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The Situation Room
Hezbollah Rockets Land Deeper Into Northern Israel; Israel Intensifying Air Power Against Targets; Poll Numbers Show How Americans Feel About Mideast Conflict; Roula Talj Interview; Michael Herzog Discusses Mideast Developments; Hillary Clinton's Presidential Prospects After Confronting Rumsfeld
Aired August 04, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Susan.
And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.
Happening now: breaking news in the Middle East crisis. Hezbollah rockets hit deeper into Israel and closer to Tel Aviv. It's 11:00 p.m. in Lebanon, where Hezbollah fighters are lobbing deadly new attacks and where Israeli warplanes are trying to cut the militia group's connection to Syria.
Also this hour, the benefits of shuttle diplomacy. Condoleezza Rice is scoring points with the American public, but is that helping her boss? We have some brand new poll numbers on the president, the secretary of State, and the Middle East crisis.
And new outrage in Iraq and here at home. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, where Senator Hillary Clinton may be moving closer to the views on Iraq of many of her fellow Democrats. Is the political fight over the war shifting to a new battlefield?
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(MUSIC)
BLITZER: In Israel this hour, fear of attack is spreading as Hezbollah rockets land deeper into northern Israel. Israeli police say two or three rockets hit the area around Hadera, about 25 miles north of Tel Aviv. It's the farthest any Hezbollah rocket has landed in three weeks of warfare. There are no reports of deaths or injuries, at least not yet. But at least three civilians were killed in some of the dozens of other rocket attacks on northern Israel today.
Israel keeps expanding its air and ground war against Hezbollah at the same time. Lebanon State News Agency reports houses were flattened in attacks on two villages in southern Lebanon today. Fifty-seven people were reported buried in the rubble. The number of dead is not yet clear.
Lebanese government officials say more than 20 Syrians were killed by an Israeli airstrike while they were loading vegetables in a town not very far away from the Syrian border. Israel says it was targeting two Hezbollah weapon sites. Israeli war planes destroyed four key bridges on the main highway between Syria and Beirut today in an effort to try to cut off the flow of weapons to Hezbollah.
Our correspondents are standing by in the region. We have complete coverage here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Our Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, is standing by in the Lebanese capital. But let's go to northern Israel first. Matthew Chance is on the scene for us once again.
Matthew, give us the latest, because this is a day that has seen Hezbollah rockets hit further and further into Israel.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And there seems to be no let-up in that sustained barrage of Hezbollah rocket fire onto towns and cities across northern Israel. Not just northern Israel, but towns further towards the south, as well. You mentioned the town of Hadera -- another grim landmark in this conflict, as Hezbollah rockets strike there, about 25 miles north of Tel Aviv.
And as we speak now, I can hear rockets flying over my head at the moment on route into northern Israel. So that barrage is continuing. Israeli officials say more than 200 rockets have pounded Israel over the course of today, at least three Israeli civilians killed.
In the other direction, a ferocious barrage, too, from Israeli artillery pieces and tanks, as well as the thousands of Israeli troops that are now expanding their ground operations across southern Lebanon -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Matthew, the rockets you're referring to, are those incoming rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel, or artillery shells? We hear some explosions behind you.
CHANCE: It's a mixture of both, as I say. The barrages seem to be going in both directions. Certainly I can hear the noise of rockets flying overhead. Also, you can hear the noise of the shells flying in the other direction into south Lebanon. It really does seem the fighting has intensified over the past several hours, Wolf.
BLITZER: Matthew, are the sirens wailing where you are, yet? Because normally when Katyusha rocket are coming into northern Israel, the sirens go off. And normally -- normally -- it occurs during daylight hours. It's obviously after 11:00 p.m. local time where you are right now. It's late into the evening. How unusual is it that Katyusha rockets are coming in at night time?
CHANCE: Well, it's happened in the past on a number of occasions. You're right. It is unusual. What the Hezbollah try to do normally is to fire their rockets as deep into Israel as they can. In this location here, right on the Israeli-Lebanese border, we've been relatively secure in the sense that we are right on the border. The rockets don't tend to come in right here. We have been receiving some incoming mortar fire, though, over the past several days as the fighting draws close to this particular border region.
But across in Kiryat Shmona, a short distance from here, deeper into Israel, one of the Israeli cities that's been hit repeatedly, not just today, but over the course of the past several weeks, yes, the sirens have been wailing throughout the day, Wolf.
BLITZER: Hold on one second. I want to show our viewers how far one or two or three of these Katyushas managed to reach today. If we go to this map here, you can see where Lebanon is in the north. Haifa, that's an area that's been hit, Israel's major city in the north, the port city of Haifa.
