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Fire Crews Free Trapped Arizona Construction Worker; Arab League Pushes For Israeli Pullout From Lebanon; Federal Reserve Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Aired August 08, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Straight to Phoenix, Arizona, live pictures via KTVK of that construction worker that was trapped underneath the rubble -- more than seven hours, this rescue effort going on.
You're actually seeing now the worker getting pulled from that rubble. We're trying to see if any of these firefighters, rescue workers have been able to talk to this 28-year-old construction worker. It looks like they're hooking up oxygen. You can see the tank there on the side.

You can see the tubes. But they got him out. They got him in the stretcher. They are obviously taking him straight to the closest hospital. And you can see -- if you look off to the other side of your screen, you can see the firefighters, actually, the were coming out of that hole, where that fire -- where that construction worker was trapped.

So, there were firefighters within that dig, down deep, working to wrap him and pull him out of there. They said that they were close to freeing this construction worker about an hour ago. We didn't realize that it was going to take this long -- tons of concrete that this worker had been under.

It was a partially collapsed parking garage. We also were told that this 28-year-old man's father was also working at the site and was being allowed to stay close to his son, as rescue workers were working to free him.

The man's wife, other family members, were also at the scene, we're told. They were able to go to him, hold his hand, talk to him, before the rescue workers resumed their task.

So, this looks like good news, if indeed that was the case, where they had a chance to have communication and just encourage him to hold on and stay strong and not to panic.

Firefighters now -- you're seeing via our affiliate KTVK out of Phoenix that he's in the stretcher. They will be taking him to a nearby hospital, after more than seven hours of a rescue effort that is taking place in Phoenix, Arizona.

Just to back up a little bit, as you continue to watch these live pictures -- actually, Betty Nguyen is -- was following this story from the very beginning. Betty, you can actually see him there moving his arm, it looks like, everybody trying to keep him...

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stabilized.

PHILLIPS: ... calm, yes...

NGUYEN: Yes, exactly.

PHILLIPS: ... and steady.

NGUYEN: What we understand is that he is injured. Major injuries, is we have been told, Kyra, from the waist down, at least in the lower portion of his body.

He was operating a front-end loader. And this accident occurred about 4:30 Phoenix time, which is 7:30 Eastern, just a little over seven hours ago. He was trying to move a wall. And this is no -- no small wall, by any means.

In fact, it's 150 by 30 feet. It's a concrete slab. And that thing fell over on top of the machinery that he was operating. And you can see that these rescue crews are being very careful in bringing him out. So, after seven-plus hours of trying to get him out from underneath that, the big concern has been -- because, once they remove that off of his body, that concrete slab, the sudden release of toxins in this worker's body could prove to be a major medical problem, let alone the injuries that he sustained from this.

So, they are trying to get him, as you see there, to the ambulance and off to the hospital just as quickly as possible.

But the good news is, he is out and that he has been conscious and speaking with rescuers throughout all of this. So, we will wait to see the extent of his injuries. But, Kyra, we know, so far, that they are major injuries to the lower portion of his body, but he is out, and he is alive.

PHILLIPS: Well, Mike...

NGUYEN: That is the good news.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

And Mike Sandulak, division chief with the Phoenix Fire Department, on the phone with us now, Betty.

Mike, I understand this was quite an intense operation, with medical personnel actually in scrubs, with hard hats, passing oxygen bottles and fluid, via -- intravenous fluids, down into this hole where this rest -- this construction worker was trapped.

MIKE SANDULAK, DIVISION CHIEF, PHOENIX, ARIZONA, FIRE DEPARTMENT: Exactly.

Once our first companies got on the scene, they actually did that. So, he's been on oxygen, heart monitor, medications, and I.V.s, probably since about a little after 6:00, once we got to him safely. He has been that way. He -- the problem was, we had him out of the structure, and he was safe from all the weight, but he was still in a position where we couldn't get him out and free him out to the outside, because there was no room to get him.

We had to actually build a pocket with our workers and our manpower and equipment to move him back and to get him up and out of that hole, which he has now just got out of the hole about five minutes ago.

PHILLIPS: So, Mike, what do you think? I mean, the fact that his dad his there, his wife was there, they were able to even hold his hand, talk him through this, try to get him not to panic, does it look like those injuries happened with the initial collapse?

