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The Situation Room
Civilians Moving Back to Lebanon Find Massive Destruction; Top Peacekeeping Official Says U.N. Plans to Deploy Thousands of Troops in Southern Lebanon; Iranian and Syrian Presidents Say Hezbollah Won, United States Lost; Tzipi Livni Interview; Abdurrahman Khadr Interview; Some Wonder if Airport Shoe Screening is Necessary; Pat Robertson Questioning Usefulness of Mideast Cease-Fire
Aired August 15, 2006 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: 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, it's midnight here in the Middle East, where they're heading home. Civilians returning to shattered towns in south Lebanon and battered communities in northern Israel. As Israeli troops come back across the border, can peacekeepers keep the peace?
I'll have an exclusive interview with Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.
Hezbollah's allies declaring victory and offering words of warning for Washington.
It's 12:30 a.m. in Tehran, where we have an exclusive report inside Iran.
And he was born in Canada but raised in terror training camps where his father was close to Osama bin Laden.
It's 5:00 p.m. in Toronto, where we have an exclusive look at a son of al Qaeda whose life has taken a surprising turn.
I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
After a month of furious fighting and a day of a cease-fire, they're on -- they're on the move now here in the Middle East. Perhaps -- perhaps toward peace.
The truce with Hezbollah is holding, and Israeli troops have been leaving Lebanon. Israel's top general says they'll complete a withdrawal within 10 days. Lebanese officials say their army will soon be moving south. And U.N. peacekeepers say their numbers will grow dramatically in the days ahead.
As the Israelis move out, civilians are moving back to south Lebanon, finding massive destruction and facing the danger of unexploded munitions. Civilians are also heading back home to northern Israel, still wary of Hezbollah's intentions.
CNN's Jim Clancy is standing by in Beirut, but let's begin our coverage this hour with CNN Chris Lawrence in northern Israel -- Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, here on the border the clock is definitely ticking. The Israeli officials want to get those U.N. peacekeepers in place before something happens between the two sides that could defeat this entire peace deal.
Earlier today, we saw several Israeli troops and armor moving off the border, coming back into Israel. This is a process that will be taking place over the next week or so, whereas Israel begins to move its forces back down near the border.
The first phase of that will be moving to align somewhere maybe between five to eight kilometers from the border, where Israel will keep the majority of its troops and wait until U.N. peacekeepers come there to then take their place. That is designed to eliminate some of the skirmishes that we have seen over the last two days.
Just today, Israeli forces say they shot at least five Hezbollah fighters. At least three of them were killed. One of the soldiers I spoke with said, "These are the same people who we were hunting and they were hunting us just a few days ago. It is hard to be within 50 meters of each other and not have something happen." By moving back, Israel may hope to eliminate some of the contact between its forces and Hezbollah.
On that side is one part of the story. On the other are the families.
If one thing unites both Israeli and Lebanese families, it is coming home to a tremendous amount of destruction. Some Israeli families were lucky enough to come home after living in a shelter for more than a month to be able to unpack and go back to their homes. Many families were not. They came home to find that their homes were destroyed by rockets during the Hezbollah offensive.
Right now, many families say they are trying to get back to normal, but no one here, I think, is quite ready to say they are completely confident that this cease-fire will last -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Lawrence in northern Israel on the border with Lebanon.
Thank you.
Israeli troops are leaving Lebanon. How long until they're out altogether, and who will disarm Hezbollah? I'll ask a key Israeli decision-maker. My exclusive interview with the foreign minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni, that's coming up this hour.
For a closer look at Lebanon now after the bombing, let's turn to CNN's Jim Clancy. He's joining us live from Beirut -- Jim. JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The headline tonight from the Lebanese capital, that within 24 hours the Lebanese army is to begin moving through brigades southward. Now, my understanding is that's going to include commandos, it will include medical units, it will include engineering units, and it will include regular infantry units.
Those units will start deploying along the Alwali River (ph) that marks the northern edge of that zone that is to be occupied by UNIFIL, U.N. troops that are bolstered by incoming French, Italian and Turkish troops, as well as the Lebanese army. Three battalions -- three brigades, rather, of the Lebanese is going to be something on the order of about 12,000 troops.
Meantime, in southern Lebanon today, the army was out. It was trying to forge some roads around some of the bombed-out bridges that lead in to south Lebanon. Traffic jams everywhere as the people, tens of thousands of them, tried to return to the south. According to the government, more than 40 percent of the Lebanese that were outside of their homes living as displaced people are now back.
