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CNN Saturday Morning News
Israeli Airstrikes Continue; Escalation in Mideast Violence Affecting Start of G-8 Summit; State Department Working on Plans to Get Trapped Americans Out of Lebanon
Aired July 15, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: I want you to take a look at this. It is live coverage from around the world of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. New attacks in Gaza and Lebanon to tell you about.
We also have new information about missing Israeli sailors, and new comments from President Bush and the president of Russia.
Good morning, everybody, from the CNN Center right here in Atlanta, this is Saturday, the 15th day of July, 10:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 5:00 p.m. in Israel and Lebanon, two areas that we are watching very closely today. I'm Betty Nguyen.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. We have a team of reporters stationed all across the Mideast. Expect live reports throughout the hour all day long here on CNN.
First, a quick look at some other stories making news right now.
The G-8 summit opening dinner gets underway next hour in St. Petersburg, Russia. Attending leaders include President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both spoke to reporters about five hours ago. They are not necessarily seeing eye to eye on the Mideast conflict. President Bush blames Hezbollah. President Putin says Israel's use of retaliatory force must be balanced.
NGUYEN: As we have been telling you this morning, Iraqi police report a mass kidnapping in Baghdad today of the Iraqi Olympic Committee. Authorities say the head of the committee and at least 30 staffers were seized at gunpoint by men wearing Iraqi military uniforms. Now, Reuters reports a bodyguard was killed in the abduction and the body of another bodyguard was found nearby.
Now to Southern California -- triple digit temperatures are expected today in the Yucca Valley where two major fires merged overnight. Here is video of that. Fire officials warn that the inferno is likely to produce dry lightning today, possibly sparking even more fires. The burned area now covers more than 100 square miles. At least 56 homes have been destroyed. One person is reported missing.
HARRIS: Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is having a good day after several bad ones. His vet says the horse is responding well to treatment for an often fatal condition in his left hind leg. Barbaro captured the hearts of so many after his right hind leg was shattered in the first few yards of the Preakness. The crew on Shuttle Discovery has been inspecting the craft's right wing for nearly an hour now, and next hour they will begin scanning its nose cone. This is taking place after Discovery undocked from the International Space Station just after six this morning. Discovery is set to return to earth Monday.
For complete coverage of breaking news and today's top stories, stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.
NGUYEN: Well events are unfolding by the minute in the Middle East crisis. CNN's Anand Naidoo is tracking all of this for us and he joins us now with those latest developments, in fact, developments that just popped up in the past, what, 10 minutes.
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. These fast-breaking movements there in the Middle East in Lebanon -- in fact, the latest development we had was on an Israeli raid which took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Israeli warplanes bombing target there. We saw that just a few minutes ago, about 10 minutes ago, that taking place in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Now, earlier the Israeli Defense Force confirmed to CNN that it had hit a target on the Lebanese-Syrian border. They hit that crossing point there on the Lebanese side of the border. The Israelis saying that they were targeting bridges and access routes, and that particular operation was conducted to prevent the smuggling of weapons. That's one of the things that they fear, that weapons are coming from Syria through Lebanon to the Hezbollah militants. They said they want to stop that.
They were also worried about the fact the two abducted Israeli soldiers may have been moved or could be moved to Syria and they wanted to stop that. So Israeli Defense Forces confirming to us they did hit a target in the Syrian-Lebanese border. They hit the Lebanese side of the border.
The Syrians, for their part, are saying that they were not subjected to any attack. A Syrian official told Reuters in Damascus that no installation, civilian or military, had been hit.
Now, some other developments. We had reported earlier that Hezbollah had hit an Israeli warship which was in the waters off the Lebanese coast, a missile hitting that warship. The Israelis initially said that four of their sailors were missing.
Then they reported that the body of one had been found, three were missing. Later, we heard and we have confirmed that that ship is now back in port in Haifa. Two soldiers are dead, and two of them are still missing.
Israeli has conducted to hit -- rather, has continued to hit targets in the southern parts of Lebanon. It's been hitting targets in Hezbollah strongholds. It's been hitting targets near Tripoli and Tyre, and for the first time it also went and hit targets in northern Lebanon. It hit a bridge near Hermel, which is one of the main roads in that part and Israel has said that its purpose in hitting these targets is to cut off all land and sea routes to the Hezbollah militants in the south.