You were staying you were able to free the weight off of him. So, it was just that -- it -- was he stuck in a crevice, and -- but just wasn't able to move his legs, possibly because they were broken or -- kind of give us a feel for why it took so long to get him out of there.

SANDULAK: Exactly.

It wasn't just the place where it's just a bunch of debris, and you can get some people in there, with shovels and hands, and just pick that stuff around. We are talking about tons and tons of a weight, cement, and concrete, on top of him has collapsed. And that's what took the long time.

We had him treated and packaged for a long time. Our biggest concern is, once we got the weight off of him, what it was going to do to his body. He is out there. We have our paramedics on scene with him. They still have the I.V.s. They're still supporting him with airway and oxygen. So, he's getting the best care he possibly can.

It's -- finally, we got him out safely. And that's the thing. The firefighters have been here working diligently for like the last six hours.

PHILLIPS: Do you know what happened initially, that the -- were they trying to repair -- I mean, we're looking at the garage area. And we see where the damage is done. What initially happened? It -- was it the machinery?

SANDULAK: Yes, ma'am, I really can't confirm that.

The part you are looking at right now is part of the old Civic Plaza that in the demolition stages. The new Civic Plaza, the beautiful new Civic Plaza in downtown Phoenix, is being built around it and next to it.

This is a part they were just doing some demolition. And what happened was, they were working on some demolition part, and something must have collapsed, causing him to be trapped in this heavy piece of equipment. PHILLIPS: And he was the only one that was injured at this point, the only worker?

SANDULAK: That's exactly right.

PHILLIPS: OK.

So, how many -- how soon -- you -- there were, obviously, initial construction workers there at the scene. Were there already firefighters on standby? Or did everyone respond once this happened? Was this a 911 call?

SANDULAK: This was a 911 call that came in (AUDIO GAP) dispatch center at 4:41. Our trucks were on the scene in about four minutes.

PHILLIPS: Where did the medical personnel come from?

SANDULAK: Our fire trucks -- our firefighters are paramedics.

PHILLIPS: Where is he headed to now?

SANDULAK: He's going to go to Good Samaritan Hospital in one of our fire department -- Phoenix Fire Department rescues...

PHILLIPS: And what...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: And what's the first plan of action, Mike? I mean, is it working on the extremities? Are they concerned at all about his -- I mean, is he talking? Is he having regular conversation? Are they concerned about his brain?

SANDULAK: He was talking at first. We gave him plenty of fluid, because what's happened, you bring that much weight off your body, it puts you in a shock condition. It build -- it puts toxins and lactic acids throughout your body.

So, they prepare for that. They give him some medication, maybe some like bicarb, that is kind of a buffer when the lactic acid gets throughout your body. They give him plenty of fluid. They have the heart monitor on him. So, whatever care happens when you take that weight off of him, we will prepare that.

We actually can do -- you know, if we had to, we could have done a medical abdication. And we have doctors on site and trauma teams on site, that, if we had to go that far, we had to. Fortunately, we didn't have to have do that. We got him out safely. But his condition right now is -- he's getting the best care he can. I just don't know his condition right now.

PHILLIPS: Do you know if he was -- if was he able to communicate with his father or with his wife? Did he say anything to them? Were they able to have any type of conversation?

SANDULAK: Yes, ma'am. His father was with him throughout. He was working earlier this morning. He was him throughout.

And then he was there, as -- we brought his family in close. I don't know if they ever actually engaged in any talking or anything of that, but they were able to console him and be near him. But, then, we had to get them out of that hot zone, so that we could work.

PHILLIPS: Mike Sandulak, division chief with the Phoenix Fire Department -- Mike, thanks so much.

SANDULAK: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Well, you saw it there on live television, via our affiliate KPHO out of Phoenix, Arizona, also KPNX, bringing us live pictures.

On the one side of the screen, you will see this young construction worker headed straight to the Good Samaritan Hospital, after a dramatic rescue there at this parking -- or at this construction site that had collapsed. Tons of concrete had him buried. He was communicating, we're told initially. His family was there to try to talk him through. It took seven-plus hours to get him out of there.

We will update you, of course, on his condition as soon we know some more.

Well, we are four weeks into the latest Mideast conflict. Will there be a fifth?

Here's what we know right now.

