Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Crisis In The Middle East; Congress & Iraq; Gas Tank Tips

Aired July 26, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Northern Israel with the latest from there where there's been some action as well.
Good morning or good afternoon to you, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. Good morning to you.

It's 5 o'clock in the afternoon here, Daryn, and today we've heard the air raid siren blare no less than four time all across northern Israel. Thirty-seven of those rockets, probably Katyusha, rained down on innocent Israeli civilians. Thirteen were injured. One of them severely.

Take a look at this scene. This is on the outskirts of Haifa where a man driving a car was struck by shrapnel. These Katyusha rockets are just packed with ball bearings or buck shot, if you will, and they cause a tremendous swathe of damage and shrapnel. And you don't have to be right next to them to feel the effects and to be injured severely by those Katyusha rockets.

On the other side of the border, the fighting was fierce once again today. We have reports of serious Israeli casualties. And this comes on the heels of yesterday's incident involving a so-called friendly fire incident, you could call it, where Israeli air force fighter planes, using precision weapons, ended up targeting a United Nations observation post right in the middle of the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon where these Hezbollah strongholds are.

We're told by some sources at the United Nations that these four U.N. observers, who were killed in this attack, call repeatedly to the Israeli air force and their conduit to the Israeli air force asking that they cease-fire and the fire was not ceased. They continued to hone in than location, ultimately destroying the location and killing the four U.N. observers. Just a short time ago we heard from the foreign minister of Israel who offered apologies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TZIPI LIVNI, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Firstly, we send our condolences to the families of the United Nations soldiers. It's a loss of life and we want to be clear that it was not a deliberate attack because Israel will never and never targeted and will never target United Nations forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, the United Nations observation post there has been there for many, many years. It's location, its coordinates, well known to the Israelis. The United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, in a statement saying he believes that this attack was in some way deliberate. Of course, that's something that the Israelis vehemently denied and they're asking for the secretary-general to apologize for that statement.

So there's an investigation that is going to be done here in Israel and it will be very interesting to see how it plays out. Was it a case of the fog of war? As the Israelis would say, what would be the purpose in them attacking a U.N. observation post? One thing to consider, were Hezbollah fighters, were the guerrillas using that U.N. flag, using that post somehow as a shield, a place from which to launch attacks, which might have caused confusion among the Israeli air force fighter pilots?

Daryn.

KAGAN: Miles O'Brien live from Haifa in northern Israel. Thank you.

There's also this news coming out of Israel about Ariel Sharon. He is in intensive care. The former Israeli prime minister was transferred there today. A hospital representative says bacteria was detected in Sharon's blood. He's been given I.V. antibiotics and is undergoing treatment for fluid buildup. Sharon has been in a coma since a stroke in January. The hospital says there's been no change in the condition of his brain.

I want to go now to the other side of the Israeli-Lebanese border, to Lebanon and the capital of Beirut. And journalist Anthony Mills is standing by there.

Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on the U.N. front, in terms of the attack on the U.N. base, a number of hours ago I spoke to a U.N. official in the Nacura (ph) base, the U.N.'s Nacura base in the south of Lebanon, just close to the Lebanese-Israeli border. He told me that yesterday at around 1:30 p.m. a missile hit a spot about 200 meters away from the position that was subsequently hit directly. And he said that over the next six hours or so a further eight to nine strikes landed within one to 400 meters of that base.

At about 7:30 p.m., so roughly six hours later, contact with that base was lost and it was subsequently confirmed, he said, that the base had taken a direct hit. That it had been completely demolished and that four U.N. observers had been killed. He also told me that he concurred, that he agreed with the statement by the U.N. secretary- general, Kofi Annan, suggesting that this was apparently a deliberate attack.

KAGAN: And then, Anthony, what can you tell us about humanitarian aid actually being able to land at the airport, which sounds incredible since those runways have been bombed?

