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American Morning

Crisis in the Middle East; Baghdad Kidnappings; Deadly Crossing; Airstrikes Suspended

Aired July 31, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Morning. Welcome, everybody. It is Monday, July 31. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris in for Miles O'Brien.

Here's a look at what's happening this morning.

O'BRIEN: Israel to stop dropping bombs on Lebanon over the next two days. The 48-hour suspension began overnight. It's a chance to investigate the Qana bombing that killed at least 60 civilians. Israel says it will step up its military offensive in Lebanon after the suspension.

President Bush this morning expected to stress once again what he calls a sustainable peace in the Middle East. The president in Miami, Florida, going to talk about the issue at 10:10 a.m. Eastern Time. CNN is going to carry that live.

HARRIS: And for the first time ever, NATO is now in command of U.S. troops in southern Afghanistan. NATO forces took over this morning as part of an effort to curb the deadly upswing in Taliban violence there.

Anger over Mexico's presidential election could shut down Mexico City today, home to nearly 20 million people. Thousands of protesters plan to clog up business until they get a recount.

O'BRIEN: The deadly triple-digit heat wave moving across the country now. Midwest cities are under heat warnings today and tomorrow. Way up in Bismarck, North Dakota it was 112 degrees yesterday.

Brings us right to Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the forecast.

Hey, Chad, good morning.

HARRIS: Morning, -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning, Tony.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks a lot.

Let's start this morning with the latest developments out of the Middle East. Israel agreeing to a 48-hour suspension of airstrikes in the wake of that Qana disaster. Also, Israel coordinating with the U.N. on a 24-hour window for civilians to flee southern Lebanon and for some aid to be sent south from Beirut.

The United Nations Security Council issued a statement expressing extreme shock and distress over the deaths in Qana. Still no resolution, though.

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heading back to Washington now with a proposed new peace plan in her pocket.

We've got a team of correspondents who are standing by around the region. Let's begin with CNN's John King. He's in Jerusalem.

John, good morning to you. What's the proposal about specifically?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, let me tell you one thing, it's not about firsts, all these international demands for an immediate, unconditional cessation of the hostilities. Secretary Rice saying this morning she doesn't think that is the right solution, not the lasting solution.

But here is some of the stuff that is in this plan that Secretary Rice will now take to the Security Council. It calls for a permanent cease-fire. It also calls for deployment of the Lebanese Army in areas that are now controlled by Hezbollah. It has in it an international arms embargo, meaning nobody could re-supply Hezbollah after the cease-fire is put in place. And it also calls for a new international force that would go into Lebanon to help the Lebanese Army, not only in the south, but also to patrol the Syria-Lebanon border as well.

Now in rejecting calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities that so many around the world are demanding, Secretary Rice said she believes she had a better approach and that it could be approved this week.

Hoping for some sound there from Secretary Rice, Soledad, but she's on her way back to Washington now at a time when, as you know, U.S. diplomacy has been criticized. Arab nations saying the Bush administration too lopsided in its support of Israel, others saying why won't the United States support an immediate end of hostility. They are hoping this proposal quiets the criticism. And most of all, they are hoping it gets quick action in the Security Council and perhaps an end to the hostilities by the end of this week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, though, you have Israel talking about expanding its ground troops, don't you?

KING: You do. And you might say all politics are local. Israel's Defense Minister, Minister Peretz, before the Knesset today, heckled by some of the Arab members of the Israeli Parliament. But then also saying that it is urgent that Israel not accept an immediate cease-fire, saying that not only should military operations continue, that they should expand.

Now this -- he's saying this even as they have that 48-hour cessation of air activities in southern Lebanon in place. Many would say why would he say that if a cease-fire might be only days away? It's an ancient rule of warfare, Soledad, if you know a cease-fire is coming, do all you can to damage the enemy before you have to stop -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: I didn't realize that. All right, John King for us this morning.

Thanks, John.

A day of mourning is being observed in Lebanon right now in response to those tragic deaths in Qana. The attack by Israel also led to massive demonstrations in the Lebanese capital.

Let's get right to Anthony Mills. He's live for us in Beirut.

Anthony, good morning.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, Beirut was calm overnight. Indeed it was calm yesterday evening when a candlelit vigil was held for the victims of the attack on that compound, on that house building housing refugees.

Of course a very different scene from earlier in the day when there were thousands of protesters in the streets behind me surrounding this structure which also houses the U.N. compound. And of course those angry protesters smashed their way into the U.N. compound and trashed at least one floor of it, wrecking furniture and so on.

