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U.S. Marines Help Evacuate Americans From Lebanon; Israeli Ground Forces Battle Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon; Kofi Annan to Make Comments on Mideast Conflict

Aired July 20, 2006 - 11:08   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've been listening in to President Bush. A first for his presidency. He had been invited five years in a row. This is the first time he accepted the invitation to address the NAACP convention.
This in anticipation of the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which he says he hopes Congress passes without any amendments. That is what got the biggest response of all the remarks the president made in his speech, which lasted over 30 minutes.

More on President Bush.

Also, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, in attendance there. We'll tell you what her plans are in the days ahead. We'll get to that.

But first, let's get back to what's happening in the Middle East.

And with that, let's bring you up to date with what we know right now.

The first American evacuees from Lebanon are back in the U.S. They landed this morning in Maryland.

Off the coast of Beirut, U.S. Marines are ferrying hundreds of Americans onto a U.S. Navy ship. It's the first time Marines have been on Lebanese soil in 22 years.

And a flood of refugees. As many as 50,000 people have crossed Lebanon into neighboring Syria just today.

For the newest military developments in the Middle East, let's go to the Pentagon and check in with Jamie McIntyre.

And tell us what the Marines are doing there in Beirut -- hello.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, just a short time ago Pentagon officials said that the USS Nashville has now departed the Port of Beirut with just over a thousand American evacuees on board. The USS Nashville, an amphibious transport ship, spent the day loading Americans who want to leave Lebanon on to the ship, using small landing craft to ferry them from the shore to the ship that stayed a safe distance off shore.

It was an all-day operation. CNN's Barbara Starr is on board the ship, reports the mood is quite upbeat among the Americans who are leaving, although some expressed concern about family members they were leaving behind.

The pace of evacuations has stepped up considerably now that the Orient Queen has completed a run, taking about a thousand people out yesterday. Now the Nashville. More ships will be arriving over the weekend as the pace of evacuations continues.

And at this point, one of the big problems is Americans who are stuck in southern Lebanon. The State Department estimates that there are several hundred. The Pentagon said perhaps between 300 and 500 who will need to be evacuated.

The plan for them is to move them by buses to the Port of Beirut, bring them out by ship as well. There are also contingency plans for possible helicopter evacuations if it turns out over-land travel is not feasible. But at this time, the State Department remains hopeful that they'll be able to arrange safe passage over ground for those Americans in the dangerous part of southern Lebanon who need to get out as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: So, Jamie, the numbers I've seen, 25,000 Americans in Lebanon before this all began. I've seen numbers that 8,000 have put in the request to leave. What's the Pentagon -- are they giving any predictions about how long it should take to process and get all those people out?

MCINTYRE: They don't -- I mean, they're going to be at a capacity fairly soon to take really as many as 4,000 people a day out. But they don't know how many people are actually going to be able to get out on any particular day. And they don't know the total number.

That State Department number, between 5,000 and 8,000, is a working number. But they say the situation may change, depending on what happens on the ground. If it gets worse, more people may want to leave. And they say they are building excess capacity into the system so that they'll be able to stay there as long as necessary so that every American who needs U.S. government assistance is able to get out.

KAGAN: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

Jamie, thank you.

I want to show you a live picture that we're watching right now from New York City. The U.N. Security Council, the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, getting ready to address this body. And we will be listening into that when he gets started some time within this hour.

Meanwhile, let's head back overseas and get the latest on developments from what Israel is saying.

John Vause is standing by in Jerusalem.

John, hello.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Overnight, it appears the Israelis were going after the Hezbollah leadership, quite possibly Hussein Nasrallah himself, with airstrikes on underground bunkers in Beirut. Israeli security sources say 23 tons of explosives were dropped, including Bunker Buster bombs. But Hezbollah says that all that was hit was, in fact, a mosque that was under construction. And according to a spokesman, the leader, Hussein Nasrallah, is alive and well.

Israel says it's continuing to step up its airstrikes, targeting Hezbollah training camps in the east, as well as Katyusha rocket launching sites, and a strike on the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar television station. And there have been ground battles today, too, Hezbollah fighters and a small number of Israeli soldiers.

Three Israelis have been wounded. A tank and an armored bulldozer destroyed. All of this took place in the same area where two Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday.

And the head of Israel's military says these airstrikes and artillery shellings and all the military action has seriously degraded Hezbollah's ability to launch those Katyusha rockets and other missiles, which may explain why it's been a relatively quiet day. Missiles falling earlier in the day on just three Israeli towns, and no reports of casualties -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, one thing that has been falling from the sky has been more leaflets from the Israeli military. Tell us about that, please.

VAUSE: Well, they've been dropping these leaflets for quite some time over southern Lebanon,, also sending out messages, apparently over the radio, according to one report. And also even SMS text messages, according to another report in the media, essentially warning Lebanese civilians that it's time either to get out of southern Lebanon, or if they stay there, to basically avoid those Katyusha rocket launching areas, and also to avoid Hezbollah strongholds as well.

