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American Morning

Escalating Violence in Middle East

Aired July 17, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Escalating violence in the Middle East. New attacks in Beirut now and fresh rocket attacks on northern Israel. Many Westerners being evacuated from the danger zone.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighters are closer to surrounding a devastating wildfire in Southern California. The worst, though, could be yet to come.

And you want to crank up the A.C. It is just getting hotter out there and the thermometer is expected to hit 100 degrees in many places coast to coast. We've got a nice warm forecast for you straight ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: And will the space shuttle come home at 9:14 Eastern time?

We don't know yet. Mission control trying to decide if the weather is just right for a shuttle landing on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's begin with the Middle East and the violence there.

Israeli launching more attacks into Lebanon early this morning. The southern suburbs of Beirut were hit, as well as the city's main port.

Meanwhile, Haifa, in Israel, hit by Hezbollah rockets just a few moments ago. As many as 14 people killed in those attacks in Lebanon so far. Lebanese officials say 142 have died since the attacks began last week. Twenty-one Israeli citizens and soldiers have been killed.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan now, at the G8 summit still, now calling for an international force to be sent to the Israel-Lebanon border. A U.S. military helicopter expected to evacuate a few dozen Americans today. This weekend, U.S. Marines carried out 21 Americans by helicopter. They were taken to nearby Cyprus.

Several other countries, including Italy, France and Britain, also moving their citizens out.

Our reporters are standing by with the very latest from all throughout the region right now.

Alessio Vinci is in Beirut.

Paula Hancocks is in Haifa, Israel -- Paula, let's begin with you.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

There has been a barrage of rockets that have landed here in Haifa in just the last few minutes. There have been a tremendous amount that have landed here this Monday. Now, for the most part, we understand at this point no casualties reported. But we know that there are a lot of police and ambulances and fire engines on their way to the areas where they believe that these rockets may have hit.

Now, we know that they've come from Southern Lebanon, from about 20 miles -- or 25 miles, sorry -- 40 kilometers down from where we are at the moment.

And these rockets have been hitting here fairly regularly this Monday, the sirens going off, which should give the residents of Haifa a one minute warning to be able to get into a bomb shelter or get into areas that are more protected.

To be honest, there are not many people actually on the streets at this point. Many people are staying inside anyway, because these rocket attacks are starting to become quite regular.

Now, we also know that other northern Israeli towns have been hit -- Safed, Tiberius, also. But no casualties at this point have been reported in those areas.

But this alert has been going -- has traveled all the way down to Tel Aviv. That's about 90 kilometers away from here.

They want to -- the military and the authorities want to put people on their guard. They're not saying that they think these rockets, that Hezbollah may have supplied from Iran, could reach that far. But they're putting people on their guard anyway. And, of course, in the nisi (ph) areas and in Haifa itself, everybody is on their guard and they're staying very close to bomb shelters for the most part -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula Hancocks in Haifa, Israel.

Let's go to Beirut now, the other side of the border.

Alessio Vinci is there -- Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

In the last few hours, in the last hour, the Lebanese television network, LBC, as well as many other Arab television networks in the region, have been reporting that an Israeli F-16 has been downed.

That is a report that has been denied by the Israeli Defense Forces.

But nevertheless we've been hearing here in the streets of Beirut, not just in the southern part of the city, where the Hezbollah stronghold are concentrated, but throughout the city, I might say, a great deal of celebratory gunfire. Television networks here showing over and over and over again a picture of a debris falling out of the sky.

It could be anything, of course. It could be a piece of a missile, it could be a drone. It could be just about anything. So we can't really confirm whether or not this was, indeed, a plane or a jet.

What we do know, however, is that the Israeli Defense Forces, are denying this.

Meanwhile, there have been also reports of Israeli ground troops coming into Lebanon from the south. And we understand from the Israeli Defense Forces, as well, that the troops are not there. We understand that there might have been a quick incursion in order to try to take out some Hezbollah positions there along the border. But right now there are no Israeli ground troops in Lebanon or in Southern Lebanon at this time -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A bit of the fog of war. A lot of confusion at this point, Alessio.

