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CNN Sunday Morning

Heavy Fighting Continues in Lebanon

Aired August 13, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's happening right now: a deal in the Middle East. The Israeli cabinet approved the U.N. cease- fire resolution just a little more than an hour ago. The Lebanese government OK'ed it yesterday and a cease-fire is set to take effect tomorrow morning at 1:00 Eastern.
But today, the fighting is still as fierce as ever. Take a look at these pictures. Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut and towns and villages in southern Lebanon. A barrage of Hezbollah rockets also slammed into northern Israel. At least four civilians are reported dead in Israel and in Lebanon.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: New pictures of Cuban President Fidel Castro, pictures are being released today to show a recovering Castro on his 80th birthday. Castro remains in a Cuban hospital recovering from intestinal surgery. We will have a live report from Havana, Cuba, ahead, in about eight minutes.

Fire crews are battling a huge wildfire west of Reno, Nevada, say they are making some progress. The fire is more than 70 percent contained. Flames narrowly missed dozens of upscale homes; nearly 60,000 acres have been blackened. Full containment is expected later today.

Now to Reynolds Wolf for a quick check of your weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: We update the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Your next update is coming up at 9:15 Eastern Time.

It is Sunday, August 13th, 9:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 4:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Good morning, everyone. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: And good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us today.

All right, here's the countdown, day 33 of the Israeli/Hezbollah conflict, and it could be the last. Just this morning the Israeli cabinet approved the U.N. cease-fire resolution. Lebanon did the same yesterday, but still, look at the pictures, heavy fighting.

So what is next? We want to go live now to CNN's Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem.

So the deal is done, but it has it translated into reality on the ground? It seems like we have to wait a few hours for that, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: It looks like it, yes, Betty. Definitely diplomatic progress has continued.

It appears as though the final hurdle has been cleared in a diplomatic front; 24 voting in favor of the U.N. resolution, just one abstention, we understand, so overwhelmingly, approved. But the fact is the cease-fire does not start until 5:00 a.m. GMT, that's 8:00 a.m. local time, 1:00 a.m., your time, which basically means that both sides have until then to continue fighting.

And we've certainly seen some of the fiercest fighting in southern Lebanon between the Israeli military and Hezbollah guerrillas since this conflict began. We know that 24 soldiers were killed on Saturday, five that were in a helicopter that was downed.

And we also know that there have been many civilian casualties in Lebanon as well from the Israeli air strikes. We are still trying to get figures of that at this point. And rocket attacks from Hezbollah continuing to pound northern Israeli cities, at least one civilian killed and others injured.

At this point it does appear as though all sides are still trying to fight against the clock. We know that the Israeli military has been saying they would like another week. Don Halutz, the chief of staff, saying he thought he had another seven days, but the fact is he doesn't. He has until 5:00 a.m. GMT, tomorrow morning.

So, Israeli military is trying to degrade Hezbollah capability of hurting Israel in the future, as much as possible. But certainly, from the diplomatic point of view, we are taking great steps forward. And in theory this, time tomorrow the guns will be down, Betty?

NGUYEN: That's an important point there, in theory. In the meantime, though, this is very interesting. Security guards found a man trying to enter the Israeli prime minister's office with some explosives?

HANCOCKS: Well, the Israeli police, a little earlier on, a couple of hours ago, said they had detained an Arab man that they believe head suspicious material in his shoes. They've since said they have checked the shoes themselves, they did not contain explosives, and nothing suspicious at this point.

So, really it is just another indication of just how high the security is. Iran, the prime minister's office and the government, the second time in a week, we understand that there has been some kind of security alert like this. But this, as before, has turned out to be nothing significant. But it just shows how on edge everyone is during this month-long war with Hezbollah and Israel.

NGUYEN: No doubt, Paula Hancocks, joining us from Jerusalem.

Paula, thank you.

HARRIS: And now to the widening airline terror plot investigation and a reported rift between the U.K. and the U.S. NBC has been reporting that British officials wanted to continue surveillance of the terror suspects for at least another week, but U.S. officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner than they had planned. The report quotes a senior British official.

Our John Vause has been looking into the report and talking to British intelligence sources; he joins us live from London's Heathrow International Airport, with the latest on investigation.