Today, they managed to hit down at Hadera -- that's almost halfway between Haifa and the two million people who live in the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv, which is pretty far south. Israeli military analysts and commanders, Matthew, as you know, they've been bracing for these kinds of rockets coming in pretty far south. They even believe, even at this late date, that Hezbollah has the capability of hitting the Tel Aviv area. Is that what you're hearing from Israeli military commanders on the scene?
CHANCE: Absolutely. There's a great deal of concern amongst Israeli military commanders and Israeli people as well because they don't believe they've seen the worst of what Hezbollah has to offer, as it were. We've seen the short-range Katyushas being fired in over the past several weeks. Hezbollah still probably has thousands of them still left over, still at its disposal, according to Israeli military officials.
We've seen some of the more of the medium-range rockets fired as well, maybe a dozen or so, fired into the more southerly parts of northern Israel, if you catch my meaning.
But what the biggest fear is related to, is the bigger, long- range Zelzal 2 rockets, which is what they are called, which have a much bigger payload, which have a much bigger range and which really could strike at Israel's main population center, Tel Aviv, if it were fired from the right location inside southern Lebanon.
What the Israeli military says is that their big success so far in this campaign has been to destroy those long-range missiles, or many of them, as much as possible, to destroy their launching sites. That's why they haven't been used yet.
But it remains to be seen whether Hassan Nasrallah will actually take the decision to fire them, Wolf.
BLITZER: I want to go to Brent Sadler in moment, but we heard another explosion behind you. Describe the difference of an outgoing Israeli artillery shell that's launched not far away from where you are right now, as opposed to incoming Katyushas that you hear flying overhead, that whizzing sound, if you will. We could hear those explosions nearby.
If you're in any danger, if you feel you're in danger, Matthew, let us know and we'll move you to another location. CHANCE: I think we're fine in this location at the moment. You know, I'm not sure I'm altogether an expert on judging what's incoming and what's outgoing. But what we've become used to here is hearing two successive explosions, indicates it's an outgoing round -- the explosion when it leaves the tank or the artillery piece, and then the explosion when the device actually lands on its target. If you hear just the one explosion, the assumption many people make here is that it is an incoming round.
But it is very difficult to distinguish between the two, particularly in this location because you're getting rounds coming and going across the border. It's difficult to judge from which direction they're coming in. And they're landing just a very short distance away, as well, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Matthew, stand by. We're going to be coming back to you. And as I said before, if you sense some danger, significant -- it's obviously always dangerous -- move to another location.
There's been extraordinary violence north of where Matthew is in Lebanon. Brent Sadler is our Beirut Bureau chief. Brent, update our viewers on what has happened on this day of the war.
BRENT SADLER, BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, intensifying use of Israeli air power against a number of targets. Let's look at what happened earlier this day at the northern end of the Bekaa Valley, very close to the Syrian border.
Now Israeli strikes hit an area where it's said by security sources here, agricultural workers, many of them from Syria, were moving fruits and vegetables from a cold store to a waiting truck. Now that strike resulted in heavy loss of life -- at least 20 victims, mostly Syrians, according to security sources here.
That outraged Syria; Syria weighing in, that Israel was killing innocent people who were doing nothing wrong. However, Israel has been systematically targeting trucks, which Israel suspects being in suspicious location, conducting suspicious activity and possibly involved with smuggling more weapons into Lebanon to replace the arsenal of weapons, rockets that Israel continues to receive from Hezbollah fighters.
Now, elsewhere, Wolf, the government here is still counting the cost of a series of punitive air strikes against more of Lebanon's infrastructure. Pictures came in this morning. I visited the site the bomb blast myself of four bridges that were attacked to the north of the capital of Beirut, really effectively cutting off the high- speed link from the Lebanese capital to the northern part of the country where it borders with Syria.
That's important because it basically cuts off humanitarian aid in big convoys that come from the northern port city of Tyre. And it makes getting in and out of this country a much slower process -- Wolf. BLITZER: Is there any reaction from the Lebanese government, the prime minister specifically, Fouad Siniora, to this effort, this last- ditch effort, if you will, of the United Nations to come up with a cease-fire resolution and an international peacekeeping force? What is the position of the Lebanese government right now?
SADLER: The Lebanese government wants an immediate cease-fire, an exchange of prisoners, and also talk of the Shebaa Farms, the disputed patch of land that you know about, Wolf, at the foot of the Golan Heights. That put on the table, immediate cease-fire first, and then that could lead to the establishment of a stabilization force.
But Hezbollah will pick many, many holes in that plan, particularly a stabilization force, because although Hezbollah goes along in principle with the government's plan, in the fine detail, composition of the force, rules of engagement of the force, would have to be looked at closely By Hezbollah. They'd likely have reservations.
In fact, they would want, according to my Hezbollah sources, to have that stabilization force put on both sides of the border. So we hear much talk about the diplomatic front perhaps creating a cessation of hostility in days. But on the ground the fighting clearly is intensifying.