One other thing I should bring to you and that is that the Associated Press is reporting that the United States embassy in Beirut has confirmed that it is planning or it is reviewing plans for the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon as this crisis escalates.
We'll bring you more details on these developments as we get them here. For now, let's go back to Tony and Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, that information about the evacuation plans have been crossing the wires several times this is morning, so we're going to be speaking with the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, David Welch, just in a little -- I'd say about 20 minutes from now, maybe even less than that, to talk to him about exactly what they have planned. He's arriving in Tripoli momentarily. Anand, thank you for that.
Now, no one else has the resources to cover the Middle East crisis like CNN. We have correspondents all over the region. Throughout the hour, we're going to have live reports from Alessio Vinci in Beirut, Paula Hancocks in northern Israel, Paula Newton in Jerusalem, Ben Wedeman in Gaza and Aneesh Raman in Damascus, Syria.
So let's start along Israeli's southern border. The Israeli military continues its offensive in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes hit twice today.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is live via broadband from Gaza City. Ben, what's the situation where you are?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty, one of those strikes, the most recent one, took place earlier this morning just north of here where a three-story building was hit by Israeli rockets. According to Palestinian security sources, one Hamas militant was killed in that strike in addition to eight others, including a woman and two children.
Our information was that, in fact, part of that building, at least, was used for the manufacture and storage of missiles intended to be fired at Israel.
Now, during the early hours of the morning another strike took place, this one on the Palestinian Economy Ministry. Now, as far as the news, how the Palestinian media is covering events, really the top story is, at the moment, Lebanon.
This "El-Kudz" (ph) daily newspaper called -- describes the situation as a serious, dangerous escalation and the headline says that Israel has bombarded the headquarters of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, and that Hezbollah responded by hitting an Israeli warship off the coast of Beirut. But despite this obvious intense attention on the situation in Lebanon, the newspaper is fatter than usual not with political news but rather with news -- or rather notices of congratulations for Palestinian high school students who have just passed their high school exams. These young men and women here looking forward to going to college.
So not everyone, Betty, is concerned with the situation. They are also concerned about simple things like their futures -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, let's talk about those futures. And before I do, I just want to apologize for our viewers, Ben is coming in and out. Obviously, we are having some problems. This is coming to us via broadband. And as you know, strikes have been occurring in and around the area so bear with us.
But in the meantime, Ben, let me ask you about the conditions on the ground for regular Palestinians. What are they facing right now?
WEDEMAN: Well, you know, Betty, I have been coming to the Gaza Strip since 1994 and I have really have never seen conditions as bad as they are now. Several weeks ago, Israeli airplanes hit Gaza's only power plant. Now the only electricity reaching Gaza is coming from Israel itself, ironically, but it simply isn't enough for the demand for the 1.4 million Palestinians living here.
So much of the time there is no electricity. Only those who can afford generators have power. And without power, water pumps don't run, and therefore oftentimes there's no water coming out of the taps.
At the same time, the municipality doesn't seem to have the resources to collect garbage. It is piling up in the streets. Oftentimes people burn it to try to get rid of it, but it's really creating something of a health problem here. Rats are multiplying. In fact, one of my colleagues was having dinner the other night and several rats jumped on the table. And so these are the sort of problems that ordinary Palestinians are having to deal with, and is very, very difficult -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Goodness. As you can see, this crisis is escalating on so many different levels. Ben Wedeman joining us from Gaza City. Ben, thank you for that -- Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Israel pounded Beirut with a new round of airstrikes today. Among the targets, Hezbollah's headquarters.
CNN's Alessio Vinci is following developments in the Lebanese capital. He joins us with the very latest. Alessio, describe the scene where you are please.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, these latest round of attacks -- we just heard explosion within the last few minutes here in Beirut with, and we understand from Al Manar Hezbollah television that, indeed, again the southern suburb of Beirut has been hit. Now, that has been a steady target of the Israeli Air Forces as well as the gunship position off the coast of Lebanon. We have not heard planes flying overhead, suggesting perhaps that this time around it was, again, one of those boats that has fired on that area there in southern Beirut. Of course, that is also the headquarters of the Hezbollah militia here.
And you remember yesterday, after it was -- the offices and residents of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was hit, he come on television and basically declaring all-out war on Israel, and Israel, obviously, here responding in kind. We also understand that the strikes have continued throughout this country, in the north, in the east, as well as in the south.