John, what have you learned?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: Hello, Tony.

Well, according to some British intelligence sources they're aware of these reports coming out of the United States. And they say essentially it is nothing more than media hype, downplaying any suggestion of a rift or a difference of opinion of U.S. and U.K. law enforcement agencies. And they point to what is a difference in policing philosophies between the British and the Americans.

They say the British have a much broader scope when it comes to domestic surveillance and when it comes to gathering evidence, and as a result of that, they say, the bar is much higher by the time these cases get to court. So that is yet British tend to act a little later, they say, compared to the Americans, who especially after 9/11 really have a philosophy of striking sooner, rather than later.

We've also heard from the British Home Secretary John Reid, speaking a little earlier today, sort of part of this ongoing terror threat to Britain. Now, John Reid, who is essentially the equivalent of the head of the Department of Homeland Security, he said authorities here have thwarted four attempted terrorist attacks since the July 7th, underground bombings last year. And he also said there is something like 24 other attempted attacks, which are currently under investigations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN REID, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: There could be others out there, perhaps people we don't know, perhaps people who are involved in other plots. So the threat of a terrorist attack in the United Kingdom is still very substantial.

Because it was imminent last week, it moved up from the highly likely threat, that's severe, to critical, because it looked imminent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And because the terror alert level here remains at critical, it means security checks, especially here at Heathrow Airport, a third of flights, again, canceled today. Other flights delayed, especially those inbound from the United States, also heading back out across the Atlantic. And for many travelers it could be some very difficult days still ahead, Tony.

HARRIS: John, are folks getting fed up with all this? VAUSE: Yeah. Very much so, we've been speaking to a couple of the passengers here, who try to understand the extra need for security, but really it's wearing a bit thin now, especially day four these lengthy travel delays. A lot of criticism, too. The airport authority saying they're simply not up to the task and that criticism is coming not just from passengers but also from some major airlines as well.

HARRIS: John Vause, at Heathrow Airport, for us. John, thank you.

NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S., large purchases of untraceable cell phones have landed at least five college-age men in legal trouble, on terror-related charges. All of the men are of Middle Eastern descent. Three are from Texas. They were arrested early Friday in Caro, Michigan, after buying 80 cell phones in a local Wal-Mart.

Police found a 1,000, count -- a 1,000 -- more phones in their vehicle. All of the batteries have been taken out of the phones. The prosecutors says Michigan's Mackinaw Bridge may have been the target. Authorities are still trying to sort out exactly what the men were doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RENEE, PROSECUTOR, TUSCOLA CO., MICH: We're developing how the actual telephones were sold, revenue was passed from one location to the next. And obviously, that's fairly complex.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: While the Michigan case comes two days after two men from suburban Detroit were arrested in Ohio, nearly in identical circumstances. They, too, aroused suspicion after buying large numbers of untraceable cell phones. Their attorneys say the men were engaged in a legitimate business enterprise, and that they are the victims of racial profiling.

Prosecutors allege a terror connection saying cell phones can be used to detonate bombs. A preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday and in about eight minutes we will speak to a former senior counsel to the Department of Homeland Security to see what he makes of these developments.

HARRIS: And all day Monday CNN will show you where America is most vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Throughout the day you will get specific and essential insight on where the threats are, and what you can do to stay safe. "Target: USA", all day Monday only on CNN. Still ahead.

NGUYEN: Are you going flip it?

HARRIS: Heads or tails. This quarter --

NGUYEN: Then,

HARRIS: OH, I'm sorry.

That quarter makes a tie-breaking decision, but you won't believe what the coin toss was for.

NGUYEN: It was a big decision, shall we say.

HARRIS: Yes, it was.

NGUYEN: And check this out, Granny, she is fighting back. Lessons in self-defense from an 89-year-old. We have her remarkable story ahead.

Good morning, Reynolds, you know not to mess with Granny, don't you?

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: "Now in the News": A deal in Israel. The Israeli cabinet has now approved the U.N. cease-fire agreement. Lebanon OKed it yesterday.

The cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah is due to take effect tomorrow morning 1:00 Eastern, 5:00 a.m. Mideast time.