Bridges, too, being repaired, as we understand this day. There was a Beirut bridge just south of the capital that the army was working on. All of these key pieces of infrastructure, they are not going to be repaired and replaced anytime soon. For now, the best that they can do is build bypass roads around them.
In the southern suburbs of Beirut, the reconstruction, rebuilding campaign spearheaded by Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah. Some people say he's acting as state within a state.
He went on television yesterday saying that he was going to oversee the rebuilding or the repair of an estimated 15,000 housing units. Now, that bill is going to be somewhere around a billion dollars, according to some estimates.
Nasrallah telling the people that he's going to build them and replace their homes, or build them better homes. A lot of promises being made, and the people in the southern suburbs, Wolf, they believe that he can deliver on those promises. Really buoying the position of Hassan Nasrallah here in Lebanon tonight.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Does he want to be the leader of all of Lebanon? Would he like to be the leader of Lebanon, as opposed to simply being the leader of Hezbollah and so many of the Lebanese Shia?
CLANCY: Well, some people say that -- of course, in Lebanon, in order to be the leader here, it's an elected post, but everything is confessional. The position, the highest position for a Shia Muslim would be speaker of the parliament. That's where Nabih Berri is right now.
The president is a Christian. A Sunni is the prime minister. When you look at that system, there's no room for him. But that's not really what he wants, according to some people. They say what he really wants is to be a regional leader. He wants to be a figure head, an inspiration to a lot of people. He wants to be the one that some say is the new Saladine (ph), the one to liberate occupied territory in the Middle East, and by that we mean all of Israel. Very much in line with Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jim Clancy in Beirut, thank you.
And there's a new development this hour from the United Nations, where a top peacekeeping official says the U.N. plans to deploy thousands of troops in southern Lebanon within the next two weeks.
Let's go live to our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're getting more information from the U.N. peacekeeping department, at the hub now of activity. Senior officials saying that over the next 10 to 15 days they'd like to send a vanguard force composed of 3,000, or 3,500 soldiers.
But first, Wolf, it's like going to a bad party, where every nation is saying, "Are you going? What are you bringing? Are you going?" Because everybody is waiting to see if France will be the lead country and be ready to provide the bulwark of the military might that's going to go in, enough to draw other countries, to pull them in, as the U.N. peacekeeping official put it.
Otherwise, senior U.N. peacekeeping officials said under the resolution, these soldiers are not going to have the mandate to disarm Hezbollah. However, if the situation warrants in their assistance of the Lebanese army, it's possible, said one official. It may be up to the local commanders.
Otherwise, the U.N. is rapidly hunting for troops. They want people who can self-deploy. Countries like Europeans, who have the ability to just go there in a hurry without the U.N. bureaucratic process, which usually takes three months to put a U.N.-led army on the ground there -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Richard Roth at the United Nations.
Richard, thank you very much.
And as we heard from Jim Clancy in Beirut, Hezbollah's two main backers gave back-to-back speeches today claiming a triumph against Israel and offering warnings to Washington.
CNN's Aneesh Raman is the only U.S. network correspondent in Iran right now. He has our exclusive report from Tehran -- Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, from the Iranian and Syrian presidents, a message. Not just that Hezbollah had won, but that the United States had lost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN (voice over): If the victors of this war are the ones who proclaim it the loudest, then there's no doubt here Hezbollah has won. An equal certainty, Israel was not alone in defeat.
Impassioned cheers of "Death to America, Death to Britain!" echoed in the first speech by the Iranian president since a cease-fire took hold.
"America and England and the Zionist regime," he says, "with all the equipment, all the army they had, they faced a group of decent, devout young people, and those young people stood against them."
Hezbollah supporters celebrated throughout Lebanon this day. It was a costly fight for them, but for Hezbollah backers a chance to stand firm against the United States. Just hours before his Iranian counterpart, the Syrian president delivered his own remarks, his own message to President Bush.
PRES. BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIA (through translator): This administration adopted the pre-emptive war. It contradicts the principle of peace. And six years after this administration, there's no peace. We are not expecting any peace.
RAMAN: Syria and Iran have grown closer by the day during the war. Now their leaders clearly think they are growing stronger as well.
In response to talk from U.S. officials of a new Middle East, Ahmadinejad declared his own view, saying Middle East nations are wide awake, and they also envision a new Middle East, but one that is free of United States and British domination.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN: And from both presidents, no sign that this battle has come to an end. Instead, that Hezbollah and the broader resistance would go on -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Aneesh Raman in Tehran.
