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CNN Live Today

Thousands Evacuating from Lebanon; Will Israeli-Hezbollah Clash Lead to Ground War?

Aired July 19, 2006 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what we know right now. A chartered cruise ship is now ferrying about 800 U.S. and British civilians out of Beirut, in the heart of the conflict. Several more ships and at least one helicopter are due to ramp it up the evacuation of Americans.
A plume of smoke rises from the area surrounding Beirut's international airport. Israeli warplanes have also pounded targets in nearby suburbs. Also, Israeli ground troops moved across the Lebanese border. Israel says it's destroying specific Hezbollah outposts.

An evacuation nightmare. Hundreds of Americans are arriving in Cyprus after fleeing from the bombing of Lebanon. They're grateful to be out of the line of fire, but they also are telling tales of disorganization and disappointment in the U.S. government.

Our Soledad O'Brien got reactions from some of the evacuees.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN BERRY, AMERICAN EVACUEE: I'd say extremely chaotic. Very disorganized.

We got on the boat around 4:30 in the afternoon. So we just got off now. So it's good to be on ground, but, yes, very -- and no food, too. So it could have gone better, I'd say.

TONY LABAKI, SWEDISH EVACUEE: Since 1:00 yesterday, up to now we had nowhere to sleep or to sit. It was very bad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): How many children are you traveling with?

LABAKI: Three.

O'BRIEN: How old?

LABAKI: Thirteen, 11 and two.

O'BRIEN: How are they holding up?

LABAKI: Well, it's very hard for them, you know, but we are grateful to be here.

MARTA KAYAT, AMERICAN EVACUEE: But I expected different from the embassy. It was like five days. And imagine waiting five days with two children in the middle of the war. It's terrible.

O'BRIEN: Did you feel that the embassy and everybody was helpful, organized, to the best degree possible, or did you feel like it was just a crapshoot for you?

MICHAEL BAY, AMERICAN EVACUEE: It was -- the Norwegian government has been very helpful to us. This is a Norwegian vessel. Obviously -- well, there was only 200 Americans on it. So we were pretty lucky to get here today.

GEORGE HALE, AMERICAN EVACUEE: Disorganized, the evacuation coming out of the country. I appreciate the help of the embassy, but, I mean, this -- we could have had better circumstances.

Like, my parents heard it was a cruise ship. And it was definitely not a cruise ship. There were no seats. We got wet on the way here. But, I mean, we're here, and that's what counts. It seemed like my parents and people in the U.S. knew more than I knew.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And as we keep up with the fluid situation in the area, getting words of new attacks into northern Israel. Let's go to Carol Lin with that -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are just getting fresh pictures in, Daryn. I want to show the audience what we're taking a look at in this rocket attack on Nazareth. This is the area further south that has been attacked, where there are civilian casualties. And you can see what appears to be some kind of a business district or store, two civilians killed in this rocket attack. We're just working this story right now as it's just come in within the last hour.

KAGAN: All right.

LIN: Looking at the scene there, Daryn. That's about all we've got. 25 seconds worth of videotape there.

KAGAN: Interesting if we -- I don't know if we have a map to put up that just -- it gives an idea and perspective of how far these missiles are. Not as -- so about -- well just a little bit farther than Haifa?

LIN: That's right. This is an area that would you travel past on your way to the Golan Heights. It's a beautiful area, and the business district that you're showing there looks -- appears to be one of their main streets. And looking at the damage there, it's actually quite remarkable that more people weren't killed in that rocket attack. But there have been attacks further south, Daryn. This is just the further south where we are actually seeing civilian deaths.

KAGAN: All right, Carol, thank you. Carol Lin.

Now, as you look as those Hezbollah rockets are making it into northern Israel, you can see perhaps why the Israelis want this buffer zone in southern Lebanon. They are targeting key Hezbollah sites. They're doing from the air. Now there's questions about what's happening on the ground. Will this escalate into an all-out ground war as well?

Our Tom Foreman filed this report for "A.C. 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israel is trying to wipe out Hezbollah's rockets, the old short range ones which can reach only 10 or 12 miles into Israel; the new midrange rockets, which have been hitting Haifa about 20 miles inside the border; and even longer range rockets that they suspect exist and could reach all the way to Tel Aviv, about 75 miles in.