Still, though, there were brutal parting shots on both sides today. Just take a look at these pictures, huge explosions rattled Beirut this morning. Israeli air strikes also pounded several towns and villages in south Lebanon. At least three Lebanese civilians are reported killed. Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel, killing one person there.

Two U.N.-chartered ships docked in Beirut, today, bringing food and humanitarian supplies. Officials of the U.N.'s World Food Program say Israel has given the ships two days' clearance, but they say it will take five days to unload the supplies.

These are the first pictures of Cuban President Fidel Castro. There they are. Released since his intestinal surgery two weeks ago. The Cuban leader is reportedly up and moving around in his hospital room, and is quoted as saying that he is feeling great. Today is also his 80th birthday.

As a reminder, we update the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Your next update coming up at 9:30 Eastern.

Speaking of Fidel Castro, a mixed message from the leader on his 80th birthday. New photos are being released. We showed you them just a minute ago, of the Cuban president, along with a statement urging Cubans to prepare for any, quote, "adverse news." Now, that's interesting. CNN's Morgan Neill joins us live from Havana.

It's weird, on the one hand, Morgan, you see the pictures. They say he's feeling fine. But then they tell people to prepare for adverse news. What does it mean? MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: Well, Betty, the main point to note here is that these are the first pictures we've seen from the Cuban president since he was forced to hand over power some two weeks ago, while recovering from intestinal surgery.

It's on the front of today official newspaper, the "Hovenfel Ribeldi" (ph), or "Rebel Youth", we see a picture of a smiling President Castro and the headline, "I Feel Very Happy."

Now, on the back you see three more pictures of the president wearing a track suit. In one, he's holding up yesterday's edition of the "Gran Maur" (ph) newspaper, as if to prove that the photo were taken then. Two others, talking on the telephone, as if going about his official business.

Along with the pictures we saw a message sent, in which he said, he urged people to be optimistic. Said his condition was improving, but as you note, not to expect a quick or easy recuperation.

One thing we should also note is nowhere in today's newspaper was there any mention of the president reassuming those powers that he handed over, temporarily, two weeks ago -- Betty.

NGUYEN: It is just very interesting. Any idea, any word, as to when he may get back to business?

NEILL: Well, what we have heard from Cuban officials, consistently, is that it will be several weeks. We haven't heard any detailed explanation of exactly when that would happen. And of course, no details on his condition which here are regarded, details of President Fidel Castro's condition regarded as a state secret. So, all we've heard are some vague comments about several weeks for his recovery.

NGUYEN: Vague comments, indeed. One saying he feels fine, and another one prepare for adverse news. So, difficult to makes sense of it all. CNN's Morgan Neill, I'm sure you'll be following it. And when you get more news, let us know.

HARRIS: And talking national security now. Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff spoke to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He discussed the arrest British police made in the foiled airline attacks and the decision to increase the terror warning to its highest level.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY, U.S. DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The British believe they have picked up the main actors. But, first of all, there are some threads that have to be run down. And, second, we always face that issue of elements of the plot, we may not fully have investigated, and be completely aware about.

So the watchword here, Wolf, has to be better safe than sorry. And that explains why we are continuing to operate at elevated alert levels, so we can take precautions against anything that we might run across that hasn't yet turned out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: You can catch Michael Chertoff's entire interview on "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer", at 11:00 Eastern, 8:00 Pacific only on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Federal anti-terrorism officials are tasked with connecting dots that others don't see. First of all, there is the foiled plot in Britain to blow up airlines with liquid bombs. In the U.S. 11 Egyptian exchange students, inexplicably, don't show up for class at Montana State University. And now five young men face terror-related charges after they bought hundreds of untraceable cell phones.

Do these events reveal a pattern or are they random and unrelated? Scott Weber is a former senior counsel to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and he joins us from New York.

Good to see you sir. Thanks for your time, Scott.

SCOTT WEBER, FMR. DHS COUNSEL: Good morning, Tony.

HARRIS: First, let me ask you, when local police discover this kind of a pattern, young men buying untraceable cell phones, of Middle Eastern descent, is this something we all should be alarmed with?

WEBER: Well, I think so. Because why anyone, regardless of where they come from, would have hundreds to thousands of pre-paid cell phones in the trunk of a car, is certainly suspicious.

HARRIS: You don't buy the notion of a business plan, an entrepreneurial exercise?