Casualty figures here rising steadily by the hour. We're not at 84 people killed. All of them except two are believed to be a civilian. We're also getting reports that a mini van transporting 20 civilians has taken a direct hit by an Israeli strike. Of those 20 people on board, 15 have been killed.
So, obviously, all this is happening while Israel continues also to pound areas on the border between Lebanon and Syria including, we understand, the border crossing that is being used in the last few -- 24 hours by people who want to leave this country. That's the only open border crossing, obviously, since the international airport here has been closed.
And speaking of evacuations, we understand now that the U.S. embassy here and U.S. consulate here has begun planning the evacuation of some of the Americans here. There are 25,000 Americans in Lebanon.
Obviously, the State Department and the Pentagon have been working already for the last three or four days in contingency plans on how to possibly evacuate not only the embassy staff and their families, of course, but also the civilians and the Americans who are here, 25,000 in total.
It is a huge undertaking. It requires a huge amount of planning, of course, and that is what the State Department and the Pentagon, as well -- of course, in coordination with the U.S. embassy here -- are doing at this stage.
We understand that one of the plans would be perhaps to take some people to Cyprus. Now, obviously, the problem is, for those that don't know geography, is that between Lebanon and Cyprus there is the sea, so you have to fly them in there. How to fly people into this country when the airport is closed, that's a big problem.
We have heard in the past that the Americans have managed and the Lebanese have managed to reopen momentarily the airport. That's one possibility, but we're still in the planning stages, of course. Back to you, Tony.
HARRIS: OK, Alessio Vinci for us, following the developments on the ground in Lebanon from Beirut. Alessio, thank you.
NGUYEN: Israeli jets are also venturing north to Beirut toward Lebanon's second largest city, Tripoli. David Welch is the U.S. assistant secretary for near eastern affairs, and he joins us for an exclusive interview by phone from Tripoli.
First of all, let me ask you, you just arrived there, an area which had received a strike from Israel today. What are you doing right now? what will you be doing to stop the violence?
DAVID WELCH, ASST. SECY. NEAR EAST AFFAIRS: Hi, thank you for having me on your show. I'm in Tripoli, Libya, so unless there's any confusion I'm not in Tripoli, Lebanon.
NGUYEN: OK.
WELCH: I was in Israel until this morning, and had just come here for one day's business.
NGUYEN: So what is the U.S. policy right now? What is the U.S. doing to try to calm this situation, quell the violence?
WELCH: Well, first, the Hezbollah movement has captured two Israeli soldiers. We are, along with everybody else, demanding their release.
Second, this situation should be restored to a stable dynamic where on the Lebanese side, Lebanese forces are in charge of and controlling their frontier. That's what was happening on the Israeli side until this provocation by the Hezbollah militia where they crossed over into Israel, killed some soldiers and captured two.
This international border has to be respected. There are U.N. resolutions in place that require that, and we are calling for their observance. However, right now we have to acknowledge we're in the midst of a military campaign. There are strikes into Israel from Hezbollah rockets.
That points to the danger that this militia presents to innocent civilians on the Israeli side. And, of course, there are Israeli military actions underway in Lebanon designed to remove this threat from their border.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, though, Hezbollah had said that it is ready for open war, yet the Lebanese government is asking the U.S. and the U.N. to intervene. Where does the U.N. stand? I'm sorry, where does the U.S. stand on that?
WELCH: Well, that's exactly part of the problem. You have a government here that were it in their power would do the right thing. We're asking them to exercise their authority in this south, but they are unable to do so because this area is controlled by the Hezbollah militia.
It's important to understand there is a distinction between the government of Lebanon under its Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and this militia group. That matter is a subject of great concern to Arab governments. We're debating it right now in Cairo at the Arab League.
It's a subject of U.N. resolutions. Security Council Resolution 1559 points to the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon and that, in our mind, includes especially the Hezbollah militia. It's because you have that condition where a rogue element is allowed to do whatever it wants in a certain area of the country that you are now in this dangerous situation.
NGUYEN: Well, and let's talk about that danger. Are you fearful? Is the U.S. fearful that Israeli attacks could jeopardize and possibly topple this Lebanese government which is incapable of taking on Hezbollah?
WELCH: Well, as President Bush said the other day, one key concern of ours is that the government of Lebanon, which is democratically-elected, ought to remain in power. We are concerned about that. Frankly, I think Fouad Siniora, the prime minister, is doing a really good job under these very difficult circumstances. He and his colleagues in the government are trying to deal with something that's very difficult for them to control.
