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CNN Saturday Morning News

Middle East Crisis; Bush, Putin Meet

Aired July 15, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We are following breaking news out of the Middle East this morning.
New attacks near the Syrian border. More bombs in Beirut, more rockets fired into Israel and President Bush sends a message to militants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It is Saturday, July 15th.

And good morning, everyone.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

Let's get straight to it.

We begin with the latest on the crisis in the Middle East.

Here is what we know right now.

Israel's air offensive over Lebanon expanded today, hitting targets farther north and also hitting the Lebanese side of the Syrian-Lebanon border. Israel says it is trying to prevent the smuggling of weapons and also to head off the chance that two abducted Israeli soldiers might be taken into Syria.

Now, Lebanese security sources say one Israeli air strike hit a minibus carrying civilians and it killed at least 15 people on that bus. Israeli authorities say they are checking out that report.

Also today, Israeli military officials say they have found the body of one sailor. He was killed in yesterday's Hezbollah missile attack on an Israeli warship off the Lebanese coast. Three other Israeli sailors are still missing.

And we here at CNN have reporters watching developments from every single angle across the Middle East.

John Vause is in Nahariya, Israel; Alessio Vinci in Beirut; Aneesh Raman in Damascus, Syria; Ben Wedeman in Gaza; and Paula Newton in Jerusalem.

But first, let's take a look at that what's happening in the skies.

HARRIS: The air war over Lebanon shows no signs of letting up. Israel has pounded Hezbollah targets in the south, along with roads and bridges in the north. And the battle is moving ever closer to Syria. Also, Israel targeted Beirut with at least four more air strikes.

CNN's Alessio Vinci is there -- Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Tony.

Well, the last of these four air strikes, we just heard it about 20, 25 minutes ago, again, targeting the southern suburb of Beirut. Again, a Hezbollah stronghold. It's there where Hezbollah has its widest support. It is there that the leader of the Hezbollah movement, militia group, Hassan Nasrallah, used to live and work.

But we understand, of course, that he is no longer there, at least not for the time being, since that area of Beirut is under heavy bombardment. We're becoming, really becoming accustomed here to repeated strikes coming basically every hour or so.

The Israelis, as you said, are targeting several areas throughout this country. In the north and in the east of the country, they're specifically trying to bomb bridges, roads, to prevent the movement of supplies, of course, and possibly the movement, also, of personnel, and Hezbollah personnel.

To the south, there are, I understand, heavy bombardments, bombardments there, as well. And in particular we heard today that a minivan transporting 15 civilians, 20 civilians, as you say, has been hit. It took a direct hit. As a result of that attack, 15 civilians have been killed. That is the latest report we have from here as of a few hours ago.

We understand that that minivan actually was leaving the coastal area, going toward the inland, tried to make a stop over at a U.N. base down there. They were turned back. The minivan continued and that's when they took a direct hit.

We also understand that the Israeli Air Force has bombarded the area close to the Syria border, actually the border there where most of the people are trying to get out from Lebanon.

As you know, the airport is closed. There is a sea blockade. The only way out for most of the people is actually the border with Syria. That area there also under heavy bombardment.

Clearly, here, the Israelis trying to enforce a tight noose around Lebanon from the air, the sea and the land -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK, CNN's Alessio Vinci for us on the ground in Beirut.

Alessio, thank you.

NGUYEN: there is more happening by the minute here.

Just getting news that Israeli warplanes destroy a Beirut office of a Hamas leader.

Let's get the latest on all of this from CNN's Anand Naidoo, who is at the International Desk -- Anand, what do you know?

ANAND NAIDOO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, thanks a lot.

Just to add to what Alessio Vinci was telling us just now, those Israeli attacks in the -- on the southern suburbs of Beirut were actually targeting the headquarters of the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. And as you mentioned just now, those attacks also targeted the Beirut office of the leader of Hamas. Hamas, of course, is the Palestinian party in Gaza.

It targeted the Hamas leader Muhammed Nazal's headquarters in Beirut.