WEBER: Well, you know, one has to question how profitable those individuals would be if they went to Wal-Marts and bought the phones.

HARRIS: Gotcha.

WEBER: So it is something that should definitely raise suspicion.

HARRIS: What about the -- we also understand the batteries were removed in these phones. What does that tell you?

WEBER: Well, there are two things primarily that the cell phones could be used for, one is from an operational standpoint, making quick calls, dumping the phones and going to another phone. They're not easy to trace. The other is to use as detonation devices. So with the batteries not in the phones, one has to question whether the phones were actually going to be used as cell phones.

HARRIS: Does our whole sort of wireless world now leave us more vulnerable than we've ever been?

WEBER: Well, I think it does. But it also gives us tools we can use to track terrorists. You know, the Patriot Act, for instance, gives law enforcement the ability to do sneak & peek warrants, as well as roving warrants, to allow law enforcement to track computers, to track cell phones. So there are advantages and there are disadvantages.

HARRIS: Let's turn back to Thursday and that disrupted terror plot in London. We know, and have known since '94, that terrorists have wanted to use liquid explosives to blow up aircraft. Why are we just implementing these bans of liquids on carry-on items now?

WEBER: Well, look, in the war on terror, we need to be nimble. I mean, al Qaeda has certain trademarks, but there are also some fail safes that they constantly go back to.

TSA changed the prohibited items list several months ago. Now that we've hardened the cockpit doors, now that we have thousand of federal air marshal traveling on our planes, to spend more time to look at things like component parts and detonation devices including, liquid components. So we are changing with the times and the department and law enforcement domestically and internationally are changing with the times.

HARRIS: Scott, you mentioned the TSA. Let's talk about the TSA for a moment. A few months ago congressional investigators, as you know, snuck bomb-making components onto -- past screeners at 21 different airports around the country, what does that say, in general, about airport safety?

WEBER: Well, first of all, it's good that we're testing the airport safety. Secondly, the department in the fiscal year 2006 budget appropriated $732 million for research and development of technologies that would detect explosives, as well as detonation devices, both in liquid and powder form.

There was an entire directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, the science & technology directorate, that in part is devoted to finding new technology, working with the private sector to be able to employ the latest and greatest technologies to detect things like liquid explosives.

HARRIS: One final question, these are thought of as temporary procedures now, the banning of all liquids -- at least that's what Fran Townsend said the other day, and she's the White House adviser on this subject. You can't go back, can you? Aren't these permanent steps?

WEBER: Well, no. You know, Tony, respectfully disagree with that. You remember before we had the cockpit doors hardened, and before we went from dozens of federal air marshals to thousands of federal air marshals, small knives, nail clippers they were all banned. I think one of the things the department is trying very hard to do is to be flexible. We can ratchet up security and we can ratchet it back down.

HARRIS: Scott Weber, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

WEBER: Thank you, Tony. NGUYEN: Well, 23 people remain in custody, but no charges filed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They seem, just ordinary people who were very shocked at what was happening to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: One lawyer speaks out and says she is appalled by the way her clients are being treated. We'll have her exclusive interview ahead.

HARRIS: And a simple coin toss, Betty, decides an important election. That story coming up in moments on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Here is an example, Betty. Follow me now.

NGUYEN: Uh-huh?

HARRIS: About how "I-Report" works. It gives you the ability to be a citizen journalist. OK? This is video from Salt Lake City yesterday. We actually requested this video from affiliate KSL, after Rob Masser (ph) -- Mosher (ph) -- sent us this photo.

He sends us this photo and we request a video, and the video you just saw a moment ago. The "I Report" process is simple and easy. Here's what you do. You just go to the CNN Home Page and look for the "I Report" logo. There it is. And it will walk you through the steps to submit photos and videos so you can truly say I report for CNN.

NGUYEN: I report for CNN. And, Rob -- Rob, reported for CNN. You can, too. Here's what we want to know. Reynolds Wolf, you're reporting for CNN, what is up with this weather outside?

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Hey, have you ever thought of using a coin as a tiebreaker? I know you have. We've all done it, right? Heads or tails? I don't know where that one went. But this quarter, that one that you see right there, that was used in a very unusual vote, an important one, nonetheless. We'll tell you about it.