BLITZER: All right Brent, thank you very much. Brent Sadler is on the scene for us in Beirut. We're going to come back to him throughout this program. In the meantime let's go back to Jack Cafferty, in New York. Hi Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, Tony Blair and President Bush agree on almost everything except this. The British prime minister is delaying his summer vacation to work on a U.N. resolution for Lebanon. Blair's office says he thinks the next few days are critical and he doesn't want to be out of touch with world leaders. The media and members of Blair's own party had earlier criticized him for planning his vacation now.
Meanwhile, President Bush arrived in Crawford, Texas, yesterday for a ten-day summer vacation. It should be noted this is the president's shortest summer break since taking office, and he will be meeting with top advisers at the ranch this weekend to discuss diplomacy for the Middle East.
So here's the question. I know it's a little lame, but it's a Friday in August. What do you want form me? British Prime Minister Tony Blair has delayed his summer vacation. Should President Bush do the same? e-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile. The 5:00 and 7:00 questions I promise will be stouter stuff, Wolf.
BLITZER: Good question, Jack. Thanks very much. Jack Cafferty in New York. And just a few moments ago, you heard it, you saw it live here on CNN. There are explosions. There are apparently incoming rockets coming into northern Israel right now. It's after 11:00 p.m. in Israel from south Lebanon, at the same time Israeli artillery continuing to pound targets at this hour in south Lebanon. We're staying on top of this story. We'll go live to the front, to northern Israel for more on what's going on.
Also, other stories we're following, as this Hezbollah rocket attack continues, could Tel-Aviv be the next target?
Thousands of Iraqis demonstrating today where they stand in the fight between Israel and Hezbollah. We're going to have a report from Baghdad on the march and the factional divisions driving it.
Later, the latest call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to step down. Does it offer an opening for the Bush administration to change the way the political battle over Iraq is being fought? Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news out of the Middle East. As you saw if you were watching THE SITUATION ROOM live only moments ago, more rockets coming into northern Israel, artillery shells pounding south Lebanon. Let's go to the Israeli border with Lebanon. Matthew Chance once again on the scene. For viewers Matthew who are just tuning in, we saw, we heard those explosions just moments ago. Describe what it felt like.
CHANCE: Well, it was very frightening first and foremost, Wolf, because in this situation right on the Israeli Lebanese border, it's difficult to judge which direction the rounds are coming from. Because there is such a fierce exchange that's been underway, not just in the last few hours, but in the last few weeks between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters. Ferocious artillery barrage, tank fire going in one direction, rockets pounding towns and cities across from Hezbollah positions in northern Israel in the other direction.
Indeed, over the course of this day alone, there have been more than 200 Hezbollah rockets striking northern Israel. Indeed, a number of those rockets, two or three, according to the police, striking the town of Hadera, about 25 miles north of Tel-Aviv, the furthest south any Hezbollah rocket has so-far reached. Another grim landmark in this conflict Wolf.
BLITZER: We're showing our viewers live pictures from the streets of Hadera. It's approaching, what, about 11:20 p.m. local time over there. We see cars in the street, people mulling around. It looks almost like business as usual, but it's anything but. I suspect, having been there last week, people are beginning to think about leaving Hadera and moving further south.
CHANCE: Well, I expect they are. Certainly people further north like where I'm talking to you now and in other towns as well, like Kiryat Shmona, people have already made that decision. Many of them are, of course, sheltering in bunkers beneath their apartment blocks. But for the most part, people who have got anywhere else to go have already gone there. You drive through the streets of cities, of towns like Kiryat Shmona and there's virtually nobody there. The shops are all closed. The traffic lights are all on amber blinking so they don't change from red to amber to green. Everybody just goes through. There are virtually no cars on the road. Really, these places are virtually abandoned towns and cities across northern Israel. It really is having a big psychological impact, this barrage of rockets from Hezbollah here.
BLITZER: All right Matthew, stand by. We're going to be coming back to you. Matthew is in northern Israel, not far from the Lebanese border.
As all of this is taking place, an escalated amount of warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been, as all of our viewers know by now, taking a much higher profile in the Bush administration's response to the warfare in the Middle East. So how do Americans view her efforts and those of her boss?
Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider is joining us with some brand-new poll numbers that are coming into CNN -- Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, the Middle East, Iraq, Cuba, a wave of crises in the world. How is the American public responding?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): At times of international tension, the American public usually rallies behind the president. Is that happening now? The president's latest job approval rating in a CNN poll taken by the Opinion Research Corporation is 40 percent. Fifty- nine percent disapprove.
Not much of a rally, but one administration figure is getting high marks.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: If you're going to do this job, it's great to be doing it at a time of consequence.
SCHNEIDER: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's job rating is 62 percent, much higher than her boss. More than two-thirds of Americans say they sympathize with Israel in this conflict. Sympathy with Israel has been growing since the conflict began. No division there.