Tell us...

VINCI: Well --

M. O'BRIEN: ... are there a lot of people on the streets of Beirut right now?

VINCI: Well, more than over the weekend and more than last week, I must tell you, although the vast majority of the people remaining off the streets of Beirut. Some shops have begun-to reopen. I just noticed, for example, that a bank that has remained shut for most part of last week has begun--- has reopened a few hours today. And so we are beginning to see an attempt, at least in this part of town, of getting back to normal, although there is nothing normal about the situation, of course, when you have strikes coming in just about every couple of hours or so.

Of course, down in the southern part of the capital, that place is a total devastated -- devastation area. It's a ghost town. Nobody is around. Most people have evacuated.

A different story, of course, when you travel down south in the country, where the vast majority of the air strikes have been concentrating there. People, of course, are fleeing for their lives.

M. O'BRIEN: Alessio Vinci, who is in Beirut.

Let's get back to Haifa, Israel, that third largest city in Israel, the port city, an important city, a city that thought it was out of range of Hezbollah rockets until all of this unfolded. And just a little while ago a rocket attack.

And Anderson Cooper is on the scene right now -- Anderson, tell us what you're seeing.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it's hard to hear you, but I assume you're asking me what I'm seeing right now.

I can tell you another rocket now has hit a residential building in Haifa. We are literally about 20 feet away from the blast site. The building is still smoking. The police are all over this place. They have already removed two people from the building -- one woman walking; another woman was put on a stretcher.

They may -- they believe there may be others trapped inside the building. They are sending for more stretchers. It is a scene of full pandemonium, I would say. Security services quickly cordoning off this entire area. They're very used to this sort of thing. They have it down, the routine is down.

But, unfortunately right now, nothing is routine in the city of Haifa. Twenty rockets, missiles, hit yesterday in the Haifa area. Already this morning here in Haifa there have been a number of air raid sirens that have gone off.

We had actually seen a blast about 15 minutes ago that was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) when the air raid sirens again went off. Everyone took cover. We heard the explosions.

I'm now seeing flames -- let me try to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right there. Flames -- flames have now broken out in this building that we're looking at, in the center of the building. It looks to be on the second floor. They're rising pretty quickly.

This is the first time we are actually seeing flames. And, again, they're saying there may be people inside this building. There are police and soldiers all around the ground floor, looking for people. But at this point it does not look like anyone else has come out of this building so far. Everyone is now sort of standing around.

There's no fire -- there's no firemen right now on the scene to deal with these flames. So at this point they just seem to be burning, if not out of control at this point, it looks like a fire maybe sort of 10 feet wide at this point on the second floor.

It -- it is a strange scene. It is very odd, Miles. At this point, again, one person taken out ambulatory. Another person, another woman, an old woman taken out on a stretcher. But we are waiting to see, again, what is significant. This is in a residential area.

Before the explosions, the rockets have hit -- when they have hit at all -- in more commercial areas. The one earlier this morning was on the roof of a court building. Yesterday, a train depot was hit in which eight people were killed.

But at this point it appears that we don't know any official word of fatalities or injuries, Miles, at this point.

M. O'BRIEN: Anderson, I'm hoping you can hear me all right.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Alessio.

Prior to these attacks, were people in Haifa back out on the streets today? Or were they keeping shelter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... largely in shelters as air sirens go off and more Hezbollah missiles are landing. This is the same...

M. O'BRIEN: OK, we obviously lost contact with Anderson once again. Obviously, a very dodgy communication there.

As soon as we get him back, we'll bring you more information on what is now a second missile attack just within the past half an hour or so in Haifa -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean it sounds like it hit a residential building and Anderson is there, as he said, just feet away, as they monitor what's happening there.

Let's turn to some domestic news now.