HARRIS: Plus, Granny's lesson in self-defense. Boy, has it paid off big time.

NGUYEN: Granny's not messing around. We'll tell you how this 89 year old fought an attacker in her home, and is here to tell about it. That's in about 25 minutes.

HARRIS: This just in from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, today. Expect what he's calling refinements to new air force screening rules announcement, likely, at midday. We will bring you the latest information as soon as we get it.

Three college age men from Texas are being held in Michigan on terror-related charges. They were arrested Friday after buying 80 untraceable cell phones in a Wal-Mart in Caro, Michigan. Police found 1,000 phones in their rented van. A prosecutor says Michigan's Mackinac Bridge may have been a target.

In a related case in Ohio, two young men of Middle Eastern descent face a preliminary hearing Tuesday on terror-related charges. They, too were arrested after buying large numbers of untraceable cell phone.

NGUYEN: Well, a peace deal. The Israeli cabinet, today, approved the U.N. resolution aimed at ended the fighting with Hezbollah. Lebanon signed off on the agreement yesterday and the cease-fire is due to take effect tomorrow morning at 1:00 Eastern.

Still, though, today, some of the heaviest fighting in this month-long war, you see it there. More than 15 explosions rocked Beirut today. Israeli airstrikes also pummeled several other Lebanese towns and on the other side a barrage of Hezbollah rockets slammed into Northern Israel.

Take a look at this now, it is not a scene from Hollywood's imagination, though very beautiful, nonetheless. You're looking at lava from the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii spilling right into the Pacific Ocean. The clouds of steam look a bit picturesque as the lava hits the water.

And a reminder here, we update you to the top stories every 15 minutes on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, your next update coming up at 9:45 Eastern.

Politics and protecting the homeland. President Bush gets a boost in the polls on the issue of Homeland Security. We'll have aye more on that now and the latest reaction to the airline terror plot with CNN's Kathleen Koch. She joins us from the White House.

Good morning Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. The White House is where President Bush is returning this afternoon. He's been in Crawford, Texas at his ranch for a 10-day vacation, though it really was not much of a break for the president. He's spent a great deal of time working the phones, talking with world leaders about the new U.N. peace agreement for Lebanon and Israel and of course, also, dealing with the terror plot uncovered in Great Britain earlier this week.

To that end, a new poll by "Newsweek" magazine finds that Americans are giving Mr. Bush high marks for his handling of Homeland Security. Fifty-five percent saying that they approve of the job he's doing, that is up 11 points from May. Now, when it comes to his overall job approval rating, that is up, too, up to 38 percent. That is a 3-point increase. The poll was taken after the plot to blow up those airliners headed to the U.S. from London was unveiled and it asked those who were surveyed who they thought would do a better job of handling terrorism, Republicans or Democrats. The results were 44 percent of those surveyed said Republicans would do a better job while 39 percent said Democrats.

And despite the new worries about terrorism, it did not turn out to be the top concern of voters in the upcoming mid-term elections, 22 percent cited Iraq, 18 percent said the economy was the top issue while just 15 percent cited terrorism.

So, it would appear that President Bush has gotten a slight bump in his approval ratings from the current terrorism crisis, it certainly looks like other issues in the long term do outweigh terrorism, and so, Betty, that can certainly be a problem for the Republican Party this November. With support for the war in Iraq at its lowest point ever. Back to you.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House. Kathleen thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

HARRIS: An attorney for the two suspects in the alleged airline terror plot is speaking out and she is highly critical of the way her clients are being treated. CNN's Dan Rivers has details in this exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zeroing in on houses across Britain, the police are continuing their meticulous investigation into the alleged terrorist plot. A clearer picture is emerging about the men detained, who police suspect of being involved in a massive conspiracy.

Mudassar Arani is the court-appointed lawyer of two of the suspects. For the first time, she's spoken about their condition and painted a bleak picture.

MUDASSAR ARANI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They seem just ordinary people who are very shocked at what was happening to them. They were wearing the clothing which was provided by police officers, the clothing was not sufficiently warm enough for them. They haven't even been interviewed let alone any indication of charges.