MILLS: I've just come back from the airport. And when I left, two large Jordanian military transport planes had landed, carrying primarily medical aid for the many thousands of Lebanese who are in dire need of it. Now I spoke to a senior civil aviation official here in Lebanon and he explained to me just how it was exactly that those planes could land. He said that their military planes and that they're designed to be able to land in a very short space on a runway. So none of the three runways of the airport has actually been fixed, it's simply that they landed on a short, undamaged stretch of one of the runways. That explains why they were able to land.

They brought along with them a Jordanian medical team with a field hospital. A field hospital that they could set up. And they are hoping to go down in to the south of Lebanon where people are really in need of assistant. But for the moment, they're staying in Beirut as they assess the security situation, we're told by a doctor who's heading that team.

And also the planes are supposed to be taking back or taking out of Lebanon up to 50 Lebanese in need of immediate medical attention. But apparently that's not on the verge of happening for the simple reason that those Lebanese from the south, who were supposed to be getting on the plane, can't get up to Beirut because of the damaged roads, because of the dangerous situation.

KAGAN: Anthony Mills reporting live from Beirut, Lebanon. Thank you for that.

We head back south to Israel now. How some rescuers do their work. When others take cover, they go into action. We're talking about ambulance crews rushing from one attack to another. The story now from our John Vause who went along for a ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The call comes in. Haifa is again under attack. Katyushas are falling. It's not known how many. And Erez Geller, a paramedic, says there are wounded. The precise number is unknown. So, too, how badly they've been hurt.

As he arrives on the scene of one rocket strike, there is chaos and confusion. An apartment block has taken a direct hit. "Anyone who is hurt or feels unwell, please, come to the ambulances," he announces. A few have injuries. Mostly shock. And there are fears some may still be trapped inside.

EREZ GELLER, HAIFA PARAMEDIC: We are using the police to search the apartments, some (INAUDIBLE) apartments. They have to make a quick search.

VAUSE: Everyone did make it out, but in the midst of this crisis, warnings of another attack.

GELLER: Guys, let's find a safe place to be because there is another one on the way.

VAUSE: What's happened?

GELLER: Another rockets are on their way over here.

VAUSE: And reports of wounded are coming in.

GELLER: We have so far 14 victims.

VAUSE: Fourteen.

GELLER: Fourteen.

VAUSE: This is the debris of another Katyusha strike here in Haifa. It landed in an open area. This is a traffic roundabout. But not far from here, just 100 feet away, residential apartment buildings.

Geller and his team are called to one apartment where a 75-year- old man has had a heart attack just moments after the Katyusha landed. The half an hour they worked to save his life.

GELLER: And, unfortunately, we weren't able to bring him back.

VAUSE: He died?

GELLER: And he died, yes.

VAUSE: Another victim.

GELLER: Yes, another victim.

VAUSE: John Vause, CNN, Haifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Could it be his final request? Saddam Hussein says he'll take the firing squad over a hanging if he is sentenced to death. But the former dictator of Iraq is not easily going to back down. In court today he called on his followers to liberate Iraq from the Americans and he also turned on his court-appointed attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADDAM HUSSEIN, (through translator): You are my enemy.

JUDGE, (through translator): He is your representative.

HUSSEIN: Why would you turn yourself into an enemy of the people? Why?

JUDGE: Sir, read your statement.

(ATTORNEY BEGINS TO READ STATEMENT)

SADDAM: The Canadian wrote it down for him. I challenge him to write 20 lines himself. The American spy has written it for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: From Iraq and Saddam Hussein's trial.

Let's go back to our lead story and that is what is happening or what failed to happen in Rome, Italy, today, as 18 countries gathered to try to get some kind of consensus on peace in the Middle East or a cease-fire. John King is in Rome reporting for us.

John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, always interesting to listen to the diplomats try to put the best face on things. But the bottom line here, after this emergency Lebanon summit in Rome, is there was a failure to reach the fundamental goal. And that goal was to come up with a plan supported by not only the international community but supported by Lebanon and Israel to bring about an end to the hostilities 15 days now into the violence.