Thank you very much.
And we're just getting this in from the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF confirming what it says occurred only a few hours before the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect. The IDF saying that the head commander of the Hezbollah special forces unit in south Lebanon was killed in crossfire with Israeli troops.
This commander, a man by the name of Sagid Dawer, according to the IDF, was a high-ranking commander in the organization. And the IDF considers his death a blow to the organization's leadership and a victory for Israel.
That coming in, a statement from the IDF, only moments ago.
Let's go to Jack Cafferty in New York -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The number of illegal aliens in the United States is estimated to have jumped from 3.5 million 15 years ago to more than 12 million today. Some estimates say there are 20 million illegal aliens in this country.
Some census data out today says there's been a 16 percent increase in the last five years in the number of immigrants that occupy American households. But perhaps the most startling development in today's report is that, unlike in years past, when immigrants would flow into a half a dozen states, such as California, New York, Texas, Florida, they're now fanning out all across the country. Places like Missouri, South Dakota, Indiana, Delaware are seeing 30 to 40 percent increases in the immigrant populations in their communities.
Obviously, that kind of an influx puts a tremendous strain on local services. And since the federal government refuses to enforce our immigration laws or close the nation's borders, they just keep coming, by the millions.
Something to remember when the midterm elections roll around.
Here's the question: How should local communities deal with large increases in their immigrant populations?
E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack, thank you.
Up ahead, my exclusive interview with the woman some say could be a prime minister of Israel one of these days, the current foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. It's her first sit-down since the Middle East conflict began.
My interview with Tzipi Livni, that's coming up. I'll ask her about Israel's war against Hezbollah and the fragile peace.
Also, another CNN exclusive. Zain Verjee talking to a man who says he was brought up under al Qaeda, brought up to kill Americans. But now he says he just wants to live a simple life.
And now when you board a plane your shoes must be x-rayed. We all know that. But does it ever really make a difference? There's some new information coming out. We're going to share it with you.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
She's a new face to many Americans, but Tzipi Livni is a powerful political figure here in Israel, and as foreign minister she's been a key decision-maker in the war against Hezbollah. I asked her about the victory claims by the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: He said -- and just within the past day or so -- "We are standing in front of a strategic and historic victory. This is no exaggeration. This is a victory for Lebanon and the entire Arab nation."
A lot of people think that even though you destroyed a lot of Hezbollah's weaponry, you captured some Hezbollah troon, you presumably killed members of Hezbollah, they emerged politically stronger in Lebanon, in the Arab world, in the Muslim world.
TZIPI LIVNI, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, firstly, the idea that a terrorist organization can live in two capacities, one as a terrorist organization, and the other as a political party, is something that I believe is not acceptable, because we faced also the situation in the Palestinian Authority in which the Hamas, as a terrorist organization, won the election.
BLITZER: Do they think they won this war?
LIVNI: Secondly -- but secondly, time will tell. I mean, victory is not only as the result or the outcome of a military operation. The idea is to change the situation in Lebanon. And right now, while we are talking, the Lebanese army is deploying for the first time in the south part of Lebanon.
Until a month ago, Hezbollah was the only one there. And I hope that we will see international forces, robust, effective, international forces coming to the region, deploying with the Lebanese army to the south part of Lebanon.
For the first time we can see and there is a decision, binding decision, of arms embargo. And this is something new to the region. So, in the future, I believe that we can see Hezbollah as maybe a political party, but not as an effective terrorist organization.
BLITZER: Who is going to disarm Hezbollah? The Lebanese army says it's not going to do it. The United Nations, UNIFIL, the expanded international force, they're not going to go fight Hezbollah. I guess it depends on Hezbollah voluntarily leaving south Lebanon or disarming.
Is that realistic?
LIVNI: I think that this is a matter of process. And now we are at the beginning of process, and Hezbollah wants to -- also to play a role in the political life in Lebanon. And I know and he knows, Nasrallah, that the Lebanese people understand that Hezbollah is a burden on their shoulders.
I mean, they paid a very difficult price during this last month in order just to -- to -- I don't know, to satisfy the Iranian ideology or Nasrallah's vision of putting the region in flame? I mean, this is something that most of Lebanese, I think, don't want to see.
BLITZER: When will Israeli troops be out of Lebanon?
LIVNI: Well, it depends on the international troops and on the Lebanese army. Now we are going step by step, and when the Lebanese army is going to deploy with the international community, this would be the moment that the Israeli army would go away.
