that was altered and tell me what was done exactly.

CHARLES JOHNSON, BLOGGER: Yes, well if you see in the smoke plume at the upper left, you can see repeating patterns, sort of circular patterns that is repeated three times through that.

NGUYEN: Yes, you can. And it's darker, as well.

JOHNSON: Yes, that's right. Photoshop has a tool called the clone tool which lets you basically make a copy of one section of an image and paste it into other places in the image, sort of like a rubber stamp. And that's what was done here. And as you can see in this image, there was also a duplication of buildings. So, basically, this photographer created an imaginary version of Beirut that did not really exist.

NGUYEN: All right, but the photographer says that he didn't deliberately manipulate this photo, that he was basically trying to get some dust marks off of that. Do you not buy that side of the story?

JOHNSON: I think that is a little bit straining credulity to say something like that because how can you accidentally create an entire imaginary city? It seems to make no sense.

NGUYEN: You've got a point there. It seems like though, this is what is interesting to me. The original photo, if we can put it back up. That, in itself, seems powerful enough, why would someone even want to doctor it?

JOHNSON: It's strange, isn't it? And even more than that, what's amazing to me is that an editor did not catch this before the picture hit the news wires.

NGUYEN: Well yes, that was going to be my question to you. In looking at these two pictures, the original is the one that is on the right. Why do you think it is, I mean, because editors are there for a reason. You think they would have had the experience and the background to catch something if it's doctored. Why is that you, a blogger is the one who caught it?

JOHNSON: Well, I just happened to be the one. A reader of mine tipped me off to it and I looked at the picture and instantly realized it was a fake because I have an extensive background in image manipulation software and Web design and graphic design.

NGUYEN: Well we do want to let you know that Reuters did, as we mentioned, pull the picture, but they also issued this statement. And we're going to put it up, saying, "manipulating photographs in this way is entirely unacceptable and contrary to all the principals of consistently being held throughout Reuters through its long and distinguished history."

My question it you is this, this photographer in question here not only has his photos been pulled of this particular picture, but others as well. Does he have a history of doctoring photos?

JOHNSON: I don't know if he has a history of doctoring photos, but I think there were a number of questions raised about his participation in the Israeli bombing at Qana and possible staging of photos. Not doctoring, exactly, but staging bodies so that they could be photographed for propaganda purposes. That is the consensus of the opinions on the blogs that I read. NGUYEN: So with media being what it is and getting the information out there just as quickly as possible, is there a danger here of seeing more doctored photos? More fakes out there?

JOHNSON: Absolutely. You have to take into consideration that Hezbollah controls a lot of the pictures and a lot of the media that you see coming out of Lebanon and, so, I think that real questions need to be raised about the source of these images and especially when they use local photographers to get these images.

NGUYEN: Well, you're one man, you caught this, but how, how can the rest of this be monitored? What needs to be done to prevent other fakes from getting out there?

JOHNSON: I'm one man, but there's an entire army of blogs and blog readers out there and we can count on an enormous amount of scrutiny of the mainstream media for these types of issues.

NGUYEN: You think it's given a bad name to photographers everywhere?

JOHNSON: I wouldn't say to photographers everywhere, but I think it's very questionable that this photo came out of Lebanon at a time that is very crucial in the history of the world. I think that, really, we need to cast a very skeptical eye.

NGUYEN: All right. Charles Johnson, a blogger with greenfootballs.com. By the way, why is it called greenfootballs.com?

JOHNSON: Oh, I can't tell you that.

NGUYEN: It's a secret, huh? Maybe offline we'll find out. Thank you, Charles.

Straight ahead, entertainment news with Brooke Anderson of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Brooke, tell us what's tap?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Betty.

Well, Madonna stages a mock Crucifixion just minutes from the Vatican. The response from fans and the Roman Catholic Church, coming up.

Also, you now have a chance to judge O.J. Simpson. All that, straight ahead, when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. Well, for some reason he just won't go away. O.J. Simpson on a new Internet site, and Madonna's antics near the Vatican from our own Brooke Anderson, live in New York. She's going to give us the goods on all of this. Boy, a lot to tell us about.

ANDERSON: A lot to tell you about today, Betty. And you know, just when you thought we were all free of O.J. Simpson, this came along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No bus wants to pick up O.J. He's like kicked to the curb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is O.J.'s new lowest low. He's at a bus stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I filmed this because this was sort of weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Now, that's just a short clip of O.J. Simpson trying to catch a bus. There is oh, so much more. I'm talking 75 hours, in fact, of outrageous video of O.J. Simpson that was filmed from 2001 to 2005. In it, Simpson is seeing partying, partying it up with women, offering dating advice and talking about Oprah Winfrey. He calls her "untruthful."

Producer Norman Pardo shot all of this video to try and help Simpson improve his image. But now he is featuring video on the Web site judgeoj.com. Pardo says he owns all of the video and that, in fact, he then plans to develop a book titled "A Promoter's Nightmare." Whoa.

Whoa. All right, moving on now to someone who is no stranger to controversy, the Material Girl is, once again, making headlines. At her concert in Rome last night, Madonna staged a mock Crucifixion. Seventy thousand fans attended the event, which was just two miles from the Vatican. Now, during the show the 47-year-old singer wore a fake crown of thorns and was raised on a mirrored cross as part of her worldwide tour, her Confessions tour.

Religious leaders have condemned it as an act of hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church, but Madonna's representatives tell us that the performance is not disrespectful toward the Church. A lot of people have differing opinions on Madonna's latest act.

All right, coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," stars who are not losing their religion. Why Hollywood's biggest stars are preaching their own gospel. But should they keep their beliefs to themselves? A special report on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. That is "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 Pacific, CNN Headline Prime. We hope you join us then -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, I bet I know what a lot of people are saying about that. Should they keep it to themselves or not? You decide.

ANDERSON: That's right.

NGUYEN: All right, Brooke, thank you.

Coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM, pipeline problems. How much will you be affected? Ali Velshi joins us in the next hour with a barrel of info. The news just keeps coming, folks. We're going to keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com