No agreement in part because of a huge difference between the United States and most of the others here at the table. The United States wanted disarming Hezbollah to be part of any cease-fire, part of any agreement agreed to by the international community. Many here said that's a very difficult problem to deal with. Let's just have a cease-fire and then deal with all of those political questions, including disarming Hezbollah.

So the talks broke up. While the diplomats are saying they made progress on humanitarian aid and reconstruction aid, there is no deal and no progress in sight, at least in the short term, on the fundamental issue, again, disarmament. Secretary of State Rice, after the meeting, explaining the U.S. position.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is also the case that we talked about how to move forward. And not just to talk about it, but, indeed, to take action to move forward. We are all agreed that we want most urgently to end the violence on a basis that this time will be sustainable because, unfortunately, this is a region that has had too many broken cease-fires, too many spasms of violence followed then by other spasms of violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It is the last point that is so significant in understanding the U.S. position. That last point very significant. Secretary Rice saying this is a region than has a history of broken cease-fires. What she's trying to say, the translation is, if you allow a cease-fire without disarming Hezbollah, this will just happen again in the view of the United States. That a month or two down the road, there will be more hostilities.

So they leave Rome without an agreement, Daryn. The did make progress in assembling an international force that would go into Lebanon if there is a cease-fire. We know that France and Italy, in the conversations today, volunteered to have some of their troops take part in that. But on the big question, how do you broker a cease-fire? What happens to Hezbollah in any cease-fire? Not much progress, if any, here in Rome. They promise the conversations will continue. But the translation of that, Daryn, is, with no cease-fire, so too will the fighting continue.

KAGAN: Well and, John, why is the topic of disarming Hezbollah even debatable since this was already addressed in the U.N. Resolution 1559? The world already agrees that this needs to happen?

KING: Well, and that's exactly what the United States would say. If the world agreed to this more than two years ago, why can't the world agree to make it part of the deal now and make it part of a deal with teeth now, enforce-ability now, when you have these hostilities going on? But many of the others here simply say, well we would like to agree with you, but the fact that we haven't been able to disarm Hezbollah shows how difficult it is.

It will take more time. It will take more energy. It will take building up the political and military capabilities of the Lebanese government. In the meantime, let's try to at least stop the shelling and the killing and the rocket attacks back and forth every day.

So that is the fundamental divide. A chicken and egg argument, if you will. Can you have a cease-fire and then disarm Hezbollah? Or, as the United States says, no, we've been down this road too many times before. Disarming Hezbollah has to be part of the cease-fire.

Daryn.

KAGAN: John King live from Rome, Italy. John, thank you.

It's going to be a very interesting moment in the next hour in Washington, D.C. That's when Iraq's prime minister is set to talk to a joint meeting of Congress. Some lawmakers say they're not going. Some are looking for an apology. We'll tell you for what. That story is just ahead.

Also, the searing heat. You take out electricity and multiply is by several days, you know, that's just a miserable equation. An update on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are just past the quarter hour. Let's go ahead and take a look at what we know right now. Talks in Rome failed to broker an immediate cease-fire. Diplomats from the U.S., Europe and several Arab nations say they'll continue discussions. They did, however, agree on delivering aid once the fighting ends.

The first relief supplies have landed at Beirut's airport. Just minutes ago, a third Jordanian military plane delivered medical supplies for the growing number of wounded in southern Lebanon.

All eyes turned to Capitol Hill later this morning as Iraq's prime minister is set to address a joint meeting of Congress in the next hour. Some lawmakers, though, think the prime minister needs to address another Mideast hot spot and do that first. Our Dana Bash has that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): These house Democrats want to cancel the Iraqi prime minister's address to Congress unless he apologizes for statements last week denouncing Israeli aggression, but not Hezbollah's.

REP. TOM LANTOS, (D) CALIFORNIA: Recent statements by Iraqi leaders are beneath content.

REP. NITA LOWEY, (D) NEW YORK: The U.S. Congress should not provide a platform for supporters of Hezbollah.