This could indicate, with a warning for all the residents there to get out, that this operation to basically create that buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah militants could be reaching some kind of climax -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right.

John Vause live from Jerusalem.

Thank you.

KAGAN: Let's check in at the United Nations. We were showing you that live picture just a couple of minutes ago. The U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, getting set to address the Security Council.

With more on what we can expect to hear from the secretary- general, let's talk with Richard Roth.

Richard, hello.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Yes, Kofi Annan, back from a European trip, a lengthy trip, hasn't been in New York in a while, is about to talk to the Security Council. We can take a look at the full chamber there gathering, awaiting his visit.

Kofi Annan met this morning, we know, with Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman. Annan quite concerned about the humanitarian crisis there in the wake of the shelling and the rocket attacks back and forth.

Secretary-General Annan's aide, Mark Malibrown (ph), yesterday said we're at a critical decision point. Annan meets tonight with Condoleezza Rice. Obviously everybody is trying to get on the same page, send out some type of united message. But there's been a split in the Security Council, primarily with the United States objecting to any action, they say, will be in the wrong sequence.

Ambassador Bolton yesterday said it's a simplistic approach to try to get some type of cease-fire without developing a strategy for what comes next. The fear that Hezbollah, Washington saying, will just start attacking again, that any type of cease-fire is not going to be enough.

The U.N., Daryn, has a 2,000-man military observer force there. That was put there, believe it or not, in 1978, when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon.

We're here in the Security Council. And tomorrow, a member of Annan's special delegation that hopscotched around the Middle East will brief the Security Council.

You see Ambassador Bolton there talking to Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman. The U.S. has been strongly defending Israel in the Security Council.

France floated many ideas that would have been critical of extremist attacks in the Middle East, calling for a cessation of hostilities, but Bolton not ready to be interested on behalf of Washington at this time, though the U.S. agrees with a lot of what he said.

Bolton also got some encouraging news from key Senator George Voinovich, who voted against Bolton as U.S. ambassador, today. Bolton may be re-nominated by the White House.

Daryn, Kofi Annan expected to speak momentarily.

KAGAN: Give us an idea of U.N. time.

ROTH: Well, that could be on what century we're in or what hourglass you're considering.

KAGAN: OK.

ROTH: U.N. time, I would say, somewhere in the next 14 minutes.

KAGAN: All right. How about we have you monitor, and as soon as he begins, we will dip back in.

ROTH: Dip for the diplomats. You got it.

KAGAN: Yes, and we'll diplomat back in. Thank you for the pun, the bonus pun.

Thank you, Richard.

Well, it has been quite an ordeal for some of the evacuees. Coming up, one woman's long, strange trip home back to Florida.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what we know right now.

Out of harm's way. The first plane carrying American evacuees from Lebanon landed at Baltimore-Washington Airport earlier this morning.

U.S. Marines back in Beirut to help evacuate more Americans. They're ferrying them to a ship off the Lebanese coast.

And Israeli ground forces engaged Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon today. They were met with heavy fire. Israel says three of its soldiers were wounded.

Well, talk about an odyssey. Florida state graduate student Betsy Barre was studying in Beirut when the fighting broke out. On Friday, she got together with some other students who traveled north to Byblos, Lebanon.

About 3:30 Sunday afternoon, Lebanon time, they took a bus to Damascus, Syria. They spent six hours at the border, finally got to the Damascus airport around 2:00 am. Then they took a chartered flight out an hour or two later, arrived in Larnaca, Cyprus, around 6:00 Monday morning. They spent the day resting up at a hotel, then they left Cyprus early Tuesday for London.

After stops in Newark and Atlanta, Barre finally arrived home in Tallahassee around 9:30 on Tuesday night.

Now, after getting some sleep in her own bed, Betsy Barre is up and she is my guest live from Tallahassee.

Good morning.

BETSY BARRE, EVACUATED FROM LEBANON: Good morning.

KAGAN: How good does it feel to be home? BARRE: It's great to be home and it's great to get sleep. But I'm so worried about folks back there, of course.

KAGAN: I would imagine.

So tell us a little bit more about what you were doing there.

BARRE: I was actually -- I'm a doctoral student in religion at Florida State University, and I've been studying Arabic for the past two years as part of my program. And I was over at Lebanese American University studying Arabic for the summer for about six weeks.

KAGAN: Certainly not the summer program you signed up for.

BARRE: That's right.

KAGAN: Yes.

BARRE: But it was certainly an adventure.

KAGAN: Yes. Let's talk about that adventure, because we've had a chance to talk to many Americans who made their way out using the boat to get to Cyprus, but not across land.

BARRE: Right. Definitely. Yes.

