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Arab League Plans to Lobby U.N. To Settle Mideast Crisis; Instrument Landing System Fails at LAX

Aired August 07, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody.
I'm Betty Nguyen at the CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta.

Kyra Phillips is off today.

From Beirut to New York, the Arab League plans to lobby the U.N. to settle this Middle East crisis.

Well, the stress of combat -- did that cause some U.S. soldiers to commit the unthinkable in Iraq?

Plus, problems with a pipeline hitting Americans where it hurts.

LIVE FROM starts right now.

All right, there's a new warning from Israel on day 27 of this Middle East crisis.

Here is what we know.

Israeli forces are telling people in Southern Lebanon to stay off the roads after 10:00 p.m. local time. That is 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Now they say anyone moving around after that time is at high risk and may be considered a target.

There are now explosions today in the hard hit Lebanese port city of Tyre. Dozens of people were rescued after first being reported killed in an air strike on the town of Hula, which is near the Syrian border.

And President Bush says the violence has to stop and he blames Hezbollah for starting it. At his Texas ranch today, the president pushed for a pair of U.N. resolutions to end the fighting and send peacekeepers in.

CNN has reporters all across the region and LIVE FROM will have live reports throughout this show. You can guarantee that.

We begin in Beirut. The Arab League wants big changes in those draft resolutions and it's sending a team to New York to make its case.

League foreign ministers just wrapped up a meeting in Beirut and our Brent Sadler is there -- Brent, I understand the Lebanese prime minister actually broke down in speaking to this group. BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty.

It has been a very emotional day at the political level. Some breaking news just in before I came on air. Two more loud explosions shook the Lebanese capital. The direction of the smoke that's just spiraling, I can see, behind the camera, coming from the direction of the southern suburbs, that familiar target on the outskirts of Beirut.

Now, back to that meeting of the Arab foreign ministers, the attack by Israel and the mounting losses on the infrastructure here and among the civilian population drawing outrage and condemnation.

Now, when Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, outlined some of his country's problems, the prime minister broke down in tears at one stage. He used a handkerchief to just damp his cheeks, removed his spectacles and then went on.

And he really did draw an immediate and sympathetic response from those that were gathered there.

And this will result, this meeting, of a new effort by foreign capitals, Arab capitals represented here today, to try to attempt to change that United Nations draft resolution in a way that would be more favorable to Lebanon, particularly with regards to the presence of Internet in South Lebanon, now regarded as occupation troops, and also other details that would make it easier for Hezbollah and Lebanon, the government of Lebanon, to be able to come up with a deal acceptable to the Lebanese as a whole and also a deal that Israel could go along with.

Still, that's a very long shot.

NGUYEN: Well, in the meantime, Brent, you just talked about another strike there near where you are.

Talk to us a little bit about what happened in Hula, because that also caused the Lebanese prime minister to shed a few tears.

SADLER: Indeed, it did. At the start of the session, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora gave information that had just been received by him that dozens more Lebanese civilians had been killed after battleground action in the south. It happened at a southern village called Hula. This is an area, we know, where Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah have been engaged in fierce and bloody clashes. And apparently, according to the IDF, confirming that there has been fighting in that area. Security sources here, Betty, saying that 40 -- at least 40 have been killed as a result of a building collapse where those civilians were taking shelter -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Brent Sadler joining us live from Beirut.

Brent, thank you for that.

Well, the Middle East looms large on the Bush ranch in Texas.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Crawford with the latest there -- hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Betty.

It really is a rare moment when you see President Bush in a suit in Crawford, Texas at his ranch. A formal press conference earlier today, really meant to convey a sense of seriousness in this matter, that they are very attentive to the Middle East crisis.

President Bush coming out with is secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, outlining these two resolutions, draft resolutions that they certainly hope will get passed in the weeks to come, days and weeks to come.

The first one, of course, calling for what the president says was a stop to the hostilities, not a formal cease-fire, which has a legal meaning, but a stop to the hostilities, which allows Israel to continue launching attacks in self-defense.

The second portion of this would be another resolution that the president says would set up the political conditions for a sustainable cease-fire in the future and also a multinational force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Under its terms, Hezbollah will be required to immediately stop all attacks. Israel will be required to immediately stop all offensive military operations. And in addition, the resolution calls for an embargo on the shipment of any arms into Lebanon except as authorized by the Lebanese government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Betty, already U.S. officials are really running into trouble here over this first resolution, much less getting to the second one. We have heard from Hezbollah officials, Lebanese officials and also those, as you had mentioned before, from key Arab allies, who are all objecting to this resolution, saying, first, it does not call for an immediate cease-fire. And, secondly, they want a call for the withdrawal of Israeli troops immediately from Lebanese territory.