It is alarming to any government in that area, indeed to any government any place in the world where you have armed elements that decide that, whatever their reason, they are going to exert what is properly state authority on their own.
NGUYEN: OK, so that said, at what point do U.S. troops get involved?
WELCH: Well, we don't expect that that would happen. I mean, the Israelis are fully competent to defend themselves, which they are doing right now. I don't expect there's going to be any requirement for the United States forces.
There are U.N. forces present in southern Lebanon. They, too, have been hampered by restrictions placed upon their security because of the Hezbollah militia, and they are unable to adequately deploy in this area. Conceivably, that might be part of a solution to this problem down the road if there is goodwill and good intentions on all sides.
I think it's going to take, frankly, some time to establish that on the part of the militia that's operating in that area. There are some very alarming and dangerous statements coming out of the secretary-general of Hezbollah which indicate that they intend to continue their acts against Israel and in violation of international law.
NGUYEN: Well, in the meantime, there are Americans, some 25,000 Americans in Lebanon. What is the U.S. doing? We've heard all morning long that a plan is underway to get them out. At this moment, what do you know about that plan, and how soon will they get out of Lebanon?
WELCH: Well, our ambassador in Lebanon, Jeff Feltman, is organizing our contingency planning now to take care of American citizens, some of whom may be in danger. There are quite a number of Americans in Lebanon because, as you know, we have a big American- Lebanese community, and many are there for the summer. We've established a couple of helplines for people if they are overseas to call into. I can give you those numbers.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: We have those numbers. In fact, we'll be putting them up throughout the day. So at this point ...
WELCH: I would appreciate that because -- I would appreciate that.
NGUYEN: ... it seems like it's underway, there's no definite plan as of right now.
WELCH: Good. Well, we do have plans but, you know, frankly, I'm not going to announce them right now over the airwaves because there are certain security conditions that have been obtained in Lebanon we have to be concerned about.
NGUYEN: Understood.
WELCH: I'm confident that we can put together the help that's needed for our citizens.
NGUYEN: David Welch, the assistant secretary for near eastern affairs, we appreciate your time joining us today from Tripoli, Libya.
And for viewers with family and friends in the region, we do ask you to grab and pen and some paper. As we mentioned, we do have those numbers for you. If you have a loved one in Lebanon and you're watching us from overseas, call the U.S. State Department. Here's the number: 0-1-202-501-4444.
If you're here in the U.S., you can call 1-888-407-4747 for information, or you can access all of this on the Web, www.travelregistration.state.gov.
HARRIS: Now let's go live to old St. Petersburg, Russia, where the escalation in Mideast violence is affecting the start of the G-8 economic summit. President Bush and Russian President Putin talked about the crisis about five hours ago now.
White House correspondent Ed Henry is live at old St. Petersburg, and good day to you, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Tony. That's right, the Mideast crisis, obviously, moving near the top of the agenda here at the G-8 Summit, as you noted, a one-on-one meeting this morning between Presidents Bush and Putin. That was one of many issues they talked about, including Iran and North Korea as well.
The two leaders touted their friendship and said they hope that helps them build some unity on some of these thorny issues, but so far, it's some of their differences that are becoming a little more notable at the onset of these talks. During that one-on-one meeting today they did forge a deal on a global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism, but that was something that they had already put the pieces together on. They're just codifying it today. Meanwhile, they failed to reach agreement, at least so far, on Russia's entry to the World Trade Organization, but a senior administration official here insists that they are very, very close to a deal and they hope to have one not this weekend, but at least in the fall.
They're also touting their joint determination to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, but so far they have not been able to hammer out an agreement on U.N. language to sanction Iran.
And on the Mideast, Mr. Putin blamed both sides, saying the violence from Hezbollah is unacceptable but also saying he wants to make sure that Israel's reaction is, in his words, "balanced." In contrast, President Bush only focused his remarks on Hezbollah. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place. And that's because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel, and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. That's why we have violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Then there's a thorny issue. Then there's a thorny issue of whether or not Russia is backsliding on its move towards democracy. When Mr. Bush at a press conference noted Iraq's move toward democracy, Mr. Putin offered a pretty interesting jab. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country, you know, would hope that Russia would do the same thing. I fully understand, however, that there will be a Russian-style democracy.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, to tell you quite honestly.