(on camera): Israeli intelligence believes the bulk of Hezbollah's rockets are hidden in this triangle, in the south and east of Lebanon. This is where Hezbollah operates, not in the whole country. So it's a limited area.

How many rockets? Look at this. Down the southern border, they think there may be about 10,000 of those short range rockets hidden in bedrooms and office buildings and garages and sheds, under the ground, all that sort of stuff.

Up here toward Beirut, though, they think there may be about 300 of those longer range, more advanced rockets. Those are the ones they really want to get.

Right now Israel is pounding all the places that they think these things may be hidden, because frankly, they think the rockets are the backbone of Hezbollah.

EDWARD LUTTWAK, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL. STUDIES: Without rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is nothing. It's 5,000, 6,000 armed men with middling level of training. So if the Israelis decide that they're not being successful at reducing the inventory, then they'll cross the border.

FOREMAN: But a ground invasion of this area, if Israel tried to come in and surround Hezbollah, would be tough. This is mountainous terrain. It's covered with all sorts of little villages. Military analysts say each one would have to be secured and searched, and each one could absorb 300, 400, 500 troops. That's a lot of people.

On top of which, look at the nature of these buildings. They're made of stone. If homes and building here were made of plywood or wallboard, you could shoot through them. Because they're made of stone, they offer easy safe hiding places for snipers and insurgents, where it's hard to get at them. And likely, that's what Hezbollah would become. An insurgency that would grind on.

Could the Lebanese army help? Maybe. They could come in from the north. But so far they've indicated they can't handle Hezbollah.

LUTTWAK: The idea of a pincer, of a squeeze by the Israelis advancing into Lebanon from the south and the Lebanese army stands firm and holds and squeeze Hezbollah, that could be hoped for and wished for. But it's not -- doesn't seem to be likely.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Our Anderson Cooper is actually in the region. He's been there reporting, and he's in Cyprus now, joins me on the phone with an update on the evacuations of the many Americans expected to make it into Cyprus today.

Anderson, hello.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Daryn.

Yes, we just had a conversation, a press conference just ended with Brigadier General Carl Jensen, who is coordinating the efforts by the United States to get its citizens out of Lebanon. He called it a very coordinated effort, but he admits that there is still much to do, saying this operation cannot move fast enough.

As you know, Daryn, there's been a lot of criticism by Americans on the ground in Beirut that other countries have gotten their nationals out faster. Brigadier General Jensen said that this effort never moves fast enough until the job is complete. They estimate by the end of today to have gotten some 150 Americans out of the Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. They that say by tomorrow, though, this is going to ramp up significantly. Tomorrow, they hope to move approximately 3,000 others from Lebanon, 3,000 in one day.

They're starting to get more ferry vessels. They'll also be using Navy ships. As you know, Daryn, for the last several days, they've also -- they've been mainly relying on large Chinook helicopters, CH-53 helicopter and NH-53 helicopters, heavy lifters which can move several dozen people at once. But as soon as those ferry boats get people moving, it's going to start going much faster.

Right now, the Orient Queen has been loading up and is anticipated to arrive in Cyprus hours from now. That will be the first large number of Americans landing. Nearly 1,000 Americans believed to be onboard, Daryn. But as you know, there are lot of Americans right now in Lebanon who are simply waiting for word on when they can get out.

KAGAN: Right. And then, Anderson, what happens when these Americans arrive in Cyprus? Are they on their own?

COOPER: Well, the -- that's where the State Department then takes over. They're -- the embassy here is coordinating it, trying to get people hotel rooms, trying to get them charter flights out of the country. But it's a small island, and though there are a lot of hotels here, rooms are booking up and flights out are limited. So they're trying to charter as many flights as possible.

The one other point, Daryn, that the marine general is wanting to make is, they are calling this not an evacuation. They are insisting this is an -- what they call an assisted departure. The difference being that evacuation implies that somehow the U.S. is fully pulling out of Lebanon. General Jensen pointing out that that is emphatically not the case. The U.S. embassy in Lebanon will remain open, he said. This is not a U.S. evacuation of Lebanon. They are simply trying to just -- any Americans who choose to leave and points out that many will choose to remain.