Now, I asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about that, about the impasse, and here's how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe that the extant draft resolution is the firm foundation, is the right basis. But, of course, we're going to listen to the concerns of the parties and see how they might be addressed. And that's really what's going to be going on today, particularly after the Arab League meets and Prime Minister Siniora emerges from that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: So, Betty, that really is the rub here. The U.S. fears that if Israeli troops pull out before a multinational force moves in that essentially Hezbollah is going to be able to take over and gain a stronghold in Southern Lebanon once again. Hezbollah officials saying, look, we're not buying any kind of stop the hostilities until the Israelis get out.

And so quietly what is going on here is that U.S. officials are trying to buy time. They are reassuring the Lebanese that, look, hang tight here. We are going to try to get that multinational force as quickly as possible. But in the meantime, stand down on these attacks -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, you do have a bit of a rub, as you said, there, because Arab countries, even the Lebanese government has come out saying that this simply not going to work.

So when you have both sides there -- you've got the U.S. and France and many United Nations groups coming together and trying to pass this, is that going to get done when the -- within the next couple of days?

MALVEAUX: Oh, well, you know, the timetable is very tricky here because it's very optimistic when you talk to Secretary Rice, the president and other officials who are working here on this. They say perhaps the next 24 or 48 hours to try to get a vote on the U.N. Security Council resolution.

The bottom line, if the Lebanese government and Hezbollah doesn't sign off and it, it doesn't really mean very much.

The second resolution, they're hoping, will take shape in perhaps the next couple of weeks. But even National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley yesterday told us that, look, there are a lot of logistics in putting a multinational force in place. That's going to be weeks in the making.

So we could talk somewhere look at weeks, perhaps even a month, before you get that force in place.

NGUYEN: Really. A lot of steps. A two part resolution, it appears.

Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for that.

Well, B.P. is turning off the spigot on America's biggest oil field. And that is pushing the price of oil even higher, even while the government offers to make up at least part of the shortfall.

CNN's Alina Cho outlines the problem in Prudhoe Bay.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A big problem for American drivers may be looming on the horizon. Gas prices could start going up soon, after the announcement today that B.P. is shutting down a major oil field in Alaska.

Just how big?

The Prudhoe Bay facility pumps out 8 percent of the country's oil supply, or about 400,000 barrels a day.

DAREN BEAUDO, SPOKESMAN, B.P.: Four hundred thousand barrels is a significant amount of production from Alaska and we regret the action that we've had to take. We apologize to nation and to the State of Alaska for any adverse impacts.

However, this decision was made due to discovery of unexpectedly severe corrosion in a small spill from a crude oil transit pipeline.

CHO: Already, oil prices are jumping, up more than $1.60 a barrel. And it could get worse, pushing prices closer to a record $78 a barrel. There is also a profound impact to Alaska. State officials estimate the loss of production will cost the state about $4.6 million a day.

B.P. is speeding up the inspections and working with government regulators to make sure there are no other problems with the line. But right now there's no real timetable for getting the pipeline back online.

STEVE MARSHALL, B.P. SPOKESMAN: Only when we're absolutely satisfied that those lines are in good condition will we bring those lines back into service.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NGUYEN: And business reporter Susan Lisovicz is going to join us very shortly to talk about how all of this is going to affect you, especially in your pocketbook.

In the meantime, this just in to CNN.

We understand that there is a glitch at LAX that's affect air traffic control there.

We have on the phone with us the president of the air traffic control group there, Tony Vella.

Tony, tell us what's happening.

TONY VELLA, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION, LOS ANGELES: Hi, good morning.

Yes, the instrument landing system into Los Angeles has failed. Normally we use two instrument landing systems into the airport and this morning, approximately 30 minutes ago, one of those systems had failed.

So we effectively -- we have been reduced from using two runways for landing aircraft down to one. And that reduces the volume of aircraft that can land at Los Angeles International over a period for from...

NGUYEN: What do you mean it failed?

Talk to us about exactly what this system does.