But there is division over what Israel should do now. Americans are split over whether Israel should continue military action until Hezbollah can no longer launch attacks, or agree to an immediate cease-fire. The cease-fire issue draws a partisan response.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If you declare an immediate cease-fire and you do not have the conditions for real peace, it is simply going to be a hollow dilation.
SCHNEIDER: Most Republicans agree with that. Most Democrats want a cease-fire as soon as possible. Here is something else the public is divided about. A narrow majority support sending U.S. ground troops to the Lebanese border, along with troops from other countries, for a peacekeeping force. But there's no big party split over an international force and a peacekeeping force.
What about Cuba? By better than two to one, the public favors reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. If Fidel Castro dies and his brother Raul takes over, that number goes even higher. No partisan split here either. Republicans and Democrats alike favor diplomatic relations with Cuba.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: In another issue that's making news, do Americans believe actor Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic, that is, prejudiced against Jewish people? Twenty-three percent say yes, 52 percent say no. After the recent incident, Mr. Gibson put out a statement saying that he is not an anti-Semite. This evidence suggests most Americans believe him -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bill Schneider, thank you very much. Bill Schneider, with all the latest poll numbers, doing an excellent job as usual.
And still ahead, those Hezbollah rockets that keep raining down on Israel, Israeli warplanes, meanwhile, are trying to cut off the arms supply route from Syria. We're going to have a live report on the mission and the strategy behind it.
Coming up, later in THE SITUATION ROOM, we'll speak with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's former prime minister.
And the Israeli offensive in Lebanon -- is it leaving civilians starving? We'll talk about the situation there with Lebanese political analyst Roula Talj. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Two Middle East conflicts actually converging today. We're following the breaking news out of northern Israel, more Katyusha rockets coming into Israel, Israeli artillery firing right back. We're hearing all those explosions even as we're reporting the news. Right now, we're going to go back to northern Israel and to Lebanon shortly.
At the same time, thousands of people in Iraq -- in Iraq -- are taking to the streets in support of Hezbollah's battle against Israel. CNN Harris Whitbeck is in Baghdad.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the demonstrators were passionate about expressing their support for Hezbollah and willingness to die for that cause.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WHITBECK (voice-over): Chanting that Hezbollah leader Nasrallah is waging his war against Israel in the name of religion, Shia protesters from all over Iraq converged on Sadr City, the bastion of Shia fundamentalism in the Iraqi capital. They arrived in buses and private cars, and they numbered in the tens of thousands, accompanied by armed militiamen waving the yellow flag of Hezbollah.
As Israeli and American flags were burned and effigies of George Bush and Tony Blair were waved in the air, an imam prayed for Hezbollah fighters. "The victory will be for the Islamic resistance in Lebanon. Imam Ali, peace be upon him, will support him like he did before with the Mahdi Army in Najaf.
That was a reference to the bloody fight between Shia militias and U.S. forces two years ago that led to the rise in prominence for radical Shia clergy Muqtada al-Sadr. It was also a call to arms for Hezbollah supporters elsewhere in Iraq.
This protester, shrouded in white, signifying his willingness to die for his cause, said he was ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I will fight with Hezbollah and Hassan Nasrallah, and we will support him until we free Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, God willing.
WHITBECK: Others demanded that Hezbollah strike Tel Aviv next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITBECK: The protest was described as the largest one ever in support of Hezbollah in the Middle East. Shia radicals in Iraq were determined to show their strength. And they said Hezbollah's fight is their own -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Harris Whitbeck reporting. We're going to have a lot more on the protest in Lebanon -- excuse me -- in Iraq right now. The spillover from this war between Israel and Hezbollah clearly having an effect on the situation in Iraq as well. That's coming up in the next hour.
Also coming up later here in THE SITUATION ROOM, my conversation with the former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, when we come back, we're going to take a closer look at the Syrian connection. What's going on as far as Syria's resupply of Hezbollah?
And Beirut under fire. People on the ground capture damage and show it to the world online. Our Internet reporters have the pictures and the stories. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Defiant Hezbollah militants have fired more than 200 rockets once again into northern Israel today. At least two or three fell near the town of Hadera, Hezbollah's deepest strike yet into Israel. Israel says many of those rockets are being smuggled to Hezbollah in Lebanon from Syria.
CNN's John Vause is joining us now live from Jerusalem with more on this part of the story -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Israel has long accused Syria of arming Hezbollah. The Syrians have always denied it. They did so again today, but Israel says they have the proof.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE (voice-over): This truck, according to Israel, is crossing from Syria into Lebanon to resupply Hezbollah. When it's hit by an airstrike, the huge explosion which follows is proof, according to Israeli officials, that it's carrying a cargo of munitions.