RIVERS: One of the men arrested during the police raids has been released, according to Miss Arani, he was an innocent bystander, in the wrong place at the wrong time. But she and the other defense lawyers are concerned about how little access they've been give to the others.

ARANI: We have been provided with very limited contact with our clients. For instance yesterday an application was made to the Magistrate's court for further detention. We were not allowed to have consultations prior to the application. That's a joke.

RIVERS (on camera): And in terms of their access to contact with their family, how much contact have they been given.

ARANI: They're extremely concerned about their families. They have not had any formal contact with members of their families, and that is obviously causing a lot of stress and anxiety to them.

RIVERS (voice-over): Miss Arani is now waiting to see if her clients want to make a formal complaint.

Police officers at the station where the men are being held were unavailable for comment.

(on camera): As the men remain behind bars under tight security, at their family homes the police are continuing their in-depth forensic examination looking for clues and this family, like many of the others, have been told to leave their family home and live in a hotel while that investigation continues.

(voice-over): Dan Rivers, CNN, Waltham Stowe, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All day Monday, CNN will show you where America is most vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Throughout the day you'll get specific and essential insight on where the threats are and what you can do to stay safe. TARGET: UNITED STATES, all day Monday only on CNN.

NGUYEN: Remember, Tony, as a kid, you'd finish out a tiebreaker with what? A coin toss, right? Easiest way to decide.

HARRIS: Or hammer, paper, rock, shoes, and knuckle...

NGUYEN: Rock, paper, scissors. Obviously you didn't play that very well. It is not your ordinary tie-breaker, oh now. Coming up we will tell you why folks in one town decided a big primary race with the toss of a coin, of all things, the winner and the loser in three minutes.

HARRIS: Plus she's feisty, full of pluck, bite. We'll have sports in there, too. One burglar gets more than he bargained for after this granny fights back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you ever hear that again, "your vote counts" well, just come to Groton, and we'll tell you how much it counts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: You know there was a coin toss (INAUDIBLE), right?

NGUYEN: Yes, was there.

HARRIS: You know, and sort of to make it fair here, Betty and I flipped a coin to see who is going to present this story for to you.

NGUYEN: Yeah.

HARRIS: As you can see. Did I win it?

NGUYEN: Yeah. You picked tails. No surprise there.

HARRIS: Well, you know, because throughout my life I've focused my attention on tails and I've been a winner.

NGUYEN: You know what, I'm going to leave that one alone. Anyway, on the subject at hand, shall we?

HARRIS: Oh, sure.

NGUYEN: In Connecticut, Elissa Wright and Rita Schmidt were in a very close race in a Democratic primary for a state House seat.

HARRIS: As a matter of fact, after the ballots were all tallied they were tied. It was 546 or 547.

NGUYEN: By one vote.

HARRIS: And now the folk had to break this tiebreaker and they came up with an interesting way to do it. It's a coin toss and it is legal. Alicia Wright, Rita Schmitt join us this morning.

Ladies, good to see you.

ELISSA WRIGHT, WON ELECTION BY COIN TOSS: Good morning.

RITA SCHMIDT, LOST ELECTION BY COIN TOSS: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Good morning. Hey, Elissa, let me start with you. You came out on the winning end so I have to ask you. I kind of know what you will say, but go ahead, do you think this is a fair way of deciding the vote here?

WRIGHT: Well, of course, I would have preferred to win the primary outright and as a result of this unusual situation we have participated in a unique part of the election process, here in Groton, that very few people would ever get to experience. I should preface this by saying that there is a different provision under Connecticut law for the resolution of tie votes in general elections. This was a special statute that applies only to primaries. If this had been a general election there would have been an adjourned election to break the tie as I understand it.

NGUYEN: Hey, Elissa, what are you reading there? Is that a statement or something?

WRIGHT: No, no, no.

NGUYEN: All right, just so you know, you won and we're not contesting that, but Rita may want to. Rita, let me ask you this. You know, state law requires this coin toss, but you call it insulting. Did you not know about the coin toss?

SCHMIDT: Well, actually, no, because in the paper it had said there would be a runoff elections if there were a tie and I fully expected that was the process, but then we learned that that was not true in this type of an election, that it would be, by law, and it could either be a coin toss, it could be drawing hats from -- you know, names from a hat.

NGUYEN: Are you kidding me?