VELLA: Well, the instrument landing system helps the pilot guide the aircraft into the airport and specifically to the runway that they'll be landing -- he or she will be landing on.

NGUYEN: I got you.

OK, and so now you're down to just one. So I imagine there's a huge back up there, correct?

VELLA: Yes, there's a backup. And the fact that it happened without notice has compounded the situation. So airplanes that were in the air are now holding in the air waiting for their turn to land. Additionally, there are planes that are scheduled to come into Los Angeles from other airports that are actually holding on the ground because there's no place for them to land right now.

NGUYEN: How big of a backup are we talking about, hours, minutes?

VELLA: I would suspect it's going to be hours. This is a domino effect. What happens is the instrument landing system that they use was failed. And so now they have to accommodate not only the airplanes that are in the air, but those that are on the ground at other airports.

So this will be a domino effect not just for arrivals but for departure aircraft also.

NGUYEN: Yes. And LAX obviously a very busy airport.

Any idea what caused this and when this could be back up and running?

VELLA: I do not know what the circumstances are under which that equipment failed. All I do know is that it was under a very busy time period that the equipment failed and controllers really had to scramble to get all these airplanes, you know, back in line, put them on a different runway and provide the appropriate spacing and separation.

NGUYEN: All right, we're going to try to put up a graphic here that shows how many planes are up in there -- oh my goodness, look at this -- how many planes are up in the air over LAX. Walk us through -- it looks like dozens upon dozens.

How many planes are basically circulating around, waiting for their turn now that one of these landing systems is down?

This is called flightexplorer.com. And, as you can see, Tony, I don't know if you're near a television, it appears to be a number, a large number of planes just circling over LAX. VELLA: Yes, well, I would suspect that. It's one of the heavier periods, like I said, and it was at the beginning of that rush into Los Angeles. So consequently, again, you're talking about possibly 60 or 70 airplanes per hour that would normally land at the airport. That will be cut in half.

NGUYEN: Wow!

VELLA: So that, again, it's a domino effect. Those airplanes are just going to keep on backing up. That's why the other aircraft that are -- have been waiting to leave their departure airports will now sit there on the ground until we get all the airplanes that you're looking at that are holding in the air on the ground. And we will be able to accommodate them.

I have been told, also, that the FAA is contemplating turning the airport around. And what that would mean is that they would start taking off and landing in the other direction...

NGUYEN: Oh, I see what you're saying.

VELLA: ... in order to try and accommodate this. And that is going to be a nightmare if they do that.

NGUYEN: Yes? Why is that?

VELLA: Well, what you have is a lot of airplanes waiting to land. And they're waiting to land going one way. Now you're going to turn this whole thing around. You'll be able to accommodate it over time, but those airplanes are still going to hold and it will effectively put a, you know, a stop on all those airplanes for quite some time that are waiting to leave other airports to get here.

NGUYEN: Oh, just not what passengers want to hear on a Monday, Tony.

VELLA: Well...

NGUYEN: Tony Vella...

VELLA: And, again, the other issue is going to be that the airplanes that would normally have gotten here aren't here. So if somebody is going to the airport expecting their airplane to take them to their other destination from Los Angeles, that airplane is still holding on the ground, probably in San Francisco-or Seattle or in Phoenix or some place else. So it's going to drastically affect departure aircraft, also.

NGUYEN: All right. We're talking about hours right now. But if you've got to turn this airport around, could we see delays that will last for days, possibly?

VELLA: I would think you're probably going to get quite a few cancellations on top of that.

NGUYEN: And, again, for those viewers just joining us -- Tony, if you would lay out exactly what this glitch is and how it's affecting traffic there, air traffic, at LAX, one of the nation's busiest airports.

VELLA: Are you talking about just kind of reviewing the...

NGUYEN: Yes, if you would, just for the viewers who are joining us.

VELLA: Sure. Yes. The instrument landing system is a guidance system that pilots use in order to line their aircraft up for a specific runway. At Los Angeles, even under heavy weather conditions, we can use two runways to put airplanes on the ground.

Right now, we have weather conditions that dictate that we need to use, we have got to have that equipment available, not just for us, but for the pilots, in order to fly on that runway. That equipment is no longer available. It has failed.

Consequently, controllers have to line airplanes up on a single runway and pilots are going to have to maneuver, you know, for minutes, hours, who knows how long, in order to get in line and land.