BLITZER: Are we talking day, weeks, months? What do you think?
LIVNI: For us, the sooner the better. We are not -- there is no Israeli hidden agenda to remain or to leave our forces in Lebanon.
It is not our goal, and in a way we would like to leave. But we are responsible enough not to leave a vacuum that Hezbollah will use in order to come back to places that they had to leave because of the Israeli military operation.
BLITZER: It's widely reported you captured several Hezbollah troop, brought them back to Israel.
LIVNI: Yes.
BLITZER: In order to get back your two captured Israeli soldiers, are you now prepared to exchange, to negotiate with the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora a prisoner exchange?
LIVNI: Firstly, it's important to the say that there is a binding resolution, 1701, saying very clearly that there's a need to release the abducted soldiers quickly and unconditionally. But it is true that since the operation Israel has more assets in terms of negotiations.
BLITZER: And when you refer to assets, you mean Hezbollah prisoners who are now in Israel?
LIVNI: Yes.
BLITZER: So -- so it sounds like you're opening the door potentially to some sort of negotiation.
LIVNI: We are not -- we expect the Lebanese government, we expect Hezbollah to -- not only to adopt, but to implement the Security Council resolution. And the meaning, the full means of the Security Council resolution is unconditional release of the hostages.
BLITZER: I want to just move on, but explain what you meant when you said "assets," you have more "assets."
LIVNI: Yes, I think that it was clear enough.
BLITZER: Because that does suggest possibly some sort of negotiation leading to the release of the two Israeli soldiers.
LIVNI: As I said before, there is a Security Council resolution which clearly said that the expectations and the call (ph) is unconditional release of the hostages.
BLITZER: A lot of people around the world say, yes, Israel had every right to defend itself and had every right to go after Hezbollah, but they don't understand why the Israeli military destroyed so much of Lebanon's infrastructure, and in the process, inevitably, killed a lot of civilians.
I wonder if you'd want to respond to that accusation?
LIVNI: You know, Israel showed restraint, unbelievable restraint. I mean, as a minister, as a cabinet minister, we were asked almost on a daily basis from our chief of staff to attack the Lebanese infrastructure, to attack Lebanon as a state, and a sovereign state, and we said no.
I mean, we could attack infrastructures. We could attack electricity. We could attack water resources. We decided not do it.
BLITZER: But you did attack a lot of infrastructure.
LIVNI: We attacked infrastructures that are used for terror activities or for Hezbollah. For example, roads from Damascus to Beirut, places that they can use in order to transfer weapons and arms to the south.
Places the neighborhoods in Beirut that Israel attacked was a place in which this was the headquarters of Hezbollah. And people that were living there were part of the Hezbollah organization. And we didn't attack other parts of Beirut.
So this is maybe one of the reasons that Israel was so careful that maybe our attack from the Hezbollah side was misunderstood as weakness. But it was -- it was -- strategically, we decided not to attack Lebanon, not to undermine the Lebanese government, but to attack Hezbollah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And we're going to have more of our exclusive interview with Israel's foreign minister. That's coming up during our 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour right here on THE SITUATION ROOM.
But coming up, if his story is true, he'd likely be trying to kill Americans, not talking to our Zain Verjee. Zain has exclusive information. She's going to introduce us to a man who says he knew Osama bin Laden, but who also says he's against hurting Americans.
And the Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson not only suggests the Middle East cease-fire is useless, but he's now saying the war between Israel and Hezbollah accomplished, in his words, "nothing."
Mary Snow standing by with details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem.
In Britain, the gang of alleged terrorists now stands at 24. Two dozen people are in custody after British police arrested one more person today near London. They're all suspected of plotting to blow up airplanes flying from Britain to the United States. Also, British officials have one more day to hold 22 of the suspects, but that deadline is largely procedural, as police have up to 28 days to hold suspects without filing charges.
President Bush says Americans should take away one chiefly important thing from the British plane plot, that terrorists hope to kill Americans at any available opportunity. And to dramatize that point, he used a visit to the nation's counterterrorism center as a backdrop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That plot is -- and this building and the work going on here really is indicative of the challenge we face, not only this week, but this year and the years to come. Because the United States of America is engaged in a war against an extremist group of folks bound together by an ideology, willing to use terror to achieve their objectives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The president added that America is safer, but not yet 100 percent safe. Critics say the president is trying to use the alleged plane plot to the Republican Party's political advantage.