Israeli intelligence believes since the conflict began more than three weeks ago, Syria has been actively smuggling weapons across the border, an allegation which Damascus denies.
BRIGADIER GENERAL YOSSI KUPERWASSER, ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE: Because, from the Syrian point of view, Hezbollah is an indivisible part of their military.
VAUSE: At least seven of the longer-range missiles have so far landed in open fields in northern Israel.
MICKY ROSENFELD, ISRAELI POLICE SPOKESPERSON: Yes, in fact, the Syrian rocket, 302 rocket is the exact number of it. And the rocket itself had approximately 100 kilos of a warhead.
VAUSE: Up to five times the payload of a smaller Katyusha.
Israel says its air campaign has destroyed many of the launchers for long-range missiles. And, right now, Syria is urgently trying to resupply Hezbollah fighters.
KUPERWASSER: And they don't have launchers produced by themselves, Hezbollah. So, they have to bring in launchers from Syria.
VAUSE: To stop that, earlier this week, Israel bombed the major road between Lebanon and Syria in the south. And, Friday, four main bridges to the north were hit.
But some Mideast experts question the effectiveness of Israel's airstrikes.
ROBERT SPRINGBORG, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: After all, it's the dry season. Most of these bridges are for use in -- in winter rain, when the rivers are -- are flowing much more fully. So, an ability to interdict from the air a flow of weaponry from Syria into Lebanon is probably beyond the capacities of the Israeli air force.
VAUSE: A major concern to Israel, anti-tank missiles, which have conflicted heavy casualties -- Israeli intelligence believes Hezbollah has been armed with the latest made by Russia, once again, they say, smuggled in through Syria.
KUPERWASSER: The Russians said, oh, forget it. You can't prove that it really came from us.
See, so, they fell from heaven.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Israeli intelligence says, one of the main lessons from this war, regardless of diplomacy, more preventive strikes will most likely be needed to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, John, thanks very much -- John Vause reporting from Jerusalem.
Lebanon's president, meanwhile, accused Israel today of waging a -- quote -- "war of starvation" against his people. Crippling Israeli airstrikes have wiped out some major roads north of Beirut, isolating the Lebanese capital.
Roula Talj is a former adviser to Lebanon's government, a Lebanese political analyst. She is joining us once again from Beirut.
Roula, on this day, you have released an open letter that you have written to the former President of the United States Bill Clinton. I want to get to that in a moment.
But why did you write to Bill Clinton, as opposed to President George Bush?
ROULA TALJ, LEBANESE POLITICAL ANALYST: Because President Bill Clinton, I believe, was the last president of the United States that was legitimately accepted and liked in the Middle East, in both Arab countries and in Israel.
And I'm urging him and people like him, peace lovers, to do something in order to save the people of the Middle East from the crusade war of George W. Bush.
BLITZER: Here's what you write in your open letter to President Clinton.
"I urge you, Mr. President, to do something now. I beg you to stop President Bush from leading the world towards another world war. Your compassion and understanding of the sensitivities in this area are the only remedy against the Bush administration's madness."
We haven't heard a lot from President Bill Clinton since the start of this war, but I assume he's taking a line pretty much in support of Israel.
TALJ: There is no problem, Wolf, to support Israel. I understood, when I lived in Washington, that every politician of the United States support Israel. And that's fine. It's legitimate. It's one way to support Israel's interest through peace, a comprehensive peace, with -- with the neighboring countries, and another thing to support Israel crush the neighboring countries through wars and violence and destruction.
And, to be honest with you, I do not believe this is the way to secure Israel. It's the only way -- as I said in my letter, it's our way -- it's our ticket to hell to all of us, Israelis and Arabs.
BLITZER: So, what specifically, Roula, would you like Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States, to do right now?
TALJ: I think campaigning to the public opinion, explaining to the Jewish-Americans that this is not the way to secure Israel.
This is not the way, because I think President Bush is trying to play on the midterm elections in November. I think he's trying to tell the Jewish-Americans: Here. I gave you everything you need in order to secure Israel. And nobody ever gave you that, you know, the opportunity to launch a war, so disastrous war, against your neighbors.
And what Bill Clinton needs to do, President Clinton needs to speak out and loud, out of his own experience in the Middle East, that this is the only -- this war will only lead to more extremism and more terrorism and more hatred, that will eventually drive the people of Israel out of it.
BLITZER: What about the Hezbollah rockets that keep coming into Israel, going further and further to the south today, reaching Hadera, the most southern point so far in this three-week war? Are the Lebanese people getting ready to stand up to Hezbollah, Roula, and demand that they stop these rocket attacks on Israeli civilians?
TALJ: If Israel withdraw its troops from all Lebanon, you know, from Shebaa Farms and the occupied land of Lebanon, yes, we will stand up and tell Hezbollah to stop the launching of rockets, and we will demand not only a cease-fire, but a peace treaty with Israel. But they have to respect the border line.