Israel launched dozens of attacks on Lebanon today, including one outside the port city of Sidon. Lebanese security sources say that eight people are dead and more than 30 wounded. They are also raising the death toll from last night's attack in a southern Beirut neighborhood to 30. Hezbollah fired more than 140 rockets into northern Israel today, but police say only two people were hurt.

The Israeli security cabinet meets tomorrow to consider expanding its anti-Hezbollah operations. Also, the military is warning people south of Lebanon's Litani River to stay off the roads, or risk becoming targets.

An Arab League delegation is at the U.N. this hour. They are pushing for an Israeli pullout from Lebanon, something the latest draft resolution backed by the U.S. doesn't call for.

Well, we begin in Beirut, still reeling from that airstrike about this time yesterday.

Our Brent Sadler is in the Lebanese capital with more -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Kyra, we can update you.

There has been another airstrike, two explosions heard within the past couple of hours. That is, we understand it's an airstrike. It could well have been naval bombardment, which is what has now been confirmed was the result of yesterday's attack, bombs falling on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

We do know that this strike this evening, again, in the southern suburbs, we are not sure, at this stage, which district was hit. But, certainly, now, three straight days of Israeli bombardment of the southern suburbs. One of those districts, known as Shiah, that was hit yesterday, now we have the death toll, according to the internal security forces, put at 30, 30 dead, from that strike yesterday, and more than 60 injured.

If we switch our attention to the southern war front, south of Sidon, where people have been told by leaflets dropped from the Israelis to -- to clear certain areas around Sidon, confirmation that another strike has killed more Lebanese, eight confirmed so far, at Ghazir -- this attack today happening, coinciding, with a -- a funeral that was also taking place in that village, a funeral that was the result of a strike the previous day.

Also, the Israelis have dropped leaflets, warning all residents south of the Litani River -- that's about a 20-mile strip down to the border with Israel -- not to use any vehicle on the roads at any tame, in effect, making a huge area of the south a no-go area for people to get into or out of. That, of course, is going to have a very significant ripple effect on attempts by humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to the south -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Brent Sadler, live from Beirut -- Brent, thanks.

No Israeli pullout, no deal, that's the case Lebanon and its Arab allies are making for the U.N. Security Council this afternoon.

CNN's Richard Roth joins me now from U.N. headquarters in New York -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the Arab delegation that came from Beirut with criticism of the proposed U.S.- French draft resolution has now arrived here at U.N. headquarters.

Their vehicles, their small motorcade, came through the grounds of U.N. headquarters. And now the ambassadors, the delegates are meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. U.S. Ambassador Bolton and the French ambassador, the architects of the resolution, I believe are up there at that meeting, also.

After that session, the ambassadors come down and then brief the Security Council on their views on that resolution.

A spokesman for Kofi Annan explained what the top diplomat in the world hierarchy would like to see occur.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESPERSON: The secretary- general continues to believe that we do need a -- we do need a resolution, we need cessation of hostilities, as soon as possible, in order to alleviate the suffering that we have seen of the civilian population on -- on both sides.

And, right now, the diplomatic discussions are -- are intense. There are a lot of things to be worked out. I think the council will hear from the Arab League delegation this afternoon. The secretary- general will hear from them this afternoon as well. The discussions will go on, but we do hope we see a resolution soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: The government of Lebanon has proposed sending 15,000 troops down to southern Lebanon, they say that would then police the area, and then no need for Israel to stay, according to this resolution, and wait for a more robust international peacekeeping force.

The British ambassador says that he thinks it's not -- that's not something to be negotiated into this text at this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMYR JONES-PARRY, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: We cannot go back to a position where Israel is under attack. So, we need to balance out, but where security is enforced by an international force by the present United Nations force playing its part, and by an increasing role for the government of Lebanon forces.

Nothing would help the situation more than have the government of Lebanon able to exercise full sovereignty over all its territory, and for the armed groups, like Hezbollah, to be disarmed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: The British ambassador and his colleagues will hear the views. That's why they have delayed voting on this resolution. The Security Council members were willing to listen to this team. Here they are, arriving in U.N. headquarters, just a few seconds ago.

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, the foreign minister of Qatar, they will be speaking in open session before cameras shortly -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Richard, we will monitor it. Thanks so much.