BUSH: Just wait.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: You heard Mr. Bush there at the very end jump in. You heard Mr. Bush jump in with just wait, saying that progress in Iraq is coming. But Mr. Putin, obviously, not following the advice that Mr. Bush himself said he was taking as an approach to these talks.
Mr. Bush saying in recent days that he did not want to publicly chastise or scold Mr. Putin, instead wanting to air their differences behind closed doors. Clearly, Mr. Putin did not exactly follow that script -- Tony. HARRIS: Hard shot from a good friend, buddy, old Vlad. OK. Ed Henry for us. Ed, appreciate it.
And stay with CNN for the latest on this Mideast crisis. Oh, in about 10 minutes or so we will talk live with an expert on Islamic terror. We will bring his insights into today's developments.
NGUYEN: You want to stay tuned to CNN for more of our special coverage of this developing violence in the Mideast, including the overnight attacks in Gaza.
HARRIS: Expect live reports throughout the hour and all day long. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NAIDOO: We have more news out of the Middle East out of Lebanon. There have been several developments there in the past few hours, the latest one taking place about half an hour ago. That was an Israeli raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut. We can see these pictures are from a Lebanese private television station -- they were taken about half an hour ago -- of those planes hitting the southern suburbs in Beirut.
Israel is continued raids in other parts of Lebanon, as well. And for the first time, they have been hitting targets in the north of Lebanon. They hit a bridge near the town of Hermel. They also hit a road near that town as well.
They have also conducted a raid. The Israeli Defense Force has confirmed to CNN that it conducted a raid on the Syrian-Lebanese border crossing. The raid took place on the Lebanese side of that border crossing, the Israeli Defense Force saying that the reason they hit that target was to prevent weapons smuggling and also to prevent the possible movement of those two abducted Israeli soldiers back in -- rather into Syria.
Earlier on today, there was a mini bus attacked in central Lebanon, 15 people reported to have been killed after that mini bus was bombed. The Israeli Defense Force said that they were looking into that incident. Now, after four days of this violence, the death toll on both sides has reached almost 182 Lebanese, 13 Israelis.
Hezbollah continues its rocket attacks into northern Israel. They -- most of the attacks have been on the town of Nahariya, although one of those rockets reached Tabariya (ph), which is the further south that those rockets have reached. More developments as we get them here at the international desk. Now back to Tony and Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Anand.
Well besides the Middle East, we have another big story that we're following right here at CNN this morning, and that's the very large and extremely dangerous wildfire in Southern California's Yucca Valley. You can see all of it there, in the many pictures coming out of there. This could be a hot and brutal day for both fire crews and homeowners. This fire has grown. It's now 100 square miles in length. This is a huge fire.
HARRIS: That is huge.
NGUYEN: I want to get to CNN's Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center to talk about the seriousness of not only the weather conditions, but hopefully there's going to be some relief on the way sometime soon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Bonnie, we need to interrupt. We need to get to Paula Hancocks. We understand that rockets are being launched into Nahariya at this time. Paula, what can you tell us?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just in the past few minutes we've had at least four Katyusha rockets landing here in Nahariya. It's a town that was absolutely deserted up until when those rockets started falling. Immediately afterwards, people coming to the streets to see what happened.
Now, the rockets came from this direction. This is just next to the border -- about five, six miles up there is the Lebanese border. And this is the direction that these rockets have been coming from all day. It's been a very busy day rocket-wise here, but miraculously, there have been very few injuries and no casualties.
Now in the past few days, since Wednesday when this violence escalated, four Israelis have been killed and many more injured. There's been just down the road a couple of blocks away, there was some -- a super market destroyed just behind, though, some shops destroyed, as well. The reason there's very few casualties is because nobody is on the streets. The shops are shut.
The police have ordered on Friday many of these shops to shut because they were worried that the worry of this Katyusha rockets landing here was too much. Many people deciding not to come out. Many have bomb shelters from 20, 25 years ago and the police are suggesting people don't stay in outside areas. But there is a sense of anger as well as fear in this town.
The fact that they are in the line of fire many of them saying they don't believe, they don't agree with what the politicians are doing. They agree that there should be military action in Lebanon and Gaza and yet they are finding themselves in the line of fire. But at the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is still saying that this military action is going to continue.
HARRIS: Paula, we appreciate it. Thank you. The latest there in Nahariya as rockets are again being fired into Israel.