Now, the Israelis also -- sorry, earlier on, the Israelis reported that there were four rockets that landed in the town of Nasiriyah. That's a town which is in northern Israel. These rockets have been fired by Hezbollah militants on the Lebanese side of the border. There were no reports of any injuries, though these latest attacks on Nasiriyah follow earlier attacks earlier in the day. There were a dozen rockets that were fired on Nasiriyah. And there were no attacks reported. In fact, most of the streets of Nasiriyah are completely quiet, people having got out of harm's way.

Now, we're looking at some live pictures. These are pictures of the southern suburbs of Beirut. We are continuing to monitor at least nine Arabic language television stations here.

This is -- these pictures coming to us live from Lebanese television. They are pictures of that Israeli raid which took place about an hour ago on the southern suburbs of Beirut, as I had mentioned.

They targeted the offices of the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, as well as the Beirut office of the Hamas leader.

The Israeli raids on Lebanon continued in the northern part of the country, as well. This is the first time they've been actually hitting targeting in the north of the country. They hit a bridge near the town of Hermel; also a road near that part, near that town. And they also hit a target which was on the Syrian-Lebanese border. They hit the Lebanese side of that border crossing. And the Syrians confirm that there was no attack on their side of the border. They said that no installations, civilian or military, have been hit. But the Lebanese, a Lebanese official confirmed to CNN, as well, that there was an attack at that border crossing point.

These fast-moving developments took place in the last few hours.

We're continuing to monitor developments and here and we'll bring you the latest as we get them -- back to Tony and Betty.

HARRIS: OK.

Anand Naidoo, thank you.

As we mentioned at the top, our correspondents are all over the region, covering every angle and every perspective on this story.

Let's get the view now from Jerusalem and CNN's Paula Hancocks -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here in Nasiriyah, just on the northern Israeli-Lebanese border, about five kilometers -- five miles down.

And we've had a tremendous amount of Katusha rockets landing in this very populated area in the past couple of hours.

Now, we've seen very few casualties in this area, as there are no people on the streets. The only people you see on the streets, really, are journalists. Most people are staying in their homes.

Now, we're also having a siren of every two hours in the evening sleep (AUDIO GAP) trying to tell people in adjacent areas as most of the Katusha rockets have hit open areas. But we have also had some this afternoon hitting shops, one hitting very close to a supermarket. Few casualties though, because these shops are shut today because it is the Sabbath, but also because police have been telling people to stay at home.

Most people here have their own bomb shelter, or at least their own basement that many of them are staying in, because even though these Katusha rockets do not inflict the casualties that we're seeing in Lebanon, they are inflicting a tremendous amount of fear among the Israeli people.

Many are trying to head further south to get out of the range of these rockets. Many are going to Tel Aviv, although we have heard from (AUDIO GAP) force now that they believe Hezbollah may have the capability to hit Tel Aviv. They believe they may long-range rockets given to them by Iran, that they may be able to hit Israel's most populous city -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

And, Paula, just so that we have our bearings on the region again, how many miles between the southern border of Lebanon and Nahariya, where you are right now?

HANCOCKS: It's about five or six miles as the crow flies. And it's very close to the (AUDIO GAP) you can hear the artillery from the Israeli side. But as you can also hear across the northern border of Israel the different Katusha rockets that are landing. They're landing in all the major cities in this northern area. With know more than 300, well over 300, have been launched in just the last couple of days alone.

HARRIS: OK.

Paula Hancocks for us in Nahariya.

Paula, we appreciate it.

Thank you.

The crisis in the Middle East is a worrisome issue for President Bush and other world leaders as they gather for the G8 European summit. The meeting gets underway just a short time from now in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Just ahead of the summit, Mr. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the escalating violence. The Russian leader has some strong words for both Israel and Hezbollah. But Mr. Bush placed the blame on the militant group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: 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.

The best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking. And therefore I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hezbollah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: White House Counsel Dan Bartlett is also in St. Petersburg for the G8 summit.

He spoke with us earlier today about the U.S. position on the Middle East crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: Well, the president has made very clear his position on this issue. And 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 have been lobbing rockets into civilian neighborhoods.

So it's important that we understand from the start. And the international community and key partners in the region like the Saudis have all recognized that Hezbollah is the reason why we are here. We're making it very clear to the Israeli government that while we recognize that they have a right to defend themselves, that they also have to exercise some restraint, to make sure that we do not jeopardize or collapse the Lebanese government there in Beirut.