Coming up, Zain Verjee. She's going to have a report you're going to want to see. She's spoken to someone who says he was part of al Qaeda but now opposes killing Americans. Her exclusive report and her interview, that's coming up.
Also, your bags are x-rayed, your body is screened, now your shows will be a mandatory part of the airport screening process as well. But is it just another unnecessary inconvenience? Does shoe screening even work?
And will the tender truce between Israel and Hezbollah ever work itself? The religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says he's not so sure. Robertson says the war accomplished in his words, nothing. What are others saying about that? Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Based on his amazing claims, the man in our next story seemingly could be engaged in a war against the United States. But instead, he tells our Zain Verjee he's actually tried to help the American government catch terrorists. Zain is in Toronto with this CNN exclusive. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf he comes from the so-called first family of terror in Canada. Most of his family are either dead or in prison, but Abdurrahman Khadr says he rejected terror.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABDURRAHMAN KHADR: My father was a great person. He was always my idol. You know he's always going to be the greatest person in my life.
VERJEE: Abdurrahman Khadr's path has been shaped by his father's violent philosophy. As a child, conversation at home was war and terror, religion and righteousness. Born in Canada, raised in al Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan, we met the 23 year old in Toronto. What would they teach you?
KHADR: Why we're here, why we are fighting America. Why we're taking this way, why the suicide bomber is an honor. Why it's right religiously. For a lot people they took it as it is and never questioned. There were some people that questioned.
VERJEE: Did you question it as a child, when you were there?
KHADR: I mean I did. I was another child there. I did. I had my questions, and I was lucky that I had my father.
VERJEE: His father, a personal associate of Osama bin Laden.
KHADR: For me, he was just a father of the kids that I played with, and he was kind of the big person in the compound.
VERJEE: He describes himself as a troublemaker, constantly questioning al Qaeda's philosophy of death, and pulling childish pranks, including one that got him in trouble with the man who would become the world's most wanted man.
KHADR: There was one incident with the children. We were -- we were playing with a coke can outside, in the compound, and I filled up the can with gun powder and we put it on a rock and we lit it up and we thought it would just go away, you know. We'd light it up and it would just fly out of the compound. And it flew and it started turning, and at the same time, Osama bin Laden was coming out of the guest house with all his body guards.
So everybody got into the position and everybody was pretty, you know -- ready for a war. They thought something was happening, and all the other kids, because they were Osama's kids and because it wasn't really them that lit the can, they got away and I got in big trouble. I started running and had to get my, you know, go behind my dad and stuff.
VERJEE: Abdurrahman says he liked bin Laden.
KHADR: I mean he was, he was an ok guy.
VERJEE: But bin Laden's violent ideology was not okay.
KHADR: For me, you know, I don't agree with the suicide bombings, obviously, but I agree with him that the Americans should be out of Saudi and they should be out of Iraq, you know, and we should find some kind of peaceful solution in Iraq. And there's a lot of things that I agree with him. I just don't agree with the violent suicide bombings.
VERJEE: September 11th, and then the Americans invade Afghanistan. Soon, everyone Abdurrahman knew was dead, on the run or in jail. Including his father and brothers. One of them, only 15 at the time was sent straight to prison at Guantanamo Bay. Abdurrahman was also captured then approached by the enemy, the CIA and asked to be an informant.
KHADR: They said, would you like to work for us and you'd get paid? You know this is a good job opportunity for you and you speak a lot of languages, you're socially capable, and I agreed. They put me through a lot of questioning, put me through polygraphs, and they just try to you know, establish if I'm capable of working for them or not, and when I was, they decided to send me to Pakistan. There was an incident and they changed their mind, they sent me to Cuba. And from there I went to Bosnia.
VERJEE: The CIA wanted to send him to Iraq he says, but he resisted. He's convinced that if he had gone, he'd be dead by now. Instead, he's disillusioned.
KHADR: I saw a lot of familiarities between al Qaeda and the CIA. The way they work.
VERJEE: How?
KHADR: The blind belief in that just made me think you know I can't work -- I had a lot of discussions with my officers about, you know, things like the American soldiers and I always looked for someone to be able to sit down and be like, yeah, let's discuss this.
And tell me what you think and I'll tell you what I think, right. But people were like, no. This is how it is and that's it. And that's what I usually got from al Qaeda too. You know, that suicide bombing is the way and that's the only way. That's why I decided that, no.
VERJEE: He quit the CIA just as he quit al Qaeda, abruptly, after fighting a long legal battle he was eventually allowed to come back home to Toronto. Abdurrahman says he wants to do things his way now. He doesn't keep up with the news, because it reminds him of his painful double life. He just wants to move on.