It really was a spontaneous demonstration. It started out with 20 or 30 people chanting support for the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and that then metamorphosed into a group of thousands of angry protesters within about an hour or so. The crowd was eventually brought under control by politicians and religious figures, but certainly very angry scenes for a while. However, now calm in Beirut.

Elsewhere, also there have been responses from Lebanese public officials. Indeed, a short while ago I spoke to one of Lebanon's ministers, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade, about the comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggesting that a cease-fire could be achieved through the U.N. in the coming days.

And he said that he was hopeful that the current 48-hour cessation of aerial bombardment pledged by Israel would actually open the way possibly for a longer-term cease-fire. He said he hoped that that would run in unison, as it were, with a package proposed by the Lebanese government to which Hezbollah has nominally signed on with reservations.

That package for a cease-fire proposed by the Lebanese government would include a beefed up international peacekeeping presence here in Lebanon, but there are reservations for Hezbollah about that. They don't want a peacekeeping force here that could forcefully take them on -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Anthony Mills, that, of course, is going to be a big, big issue. Thanks, Anthony, for the update.

Anger elsewhere around the Arab world today. Over the last three weeks, thousands of Lebanese have fled their country for Syria.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Damascus, Syria's capital.

Aneesh, good morning.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning.

Expectedly after what happened in Qana, there have been further demonstrations here in Syria's capital. Today where I stand, just a few hours ago remarkably small demonstration though, just a few hundred people carried empty coffins. They also carried posters with pictures of the children that were killed and injured in the attack on Qana. Yesterday as well, demonstrations, children carrying the flags of Hezbollah, wearing T-shirts that bore the picture of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah.

Syria's government maintains it wants an immediate cease-fire. That, it says, is a precondition for anything else to begin. That should, though, they say, be followed by an exchange of prisoners and then a discussion on a broader solution to what is happening here.

The question of course is how far is the U.S. willing to go for a permanent solution, or as best as you can find one in this region? Is it willing to engage Syria directly? Is it willing to engage Iran? We've gotten no indication from the Americans that they are willing to do that. In fact, they have suggested quite the opposite. The Syrians, though, are waiting.

And what you have here is essentially a diplomatic stalemate. The Americans are saying Syria must act first. It must cut off its support for Hezbollah before America would even consider speaking with the Syrian government. The Syrians say America has to use its influence on Israel to stop what's happening before Syria will embark on anything -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question about this disaster, this tragedy at Qana, how is that being read and how is it playing in the Arab media today -- Aneesh?

RAMAN: Well, in the Arab media, the images, especially those of the children that were being brought out from the rubble, the dead children, the injured children, ran almost constantly. Throughout the past few days at the shops here in Damascus, restaurants, where usually they have televisions turned to music stations or entertainment, it is now only Al Jazeera, only Al-Arabiya, the Arabic networks.

It is these images that really have sparked further fury among the people here who since the start had shown support for Hezbollah, not unsurprisingly given those that chose to come to Syria, a country with a long history with that organization. But those images really have seared in the minds of the people here. That is why they say they are demanding the international community come together.

Today as well, another small protest taking place outside of the U.N. office in Damascus, mimicking what happened in Beirut yesterday. They say the U.N. is doing nothing and that the world is simply watching this all continue. But they are also well aware of the history in Qana, the context of what's happening now, and that, they say, is reason why this all should stop now -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman for us this morning joining us by videophone.

Aneesh, thanks -- Tony.

HARRIS: New developments out of Baghdad, we're hearing some two dozen people were taken hostage at gunpoint early this morning.

Harris Whitbeck is live in Baghdad.

Harris, good morning. What can you tell us?

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Officials at the Iraqi police and Iraqi defense officials say that gunmen stormed the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce in Baghdad and took about 17 people hostage, including the head of that Chamber of Commerce. They have been kidnapped. And according to reports, these gunmen were wearing military uniforms. They drove up in about 15 cars, they stormed into the building, took control of everybody, put them in their cars and drove them away.

There was a brief lull in violence in several areas of Iraq over the weekend. That lull, of course, was interrupted. Near the northern city of Tikrit, five people who were traveling in a car were pulled over. They were pulled out of their cars and beheaded by unidentified gunmen. Gunmen also attacked a group of city street sweepers here in the capital.

