Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Crisis In The Middle East; Construction Worker Trapped; BP Pipeline Problems; Battle For Survival
Aired August 08, 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: Israel is considering expanding its offensive in Lebanon. Meanwhile it's warning drivers in Tyre to stay off the streets after dark.
And more fighting in southern Lebanon and more rockets hit northern Israel.
Let's go to southern Lebanon and the latest on what's happening there. Our Karl Penhaul standing by.
Karl, tell us about the warning that civilians are getting about staying indoors.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, these were leaflets that were dropped from Israeli war planes overnight and in the early hours of this morning. And pamphlets that gave a very definite warning to what it was addressed to the citizens of southern Lebanon. And it said that they should stay out of their vehicles. That they should not travel on the roads or streets of Tyre in any form of vehicle, whether that was a car or a donkey. Saying that anybody that is seen in any form of transport would be regarded as a terrorist suspect and that they would be considered as carrying Hezbollah munitions or Hezbollah rockets in those vehicles.
And so from what we can see, we haven't seen that many vehicles on the street. What we have seen is the continuation of a 48-hour Israeli bombardment and I believe there, just on the ridge top over there, about three or four miles south of our position, you can make out another explosion going on there. This has been going on all morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: So it must be very difficult if any car, any vehicle is considered the possibility of carrying some kind of missiles or ammunition. It must be difficult to impossible for any kind of aid to get to the people who are still there in Tyre.
PENHAUL: For several reasons. That is one of the reasons. They can't ferry aid around. And the second reason is that in past days the bridge over the Litani River, just north of here on the main highway between here and Beirut, was bombed out. And so there is now no route into Tyre. Yesterday we did see a small convoy of aid from the Doctors Without Borders aid group, but the trucks pulled up to the Litani River and then we saw volunteers actually get into the river, wade into the river, cross load those boxes and then bring them down into Tyre. And that was only because they were desperate for the aid because they're trying to equip an emergency clinic down here, Daryn. KAGAN: Karl Penhaul along the beach there in Tyre, Lebanon.
Let's head south into northern Israel. There's been more violence there today, as well. And let's check in with our senior international correspondent Matthew Chance.
Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Daryn.
Well, there has indeed been more violence across the boarder and this side of the border, as well, on the Israeli/Lebanese frontier. You might be able to see behind me, there's a plume of smoke. Actually you can't see it behind me now, but, believe me, a few minutes ago there was one.
An Israeli air strike striking a few thousand meters from where I'm standing right now. Just across in these hills. It's where thousands of Israeli soldiers have been battling Hezbollah guerrillas over the course of the past several weeks. And coming encountering fierce resistance, as well.
That will continue, according to the Israeli government, and will be expanded if there is no diplomatic solution to this crisis. Ehud Olmert has been responding, the Israeli prime minister, to the Lebanese offer to send -- or proposal to send 15,000 Lebanese army troops to south Lebanon to take the place where Hezbollah militias have been based for the past several years. Here's what Ehud Olmert had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I'm not familiar yet with all the details. And what is the assistance need for Lebanese army. And what would be the structure of the forces that would join the Lebanese army. And what will be the strength of these forces and the makeup of these forces. And what are the other conditions, if there are any conditions, that represented by the Lebanese government. So I think that it will be fair to say that we started this. It looks interesting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Well, what the Israeli government is concerned about is whether this Lebanese force will be robust enough to do what Israel wants it to do, which is to disarm Hezbollah. It's looking for the mechanism by which this Lebanese force would be able to go down to south Lebanon and take off from where the Israelis have left. In other words, to stop Hezbollah. To try and stop them firing their rockets into Israel.
Daryn.
KAGAN: Matthew Chance in northern Israel, thank you.
And now let's go to some breaking news in Phoenix, Arizona. A construction accident. A rescue underway. Betty Nguyen has details on that.
Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. You've got to take a look at this.
We understand a 28-year-old man was working some heavy equipment when several thousand pounds of concrete debris fell on to him. He has been trapped. You're looking at that debris right there.
He has been trapped since 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Now this occurred in downtown Phoenix. What it is, is a parking structure. You see it was under construction there. And, again, he was working some heavy equipment and all of a sudden this came tumbling down on top of him.
Here's what we know though. Again, this is a 28-year-old man who is trapped, but he is conscious and he is talking to rescuers. That is a good sign as they work feverishly to try to get him out. You see the crews on the scene there. Many of them.
A lot of concrete on top of him. We don't know the exact number. But what we understand from reports that several thousand pounds. So this is a serious situation.
And, Daryn, you used to work in Phoenix. I'm told that this is at the Civic Plaza construction, which is in downtown.