There's a good chance of heavy rain today in Southern California. Kind of a blessing, also kind of a curse for the folks there who are dealing with wildfires. The rain, of course, is going to help calm down those fires. But then, of course, you have the danger of mudslides on that 120 square miles that have already burned. And then, of course, lightning could ignite new fires.

Two major fires have merged 100 miles east of Los Angeles. Fifty-eight homes have burned.

A burning of a different sort across the country over the weekend, as temperatures soared into the upper 90s, higher in some places. There were heat warnings from coast to coast. The heat is expected to continue for the next few days as the hot air moves, in fact, toward the East Coast.

CNN's Alina Cho is down on New York's sidewalks where, oh, it is hot on those sidewalks. And it will be again today -- hey, Alina, good morning.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Soledad.

Last we checked, it was 79 degrees and it's just after 8:00 in the morning. It certainly feels like it, even hotter. You know, the forecast for New York City is 99 degrees today. But it's going to feel like it's 105. But, is going to be so dangerously hot today that New York City's Office of Emergency Management is actually opening up hundreds of cooling centers throughout the city.

Now, these are essentially air conditioned rooms that people can go to to try to beat the heat.

Of course, New Yorkers are doing what they can to stay cool today.

Aimee Reinglass is one of them.

She's a physician who lives here in the city.

Amy, it's going to feel like it's 105 today. So I see your bottle of water there. I guess that's one of the things you're going to do to stay cool, right?

Tell me what else.

AIMEE REINGLASS, MANHATTAN RESIDENT: Absolutely.

Just constantly drinking water, staying hydrated. And also just staying indoors in air conditioning.

CHO: That's right.

Now, I notice you're wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

REINGLASS: Yes.

CHO: That's with good reason. You're going to head to work today and then you've got a different problem.

Talk about that.

REINGLASS: Well, once I get to work, the building is air conditioned so I'm cold there. So what I did was I wore a long- sleeved shirt that is thin, not so much to the point where I would get overheated when I do have to go outside.

CHO: Right.

And you're going to be inside for a while, right?

REINGLASS: Yes.

CHO: You're on call today?

REINGLASS: Yes. I'm on call.

CHO: Not normally a good thing.

But today that's a good thing, right?

REINGLASS: Today that's a good thing.

CHO: You're going to be at work for a while.

REINGLASS: Even though I'm not getting much sleep, I'm out of the heat. So I am better off on call.

CHO: And you're sort of used to the heat, right?

REINGLASS: Yes. CHO: I mean you went to medical school at a place where...

REINGLASS: In the Caribbean. Right. So when I was in the Caribbean, I did the same thing. I just stayed inside, drank water constantly, occasionally would go to the beach.

CHO: The beach is a good thing?

REINGLASS: Yes.

CHO: A pool is a good thing, too?

REINGLASS: Right.

CHO: All right, Amy, thank you very much.

REINGLASS: Thank you.

CHO: Of course, New York City is just one of several cities that could see record highs today. You want to stay out of the heat, number one. That's the basic advice. If you're lucky enough to get off work, try to go to the beach or maybe a pool. And, of course, Soledad, while we're on the subject of water, you want to drink lots of water. That is one of the many ways that you will be able to beat the heat today -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they always say by the time you're feeling dehydrated and thirsty, it's almost too late.

CHO: Too late.

S. O'BRIEN: You've got to keep doing it throughout the day.

CHO: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Alina Cho, stay cool, if you can. Run- in. Find one of those cooling centers.

Let's turn to Chad Myers now.

He's at the CNN Center -- she's not kidding. I mean it's going to be hot here and then other places too, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's been hot in the South most of the summer. But now this, really, this muggy air is shifting up to the north. And it was the Central Plains all weekend. Temperatures were over 100 in almost every city.

Now it's sliding off. A cold front is pushing the hot air a little farther to the east. Central Park now 78. LaGuardia is 79. Newark all the way up to 80. Ninety-nine in New York City. That's a forecast that most weathermen never do. That's a forecast for a record high, a new record high. Almost always, the weather guys will kind of hedge their bets and go no, I'm not forecasting a record. Today, the old record is 95. Not even hedging a bet there. It'll be -- it'll blow away the record by the afternoon. In fact, some spots around the city it will be over 100 and the heat index 105.