There are now more U.S. troops patrolling the streets of Baghdad. And over the weekend, a lot more people were seen out in the streets. According to local press reports, people were feeling a bit more confident about the violence in the Iraqi capital in particular -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Harris, a reminder that there is still plenty of violence going on in Baghdad. Thank you, Harris.

Happening in America right now. A funeral will be held in Seattle today for the woman who died in the shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation. Fifty-eight-year-old Pamela Waechter was killed and five others wounded on Friday. The suspect, Naveed Haq, is being held on $50 million's bail. He told authorities he's angry at the war in Iraq and U.S. military cooperation with Israel.

There has been another deadly outbreak of violence in New Orleans. Six people were shot over the weekend in separate incidents. Governor Kathleen Blanco now says National Guard troops will stay past their September withdrawal date. Troops were sent in after five teenagers were gunned down in June.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is scheduled to attend a global warming roundtable in Long Beach today with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Blair visited a San Francisco rehabilitation center yesterday and met with former Secretary of State George Shultz. He later toured Silicon Valley. Blair is in California partly to promote British trade in the state.

Dozens of passengers on board a cruise ship to the Caribbean are at home recovering this morning. Nearly 230 people on board the "Mariner of the Seas" became sick with a gastrointestinal illness last week. The cruise ship docked in Florida yesterday. It's the second outbreak aboard this same ship this year.

And in Wisconsin, authorities are investigating what appears to be a freak accident at an air show. A Canadian man was killed Sunday when the propeller of a Navy war bird sliced into a home-built plan on a taxiway. The passenger in the home-built plane was killed. No one in the Navy plane was hurt.

And still to come this morning, we will take you to the sweltering Arizona-Mexico border. Each day, thousands attempt to cross. It's their shot at the American dream, if they survive.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, we'll find out what caused the out- of-control car to slam into this gas station. Take a look at that.

HARRIS: And later, the week ahead for President Bush. So far he has refused to call for an immediate cease-fire. We'll have more on his high-stakes Mideast strategy.

O'BRIEN: And Carrie Lee has got business headlines for us.

Good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good Monday morning to you all.

The Dow Jones industrials had their best weekly percentage gain last week in over a year. Will the green arrows continue into this morning? We'll have that story coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Happening this morning.

A 48-hour suspension of Israeli airstrikes. Lebanon is calling, though, for a permanent cease-fire. More than 500 people have been killed in 20 days of fighting.

A plan for a comprehensive settlement is in the works. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is carrying details back to the U.S. right now. She says a settlement can be reached this week.

Here at home, the deadly heat wave is moving east. The Midwest, from Oklahoma to North Dakota, is now seeing temperatures over 100 degrees. Heat warnings are out for today and tomorrow.

Let's get right to Chad Myers. He's at the CNN Center with a look at the forecast.

Good morning to you, -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

HARRIS: Thanks, Chad.

They come in search of the American dream, but some are left dead in their tracks, illegal immigrants braving the intense heat to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Now the U.S. Border Patrol is bracing for what could be one of the deadliest summers on record.

Here is CNN's Kareen Wynter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to walk them out. Some of them were pretty bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They should be able to make it before the sun.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a hot, humid evening on the Arizona border with Mexico, 92 degrees. We spend a busy night with Border Patrol Agent Ben Vik. He says that's when they catch most illegal immigrants crossing the border. It's life or death for some.

BEN VIK, BORDER PATROL AGENT: I think drowning would be preferable to dying of heat in the desert.

WYNTER (on camera): It's that bad the cases that you have seen?

VIK: Yes. We've seen cases where people have tried to -- they become demented at the end and try to bury themselves in the sand and take off all their clothes. And it's a heart rending sight.

WYNTER: And people are walking with sometimes no water and barely shoes on their feet?

VIK: That is correct. From time-to-time we found them with -- wearing only socks out here, making the 20 odd, 25-mile hike to the freeway.

WYNTER (voice-over): A dangerous game of desert crossing. Officials say the rugged terrain and extreme conditions don't stop illegals from braving the border each year, not even in the summer with 120-degree heat.

New technology, like these federally funded rescue beacons, in the desert are saving lives. You push a button to signal for help. The instructions written in Spanish. More immigrants are also using cell phones now to call for help.

(on camera): Is that an act of desperation? What does that tell you that people are willing...

VIK: Definitely, right.

WYNTER: Because they're sent back home when that happens.

VIK: Generally they're trying to avoid us. But when they fall into distress, then we are the guardian angel.

WYNTER (voice-over): Agents spot this group hiding in the bushes.