NGUYEN: It's been a really busy morning, not only that, but Israeli war planes have bombed the Lebanese-Syrian border on the Lebanese side of it and also an attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut. This just happening in the past 30 minutes not to mention those four rockets in Nahariya. So we're going to stay on top of all of this and bring it to you just as soon as it comes into CNN.
HARRIS: And as you know, we've deployed our resources all over this story. You're taking a look at the international desk now as our teams of reporters, analysts, Earl Casey right there, working this story from every conceivable angle. We're following at least nine Middle East television stations. We will continue to bring you the latest information on the other side of the break. You are watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The international desk there working hard on the story, all the news coming out of the Middle East. Now earlier this morning on CNN, we talked to White House counselor Dan Bartlett. He reiterated President Bush's remarks on the crisis in the Middle East.
He says Israelis have the right to defend themselves, but he also is calling on Israel to exercise restraint to make sure the Lebanese government does not collapse. The president has placed the blame for the escalation in violence squarely on the militants. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: The president has made very clear his position on this issue. First and foremost, it is important that we recognize why we're at the point we are in this conflict and that is because Hezbollah with the support it appears of Iran and Syria, attacked a sovereign nation. They went across their borders. They killed people. They took hostage soldiers. They've been lobbing rockets into civilian neighborhoods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Right now, the State Department is working on plans to get Americans trapped in Lebanon out safely. That is no simple task.
CNN's Gary Nurenberg joins us from Washington with the options. And Gary, no easy task, but in a conversation Betty just had a moment with David Welch, assistant secretary for near eastern affairs, it sounds like the planning is well under way.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, as you can tell from that conversation, it's a busy weekend for diplomats. The State Department issued a statement early this morning directed to the estimated 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, saying essentially we're trying to figure out how to get you out of there if you want to leave.
The department has said Americans should leave if they can. State says it's working with the Pentagon to determine the best way to get Americans from Lebanon to the island of Cyprus where they can get commercial flights home. It says flights from Cyprus offer the safest and most efficient way to leave and says it's working with airlines to make certain adequate flights will be available.
In the statement, the department says it will not provide free transportation, but will make loans to those who need them to travel. Military sources tell CNN the Defense Department is making contingency plans to evacuate Americans, plans complicated by the fact that Beirut's airport is essentially out of commission after Israeli bombing attacks.
Among the possible options, getting Lebanon's permission to fly into the country to evacuate American embassy workers and establishing a helicopter evacuation plan to shuttle Americans to United States ships. The statement says the department continues to quote, work around the clock to make plans and promises updates when those plans gel.
The State Department has information lines essentially for those who have loved ones in Lebanon. If you're watch hearing in the United States, the number is 888-407-4747, 888-407-4747 and elsewhere in the world 012025014444. Plans are still very much up in the air, Tony. When that changes, we'll let you know.
HARRIS: Great, Gary Nurenberg for us in Washington, Gary, thank you.
So more Israeli bombs rain on Lebanon, concerns are growing by the hour that the crisis in the Middle East could widen. We will continue to follow developments. We've got our international desk on the reporting on this.
Anand Naidoo is bringing it all together. You see there, Carolina, next to her Earl Casey and the rest of our team at the international desk. Journalists, interpreters, analysts bringing us the very latest and we will share it with you right after the break. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NAIDOO: Good morning from the international desk. You're looking at pictures -- we're get these pictures from al Jazeera. These are pictures of an Israeli raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut. These are live pictures that are being broadcast by al Jazeera television. The Arabic language television is broadcasting the pictures right now.
Israel conducted a raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut. That raid taking place just over 45 minutes ago, just over three-quarters of an hour ago. Israel has continued its raids across Lebanon and for the first time, it's hit targets in the north of the country. It hit a bridge near the town of Hermel. It also hit the border crossing point between Syria and Lebanon.
It hit the Lebanese side of that border crossing point. The Israeli Defense Forces confirming that attack to CNN, saying that the reason they had hit that particular target was to prevent weapons smuggling and to prevent the possible movement of those two abducted Israeli soldiers through that border point into Syria.
Now, Hezbollah has also been conducting attacks and the militants have been conducting attacks against Israeli targets in north Israel. About a dozen rockets were fired earlier today. There were no injuries reported. But just in the past half an hour, we've heard from our correspondent in the town of Nahariya that four more rockets have been targeted at that town. The town is in north Israel. We also heard earlier that one of the rockets reached the resort town of Tabariya. That would be the furthest south that one of those Katyusha rockets have reached.