You need to take care -- before you go to work, think about some things. If your pet is outside, make sure that he or she will have some shade and also the water. Don't leave a pet tied out there in the sunshine because the sun-actually makes it feel 15 to 20 degrees warmer than that. The temperatures that you see on the map, the temperatures that are recorded for today, are actually in the shade.

Tomorrow, a couple of degrees cooler in New York, but that's only because a thunderstorm may pop up in the warmest part of the day. It'll still be another very hot one tomorrow -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Chad.

The weather, as you know, Chad, good enough for a shuttle landing. Mission control in Houston, just a short time ago, giving the go ahead for the Space Shuttle Discovery to fire those breaking rockets, the so-called D-orbit burn. There you see live pictures of mission control.

And that firing has already occurred, which will mean the Space Shuttle Discovery will be on the approach for landing and will land at the shuttle landing facility -- a 15,000-foot runway there at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida -- at 9:14 Eastern time.

There you see the view as you come on down. They're going to be coming in from the other direction. This is the southeasterly approach. That's Runway 15. They'll be landing in the opposite direction. Maybe we can give you the other approach here, on Runway 33, which brings them down this way. And then they land in the northwest, signaling their entry to all of Florida with a pair of very distinctive sonic booms.

In any case, we will be watching them as they make their way down.

We'll keep you posted.

We're going to check back in with Eileen Collins, former shuttle commander, who flew the last approach before this one, a year ago, in just a little bit.

Once again in our 9:00 hour, landing now scheduled for 9:14 Eastern time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we'll take a closer look at whether the U.S. is doing enough to defuse the crisis in the Middle East.

Former Mideast envoy George Mitchell who joins us live.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, it's the 10th anniversary today of the TWA Flight 800 explosion. A decade later, some powerful memories linger for the people who witnessed that tragedy.

S. O'BRIEN: And later this morning, the new debate over stem cell research. This time, the battle pits President Bush against some members of his own party.

We've got that story and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East. America has not yet thrown support, though, behind the cease-fire plan that's being floated today by Britain and the United Nations.

Former Senator George Mitchell was a Middle East envoy for the Clinton administration.

He joins us this morning from Northeast Harbor in Maine.

Nice to see you, sir, as always.

Thanks for talking with us.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Thanks for having me.

S. O'BRIEN: As you can tell by our reporting this morning, things are certainly ratcheting up. We've got rockets being fired into Haifa. We've got incursions by Israel into the southern part of Lebanon.

What do you think needs to be done at this moment?

What should be done immediately?

MITCHELL: Well, of course, the first and best thing to be done is that the two Israeli soldiers would be released, which I think would go a long way toward defusing the tension in the region. Unless and until that happens, you're likely to see a continuing Israeli offensive, until the United States joins others.

I think that you're beginning to see the development of a comprehensive plan with the decision to send Secretary of State Rice to the region. I think that the United States's active involvement, active leadership, is essential to de-escalation and to trying to return things to a stage where some kind of discussion can take place.

We can't do it alone. We've got a lot of influence with Israel. Russia, however, has much more influence with Syria and Iran, who are, of course, pulling the strings on Hezbollah. And it would take a combined effort, I think, to produce a good result.

S. O'BRIEN: Israel has said there's going to be no cease-fire unless these two soldiers are returned. Hezbollah has shown, clearly, no indication of returning these soldiers and frankly it's sort of hard to see the motivation, at this point, for them to return those soldiers.

What ends that stalemate then? MITCHELL: Well, the motivation would be the threat, of course, of their further destruction. Israel has overwhelming military superiority in the region and while Hezbollah can cause some difficulty and some deaths with their rocketing, they're simply no match for the Israeli military.