NGUYEN: And for those viewers just joining us, we're looking at the right-hand of your screen. It's called flightexplorer.com. And you can see all of the airplanes that are not lined up just yet. Many of them circling, waiting for their turn.

Now, Tony, you mentioned that because of weather conditions -- talk to me about the weather in L.A. right now.

VELLA: Right now the conditions are, I believe they're still overcast. They were earlier in the morning when the equipment first failed.

I don't know that it has gotten any better. But if they're actually contemplating turning the airport around and these airplanes are still holding in the air, I would suspect that, number one, they don't think the equipment is going to be back up any time soon. And there's really not going to be much more that they can do, that, you know, they're pretty much locked right now on that single runway operation until somebody makes a decision.

NGUYEN: How long has this system been down?

VELLA: I believe it's been -- this is a guess -- but I believe it's about 30 minutes.

NGUYEN: OK. Which could make a big difference when it comes to 60 to 70 planes per hour trying to land at LAX.

Now, again, you mentioned turning the airport around. That's something that the FAA is going to have to decide. And explain to us what that means.

VELLA: Well, normally when you land or take off, you land toward the ocean and you take off out over the ocean. So effectively what would happen is we have to turn the airport around, is a term that we use. And what we do is we would then start taking off toward the east and we would be landing from over the ocean.

So, again, we have to turn everything around. And the airplane that's facing east would have to go west and the airplane going west, it would need to turn east. It's a complete 180 degree operation than what we're doing right now.

NGUYEN: So not only are you down to one runway, but then you're going to have to turn many planes around should the FAA deem that is necessary. And in the midst of all of this, you've got a heavy overcast.

Tony, I want you to hold on just for a moment.

Tony Vella is president of the Air Traffic Controllers Association there.

We want to bring in Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist, to talk about the weather situation and why that's hampering conditions there -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right.

Well, we just checked the conditions out of LAX and they're reporting that the ceiling is at 2,500 feet. So that's a pretty thick overcast stratus layer there. And so the airplanes obviously don't have what we call the visual approach as you go into the runway. So there aren't clear skies and you have to rely upon those instruments that he's talking about in order to safely get the aircraft down to the ground.

It's been very foggy, a kind of overcast morning in the Los Angeles area. And we are forecasting that conditions are going to be improving here over the next couple of hours and hopefully get a little bit of sunshine in there so that they don't get their technical glitches out that possibly that could improve things at the airport, we think, later on for today.

I also want to show you our flight tracker. This is Flight Explorer. And take a look at this. Not quite as many airplanes as what we were just showing you in the air around this area.

There you can see LAX right here on the map. Right there, a couple of airplanes that are flying around that area.

So, again, the ceiling's right now -- that means the highest level that the overcast skies are -- are at 2,500 feet -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thank you.

And we also want to thank Tony Vella.

He is the president of the Air Traffic Controllers Association there. As we've been telling you, a glitch in one of the systems there, a landing system, and it's caused one of the systems to shut down completely. And this essentially means they're down to one runway.

And, as you can see, lots of planes in the air trying to land. They get between 60 and 70 planes landing every single hour, so no doubt this is causing major backups.

We'll stay on top of this story and bring you more. We do have correspondents headed to the scene and as soon as we get more information, like I said, we'll bring it to you.

Also ahead, city under siege -- it's been bombed for weeks and now the path for aid, well, that's been cut off.

We have a live report from Tyre, Lebanon when LIVE FROM continues.

And more on that pipeline problem in Alaska. We'll see homeowners oil prices are doing on that news today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, there's a developing story in London to tell you about. A flight headed for Boston is ordered to turn around because of a potential security issue.

Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joins us now what the latest on this -- what do you know, Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the flight in question is American Airlines Flight 109. It is now back on the ground in Heathrow. It was flying from Heathrow, scheduled to go to Boston, but was turned around mid-flight because there was a passenger on board, officials say, whose name was on the no fly list.

This passenger is described by a U.S. government official as a male. They did not have his nationality. The individual with whom I spoke said he was traveling with three people, purportedly his mother and two sisters. They did not know where his travel originated. They did not know why his name was on the no fly list.

These things do happen from time to time on international flights because at present, passenger name records are not given to the U.S. government until the flights are in the air. This is because of privacy concerns on the part of the European Union. Airlines are supposed to be doing checks of the names against the no fly list and they do do these, but sometimes mistakes are made.

In the past, for instance, sometimes the airlines have not had the most up to date information.