So it's something that we have been very clear about both privately and publicly, and we'll continue to express those concerns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The G8 summit draws to a close three days from now.

NGUYEN: Well, we want to go on the phone now to CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.

He is on the phone from the Lebanese town of Sidon -- and, Nic, I understand the Israeli forces are dropping leaflets in that area.

Is that correct?

NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Betty, they are.

The town was absolutely deserted when we arrived. The bridges linking it along the main highway north to Beirut have been destroyed. What would normally be a 20 or 30 minute drive down here took two hours driving through the mountains.

But when the leaflets -- and I'm hearing some bursts, air bursts in the air here amount. It sounds like anti-aircraft gunfire. When those leaflets were dropped, children and grownups came out running onto the streets.

The leaflets read, "Is the resistance, Hezbollah, helping Lebanon?" And then after that, the line under said: "The resistance, Hezbollah, is destroying Lebanon!"

And I'm hearing aircraft in the air, in the skies overhead.

There was a picture on the leaflet, a picture of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. That picture was drawn to depict him as a serpent, a very derogatory image for many people here.

That was -- those were the leaflets that were being dropped, essentially telling the Lebanese people that Hezbollah is not acting in their interests, that it is destroying Lebanon. The pictures were dropped right over this coastal town and the leaflets drifted in with the air. And so that they fell all across the town of Sidon -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, what is reaction when people pick that leaflet up? What are they saying? What are they doing?

ROBERTSON: Their reaction is this is just Israeli propaganda. They really don't pay any attention to it, although people did fold it up. They didn't screw it up and throw it away. They didn't ignore it. They folded it up and some took it with them. So I think people here are reading it. They're reading it with interest. This town, apart from having the bridges linking it to Beirut to the north and other towns to the south blown up, this morning the town was targeted, or two gas stations on the outskirts of the town were targeted, a gas station to the north; a gas station to the south blown up. In that gas station, one person was killed and three people wounded, according to medical -- Red Cross -- Lebanese Red Cross officials inside the town here.

But there is a lot of concern about the town being isolated, about the town being cut off. But people I spoke to, when they read the leaflet, didn't appear as if this was going to change their opinion -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Nic, I can hear firing in the background.

Describe to me exactly where you are and what you're seeing and what's going on.

ROBERTSON: Well, we are right down on the seafront in the town of Sidon. We're outside one of their medical facilities where the ambulances are dispatched from to go and treat the wounded. What I am hearing are bursts -- gunfire bursts in the sky. I did hear some aircraft flying over a few minutes ago. It's clear skies. There are some clouds, but I'm not seeing any aircraft at the moment.

It has been relatively quiet since we arrived in the town. There are some Lebanese ARMY soldiers driving around the town. A truckload just passed right now.

The atmosphere on the streets has been very, very quiet. Very few people around. There's a little bit of traffic right now right where we're standing on this street. But I think a lot of people, from what we have -- from the people we have spoken to -- are worried about what's going to happen next. They do fear that this situation is escalating and getting worse -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Nic Robertson joining us on the phone from the Lebanese town of Sidon.

Thank you for that update, Nic.

HARRIS: And, Betty, I understand we're getting some new video into CNN.

Let's get you back to the International Desk and Anand Naidoo -- Anand.

NAIDOO: Hi.

Good morning again from the International Desk, Tony.

There have been several developments. And the story so fast- moving. There have been several developments in the past hour. We -- the Israelis have conducted another raid, and this one on the southern suburbs of Beirut. We know that the raid was targeting the headquarters of the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. It also targeted a headquarters of the Hamas leader, who is in Beirut, Muhammed Nazal.

But we have just heard in the past few minutes that he is safe, although his house had been hit.

We're also hearing that Israeli planes have been dropping pamphlets or leaflets on the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiya. That's a Hezbollah stronghold. And I want to call our -- well, we'll get our CNN senior Arab affairs editor, Octavia Nasr, over here in just a moment to tell us more about those pamphlets.