The other incentive might be for Syria itself, which, with Iran, has been content to use Hezbollah as a proxy for stirring up trouble in the region.

But, you know, the news reports indicate that there are now hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing over from Lebanon into Syria. If the war follows the refugees across the border, I think it would be a very serious problem for Syria because they likewise can't match Israel's strong military.

And so I think there may be an increasing incentive for the Syrians, at least, if not the Iranians, to try to call a halt to this before they themselves are subjected to military attack.

S. O'BRIEN: Israel has said we're going to try to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Is it possible to do that, to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon, without actually destroying Lebanon?

MITCHELL: Well, that's, of course, a very difficult task. The dilemma that the Israelis face, of course, is that it's possible, some analysts think likely, that the government of Lebanon will fall before any possible destruction of Hezbollah. And that government has been escalated democratically. It is not pro-Syrian. It is not pro- Hezbollah, the majority, even though Hezbollah has some role in the government.

If it falls, it is possible, perhaps likely, that the government that replaces it would be larger Hezbollah and more pro-Syrian. So you'd have an adverse result there.

I'm sure the Israeli government has calculated -- taking all of this into its calculations in how far to proceed. They probably can't completely destroy Hezbollah, but they can cause them a great deal of damage.

S. O'BRIEN: There is a report on the Associated Press that says -- and we haven't confirmed this yet, sir, but I'll tell you what it says. It says Iran's foreign minister has said a cease-fire and prisoner exchange to end Lebanon-Israel war is feasible. The word "feasible" in quotes.

Do you think, to some degree, the end game is to put Iran into this -- cast them in a new light in some way, now a negotiating partner, now someone who can bring peace to the region. We're no longer focusing on their nuclear ambitions?

MITCHELL: Well, of course, this crisis has had the effect of pushing the Iranian nuclear problem off the -- off the front pages and certainly out of the televised news. It's had that beneficial effect. And they want to and are actively engaged in trying to extend their influence into the Gulf region.

So it would not be surprising if they tried to take a leadership role.

The Israelis have said that there won't be a prisoner swap. But, of course, they've said that many times before and the end result has been at least a phased swap, that is, the prisoners are released one day and then the -- some time passes and an exchange occurs. Most governments have done that, the United States, the U.K. and others.

This time the Israelis appear pretty determined to inflict as much damage on Hezbollah as they can, to protect their northern border.

This is the first time they have been subjected to these longer- range rockets that have now struck Haifa. And I think there is a real sense of concern and alarm among the Israelis, which is understandable, given the capacity of these rockets now to strike major population centers.

S. O'BRIEN: Given that, are you optimistic that a solution can be found quickly?

We're going on day six now.

Or are you pessimistic about that?

MITCHELL: I think there is a possibly of a solution. It is always possible, of course, that this could flare into a much wider war. But I don't see any of the parties benefiting from a much wider war. And I think ultimately they'll act out of their self-interest, and that's especially true, I believe, of Syria, in the circumstance that they're in.

But I do believe it will take active and persevering U.S. leadership and involvement. We are the indispensable party in the region and I think it's going to take a much greater effort. Hopefully it'll begun-with the secretary of state's visit.

S. O'BRIEN: Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell joining us this morning.

Thanks, sir.

Nice to see you, as always.

MITCHELL: Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll have more on the crisis in the Middle East in a moment.

We're going to hear from a man who viewers of this program are familiar with, Fawaz Gerges, who is an expert on the Middle East. He decided to take his family to Lebanon for a vacation to see some relatives. Well, now he's stuck there and it's turned into quite a nightmare. We'll check in with him.

And later, remembering TWA Flight 800. ten years now since that explosion. Witnesses and relatives share their memory of the tragedy, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: New pictures to us from Israeli television. We were just talking a little while ago with Anderson Cooper, who talked about this rocket attack on the port city of Haifa in Israel, striking a residential area.

Well, these are the pictures of the scene there.

Anderson at that point, as it was emerging -- these are live pictures now, as you see the damage to that structure there. Anderson reporting there may be some casualties as a result of this one.