KHADR: I was to the point where I decided that I don't want to be al Qaeda. I'm not al Qaeda. And I don't want to be CIA, I'm not CIA. But the point where I found myself in between these two people and not believing in either of their ways and trying to find my own way of understanding things. That was very big for me. You know? Because a lot of people, people are usually followers, and I think this whole experience was me following, and I need to find a way to lead my own self.
VERJEE: He likes to race cars now and dreams of going pro. More than anything he says, he wants a normal life, but his complicated, sinister and surreal past always lingers in the shadows.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: We asked Abdurrahman why anyone should believe his story. He says it has too much detail just to make up. He also added, he's taken polygraph tests as well as photo identification tests. He says, his story is true. Zain Verjee, CNN, Toronto.
BLITZER: And there's no way for CNN to independently verify Khadr's story. We contacted the CIA, it declined to comment. We also contacted his family, they're lawyer. They also refused to be interviewed.
Our Christiane Amanpour has talked with many other people who say they once called Osama bin Laden an associate and a friend and their amazing comments have been put together in a powerful new documentary. "CNN PRESENTS: In the Footsteps of Bin Laden" premieres Wednesday, August 23rd, 9:00 p.m. eastern only here on CNN. Lou Dobbs getting ready for his program that begins right at the top of the hour, he's standing by to give us a preview. Lou?
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you. Coming up at 6:00 p.m. eastern here on CNN, tonight we'll be reporting on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after the cease-fire with Hezbollah. Who won the conflict? Did Israel achieve its objectives? Is it time for the United States to reconsider its military and strategic objectives in the Middle East? I'll be joined by three of the country's leading military and strategic analysts.
Also, the number of immigrants living in this country legally and illegally, has exploded in the last five years, according to the census bureau. But incredibly, the federal government has absolutely no idea how many illegal aliens are living in this country. We'll be examining what that means for government policy and for our standard of living in this country. We'll continue our exclusive reporting on the criminal prosecution of two border patrol agents for violating the civil rights of a Mexican drug smuggler.
Tonight, there is evidence that the prosecutions are hurting this nation's efforts to secure our borders. We'll have that special report and a great deal more, coming up at the top of the hour here on CNN. We hope you'll be with us. Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you, Lou. And in our CNN security watch, your body is checked, your bags are scanned. But what if terrorists bent on blowing up an airplane try to smuggle on explosives in their shoes? Would the now mandatory shoe screening process stop that? More now from our Brian Todd, he's in Washington's Reagan National Airport. Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as you mentioned that process is now mandatory for an indefinite period, that's according to the Transportation Security Administration, they're making x-ray shoe screening mandatory for all passengers. But there's an important question that comes up regarding this regulation and it came up again today, is it necessary? (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): A report from the Department of Homeland Security first reported by the "Associated Press" says x-ray machines at U.S. airports cannot detect explosives in shoes, but the TSA is playing defense.
KIP HAWLEY, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Screening shoes by x-ray is an effective method of identifying any type of anomaly, including explosives.
TODD: TSA administrator Kip Hawley shows x-ray photos of a pair of shoes. One with explosives in it on the right, one without on the left. TSA officials and outside experts say the x-ray machines are not meant to detect explosives outright.
EARL MORRIS, TSA FIELD OPERATIONS MGR.: What we're looking for in these shoes is anomalies initially. So initially you're going to pick up something strange or odd or different from the thousands of shoes we see every day, and then we get a closer look.
TODD: After an anomaly is found, shoes can be swabbed for traces of explosives. We tested our shoes on an x-ray machine at CNN, made by the same company that makes some of the x-rays at airports, although smaller. Expert Steve Lancaster who hopes to sell screening software to the government, observed. We put wires around the inside heels of each of my shoes.
Those came up on the monitor. We put a simulated explosive under the insoles of another shoe. That showed up. But Lancaster also used a technique he expects terrorists would use, cutting a thin sheet with the same texture as a sheet explosive to fit exactly into the insoles of another pair of shoes. Enough he says to damage an airliner.
STEVE LANCASTER, GUARDIAN TECHNOLOGIES: The challenge is for analyzing the x-ray image is there is no anomaly, at least to my eye. I see no anomaly in those shoes. Do you?
TODD: I don't see it, but you've got the stimulant of a sheet explosive underneath those soles.