BLITZER: But you know the Israelis are not going to withdraw or stop their own actions until the rockets stop, or at least until there's some sort of international stabilization force that can come into south Lebanon and prevent these rockets from terrorizing Israeli civilians in the north.
TALJ: I think, from previous experience, Hassan Nasrallah proved to be serious about the threats. And he's a man of his word, whether we like him or not.
And, so far, he addressed the Israeli people yesterday, and he told them, you know, you withdraw from Lebanon, and you stop throwing bombs on our heads and destroying our bridges and infrastructure, and we will stop shelling bombs.
I don't think it's his hobby to threaten Israelis. I truly don't believe it. It's not out of religious extremism or any religious agenda. It's a political agenda.
BLITZER: But you know, they have to respect the borderline.
You know the Israelis won't withdraw or stop their actions until the rockets stop or at least until there's some sort of international stabilization force that can come into south Lebanon and prevent the rockets from terrorizing Israeli civilians in the north.
I think from previous experience Nasrallah proved to be serious about threats, and he's a man of his word. Whether we like him or not. So, far he addressed the Israeli people yesterday, and he told them, you know, you withdraw from Lebanon, and you stop throwing bombs on our heads and destroying our bridges and infrastructure, and we will stop shelling bombs. I don't think it's his hobby to threaten Israelis. I don't believe it. It's not out of religious extremism or any religious agenda. It's a political agenda.
But you know, Roula...
TALJ: I'm pretty sure if they would...
BLITZER: You know, Roula, that his ideology is such that he doesn't want to see Israel in existence at all.
TALJ: I truly don't believe -- I don't believe that. I truly believe -- I still believe that Hassan Nasrallah has a political agenda, and not an ideological one, like bin Laden and his friends. These are two separate ideologies and agendas.
BLITZER: But don't you see him...
TALJ: And we need to be very...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Roula, let me interrupt.
Don't you see him almost fully aligned with the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, another Shiite, who makes it clear he wants to see Israel wiped off the face of the Earth?
TALJ: That's another thing.
I think, if Israel is threatened by Ahmadinejad, they need to go and cure the problem at its core. I think, as Hassan Nasrallah -- and I have to believe him. When he came on television and addressed the nation yesterday, he made it clear that his fight is for the Lebanese people, and not to the Iranians.
And the minute we feel that he's fighting for the interests of the Iranians, believe me, even the Shia of Lebanon will be against him.
But, so far, we have to believe him, and by his actions. And his actions prove so far to be only against the Israeli presence in Lebanon, and, you know, the ongoing conflict that never stops. BLITZER: Well...
TALJ: And, Wolf, I wanted to tell you -- yes, hello?
BLITZER: We're out of time, Roula, but...
TALJ: I wanted to tell you...
BLITZER: Yes, go ahead, very quickly.
TALJ: OK.
BLITZER: Make your final point.
TALJ: No, I said, any international force that would have to use force in order -- will not be able to keep the peace.
So, what we need here, we need, is a broker, a peace broker, to talk to the Israelis and to the Lebanese, get the Israelis to withdraw from Shebaa Farms and the rest of the southern Lebanon. And, then, a peace negotiation must lead to a peace deal.
BLITZER: And, presumably, you would like Bill Clinton...
TALJ: And that will be the solution, the only solution.
BLITZER: You would like Bill Clinton, the former president, to get involved and try to achieve that.
Roula, we got to leave it right there, but we will continue this conversation down the road -- Roula Talj joining us from Beirut.
Meanwhile, Israeli planes destroyed four key bridges north of Beirut today. The strikes cut off Lebanon's only remaining major road to Syria, a crucial passage for aid flowing into the country.
Our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton, is standing by with new pictures of the attacks from citizen journalists on the scene -- Abbi.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Yes, Wolf, incredible pictures coming in through the tool I-Report online here from residents around these bridge strikes.
This is in Maameltein. This is north of Beirut, taken by resident Tony Samaha, whose apartment, as you see here, overlooks one of these bridge strikes here. He took this just seconds after the 7:00 a.m. strike. He was on the phone with his family in Boston, as he recorded these images.
If you look closely here, you can see the crater that was created. And we can zoom in and show you that vehicles fell into that crater.
And other residents have also been sending us pictures of different angles. This one here, you can see, was taken a few minutes later, as crowds gather around the bridge. It wasn't the only bridge in this area that was attacked.
Another strike here recorded by Ramzi Asbahan, he's a 19-year-old student who said he and his family moved out of Beirut to this area, because they considered it safer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Abbi, thank you very much.
Coming up, we are going to be speaking, in THE SITUATION ROOM, with the former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. That's coming up later.
Also, Senator Hillary Clinton's new call for Donald Rumsfeld to resign, is there a bigger statement about the state of politics in Iraq? We're watching that story, as is our Jeff Greenfield. He's going to read between the lines.