KAGAN: Well, I would imagine that the thousands that want out, they don't really care what you call it, just as you...

COOPER: I think you're probably right.

KAGAN: Just get us out of there.

All right, Anderson, we'll see more of you later tonight. "A.C. 360" airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Anderson Cooper, on location there in Cyprus.

Well, there are those who have made it out of Lebanon. Now it's all about getting back home. Coming up on LIVE TODAY today, the crowded ship, the hot sun, anxious moments. One young American student tells her evacuation story. This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And let's get the latest on the military developments, especially U.S. military developments in the Middle East.

Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the Pentagon says today that as of today, they'll have the capacity to take out 1,000 Americans from Lebanon. That, of course, includes the 900 or so that are believed to be on the Orient Queen, that commercial cruise ship that was chartered by the U.S. government.

Tomorrow the USS Nashville, an amphibious assault ship will be going to Lebanon to pick up more people, and by tomorrow, they'll be able to take out 2,000. They're not saying they're going to take about 2,000. That'll be the capacity. And they say that will jump to 4,000 by Friday, that they'll be able to take out, including, you know, those helicopter flights.

Another 120 Americans took helicopter flights out of Lebanon today. And, again, with the 900 or so on the Orient Queen, that puts them around 1,000 evacuated today so far.

So the U.S. is continuing to ramp up the capability of getting Americans out.

One big problem, though, is that not all the Americans are in Beirut, where they can get to the dock. There are at least several thousand Americans in the southern part of Lebanon, and they may have trouble getting to Beirut, and that's the problem they're working on now, trying to figure how to get those Americans out as well.

KAGAN: Interesting twist. Now you were explaining to us yesterday that the military really wanted to stress that they were using these chartered civilian boats, like the Orient Queen, but the Nashville, that's a military ship, right. That'll be transporting people.

MCINTYRE: And one of the big questions is, will the ship actually pull up to the dock? You know, it's one thing for a commercial cruise ship, which these ferries have been operating in what the U.S. military calls a fairly permissive environment, but it's another thing entirely to dock a U.S. warship.

And, of course, these are amphibious-assault ships. So they have landing craft. They have helicopters. They have other ways of getting Americans from shore to the ship. So it'll be interesting to see whether the commander decides it's safe to pull up pier side or whether they decide to stay over the horizon and ferry people out by smaller boat or helicopter. We'll just have to see. They're not talking about the security precautions they've put in place.

Of course, one concern is the fact that Hezbollah used those Iranian-made anti-ship missiles to hit an Israeli ship in the 10 miles out yesterday -- I'm sorry, on Friday. Clearly, they don't think that the U.S. ships are going to be a target, but nevertheless it is a war zone. There's a threat environment, and again, it's not something the military wants to talk about, but they're very aware of the threat.

KAGAN: How much talk do you know goes on behind the scenes? Well, the U.S. not talking to Hezbollah, but to Israel or to try to get some kind of cooperation to get people out of there?

MCINTYRE: A lot. A lot of cooperation and talk goes on behind the scenes. Is it enough coordination? You know, who knows.

The cruise ship, when it went -- the Orient Queen, when it arrived yesterday, did have to stop briefly for the Israeli naval blockade. But we're told that it was basically routine coordination, only took 20 about 30 minutes to clear the blockade and proceed on, proceed to port.

And the ship did leave, by the way, late today, because it was waiting for more people to show up. You know, they had a list of people that they hoped to get on the ship. They recognize that it's difficult to get around Beirut. So not everyone got there on time. And so the ship waited for some additional passengers, and that's why it was delayed in its departure.

KAGAN: Jamie McIntyre, live at the Pentagon. Jamie, thank you.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

KAGAN: Well, some folks who went for a ride on a cruise ship got a ride they were not planning on. How about a steering problem that caused a ship to lift way to one side. Oh, my. We're going to see some new home video of what happened aboard this ship in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: We will get back to what's happening in the Mideast in just a moment. First, though, we want to show you some incredible home video from a cruise ship that tilted way to one side.