I was -- before -- it was Sunday that I left. And I was able to get out with an organization called International SOS via land before any of the evacuations had actually started. So, it was certainly a scary trip through the north, through the roads, and into Damascus. But we managed to get to Cyprus before the flood of people came, so we were able to get out faster, I think, than many Americans will when they get there. But we're happy and thrilled that the Americans are now getting out in a much faster pace.

KAGAN: Yes. Tell me a little bit about this organization. You paid a professional international organization.

BARRE: Right. Actually, the organization is usually -- it's an insurance organization that schools and companies work with, and they specialize in getting out medical evacuations, evacuations from crisis situations. And at Lebanese American University, there was a student from Dartmouth and Boston College that got out through this organization because their schools had accounts with ISOS.

And at that time, we were hearing not as much from the State Department. So I called home and asked my husband to call and see if FSU had an account. And we didn't, but he asked, is there any way that we can just pay to get her out? And they said, "Yes, but this is our last evacuation that we are running at 3:00 p.m. today."

So my husband and I had about a 20-minute window to decide whether or not we were going to pay to get me out. And at that point, we were still hearing from the State Department that they were working on plans, they were assessing the situation. So we weren't sure how soon they'd be able to get the evacuation process up and running. And so, we decided in that 20-minute window that it would be best to get out through ISOS, a safe organization that was able to get us out through the border and back home.

KAGAN: What did that cost you, if you don't mind my asking?

BARRE: Well, actually, they just asked us to authorize the credit card up to $4,000, but they said it may not be that much and we're not sure how much yet. But this was just to Cyprus, $4,000.

But they -- my family seems to think it was worth it. So we were, you know, glad to make that choice. Of course, others didn't have that option. So, I'm really thrilled that the U.S. is taking people out.

KAGAN: So, you would say money well spent?

BARRE: I think so. At least my family thinks so.

KAGAN: Yes, I'm sure just seeing your face, that was money well spent.

BARRE: That's right.

KAGAN: But you couldn't take a lot, right? So there's stuff...

(CROSSTALK)

BARRE: No, absolutely. Yes, we were only allowed to take a bookbag. And so I was only -- and this was a very rushed decision. Like I said, 20 minutes.

So I couldn't even spend time packing my bag appropriately. So, I had my laptop, my camera, my PDA and my cell phone, plus one change of clothes. And that was it. And, of course, we were there for two months. So, most of us had taken our entire wardrobes, every -- you know, all of our books, various sorts of things that I left behind.

And, of course, the folks at Lebanese American University were great and said they would send us our belongings, but until they have an airport in the near future, we don't expect to get our materials back.

KAGAN: Yes, it might be a little bit of time.

BARRE: But that's the last thing on our minds.

KAGAN: Right. Ever think you'll get back?

BARRE: I think -- get back to Lebanon, you mean?

KAGAN: Yes.

BARRE: Yes, I think -- I think that I will eventually go back. Obviously not any time soon. But I think it was a trip well worth it. And I think that we have to, of course, those of us that study the Middle East and study the Arabic language, have to go over to the Middle East in order to really understand the culture, the language and the people. So I definitely think at some point in the future I will go back.

KAGAN: Well, Betsy Barre, welcome home.

BARRE: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: And thank you for sharing your story with us. We appreciate it.

BARRE: Thank you.

KAGAN: Let's go over to Carol Lin, who has more personal stories of evacuations in our line of fire desk -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It is great to hear these personal perspectives, Daryn. And people still stuck in the war zone.

We're hearing from people from both sides, and very personal stories, indeed.

We've heard from Melissa Kratz). She is in Beirut, Lebanon.

She says that, "I am a U.S. citizen currently 'living' in Beirut. I was married to a Lebanese national in June of this year. We have not yet filed for his U.S. visa as we did not plan to leave Lebanon until next Christmas. My family in America has pleaded for my return. My heart splits as I see the bombs explode near my new family and home in Beirut."

A woman who was just trying to decide whether she should, you know, please her family by securing her own safety, but leaving her Lebanese husband behind.

And then we heard from Rocio Lam out of Israel. She says that, "I'm a 30-year-old Chilean living in Israel for four years, married to an Israeli engineer. We have a baby of 5 months. We live in a kibbutz about 30 minutes from Haifa. I'm afraid that the Israeli army will call my husband to help."

"It is scary waking up in the morning and running to the TV to see if the bombs are falling more near our house. But we have to continue our lives. This is what the terrorists want, to paralyze us with fear. And we are not going to let them win. We already learned to live letting the security check our handbags and supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, stores, hospitals, et cetera, to protect us from the suicide bombs."

That is just the average daily life inside of Israel. But now as the bombs are falling so close to her home, she is staying -- she is staying for love. This is her family. But these are the circumstances that she finds herself in. Daryn, we're hearing from viewers from all over the world. And we really appreciate those e-mails coming in, because they're bringing us a perspective that we would not normally get in our war zone coverage. So it's really terrific to hear from people. And we're going to be bringing you more e-mails as we get them.

KAGAN: All right, Carol. Thank you.

LIN: Yes.

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