Well, straight ahead: on the move, in the dark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have been walking for a couple of miles now. We're going to just stop to drink a little bit of water. The going has been hard, up one hill, down another -- very, very dusty.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, our John Roberts on the front line -- his amazing reports with the IDF troops straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

Also ahead: caught in a war zone amid the rockets and the bombs are real people, children, and families wondering what will happen next.

Straight ahead on LIVE FROM, CNN producer Cal Perry, you have read his amazing blogs from Lebanon and seen his touching photos. He is going to join me live -- right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Twenty-eight days of war between Hezbollah and Israel, 28 days of rockets and tanks, 28 days of misery for the people caught in the war zone -- CNN producer Cal Perry has seen much of it firsthand. He has been working with our Karl Penhaul covering Lebanon.

And you may have seen some of his amazing images and read his blog on CNN.com. He has captured some of the raw emotions -- a lot of the emotions, actually.

Cal Perry is here now to show us more and to focus on the children caught in this conflict.

First of all, it's nice to have you safe and sound. I know you are going right back over there, but it's good to see you here.

CAL PERRY, CNN PRODUCER: It's great to see you. Thanks for having me.

PHILLIPS: Let's start with this school/bunker, right?

You had a chance to interact with a lot of the kids. This one particular picture of this woman and her daughter and the family, you got to know their personal story pretty well.

PERRY: This was a family that fled the south, the sort of border region, in their car. And their car took some kind of an artillery hit.

It was not a direct hit, but it was enough to cause burns to the baby. You're seeing the mother, the daughter there. Behind them in this makeshift room was this -- this little baby, this baby girl, who had fairly extensive burns on her body.

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: You see her there with her -- with her older sister.

Interestingly enough, and I -- I can speak for Karl on this -- we really try to say uninvolved, independent, and tell people's stories. This baby had not received any medical care. And we travel with a security adviser who has a full medical kit. And this was one of those rare instances where there was no choice to sort of try to treat this baby. And he did so. But we included the baby in some of the stories we did.

PHILLIPS: And them -- that is a tough decision, because what else can you do? This baby is not getting care. You have got the training. And you have got the, I would guess, the capability to help the baby.

Did you worry at all about, well, what happens if we don't do the right thing? Or was the family really in the mind-set of, look, I will take whatever help I can get, because it's not going to come from anyplace else?

PERRY: And they couldn't move. And we could get to them, but they couldn't get to a hospital. I think that was a big part.

We had the ability, still, at that point to travel. And that ability is now gone from the press entire. But our ability to reach that baby was really the deciding factor, finding that baby in this makeshift shelter, the family more than willing to take any help it could get.

Burns are very a tricky thing. You are worried about infections. Our security adviser, for him, it was a no-brainer. He was going to treat the baby.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about -- I mean, those were some of the survivors -- but those that died.

I think one of the most powerful pieces you and Karl did, these just mass graves, with coffin after coffin after coffin.

Now, what caught me about this picture -- and I know you were thinking the same thing -- is, wow, the mass grave is overwhelming, but look how it affects the children.

PERRY: The thing that struck me, especially about this photo, is, the kids in the -- in the area, in the neighborhoods, would come out and see these scenes.

And I think about, here in the U.S., we try to keep our kids from watching violence on TV. And, in places like southern Lebanon, these kids would come out of their houses, and they would see 87 bodies being buried in one mass grave.

And what you don't see there is what happens before, which is the bodies in big, you know, black bags being put into the coffins. It's a very violent scene. And it struck me, watching the kids watch these scenes.

And I just -- I couldn't help think, this is what adds to the generations of generations of generations of hatred towards Israel, is that they grow up seeing these things. And that's all they know at that age.

PHILLIPS: See, and that's where history seems to keep repeating itself. Now, this was a difficult thing for you to shoot, right? You and Karl actually disagreed on: Do we get into the trenches? Do we shoot these -- well, there's the picture right there. You actually jumped in and started shooting these, but you didn't want to do it, right?

PERRY: I certainly didn't, actually. And Karl is one of these incredible journalists that is just hands on. And he really wants to get the viewer in the camera lens.

I mean, there he is right there in that picture. And it was a very -- it is a very unnatural thing to do, putting yourself in a mass grave. And it's an incredibly unpleasant scene, just the smell, the bodies, the blood. It's an awful sort of place to be.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: And, as my producer pointed out, if we could back to that picture real quickly, Jen (ph) just said, notice the coffins and the baby coffins. I mean, right behind Karl -- there you go -- I mean, you see the bigger coffins. Those are adults. But it's the little teeny ones that sort of catch your attention.