Earlier on today, we also heard that correspondents or rather the Lebanese security forces reporting that an Israeli bombing raid had resulted in the deaths of 15 people who were traveling in a mini bus. That happened in central Israel, the Israelis telling us that they were investigating that particular incident.
Now the death toll from four days of violence there in Lebanon is almost a hundred. That's 82 Lebanese and 13 Israelis. We continue to monitor the developments here at the international desk. More details as we get them. Back to Tony and Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, some fast moving developments too.
Israel is trying to drive Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon and get back two captured Israeli soldiers. And it is keeping up its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza as well. CNN's Paula Newton is in Jerusalem and she joins us with the latest on all of this -- Paula.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Israeli Army now must fight on two fronts, both south as you mentioned in Gaza north with Lebanon and Hezbollah. What is going on here now is that people are trying to determine what the end game is for Israel and whether or not how, far into Lebanon they really think that they can go. What they are trying to do is create some type after a buffer zone so that these rockets that we have been discussing don't hit further south into Israel.
And unfortunately when you talk about short-range, medium-range and long-range missiles, this is really hitting the Israeli population. It's known and Hezbollah admits and Israeli military sources confirmed to us that there are more than 10,000 short range.
And those are the kind of missiles that we've been talking about in Nahariya, that our correspondents have been talking to us about. They come fast and furious throughout the day. Sometimes they cause minor damage. Sometimes they have been critically injuring Israelis. They are causing a lot of nervousness in those border towns.
At risk, though, now too are the port city of Haifa which is really a large population center and has a very large commercial port there, as well. What is truly concerning Israeli officials, though, is the intelligence that they tell us that they have that there are longer range missiles at play here that could possibly hit Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is Israel's commercial capital and Betty, there are people right now enjoying the Sabbath here, lying on the beach in Tel Aviv.
It really hasn't hit there so far in terms of that psychological barrier where people start to think this conflict is going to affect us but that may soon change. We had two rockets hit Haifa. If the Hezbollah is able to get even just one rocket into Tel Aviv, the entire mentality of this conflict will change as far as Israelis are concerned. Betty?
NGUYEN: That's a very good point there. Also to note that Nahariya just received within the past 20 minutes four rockets in that area. Paula Newton joining us from Jerusalem this morning. Paula, we'll be speaking with you throughout the day. Thank you.
HARRIS: Well, so much is happening in the Middle East so quickly. Let's turn to an expert on Islamic terrorism and regional security. Dr. Mamoun Fandy is the director of the Middle East program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the author of "America and the Arab World after September 11" and he joins us from London. Mamoun, good to see you again. Thanks for taking the time.
MAMOUN FANDY, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: Good to see you.
HARRIS: Let me just get your general impressions of where we are, the fourth day of this activity now. Give us a general overview.
FANDY: Well, a general overview is that there are some significant things that we have seen this time around of conflict. This is for the first time that the Arab states, major Arab states do not give cover to Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia called Hezbollah's action reckless.
Egypt and Jordan meeting yesterday in Cairo also decided that this is reckless action, that Hezbollah alone should bear the responsibility for it. Remember Lebanon is not Palestine. Hezbollah is not the Palestinians. They do not reverberate in the same way in the Arab world. So Hezbollah is now without a political cover in the Arab world and Israel has a free hand to actually break Hezbollah.
HARRIS: That was my next question. Is it your belief that the other Arab countries will stand on the sideline as Israel goes about its stated goal which is wiping Hezbollah off the map?
FANDY: It looks like it. I think basically if the Saudis and Egyptians and the Jordanians give way, then the whole picture looks different. That's really kind of a Shia war with Israel. It is Hezbollah, Iran and Syria. These are practically bound together by the Shia faith and these are the one who are in confrontation with Israel.
The Sunni states decided not to take part in that conflict. So in that sense, Israel would not feel the pressure from major players, especially Egypt to undermine Hezbollah. It's in their interest, also that Hezbollah would be undermined because they want to see a Lebanese state that's viable and Democratic.
HARRIS: Do you share the concerns of some that the continued action militarily by Israel in Lebanon will destabilize this young sort of fledgling democracy?