SCHMIDT: No, I'm not, and I thought here we are in the land of casinos here and you would expect it at the Mohican Sun or Foxwoods, but I didn't expect it on the state government level.

NGUYEN: This is so interesting to me and so, the question is, are you going to contest this?

SCHMIDT: No, I'm not going to contest it because I think it's very important that we have a person, a candidate who can go forward from this moment on. We have lost a lot of time with the primary and if we contested it, I don't know how long it would take. Then somebody has to catch up and it would be very, very difficult.

NGUYEN: You're playing very nice today. I must say.

HARRIS: Yeah, yeah. I was about to ask that question. Rita are you disappointed?

SCHMIDT: Oh, of course, I'm disappointed and all my supporters are disappointed and a lot of people are calling me, not necessarily about my loss, but Michael Kindle, the third candidate who was actually very close, they felt that we actually had thrown away the votes of so many people and they're very upset about it and they want to be able to have that particular law changed so this never happens to anybody again.

HARRIS: Hey Elissa, let me ask you something, you can't talk about Connecticut politics these days without talking about the loss in the primary by Senator Lieberman. What are your thoughts going forward there?

WRIGHT: Well, that was another very hotly-contested race that attracted national and international attention. I feel that the primary, the enrolled Democrats in the primary had spoken and Ned Lamont is our Democratic candidate going forward into the general election.

Could I just say, I think that in the context of a primary, many people are surprised to learn of this provision for the casting of lots which injects an element of chance into the Democratic process.

NGUYEN: Definitely, right? WRIGHT: And I think that where there are two candidates, which is the usual case, and the primary results in a tie vote there is evidence that the electorate is evenly split, but whereas in this case there were three very strong candidates in a vigorous primary. A runoff election would have provided a clear winner.

NGUYEN: Right.

WRIGHT: And if I am elected to the state representative...

NGUYEN: Are you going to change it?

WRIGHT: I think the legislature should look at closely examining this statute, particularly with that in mind.

NGUYEN: Right. Well, let me ask you just very quickly, either of you, because one of you will have an answer to this, maybe both. Any of you keep that infamous coin that was tossed on that day?

WRIGHT: Oh, I have it here in my pocket.

NGUYEN: I figured you would, Elissa.

WRIGHT: I carry it in my pocket all of the time.

NGUYEN: Well apparently, it is your lucky coin. Ladies, we appreciate your time with us today. Thank you both.

SCHMIDT: You're welcome, thank you for having us.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

NGUYEN: "Now in the News," a deal in the Middle East. The Israeli cabinet approved the U.N. cease-fire resolution about two hours ago. The Lebanese government OKed it yesterday. A cease-fire is set to take effect tomorrow morning at 1:00 Eastern.

But today, you heard it right there, the fighting is still as fierce as ever. A barrage of Hezbollah rockets slammed into Northern Israel killing one Israeli civilian and Israeli warplanes pounded towns and villages in southern Lebanon. At least three Lebanese civilians are reported dead.

A top British official said today that the threat of another terrorist plot is "chronic and severe," his words. Police continue to carry out raids stemming from the airline terror investigation, that's the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners. British Home Secretary John Reid, says four other terror plots have been thwarted since July 2005's transit bombings.

Well, we do have new pictures of Cuban President Fidel Castro. Here they are. The pictures are being released today to show a recovering Castro on his 80th birthday. Castro remains in a Cuban hospital, recovering from intestinal surgery. Venezuela's president is expected to pay a visit and bring a cake a little later today. Fire crews, they are battling a huge wildfire west of Reno, Nevada. They say they're making progress, though. The fire is now more than 70 percent contained. Flames narrowly missed dozens of upscale homes. Nearly 60,000 acres have been blackened; full containment is expected later today.

And we update you on top stories every 15 minutes on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, your next update coming up at the top of the hour.

HARRIS: Time now to check in with Howard Kurtz in Washington, to see what's ahead on CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES.

Howard, good morning.

HOWARD KURTZ, RELIABLE SOURCES: Good morning, Tony. Coming up, have the media overreacted to the foiled terror plot to blow up airliners between London and several American cities? We'll have a report card.