LANCASTER: As a matter of fact, there is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: We called the TSA for reaction to our test. Officials there said they could not react to a test and an x-ray machine that they didn't see. They say they're confident that their x-ray machines and their screeners can pick up any anomalies. And they say the x-ray machines are just one part of a multilayered system for explosive detection -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting for us. Thank you Brian.
And to our viewers, please stay tuned to CNN, day and night, for the most reliable news about your security. Still to come -- cease-fire controversy. The religious broadcaster Pat Robertson angers some by questioning the value of the truce with Hezbollah. And did Israel rely too much on air power in its campaign against Hezbollah. Why American military fighters may be drawing some lessons from the latest war here in the Middle East. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. The outcome of the war in Lebanon has caused a controversy here in Israel. In part because the early reliance on airstrikes did not deliver a knockout blow to Hezbollah. That story now from our pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the U.S. started off the war in Iraq with the shock and awe of an air campaign. That war is now being slugged out on the ground. The question is, should the Israelis have paid more attention?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a very seductive form of warfare.
STARR (voice-over): Air power. Israel used hundreds of precision bombs against Hezbollah targets in the month-long war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You limit your own casualties, you think you can limit casualties on the other side. It seems clean, it seems neat.
STARR: It didn't work.
COL. SAM GARDINER, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Air power is very narcotic. Than people that try and sell air power are selling a drug that's very addictive to policymakers.
STARR: Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah remain a force to be reckoned with. After the first seven days of air bombardment, Israel had to send in a limited ground force. It had limited success. U.S. analysts say Israel underestimated Hezbollah's placement of underground bunkers, communications and longer range missiles and rockets in southern Lebanon. The lesson for the U.S., potential enemies are now more sophisticated than much of what has been seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.
TOM DONNELLY, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: Hezbollah ran a large war. It was not you know, a band of rebels. Yes, they were irregular fighters.
STARR: So what does this mean, if the U.S. had to face Iran?
GARDINER: Probably it means that if we really are serious about taking down the Iranian leadership as we say, it probably can't be done with air power load.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Analysts say the lesson is one that has already been well learned. Air power isn't the solution against a dug-in enemy. The only surprise may be why the Israelis thought it would work -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Barbara Starr reporting. Thank you, Barbara. The religious broadcaster Pat Robertson is now suggesting the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah is pointless. This after a trip to Israel last week, where he prayed for victory. Some American Jewish leaders are taking some strong exception to his remarks. CNN's Mary Snow joining us from New York with the story. Mary?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, Christian televangelist Pat Robertson is questioning the usefulness of the cease-fire and that, as you said, is prompting some very strong reaction from Jewish leaders here in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): He proclaimed his love for Israel visiting last week as a show of support. American Jewish groups like the anti- defamation league are voicing their support for Israel in ads like these ...
What would you do if Hezbollah took over your neighborhood?
SNOW: These Jewish groups and Christian televangelist Pat Robertson say they back Israel but do not see eye to eye over the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Robertson in his "700 Club" program questioned the cease-fire saying so far, the war accomplished nothing.
PAT ROBERTSON, RELIGIOUS BROADCASTER: Ladies and gentlemen, that's what they're facing, Israel went in, but what have they done? Is the word of Isaiah true? We arrived in pain but we gave birth to win. I'm afraid so.
SNOW: Anti-defamation leader Abe Foxman blasted Robertson for his political and military judgment.
ABE FOXMAN, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: I think it's arrogant, offensive, outrageous and you know, maybe you should stick to prayers and spirituality rather than trying to be a political pundit or a military general.
SNOW: Other American Jewish groups also echoed support of Israel's decision for a cease-fire.
RABBI JEREMY KALMANOFSKY, ANSCHE CHESED: I certainly welcome the cease-fire.
SNOW: Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of New York says a number of his congregants oppose the war. Others were conflicted but he says they share a love for Israel. And he says that support for Israel can make for some odd alliances. KALMANOFSKY: Israel as you well know has often felt friendless and likes to have friends. So it wouldn't be my first choice that Pat Robertson would become a spiritual compatriot with Ehud Olmert, but that's not my business.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Now we did contact Pat Robertson's offices for further comment on Jewish reaction to his statement, but a representative could not be immediately reached -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And earlier during the war, Mary, I interviewed Pat Robertson here in Jerusalem and he strongly, strongly supported the Israeli government's decision to go to war against Hezbollah. We're going to continue to watch the story. Mary Snow in New York, thank you very much. Up ahead, a new report shows an explosion in immigration form 15 years ago to today.