PERRY: It is.

And, in fact, on that coffin, it was written in Arabic, "No name." They didn't know the name of the child.

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: And you would often see this. We would ask some of our translators to help us out: What do these coffins say?

And, sometimes, there's no names. There's just numbers. And you wonder where the family is. When are they going to be able to return? This is a temporary grave, or what they're hoping will be a temporary grave. Hopefully, they are saying, relatives will be able to come back. But nobody knows when that will be.

PHILLIPS: Now, I know the kids become attached to you as well, an American, a journalist.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: You're obviously different from what they are used to seeing, and -- and a different type of person that -- from growing up. And -- and you come in there, they're -- they -- they want to talk to you. They want to play with you. They want to look at your pictures and your video, don't they?

PERRY: They do.

You are a complete novelty. They have never come across anyone like you before, especially in south Lebanon, in these very small villages, very small towns outside of Tyre. We would go to these makeshift bunkers, and we find these kids. And you would want to entertain them. You would want to be able to do your work, but you would also want to entertainment them.

I found, the best way to entertain kids is to take their picture and show them the digital -- digital image of that photo. And this is something they have never seen before. And it would freak them out.

But, again, they would sort of -- they would just run wild.

PHILLIPS: It kept them distracted.

PERRY: You have to keep them distracted, especially if you are trying to film down in a bunker. And, you know, the kids are going to gravitate to the camera or any action. So, you got to try to distract them as best you can.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know we tell you this on a regular basis, but you are just doing amazing work. We appreciate you sharing more pictures.

And, also, you are still blogging...

PERRY: Mmm-hmm.

PHILLIPS: ... on CNN.com, right?

PERRY: Yes. Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: OK, great. Cal Perry, thanks so much.

PERRY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, with the Israeli Defense Forces, our John Roberts got a rare and up-close view. We will have more from him on LIVE FROM -- straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady, the first time that has happened in more than two years.

Susan Lisovicz, live from the New York Stock Exchange, with a look at how investors are reacting.

Susan, what, it has been an hour...

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's...

PHILLIPS: ... hour-and-a-half?

LISOVICZ: It has been an hour.

And, you know, we were talking about how that there was some booing on the trading floor when the statement came out that accompanied the decision. And you could see it playing out in the markets right now, because the Fed issued a rather ambiguous statement, gave itself a lot of wiggle room. So, there may be a pause, but it's very noncommittal, the Fed saying that upward pressure on inflation could ease in the months ahead, which would mean that interest rates could hold steady, or even start creeping back down.

But the Fed also said that some inflation risks remain, and that future decisions will depend on the economic reports we see over the next few months. For investors and consumers with variable-rate loans and credit cards, that means the door is still open for another rate hike as early as next month, when the next Fed decision -- next -- when the Federal Reserve meets again.

The decision to hold rates steady, by the way, not a unanimous one -- one Fed official voted for a quarter-point increase, adding to the uncertainty. This is not like the U.S. Supreme Court, where there are lots of split votes. It's usually unanimous from the Federal Reserve.

Dow Jones industrials, right now, it is unanimous. There's a sell-off. It has been mostly down since that decision, an initial pop, and then down, Dow industrials down 52 points -- the NASDAQ down 12 points, or nearly two-thirds of a percent -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it looks like many airlines are considering a change in policy, as well. Tell us about that.

LISOVICZ: That's right, Kyra.

Ever since 9/11, airlines have been cutting back their flying capacity on domestic routes, in an effort to save money. But, according to "USA Today," U.S. airlines will increase their seat offerings by nearly 2 percent this November, compared to last year, and the number of seats available will increase even further in December, with an estimated 3 percent increase over the month a year earlier.

Discounters, such as Southwest, AirTran, and JetBlue, are the main source of the increased capacity. By December, they will control one out of every four seats on domestic flights. Increased capacity generally reflects greater optimism about carriers' prospects for making money. And it could also mean a break from rising airfares for passengers, not to mention a little more elbow room. Wouldn't that be nice?

And that's the latest from Wall Street.

Stay with us. LIVE FROM will be right back.

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