FANDY: Certainly. I mean you're walking a fine line. Hezbollah is really embedded in the Lebanese state. So you cannot really tear down Hezbollah without tearing down also that nascent democracy. Lebanon is very much -- I mean the Hezbollah swallowed the Lebanese states. They are more powerful. They have the guns. They have the men. And I think still the Lebanese state is very weak. So it's a real possibility that it would undermine the nascent democracy, Lebanon.
HARRIS: What is going to happen to Iran and Syria for its meddling in this?
FANDY: I mean, there are two scenarios here. We might think that this is what's taken place, is just a dust and a fog over Lebanon and Gaza. Then you will see a squadron of Israeli planes just doing their job by really hitting the nuclear reactors in Iran and that's a strategic objective for Israel, because certainly it threatens its survival.
So it might be the attack on Hezbollah or in Hamas and Palestine. It is a tactical choice, but actually the strategic option is take care of the nuclear facilities in Iran. Iran certainly and Syria will react and this is where the whole region could be thrown into a wider war.
HARRIS: Dr. Mamoun Fandy, always great to talk to you. Thank you.
FANDY: Thank you very much.
NGUYEN: We are continuing to follow all of these developments in this escalating crisis in the Mideast including those 25 Americans who are in Lebanon as we speak. As you know the U.S. State Department is working on a plan to get them out. And one of those people includes a woman from Corpus Christi, Texas. She is going to be speaking with us over the phone right after this break about the situation there and what she is doing to try to get out of Lebanon, so you want to stick with CNN. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
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NGUYEN: We are continuing to follow the fast moving developments out of the Middle East, including Americans who are stuck in Lebanon, Americans who are trying to make it back home. The U.S. State Department is working on a plan as we speak, but in the meantime, people like Caroline Shamoun is in Lebanon.
She specifically is in the city of Zalee (ph), which is the Bekaa Valley which is in eastern Lebanon and she joins us by phone. Carol, I know you're from Corpus Christi. First of all, tell us what you have heard and seen since you've been in Lebanon just in these past few hours.
VOICE OF CAROLINE SHAMOUN, AMERICAN STRANDED IN LEBANON: I'm sorry. Can you ask me again?
NGUYEN: Yes. Tell me what you have heard and seen, especially with all the air strikes that have occurred within the last few hours. What have you been experiencing?
SHAMOUN: Everything that we have been seeing and hearing that there's a bombing south Lebanon, really bad and then we were here in the valley and we were standing on the balcony. We saw smoke and we hear bombings in the Bekaa Valley, too. And it's been very scary. We are being nervous. We don't know what to do especially for American. Me and my two kids and a have a brother from Birmingham, Alabama and he has four kids and his wife, she's American. We're all afraid. We don't know what to do here.
NGUYEN: I want to ask you about that because the U.S. State Department is working on a plan to get Americans, some 25,000 out of Lebanon. But in the meantime, are you getting any kind of word of what to do, where to go until an evacuation has been detailed?
SHAMOUN: I call -- we called the embassy a couple times and they just recommend to stay where we are and register on the Internet to be sure where are we and they were telling us just keep watching the news and be ready. We're packed, but we don't know when they are going to call out and contact us what to tell us what to do.
NGUYEN: The good news is that you do have access to a television and you are registering online to get that information out there when an evacuation plan is in effect. In the meantime, are you seeking shelter? What are you doing to stay out of the line of fire?
SHAMOUN: Well, where we are we don't have -- they are not bombing this city exactly. But we are afraid to travel, to go around. We are worried. We can't leave this town. We could just hang around at home or we could go out to the balcony. It's not as dangerous as in the south Lebanon. But it's still very scary because they might just start bombing us here, too. We don't know what is going to happen.
My brother supposed to leave next week. Now he's losing his ticket. He doesn't know what to do. He have a business there. And I have my husband in Corpus. We don't know when we are going to be able to leave. We don't know nothing. The only thing they told us to be ready and pack this way if they contact us we should leave probably to Beirut to get in the boat or airplane, I don't know and just leave the country. We're waiting for that.
NGUYEN: The key right now is to stay safe and wait for word for the U.S. State Department on an evacuation plan. I know you're really looking forward to getting home to Corpus Christi just as safe as possible and just as soon as possible and we wish you the very best. Thank you for your time today.
SHAMOUN: Thank you.
HARRIS: A quick break. We'll be back with more of CNN SATURDAY MORNING right after this.
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