So that has Jack Cafferty wondering. How should local communities deal with large increases in their immigrant populations? Jack is back with your e-mail. And they are transmissions from the first moon landing. Hundreds of boxes of them though are missing from NASA. Our internet team, digging in to that story. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's check in with Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center for a closer look at some other important stories making news. Betty?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Important indeed Wolf. A suicide bombing today struck at the Iraqi president's own political party. Nine people died when the suicide bomber detonated a truck outside the regional party headquarters of the patriotic union of Kurdistan in Mosul. Iraqi police say most of those killed were party members. Meanwhile, the U.S. military now says car bombs triggered deadly weekend explosions in Baghdad. It had thought a gas leak was responsible for that.
Both sides claim victory in a lawsuit that could have major repercussions for hundreds of hurricane Katrina victims. A federal judge today rejected a Mississippi couple's insurance claim for $80,000 in flood damage. He said that their policy doesn't cover damage from floodwaters or storm surge, but he also ruled that the policy does cover wind damp and ordered insurers to pay the couple some $1,200.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is emptying his wallet for a cause which is very dear to his heart. The billionaire announced today that he is donating $125 million to a new worldwide anti-smoking campaign. Bloomberg, who is an ex-smoker himself, banned smoking in New York bars and restaurants in 2003.
And listen to this, Wolf, Wal-Mart posted its first profit decline in a decade today. The world's largest retailer blames high energy prices for disappointing sales at its U.S. stores. It says customers made fewer shopping trips to save gasoline. Wal-Mart also recently closed stores in Germany and South Korea -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Betty, thank you. One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind. It's perhaps NASA's most memorable quotation. The problem is, NASA scientists can't remember where they put the original tapes, those transmissions from the 1969 landing on the moon, are among 700 boxes of missing materials from the Apollo lunar missions. Our internet reporter Jacki Schechner has details. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, these are the images that you're used to seeing of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon from July of 1969, but these aren't the original images. The originals are believed to be of a higher quality, they were sent by a lunar camera to three transmissions stations. Those then had to be converted for television and the conversions are what we've seen.
The originals are the ones that have gone missing. Now it's not known where they are, NASA says it's looking as the Goddard Space Center, that's everyone's best guess. They're also looking at anywhere else that they could possibly be at this point. They say that these magnetic tapes are tough to read if they're even still readable at all. A
And now it's a race against time because the lab that can read them at Goddard is set to be closed in October of this year. You can still get the images that you're used to seeing thanks to NASA's full archive online at its Web site or the national archive which paired with Google Video Wolf, to put these historic videos on the internet.
BLITZER: Thank you, Jacki.
Up next, the Midwest has seen a huge jump in immigrant populations and Jack Cafferty now wondering how local communities should deal with it. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's check back with Jack Cafferty in New York. Jack?
CAFFERTY: Census data released today shows that new immigrants arriving across the U.S. are fanning out to non-traditional areas. Many of them going to places like the Midwest, and bypassing traditional gateway states like California and New York. The question is how should local communities deal with large increases in the immigrant populations?
Kathy writes from Oregon, "Each city should do what Hazleton, Pennsylvania has done, pass laws and ordinances that prevent businesses from hiring illegal immigrants. Our cities are our last line of defense to protect the middle class."
Alex in Washington, "Your diatribe suggests all immigrants are in the country illegally." No, Alex, only 12 million of them. "You rant about how they just keep coming." That's right, a million a year keep coming. "For your information, the census data is more complex than that. I suggest you check it before you go around spewing your anti- immigrant venom." Robert in Arizona, "The states need to preempt the tax money going to Washington and spend it to fix what the feds have failed at. Immigration, jobs, education, healthcare, security. We no longer have the resources to flood Washington with money and survive at home."
Jan in Ontario, "I'm Canadian, I live in Toronto. My opinion on immigration for both Canada and the United States is this. After 9/11 the borders to this entire continent should have been closed, front and back doors and then both countries should have cleaned house."
Kenneth in New York writes, "Why are so many people sneaking in to America? Based on our current policies, we'll be coming to their country soon enough." If you didn't see your email here, we invite you to go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile where you can read more of these posted online -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack Cafferty, thank you very much. And Jack will be back with us in one hour, 7:00 p.m. eastern. Much more of THE SITUATION ROOM coming up. We're in THE SITUATION ROOM weekday afternoons 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. eastern, back at 7:00 p.m. eastern. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now. Lou?
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