And could a summer camp sow the seeds for peace in the Middle East? We are going to take you there and meet some teenagers who are trying to build trust, not an easy situation in the midst of a war.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
We're watching all the latest-breaking developments, including the fact that Hezbollah today managed to fire at least two, maybe three, rockets the furthest south into Israel, into the town of Hadera. It's only about 25 miles north of Tel Aviv, the major commercial, populated area of Israel. About two million people live in the metropolitan Tel Aviv area.
Joining us now to talk about of the latest developments in the Middle East Israeli Brigadier General Michael Herzog. He's visiting here in Washington.
General, thanks very much for coming in.
The fact that they could hit Hadera, which is between Haifa and Tel Aviv, what does that say to you?
BRIGADIER GENERAL MICHAEL HERZOG, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES: Well, that doesn't come as a surprise, since Nasrallah threatened that he is going to -- to strike south of Haifa, beyond Haifa, in even Tel Aviv.
And we know that he has the capabilities. He ha the rockets. He has medium- and long-range rockets, which could go beyond 100 miles. So, this is what he's trying to do, strike deeper and deeper into Israel.
BLITZER: If he has those kinds of capabilities, why hasn't he hit Tel Aviv yet, because that would terrorize the main populated part of the country?
HERZOG: I assume he's very careful about targeting Tel Aviv at this stage of the campaign, because he realizes that he needs Lebanese legitimatization, in terms of public opinion.
If you read his latest -- if you watch his latest public appearance on TV, what he said is that: We are reacting. We're not initiating. We are reacting.
So, as against anything Israel does, he reacts and tries to go deeper and deeper, legitimize the final blow on Tel Aviv, which I assume he will want to do before the cease-fire.
BLITZER: A lot of people are having questions about Israel's military strategy in hitting and destroying Lebanese infrastructure, whether roads or bridges, including, today, some major infrastructure destruction, including in Christian areas.
Lebanese Christians, historically, have not been aligned with Hezbollah and the Shiites. And, oftentimes, they have been closer toward the Israelis, especially in the early 1980s.
Is there a sense that you're alienating so much of the Lebanese public, let alone the rest of the Muslim and Arab world, by going after this infrastructure destruction?
HERZOG: Well, first of all, over 80 percent of the Israeli airstrikes are directed against Hezbollah targets.
The remaining are directed at civilian infrastructure that could serve Hezbollah for the military campaign, like drug purpose or infrastructure that we know has been serving them, like bridges, roads, and so on, to resupply themselves, to move rockets from the north to the south, and so on.
The targeting today of the bridges north of Beirut was to this very end, namely, to prevent resupplies from Syria. Since Israel blocked entry routes from Syria to Lebanon through the Bekaa Valley in the east, the Syrians try to get resupplies from the north, which is why Israel destroyed the bridges.
We're -- we're mindful of the problem that this could alienate certain sectors of the population, but fighting the military campaign, I don't think Israel has any other option but to block resupply routes for Hezbollah.
BLITZER: Some analysts have suggested that the same mistakes the United States made in Iraq in trying to deal with an insurgency there are being copied by the Israelis in dealing with Hezbollah in Lebanon. What do you say to those critics?
HERZOG: Well, I think there are many differences between Iraq and Lebanon.
And, in this case, obviously, Israel is trying to protect its own citizens being attacked over the border, internationally recognized border, and getting a barrage of rockets from Lebanon. And the sense is that, if we don't deal with it now, we will have to face a bigger problem later.
BLITZER: Brigadier General Michael Herzog, visiting Washington from the IDF, from the Israel Defense Forces, thanks for coming in.
HERZOG: Thank you.
BLITZER: And up next: It's his shortest summer break since taking office, but, with the crisis raging in the Middle East, should President Bush be taking a vacation at all? Jack Cafferty has your e- mail.
And Israeli and Arab teenagers find some common ground at a refuge half-a-world away from the fighting. That's coming up in our next hour.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Democrats angry at Senator Hillary Clinton's muted criticism of the Iraq war may be weighing her latest words very carefully.
Now that she's calling for Donald Rumsfeld to resign as defense secretary, does it change the way the war is playing politically?
Let's bring in our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Wolf, when Senator Clinton confronted Defense Secretary Rumsfeld with a call for his resignation, the chatter that followed was inevitable: What does this mean for her presidential prospects?
OK. But it also raises a different question: What if the Bush administration radically changes the whole terrain on which the Iraq issue will be fought out?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: You are presiding over a failed policy.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): If Senator Clinton was trying to move closer to the anti-Iraq sentiments of most of her party, she is coming very late to the dance.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I call for the resignation...