LIN: Oh, yes. Daryn...

KAGAN: Carol Lin has more on that.

LIN: Tilted at a 38-degree angle. That is seven degrees short of possibly capsizing the Crown Princess. This is new video just in, home video of passengers. As they were making their way back from a cruise in the western Caribbean, they stopped in Port Canaveral, Florida, on their way back to New York when this ship, for unknown reasons right now, tipped at a 38-degree angle.

At least 101 passengers were onboard at the time. Two of them were -- at least two of them injured critically. Actually, at least 100 passengers on the cruise ship were injured. So, out of several hundred, obviously. Two of them critically injured. The final port is in New York. They're going to be heading back there, where this ship will be docked. And they will try to investigate what that problem may be.

But look at what a mess there is, Daryn. And certainly unexpected. You know, this is a brand new ship.

KAGAN: Oh, it's new?

LIN: The Crown Princess made its maiden journey just a little more than a month ago.

KAGAN: So they're saying it was steering problem?

LIN: They don't know for sure yet. They suspect that it may be a steering problem, but they're saying right now that they have no idea what caused this ship to tip.

KAGAN: Shoot. Even if I'm not injured, I'm getting off the boat in Florida...

LIN: Yes, I know.

KAGAN: ... and flying home. Thank you very much.

LIN: Let's hope a free trip in the future for some of those passengers.

KAGAN: Might not want to go again. All right, Carol, thank you.

Let's back to our Middle East coverage and Americans who have been evacuated from Lebanon to Cyprus trying to figure out what's the next step? Getting back home here to the U.S.

Michelle Constantine arrived in Cyprus this morning after an 11- hour trip aboard a boat. She goes to school in California, but she was in Beirut to study Arabic. Michelle, hello.

MICHELLE CONSTANTINE, EVACUATED FROM LEBANON: Hello. Hi.

KAGAN: How good does it feel to be there in Cyprus?

CONSTANTINE: It feels really good just to not be waiting to be evacuated anymore.

KAGAN: What was that wait like?

CONSTANTINE: Well, the school I was studying at was actually in Beirut and then they moved us north to Byblos on Friday. And since Friday, we've just been kind of waiting to find out when we were going to be evacuated or how we were going to be evacuated. On Monday, they said they were taking us out on Tuesday. And Monday night they said just kidding.

KAGAN: Not exactly the summer study program you signed up for?

CONSTANTINE: No, no. Because, I mean, we were -- not exactly, no. And I had also gone to visit family and didn't get to see half of them, so...

KAGAN: Well, perhaps another trip for that. Now, meanwhile, tell us about the ferry ride. You're so happy, I would imagine, to see this boat and get on it and be out of Beirut. But I understand that was its own part of the challenge.

CONSTANTINE: It was a cargo ship, and we didn't know what we boarding. And we get -- we were really loaded on as if they were loading cargo, like through the side big door when they pull cars in. And then we had to climb up to the top and we were one of the last groups to board the ship. And we were at very top of the ship on the top deck, which was nice during the day, with the wind and sun, but then...

KAGAN: But then it was a little wet, I understand?

CONSTANTINE: Yes. Very wet. There was dew everywhere. So it was fun.

KAGAN: So what happens to you now that you're in Cyprus?

CONSTANTINE: I'm pretty much free to do what I need to do to get home. A friend of mine and I who were evacuated together are going to go to Greece for a few days, just for a little bit of decompression.

KAGAN: Like good college students should, find adventure somewhere. I'm sure your family back home in the States has been worried. Any message for them?

CONSTANTINE: I mean, they know I'm safe. They knew I was safe when I was in Lebanon. I was being well taken care of by the university and by family, and they know I love them and I'll be home soon. KAGAN: Well, hopefully they're watching and get to see for themselves how well you look and how well you're doing. And, shoot, have fun in Greece!

CONSTANTINE: Thank you.

KAGAN: OK. Michelle Constantine, an American college student who was in Beirut to study for the summer and certainly has a very different college study plan than she had planned at the beginning of the summer.

We'll have much more from Cyprus, from Lebanon, from Israel, ahead. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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