KAGAN: Right. Yes. Five and a half years in Phoenix. So I'll call on that experience. A lot of people certainly have gone to conventions in Phoenix. So to give you some landmarks of what this is close to. This is very close to where the Phoenix Suns play their games. There's a popular entertainment center, the Arizona Center, right down there. Pretty smack dab in the center of what has been a revitalization of downtown Phoenix for the last several years. And it looks like they were continuing to do that by rebuilding this parking lot for the Civic Plaza.
NGUYEN: Yes. And, unfortunately, this accident occurred at 4:30 a.m. their time, 7:30 Eastern Time. So he's been trapped for about two and a half hours now. But the good news is that he is conscious and he is talking to rescuers. So hopefully within minutes, we all hope, that they can get him out. But, obviously, it's going to be quite a task because he has several thousand pounds of concrete on top of him.
We'll stay on top of this for you and bring you the latest as soon as we get it, Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. And the 4:30 sounds early for construction workers. You know, they get things started early to beat the sun this time of the year.
NGUYEN: Exactly. It's hot out there.
KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. We'll be following that. Betty, thank you.
NGUYEN: Sure.
KAGAN: Gas prices are getting hotter. Some of the gas at your neighborhood pump may well start as crude in this Alaskan oil field. Unfortunately, it's also stopping there. The shutdown could last weeks, even months. BP America says it has to replace 16 miles of badly clogged pipeline. That is nearly three-fourths of their Prudhoe Bay pipeline. The field is the nation's single biggest source of domestic crude.
If you are a shell-shocked motorist and wondering what this means for your gas prices, two words for you, buckle up. The ride is going to be bumpy. Here's CNN's Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I put almost $75 in this car just this week. $75.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): And don't expect relief from those gas pains any time soon. BP is shutting down its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. It found corrosion so severe it's replacing 16 miles of pipeline. That means 400,000 fewer barrels of oil being pumped each day, an 8 percent drop in U.S. oil production. Some 2.5 percent of the total U.S. oil supply.
BOB MALONE, CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT, BP AMERICA: On behalf of the BP Group, I apologize for the impact this has had on our nation and to the great state of Alaska. BP will commit the necessary human and financial resources to complete this job safely and as quickly as possible.
CHO: The west coast will take the biggest hit. Some 25 percent of its oil comes from Alaska.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Important that all these companies are all at different levels, you need to be accountable and responsible. Ultimately it's affecting all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how long will it take (INAUDIBLE) increasing the prices.
CHO: Just how long will it take to bring the nation's biggest oil field back on line? Weeks? Months?
MALONE: We will not commit to a date. This is going to be based upon when we can safely restart some of these lines.
CHO: BP is under investigation for a massive oil spill at Prudhoe Bay back in March and for an explosion and fire at a Texas refinery last year which killed 15 people. As for the 16 miles of corroded pipeline discovered at Prudhoe Bay, federal regulators say it hadn't been cleaned and tested properly since 1992.
AXEL BUSCH, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: It is damaging, not just because it's part of a series of incidents. It's not a stand alone. A stand alone accident, accidents will happen. When you have a number of them, people start asking questions.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And we go from the pipeline to your bottom line. Where do gas prices stand right now? AAA Motor Club says the average price for regular was nearly $3.04 a gallon across the country yesterday. That's unchanged from the day before. And still a sliver under the record high. Prices hit nearly $3.06 last September in the days after Hurricane Katrina disrupted Gulf oil production.
Where you are may decide what you pay to fill up? Here's a quick check of prices around the country beginning in the west. Los Angeles checks in with much higher than average prices. Seattle and Denver within a few pennies of the norm. Prices surge again in Chicago and New York. Here in the south, Atlanta's prices are a bit below average. And, Dallas, you have a bargain. Well, all relatively speaking, of course.
Susan Lisovicz, how is this affecting the market?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the markets look okay, but BP has much bigger problems right now, Daryn. BP not only has a pipeline to repair, it has an image problem to fix, especially with its marketing campaign as a sensitive oil company. We'll have that story later on CNN LIVE TODAY.
For now, Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: All right. And is it Hezbollah's eye in the sky. The militant group's latest move raises some concerns.
And in politics, Joe Lieberman, the Democrat's flag bearer just six years ago. Today he is fighting for his political life. You'll see that story on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We're following these live pictures out of Phoenix, Arizona. This is downtown Phoenix. The construction accident. Betty Nguyen has details for us.
Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes. Hi, Daryn.
Just looking at these pictures you can see work is still underway to get a 28-year-old man out from under that parking deck. That's what this is. It's a parking structure that's been under construction in downtown Phoenix.