BASH: The House speaker says he'll allow the speech to go as planned, but promised to discuss the issue in private.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: We've asked the prime minister to come and speak to us. His country has 130,000 of our troops there. We need to have the dialog.

BASH: Democrats are seizing on even tacit support of Hezbollah by Nuri al-Maliki as what they say is the latest example of a failed Bush policy.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Our country has expended over 2,500 lives, 18,000 wounded, $300 billion to fight the war on terror. Prime Minister Maliki owes his office to those American lives and those American dollars. Where is he on the war on terror?

BASH: At a White House press conference, the Iraqi leader did not directly address his stance on Hezbollah. And later, the U.S. national security adviser did nothing to clarify it.

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He gave the answer he gave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he ducked the question clearly.

BASH: Several Republican lawmakers told CNN that al-Maliki is trying to hold together a fragile, young government and criticizing Israel is simply playing good politics back home.

REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, (R) CONNECTICUT: Am I surprised that an Arab has words of concern about Israel and has supported Hezbollah and Hamas? No, I'm not surprised. He's trying to build coalitions in his own country. I am outraged. But, you know, welcome to democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Our Dana Bash joining us from Capitol Hill

Dana, so what's the prime minister been doing leading up to this joint meeting address? BASH: Well, he's been on Capitol Hill all morning, Daryn, having some private meetings with Democrats and Republicans. In fact, in a breakfast this morning, Democrats say they actually pressed him on what I was just talking about in the piece, pressed him on what his stance is when it comes to Hezbollah and also not just that but some comments apparently some Iraqi leaders made, not just about Israel, but Jews in general.

Now the Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid, came out of that meeting and said, "it took a while, but Maliki did state that any negative comments about Jews were simply misunderstood." And then the number two Democrat, Senator Dick Durbin, told CNN that Maliki did condemned terrorism in general but refused to answer the question about his position on Hezbollah.

And that is exactly what happened when our own Deirdre Walsh, our congressional producer, asked Maliki directly. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEIRDRE WALSH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL PRODUCER: Mr. Prime Minister. Mr. Prime Minister, a lot of members of Congress want to hear your position on Hezbollah. Is Hezbollah a terrorist organization, sir?

NURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: This not a press conference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: There you see the prime minister looking directly ahead and not answering that question. Now, this is something that some Democrats say they hope he does address when he speaks to this joint meeting of Congress in about less than an hour from now. A couple of Democrats, maybe a handful, are actually going to boycott this speech.

But, Daryn, talking to Republican, many of them say, look, they don't agree with what he says or perhaps isn't clarifying in terms of his position when it comes to Hezbollah, when it comes to Israel. But they say the bottom line is, it is absolutely critical, this speech is very important for them and for more importantly their constituents to hear what he has to say, for them to size him up, whether or not he really is somebody who has the qualities for the leadership and the plan in terms of security to get his country up to shape. So, in the end, U.S. troops can finally come home. And there's a lot of skepticism, as you can imagine, that he really has what it takes, especially given the spike in violence since he's been in office.

Daryn.

KAGAN: It is going to make for one very interesting joint meeting of Congress.

Dana, thank you.

And we will have full coverage. Stay with CNN as we move forward towards the next hour as the Iraqi prime minister gets ready to make that address to the joint meeting of Congress.

Now the Mideast crisis tends to come home to Americans in their pockets when it comes to buying gasoline. We, though, have Gerri Willis, who is here with her tips to tell us how we can save on those increasingly high gas prices.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Hi, Daryn. Good to see you.

You tired of paying those high gas prices? We have ways to outsmart your local gas station. That's coming up next on "Top Tips."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: There have been a number of developments on the world stage concerning Hezbollah and Israel today. Eighteen countries meeting in Rome, Italy, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. All agreed they'd like to see a cease-fire. But how that's going to happen, they could not agree on, so the parties walked away without an agreement to that. The sources said most of the countries involved pressed for an immediate end to the fighting, but the U.S. contends that a simple, cessation of hostilities was not good enough. It must be a sustainable cease-fire.