Once again, Haifa, for the longest time, was thought to be out of the range of the sorts of rockets which Hezbollah, in Southern Lebanon, possessed. But clearly, they have some at least medium-range rockets, on the order of 25 miles in range, which are now raining down on Haifa, causing some deaths and casualties, and certainly a lot of fear there in Haifa. And heightening the tension, as we continue to cover that in the Middle East.

We'll keep you posted as we get more information on that particular attack.

Ten years ago today, a TWA 747 leaving New York City for Paris exploded suddenly as it was climbing to altitude over the Atlantic off Long Island.

Today, friends and relatives of the victims will gather at the point of land closest to the place where the wreckage fell to remember those who were lost.

CNN's David Mattingly joining us from Shirley, New York with more -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, those families will be gathering here at a memorial that's been erected here on Long Island to mark that occasion. And many will be wondering why it's taken so long to fix the problem that led to such a devastating loss of life 10 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID MCCLAINE, TWA 800 PILOT: It blew up in the air and then we saw two fireballs go down to the water.

MATTINGLY: That was the voice of David McClaine. Piloting a 737 over Long Island, a bright light caught his eye. MCCLAINE: And all of the sudden, boom! And almost instantly, a fraction of a second later, two streams of flames came out the bottom.

MATTINGLY: Another pilot, Captain Paul Whelan, was in the cockpit of a Virgin Atlantic 747. He wrote this entry in his logbook: "Saw TWA 800 crash."

PAUL WHELAN, 747 PILOT: I could see the cigar tube of the fuselage and the windows and bits falling off, fire everywhere and it falling into the sea.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A 747 that took off from Kennedy Airport is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A 747 aircraft has exploded.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: An explosion in the Atlantic Ocean being reported.

MATTINGLY: Clyde Willis, captain of a dredging company boat, was first at the scene.

CLYDE WILLIS, BOAT CAPTAIN: The water was just burning. And it kind of looked like it was burning maybe two foot off the water. I mean it was just like a wall of fire.

MATTINGLY: Flames and wreckage for as far as the eye could see.

WILLIS: Wings, tail section, cushions, seats, anything that would float really. Then we saw the first body. And it appeared to be like a 12-year-old girl.

MATTINGLY: Had you ever seen anything like this before in your life?

WILLIS: Never, and I hope I don't ever see it again.

MATTINGLY: By the end of the week, 140 bodies had been recovered. One was Brenna Siebert, the younger of the two sisters from Missouri, a free spirit who once came home with a tattoo on her shoulder that her mother disliked.

HELEN SIEBERT, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I said you realize that is a forever thing and you may change your mind, and it's too bad. And I went on and on and on and on to her. And when it happened, the one thing, she was identified so quickly was because of the tattoo. And that came back, I kind of laughed, like yes, Brenna knew what she was doing, I guess.

MATTINGLY: It was a mixed blessing for Helen Siebert when the official notification came.

SIEBERT: They said we found her. And I can remember hanging up the phone and running through the house so happy they found her. But in the same moment, I realized she was gone.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MATTINGLY: Investigators eventually determined it was probably a spark in the fuel tank that brought down TWA Flight 800.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer says that he plans to introduce legislation that would pressure the FAA into making mandatory special safety equipment that would private a tragedy like this from ever happening again -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: David, to this day there are persistent conspiracy theories about what brought down TWA 800. What are the family members and friends have to say about all that?

MATTINGLY: The families have made a conscious decision to let each person decide for themselves what happened here. Most, a large majority, are going with what the NTSB has determined is the probable cause, that that was a spark because of faulty wiring, a spark in a fuel tank, igniting fuel vapors and causing that explosion.

M. O'BRIEN: David Mattingly, on Long Island, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got a look at our top stories straight ahead this morning, including the latest on the crisis in the Middle East. We're going to talk to a scholar who took his family on vacation to Lebanon, and then all the violence broke out. We'll find out how they're getting by. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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