Basically what this guy was doing was he was working some heavy equipment when a wall that he was trying to take down fell on the machinery he was operating. We have Mike Sandulak with the Phoenix Fire Department on the phone with us.
Mike, tell me what you know about the situation.
CHIEF MIKE SANDULAK, PHOENIX ,ARIZONA, FIRE DEPARTMENT: Yes, ma'am. Good morning, Betty.
About 4:41 Arizona time this morning the Phoenix Fire Department got a call for a possible worker trapped at the Civic Plaza downtown. We've got a huge convention center, Civic Plaza, under construction downtown. The older part of the construction site that was getting demoed, was starting to get demoed, was a collapse, trapping one of the workers in his large piece of a front end loader equipment.
He is still trapped. We're going on about almost three hours trying to do an extrication. We have our technical rescue team, the fire department and I have the (INAUDIBLE) fire department safely shoring this area so we can work safely to get the rebar and the heavy piece of debris and construction matter off of him to get him out of here.
NGUYEN: It looks like quite an ordeal. We're looking at live pictures right now of rescue crews all over the scene there trying to get in from above and underneath. We understand several thousand pounds of concrete, is that what you're facing here?
SANDULAK: Oh, exactly. There's a lot more than that, actually. It is a piece of roof facade that collapsed. It's probably about 150 feet long by 30 feet wide. It's all heavy block concrete with huge pieces of rebar. The scrap (ph) collapsed on top of his front end loader, trapping him in the cab of that. So we have people underneath shoring it to make sure it stays with cribbing and air bags, to make sure we can safely operate underneath. We also have people up top, the fire department, the second rescue team up top and paramedics trying to get to him from above.
NGUYEN: We also understand that he is conscious and talking. What do you know about his account of exactly what happened and what kind of injuries he may have?
SANDULAK: Right. I can't really confirm exactly what happened this morning. We don't have that history right now. But right now he is trapped in the cab of his vehicle. There's a lot of damage to his front end loader. It's a huge piece of equipment, but it's trapped under that heavy weight of the debris.
He is trapped. He does have a major lower body injury. We have two IVs. We have him stabilized trying to get him out and rapidly transport to a hospital as soon as we can.
NGUYEN: Any idea how long this will take?
SANDULAK: No, ma'am. Like I said, we're going on the three-hour mark right now and it looks like we're still into it pretty good. So it's going to be an extended operation.
NGUYEN: All right, Mike Sandulak with the Phoenix Fire Department. We appreciate your time and your insight with us today.
And, Daryn, you see it, the operation is still underway trying to get that man out from underneath all of this concrete. Several thousand pounds. The goods news is, that he is conscious and he's talking. The bad news is, we understand, that he does have injuries. One from the waist down. Don't know the exact details on how bad it is. But, obviously, the key right now is to try to get him out as quickly as possible.
KAGAN: Yes. Amazing anybody could even survive a blast like that.
NGUYEN: Oh, I know, just looking at that. Yes.
KAGAN: We will keep an eye on that. Betty Nguyen. Betty, thank you.
NGUYEN: Sure.
KAGAN: In politics, he was just a few dimpled chads from the vice president's job in 2000. Today, Senator Joe Lieberman may lose his job. Polls show the Connecticut Democrat is trailing his Democratic challenger in a primary battle linked to a far away war. Here now our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It may be that the first political casualty of the war will be a Democrat.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: This is all about the Iraq War. All about the anger at the war and all about the anger, almost hatred, among a lot of Democrats towards George Bush.
CROWLEY: Supportive of the war, opposed to leaving before the job's done, Joe Lieberman is watching his career flash before him.
NED LAMONT, (D) CONNECTICUT CANDIDATE FOR SENATOR: I think too often Senator Lieberman goes out of his way to undermine the Democratic message.
CROWLEY: Ned Lamont is a political newbie, but his anti-war campaign has caught lightning in a bottle, thunder provided by the fiercely liberal side of the blogosphere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I've been following your progress on the web and, you know, reading certain sites and stuff.
LAMONT: It started as an asterisk and now we've got a pretty competitive race now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
CROWLEY: The latest poll has Lamont winning by six points, narrower than the lead he had last week. LIEBERMAN: I'm looking forward to being called Connecticut's comeback kid!
CROWLEY: It is the political event of the summer. The first race testing the depth and breadth of anti-war sentiment, watched by politicians running in '06 and '08. A Lamont victory would likely also be read as the first scalp for liberal Democrats trying to push the party center to the left. Because as much as this race has been about Iraq, it has been about the definition of the Democrat.