GREENFIELD: Senator John Kerry called for Rumsfeld's resignation during his presidential race two years ago. Evan Bayh, John Edwards, Mark Warner, Joe Biden, and Wesley Clark have all joined the chorus.
In fact, as late as this past April, Senator Clinton was conspicuous by her refusal to call for Rumsfeld's head.
CLINTON: As far as I can tell, Secretary Rumsfeld is doing what the president wants him to do. GREENFIELD: Potential Republican presidential candidates have also kept their distance. Senator John McCain says the president is entitled to his own man, but says he has no confidence in Rumsfeld's judgments.
Senator Chuck Hagel has made his disaffection with the secretary's judgment crystal clear.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: I think things are getting worse.
GREENFIELD: But now ask a different question. Would replacing Rumsfeld mean a dramatic change of policy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am profoundly grateful to the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: It sure did a generation ago when President Johnson replaced Robert McNamara with longtime confidant Clark Clifford. He thought he was picking a reliable hawk, but Clifford quickly concluded that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, and persuaded Johnson to halt the bombing of the north and to begin negotiations.
Could something like that shift happen again? Well, consider the notion, examined in detail in the new "Washington Monthly" magazine, that such a change could be produced by a little-known operation called the Iraq Study Group. It was created in March by the Congress, and it's the brainchild of Virginia Republican Congressman Frank Wolf.
Its co-chair is none other than James Baker III, former secretary of state under the first President Bush and the man who led the second George Bush's successful post-Election Day campaign in Florida in 2000.
Its members constitute a bipartisan who's who of foreign policy establishment types -- among Democrats, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, former Defense Secretary William Perry, ex-Senator Chuck Robb, Washington ultimate insider Vernon Jordan -- from Republican ranks, ex-CIA Director Robert Gates, former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, ex-Senator Alan Simpson.
The group, whose report is not expected before early 2007, is tilted very much toward a realist view of foreign policy, not the more ambitious views of so-called neoconservatives, such as Vice President Cheney.
(on camera): So, consider. If this study group considers a fundamental shift in U.S. policy, strategy, and tactics in Iraq, and if President Bush adopts that new course, what happens to Iraq as an issue in two years? Do voters punish Republicans for past excessive optimism and misjudgments, or does a new course take the force out of the issue? That may wind up a much more important political question than whether Rumsfeld stays or goes -- Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Let's go to CNN's Zain Verjee. She's following a story that is coming in involving the president and the U.N. secretary- general.
What do we know, Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: We are just learning, Wolf, that President Bush, who, as you know, is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, has had a conversation with the U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan.
We know that the conversation was about 15 minutes long. We don't know the specific content, though, of that conversation, more than likely, about the intensifying crisis in Lebanon. Kofi Annan, as you know, Wolf, has been calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
There's been a lot of diplomatic wrangling over at the U.N. to come up with a resolution to halt the fighting. And it's predicted that there could be an agreement some time this weekend, but still unclear. We will bring you more details when we have it, but the president and the secretary-general having a conversation today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: The president at his ranch in Texas, the secretary- general in New York.
Thanks very much, Zain, for that.
And still to come: Should the president follow the lead of the British prime minister and delay his summer vacation? Jack Cafferty will be back with your answers to that question.
And we're following all the latest developments in the Middle East conflict, including a farther-than-ever rocket strike by Hezbollah into Israel. I will talk to the former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That's coming up in our next hour.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's check in with Jack Cafferty in New York.
Hi, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Wolf, the question this hour is: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has delayed his summer vacation. Should President Bush do the same?
George writes from Brownstown, Michigan: "Yes. But, unless you're talking about the agenda of the top 2 percent of Americans, or the multinational corporations, it doesn't matter, because he's on vacation in Washington for the rest of us." Dave in Vancouver: "President Bush couldn't catch a break with a 10-gallon hat. If he delays his vacation, he looks like he's in cahoots with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. If he doesn't, he looks callous. It's a given, of course, that he will do the wrong thing -- the wrong thing being defined by the media as the thing he does."
Christopher in Henrietta, New York: "President Bush should not be influenced when to vacation by other world leaders' plans. However, he should be influenced by the events that are occurring now."
Ryan in Dallas writes: "I can't think of a more stressful responsibility than that of the president in a time of war. We need a leader who is balanced. And, if he needs to recharge his batteries, so be it. So, while it may be called a vacation, it's not what we, as citizens, know as a vacation."
Devin in Delaware: "I would just as soon President Bush take the next two years off. To date, his working for the American people hasn't produced the most stellar results. While we're at it, let's have the current members of Congress call it a career, as well."
And Nick writes from Naples, Florida: "Hi, Jack. Maybe you need a 10-day vacation to come up with a better question."
You know, Nick, you have got a good point. I think I will take next week off.
BLITZER: Jack, thank you very much. We hope you don't. But, if you have to, you have to. Thanks very much, Jack Cafferty in New York .
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