We do not know at this point in time exactly what the situation was here.

Now, when a flight is in the air and it is discovered to have someone on the flight on the no flight list, then determinations are made as to whether to go on and bring that flight into the U.S. and have it met by security officials or whether to turn it around. It will depend, in part, on how far into the flight they are and what sort of security risk they think this person poses.

According to a viewer communication received by our affiliate, WCVB in Boston, this flight was about two-and-a-half hours in when they decided to turn around and take it back to London. At no time, we're told, was the flight in any danger.

So we're waiting to hear more -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Keep us posted.

Thank you, Jeanne.

In the meantime, that's not the only problem in the skies above today. At L.A. planes are backed up. And the reason? There has been a glitch in the landing system. In fact, one of the systems has failed, which means there is only one runway working.

Let's get the latest on this from CNN's Kareen Wynter.

She is in our L.A. studios -- Kareen, what do you know?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, we just got off the phone with the manager of terminal operations at LAX. He offered a few details. Right now he says he's not aware of any major delays. He did confirm that within the last hour or so, that the instrument landing system did fail. And what that, in essence, does do is it helps the pilots navigate when they're coming into an airport for landing.

You can imagine how important that technique or that mechanism is at a time like this where, here in Los Angeles right now, weather is of concern. It's partly cloudy, somewhat overcast. And so now instead of having two systems to help navigate, we're cut down to one runway. And so it's causing, as you can imagine, such a huge backup.

We're in a heavy traffic period right now. Typically, about 60 to 70 planes usually land in LAX within an hour. That's now been cut by half. And when you're talking about one of the nation's busiest airports, that can lead to a lot of cancellations, a lot of delays, not just on the ground, Betty, with those planes waiting to take off, but also those in the air.

And you can see that graphic there. That gives you an idea of how many planes are now circling around, tying to land. So we continue to keep on top of this situation and see whatever new information comes out within the next few minutes.

NGUYEN: Yes, it does have a domino affect.

Let us know when you find out any more information as to when this landing gear can be up and running once again. Obviously it's causing major delays, as you mentioned. Thank you, Kareen Wynter, joining us from L.A.

Well, the shutdown of a huge oil field in Alaska could put even more strain on an already tight energy market.

CNN's Susan Lisovicz is live from the New York Stock Exchange with a look at the impact that this is having on prices.

And that's really the big question -- how is it going to air affect us at the pump?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we're already seeing it, at least on Wall Street, Betty. No question about it. A dramatic effect on prices, because it's big news and it's bad news.

B.P. says it will shut down the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska after the company discovered that a corroded pipeline was leaking.

B.P. operates the Prudhoe Bay operation, which is also owned by Exxon Mobil and Conoco-Philips. It's the country's biggest single oil field, representing about 8 percent of all domestic oil production. And it accounts for more than 2 1/2 percent of total U.S. supply. So a shut down is having an impact already on high fuel prices.

Gas prices hovering right now near record highs, about $3 per gallon. And analysts tell us they're likely to go up another $0.03 to $0.05 over the next few days.

The shut down will most directly affect gas stations on the West Coast. At some stations there, the price jumped more than $0.08 a gallon today. That's because the West Coast is where much of the oil from Prudhoe Bay ends up -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Oh, not good news.

And, you know, of course, I've got to fill up today, so lucky me.

Hey, let me ask you about this. Hasn't B.P. had other problems?

LISOVICZ: Yes. I mean if it sounds familiar, it's because it is familiar. It's been responsible, B.P. that is, for a series of safety and environmental problems in recent years.

In March, for instance, corrosion resulted in a spill of about 200,000 gallons of crude at the same field, the biggest spill in the history of Alaska's North Slope.

And just two months ago, the company had to shut down another stretch of pipe because of a similar problem.

Several state and federal investigations have been launched into the corrosion problems, including a criminal probe by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition, 15 workers died in an explosion last year at a B.P. plant in Texas -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Bad news upon bad news.

OK, Susan, thank you.

We'll check in with you a little bit later.

Well, he is still the Tour de France champion, technically. For now, that is.

Floyd Landis told us today one thing pushed him to victory, and that was hard work. Nothing else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLOYD LANDIS TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER: I'm proud of what I did. I won that race with determination and heart and I think anybody that watched that race would agree with me in that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, the Tour de France directs say Landis cheated. Landis has a theory and we're going to hear what that theory is coming up.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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