Also in Beirut, concern there as four U.N. peacekeepers die as a result of an Israeli air strike. Israel says it was not purposely targeting the U.N. peacekeepers.

And we're keeping our eyes on Capitol Hill. The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is in town. He today will be addressing a joint meeting of Congress. This the day after he held a news conference with President Bush where he had harsh words for Israel. A number of lawmakers upset with those comments and some Democrats threatening not to even attend. You will see live coverage here on CNN.

KAGAN: Let's check the markets. They've been open just under an hour. Tough day today. You can see the Dow is down 45 points. The Nasdaq also in negative territory. It is down 19 points.

So speaking of money, let's talk gas prices. They're now averaging more than $3 a gallon. I know, painful. Everybody is looking for ways to get the most out of their tank of gas. You might be surprised at how simple some of the tricks are. And here to share that advice, our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, today in New York City.

WILLIS: That's right.

KAGAN: Not nearly as fun as when you were down here in Atlanta.

WILLIS: I so enjoyed that. That was great.

But, you know what, if you're traveling around, you're paying those high gas prices. Check out some of these numbers. You've got to see this. Wilmington, Delaware, for example, having high gas prices here, $3.14 a gallon. San Diego, $3.31. It is really brutal out there.

KAGAN: When you buy your gas can effect how much you pay. The time of day, in fact.

WILLIS: That's right. Unbelievably, you're generally going to find the cheapest gas before noon. Now that's because gas retailers at large corporate stores, they set their prices at about 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. Now you have about an hour or two until the smaller gas stations begin to follow suit and raise their prices.

Another tip here, buy your gas when it's cooler outside because the gas will have more density. If you buy your gas in the heat of the day, you could be losing as much as 1 percent of the gas you pump in to your car. So buy early.

KAGAN: So convenient to pull into those gas stations and just put your credit card in, but you can save if you pay cash.

WILLIS: That's right. Using your credit card to buy gas costs the gas stations money because your credit card merchant gets a percentage of the transaction. So, today, more gas stations are encouraging customers to use cash when they fill up. That means you may be able to save up to four cents a gallon of gas by using cash. Now you'll see signs that will tell you that this particular station is actually making this offer. So you'll have to look for a little advertising.

KAGAN: Now when you're shopping around for the big ticket item, the car, trying to figure out just what the miles per gallon that each car gives?

WILLIS: Well, Daryn, you and I have talked about this. The Environmental Protection Agency's mile per gallon rating is really outdated. And did you know it's the manufacturers who come up with them? They test their own cars. And the cars that are tested are built specifically to meet the ratings. So you've got to look else for real numbers. To get the real lowdown on fuel efficiency, go to consumerreports.org and edmonds.com.

And, Daryn, just got to tell you, it's worth noting today, today's average gas price, $3 a gallon. That is the second highest ever since Katrina. Right after Katrina it was $3.05.

KAGAN: What about the most expensive gas station in the country?

WILLIS: You're going to love this. This is in California. Coronado. You're from California, right?

KAGAN: Yes, Coronado. That's a little island off the coast of San Diego. And maybe -- well, you're kidding, $3.69?

WILLIS: $3.69. This is for regular!

KAGAN: Stop. They don't wash your winds for that? WILLIS: I'm telling you. You know, that's crazy. Whew!

KAGAN: Yes. San Diego always pops up as one of the most expensive places.

WILLIS: It's always California.

KAGAN: We're going to have to find the cheapest gas station in America.

WILLIS: Well, that's not a bad idea and we'll all go there, right?

KAGAN: A big (INAUDIBLE) for them. Yes, absolutely.

Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: You're welcome.

KAGAN: We're at the half hour. Let's go ahead and take a look at what we know right now.

No deal, but the diplomats will keep talking. The bottom line, after an emergency Middle East summit today in Rome, the U.S. insists that Hezbollah be disarmed before there's any cease-fire. But Arab and European negotiators want a cease-fire first.

And planes carrying medical supplies are landing at Beirut's airport. They're the first flights to land there since Israeli bombs battered the runways earlier this month.

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