As the Middle East war rages on with the planned cease-fire ticking down now, a journalist who spent time with Hezbollah will help us assess the coverage. And we'll look at that bogus photo of the Israeli airstrike distributed by "Reuters."

Plus are the pundits starting to turn on their one-time favorite, Joe Lieberman? All of that ahead on RELIABLE SOURCES.

HARRIS: OK, Howard, see you at the top of the hour. That's RELIABLE SOURCES at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time followed by Wolf Blitzer with LATE EDITION at 11:00 a.m. and THE WEEK AT WAR at 1:00 Eastern. Stay tuned to CNN as we go in-depth into the stories of the day.

NGUYEN: Speaking of in-depth looks, they can be deceiving, and you would think baking cookies, playing bridge, visiting with friends would be about this grandmother's speed, right?

HARRIS: But wait until you hear what she did when a burglar broke into her home.

NGUYEN: It's good, It's good.

HARRIS: That story ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, we'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Your universe is a vast landscape filled with mysterious dark forces. Dr. Anthony Tyson is hoping to shed some light on the subject.

ANTHONY TYSON, DIRECTOR, LSST: Dark matter controls the evolution of cosmic structure because gravitation only -- it pulls everything together. We have a project that will image the whole wide sky and try to understand what the physical nature of this dark matter and dark energy fills the universe is.

SIEBERG: The project is called the "Large Synoptic Survey Telescope," or LSST.

TYSON: This telescope has a very wide field of view, and it will see billions of galaxies. And so it goes out to the edge of the optical universe, half way back to the big bang.

SIEBERG: The LSST's future home will be atop Cerro Pachon, an 8,800 foot mountain peak in Northern Chile. The data collected will be accessible to everyone from astronomers to grade school students via the Internet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. Are you ready? How would you like to be the guy known for getting whipped by someone's 89-year-old grandma?

HARRIS: You're done, yeah.

NGUYEN: Definitely not cool, oh, no. If he did what he says he did, he deserves a good, old-fashioned beat down from grandma.

HARRIS: Well, here's how we heard the story. A burglar was inside Marie Miller's home in Durham, North Carolina. She surprised him when she came back from the beauty parlor. She's beautiful, huh? He knocks her down, but she fought back, kicking and clawing the man until he just gave up and got out of there. He got away with her car, cell phone, and a few scratches. And get this, Miller told police she would have popped him -- just popped him in the nose there, but she couldn't get her hand up there far. Way to go.

NGUYEN: Hey, granny knows how to fight back. We like that.

Hey, we told you about this story yesterday and we had so much response from it, just, people just writing in. The water-squirting tree prompted a flood, no pun intend, of e-mails many of you, in fact, suspect a underground source of water is channeling up through the bark.

HARRIS: But one of the best possible explanations we got was from Todd in Virginia who teaches plant physiology. He theorizes that the tree's natural water uptake ability is concentrated for some reason on just one side of the tree. Now that's pretty good.

NGUYEN: That's pretty good. Todd writes that since water in a tree is under high pressure to push it up through the tree to the top, that could account for the phenomenon of the tree fountain. I don't know. I mean, Reynolds Wolf, you're probably the closest we have to, what is that? A plant physiologist?

HARRIS: Physiologist. Look at him, look at him. Look at him.

NGUYEN: He's scratching his head.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm not toughing this at all. That is just highly disturbing to me -- something about that is just...

HARRIS: How about just plain weird.

WOLF: It is weird. It's weird, it's wrong and the tree needs (INAUDIBLE) that's horrible. That's as far as I'm going go.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WOLF: Sorry, guys, no answers at all with the tree.

NGUYEN: On the squirting tree?

WOLF: I'm completely clueless.

NGUYEN: What I'm concerned about is people are sticking their glasses up there filling it up for a drink.

WOLF: What is up with that?

NGUYEN: Can you test the water first? You don't know what's coming out of there.

WOLF: Hey, maple syrup is one thing with the maple tree, but that's just...

HARRIS: You're right. You're right.

WOLF: Yeah.

NGUYEN: Good point. Point well taken. Thank you.

Hey, RELIABLE SOURCES is next followed by LATE EDITION and ON THE STORY so don't go away.

HARRIS: And Melissa Long will be with you with live news updates.

NGUYEN: Have a great day.

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