DAVID LIGHTMAN, HARTFORD COURANT: People are saying, gee, has he been too close to President Bush on other issues? Has he been too eager to cooperate with Republicans on a host of issues? They want to know how good a Democrat has Joe Lieberman been.
CROWLEY: This picture has been worth more than 1,000 words and who knows how many votes.
LIEBERMAN: The two big lies of Ned Lamont, Joe Lieberman is a cheerleader for George Bush. Ridiculous. I've opposed most of what this president has asked to us do through Congress. Secondly, that somehow I'm not a real Democrat. Outrageous.
CROWLEY: But it has been effective. Lieberman and colleagues traveled the state he has represented for 18 years, listing his Democratic bonafides, no time for nuance.
SEN. CHRIS DODD, (D) CONNECTICUT: This is a very good Democrat, too, I'll tell you.
MAX CLELAND, (D) FORMER SENATOR: Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And our Candy Crowley joins us now from Hartford, Connecticut.
Candy, wasn't there word that if he lost this primary, Joe Lieberman would go ahead and run as an independent?
CROWLEY: Well, he sort of had to tell people that he was thinking about that because he has to collect signatures. They have to be in by tomorrow afternoon. So, in fact, he has said, look, if I lose this, I may run as an independent. The problem is, of course, has been something he hadn't wanted to talk about because here you are in a Democratic primary saying, well, if Democrats are going to throw me out, I'm going to go a different way. So Lieberman has not wanted to talk about that in the final days of this campaign. He's sort of been pushing it aside.
KAGAN: And how have the -- you were getting to this at the end of your piece, but how have the Democratic super stars played into this? I'm thinking of the Clintons and other big names in the Democratic Party? CROWLEY: Well, what's interesting is, if you look at Joe Lieberman, I mean, this is a centrist in very sharply partisan times. And this is an incumbent politician when people really don't like politicians very much. So it's sort of negligible when he brings in all of these sort of the support team.
Now, you know, they may look back and say this really helped around the margins. But the big thing, as you know, as it always is, is will he be able to get his voters out to vote. And more of them than Ned Lamont can get out.
KAGAN: Right. And speaking of voters, I understand there's a number of new voters that have registered and that can really affect today's race.
CROWLEY: Really interesting. There's a lot of unknowns in this race that could affect it and it makes it so hard to predict. One of them is that for the first time Connecticut's having this primary in the dead of summer. They usually have it in the fall, presumably when people are paying more attention.
And then, too, since May, the Democratic Party has added almost 30,000 people to the party register. Half of those are those who have said they were not affiliated in the past. So the Lieberman folks say, listen, those are people who want to help Joe Lieberman. Who really believe they're the, you know, the moderates who can go either way. And the Lamont people say, no, those are anti-war voters who are going to vote for him. So, you know, we'll know a little better tonight.
KAGAN: I guess we'll know.
CROWLEY: Yes.
KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. One of the reasons we're so glad we have you there to interpret all this as the results come in. Candy, thank you.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
KAGAN: Candy Crowley from Hartford, Connecticut.
Then there's an interesting race right here in Georgia. Cynthia McKinney. Her run in with a Capitol Police officers. Today, voters may give her a knockout punch. Fighting for her political survival ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
And, Chad, oh, he picked up the phone so we think that he's working. Yes, he's really working. He's getting the latest on your weather. Big weather out there. That's why we have the big, new weather center. We'll check in with Chad in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Markets have been open a little bit less than an hour. Let's go ahead and check and see how they're doing in advance of the Fed meeting to talk about interest rates. The Dow is up 41 points. The Nasdaq also moving up a little bit. It is up 7 points.
Is it Hezbollah's eye in the sky. The militant group's latest move raises concern. Detail on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
Also, it's hurricane season, but where are the hurricanes? Experts are taking another look at their forecast. Hear what they have to say on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We all know gas prices continue to go up. It's nothing new. But a lot of the details might go unnoticed. Turn to cnn.com for a more in-depth report.
The economics of the oil industry can sometimes seep over into politics. So we're showing you which companies are donating thousands of dollars to the political battle. With Republicans receiving most of that money.
And with the debate turning to alternative fuels, we're going to detail the sources being tested right now in cars, like hydrogen fuels. It's the lightest fuel source and it's the one backed by President Bush.
If you're someone who thinks energy conservation is just too tough, check out this interactive because it provides solutions to your everyday energy problems. And it's really easy stuff like a bath wastes almost double the amount of water used in a shower. And turning your computer monitor off can help save some energy.
Few analysts expect the days of cheap oil to come back. So if you want some lasting savings, turn to cnn.com/fuel. For the .com desk, I'm Nicole Lapin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