We're carrying a gallon of water each for our thirst, says this man.

Another man showed us his sunburned body, saying it's very hot.

(on camera): Agents say this group of seven wasn't in distress. In fact, they had been walking for about three hours before they got caught. You can see over here they came with their water bottles and also foam. They use that to wrap their feet so as not to leave any footprints in the sand.

(voice-over): Agents say they don't know what it will take to reduce desert deaths. Many humanitarian groups say they'll be the buffer for border crossers.

STEVE JOHNSTON, NO MORE DEATHS: The floodgates have opened here and now there are thousands of people coming through every day.

WYNTER: The organization, "No More Deaths," sets up campsites in the desert to help the desperate and dehydrated. Volunteers provide water, meals and medical assistance to the injured, but they don't get to everyone in time, those who have fallen prey to the sun in their search for the American dream.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Yuma, Arizona. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The U.S. Border Patrol says it could take some immigrants up to five days to cross. The temperature in Yuma is expected to hit 102 degrees today and 110 next week.

O'BRIEN: That's just brutal there, brutal.

Still to come this morning, Carrie Lee is taking a look at business headlines for us. Wal-Mart's sales are looking up. We'll tell you why this is actually good news for other retailers too.

Then later, another violent weekend in New Orleans, we'll take a look at what that could mean for the city's fragile tourism industry.

Those stories are ahead, and much more, as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Checking the most popular stories this morning on CNN.com.

The deaths of at least 60 people, many of them women and children, is stirring worldwide outrage over Israel's use of force in southern Lebanon.

Actor Mel Gibson's arrest on DUI charges, what he is alleged to have said during that arrest and how the L.A. police handled it all making for plenty of speculation this morning.

At the box office, Crockett and Tubbs beat the pirates. "Miami Vice" took in just over $25 million this weekend. That outdid the $20.5 million for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

HARRIS: Well the nation's financial market may just be sending a message to the Federal Reserve Bank, but the question, is it listening?

Carrie Lee has your business headlines.

Carrie, good morning.

LEE: Thank you, Tony. Good morning to both of you.

Well, we'll find out next week when the Federal Reserve meets on August 8. Time really flying, August already the next Fed meeting.

Meanwhile though, Wall Street hoping to continue the rally we saw last week. The Dow Jones industrials saw their best percentage gain in over a year. Take a look, all the major market indices up over 3 percent. The Dow gaining over 350 points.

What we're seeing here lately, weak economic news is actually helping the markets, because the thinking is if the economy isn't growing as quickly as it was in the past, well then the Fed will be less likely to raise rates. Now we will get some key economic reports this week, including the big July jobs report on Friday, and that's going to be just about the last piece of economic data before the Federal Reserve meets next week.

Meanwhile, consumers continuing to shop at least when it comes to Wal-Mart. The retailing giant over the weekend reporting July sales up 2.4 percent at stores open at least one year. This, after a weak showing in June. Wal-Mart is also cutting prices and started its back-to-school promotion a little bit early this year.

And then finally, oil prices coming down to just around the $73 a barrel level, despite an increase in violence, in the Middle East over the weekend. Oil traders perhaps, Soledad and Tony, hoping that a cease-fire could be reached.

And that's the latest from here.

HARRIS: Seventy-three dollars a barrel. We have to think of that as good news.

O'BRIEN: Right, yes.

LEE: Well it's better than the record $78 we saw a few weeks ago.

HARRIS: Exactly.

LEE: So it's all relative.

HARRIS: You're right.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HARRIS: That's right.

Carrie, thanks.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

A look at the morning's top stories is straight ahead, including massive demonstrations in Beirut. Anger towards Israel is at an all- time high. Protesters were even targeting the United Nations. We're live. We'll bring you those pictures.

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading home to the U.S. with a possible peace plan in hand. Military operations, though, along the border continue undeterred. We'll have the latest on what's happening there just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

Israel has suspended airstrikes of Lebanon over the next two days. It is considering a larger ground force to advance though on Hezbollah positions. That issue is being discussed at a Cabinet meeting today.

In Baghdad this morning, 25 shoppers taken by armed men in Iraqi police uniforms. Similar incidents in which gunmen have posed as Iraqi police.

Here at home, the killer heat is moving east after record temperatures in California. The Midwest, from Oklahoma to North Dakota is now seeing temperatures over 100 degrees. Heat warnings are out for today and tomorrow.

Morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris in for Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Nice to have you helping us out. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: Good to be here with you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

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