Earlier on, Hezbollah conducted -- continued their attacks on Israeli targets south of the border. They hit the town of Nahariya. Four rockets were fired at that town. There are no injuries. In fact, there are no people on the streets of Nahariya. They have got out of harm's way.

This latest attack on Nahariya follows an earlier attack. There were 12 rockets, a dozen rockets, that were fired on that town earlier today. And we're hearing just in the past few minutes that there has been a second barrage of rocket attacks. This -- these rocket attacks on the Israeli resort city of Tiberius. Tiberius, of course, is on the Sea of Galilee coast.

We're hearing that there's been a second barrage of rockets that has hit this town.

The Israeli raids on Lebanon continued throughout the day. They hit targets, bridges and roads in the northern part of the country. And they hit Hezbollah targets in the south of the country. They also hit a border crossing point on the Syrian-Lebanese border. They hit the Lebanese side of that border crossing. The Israelis telling us that the reason for that attack was to prevent the smuggling of weapons and also to prevent those two abducted Israeli soldiers from being moved out of Lebanon into Syria.

Like I mentioned earlier on, the Israeli Defense Forces have now been dropping pamphlets or leaflets on Nabatiya, which is in Southern Lebanon.

I'm going to try and get more information on that now and turn to our Arab affairs editor, Octavia Nasr -- Octavia, if you could join me for a minute, please.

We've just been reporting these pamphlets that have been dropped by Israeli planes on Nabatiya.

What else do we know about it?

NASR: Well, what we do know -- I mean this is not the first time that Israel has dropped leaflets, you know? Yesterday and the day before yesterday they dropped leaflets telling people to leave all the areas of Hezbollah control.

Today, these leaflets that I looked at now, they say -- basically they have like a proverb saying: "in the face a brother, in the back, a snake." They're telling people about Hezbollah, that Hezbollah is not really your friend, it's not really your brother, in the back it's a snake. It doesn't want your well being.

What we did see what was interesting is some television stations showed video of people getting the leaflets, tearing them and saying we don't believe Israel, we are going to do what we want, which is support Hezbollah, while others are basically looking at the leaflets and thinking about it.

NAIDOO: But this has happened before? this is not the first time the Israelis are doing this?

NASR: it is the first time that they used this tactic. You know, like before, the leaflets were used to warn people, to tell them to get out, to get out of harm's way, which is what they did yesterday. And they were very clear. They said stay away from Hezbollah headquarters. So people knew that what's coming was going to be really harsh, you know, a harsh attack, which is what we're seeing today, basically, very targeted attacks.

And if you look at the areas that are being attacked, Hezbollah is obviously the target.

Now, the problem with that is that the Hezbollah headquarters are in the middle of overpopulated areas, not just populated, overpopulated. These -- we're talking about small streets, maybe like a two way street barely, tall buildings, maybe like 10, 12 stories high, each story housing maybe at least two apartments, sometimes three or four.

So you're talking about a lot of people living in those quarters.

So when you see, you know, when you look at the images that we're showing, this is a -- what you're looking at here is the southern suburb of Beirut, which is called Dariya in Arabic, which means the suburb. But when you say Dariya in Lebanon, everybody knows that this is the Hezbollah area. And this is what you're looking at.

So targeting one house or one headquarters in there is really going to damage and a hurt a lot of people around.

NAIDOO: And, of course, runs the risk of injuring or killing many, many civilians, as well.

NASR: Sure.

NAIDOO: Octavia, thanks a lot.

NASR: Sure thing.

NAIDOO: Octavia Nasr there, our senior Arab affairs editor.

And her team monitoring developments in the Middle East.

They are watching nine television stations, Arabic language television stations, to tell us what is being reported in the Middle East, to give is a better perspective and more context for what is happening in Lebanon. That's the latest from the International Desk.

Now back to Tony and Betty.

HARRIS: That's good work. That's good work.

Thank you.

NGUYEN: Yes, very good work.

And, of course, we will be checking in with you.

You want to stay tuned to CNN for the latest on the violence in the Middle East, as well as the war in Iraq.

John Roberts hosts THIS WEEK AT WAR.

That is coming up at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

And, of course, our coverage does continue, including how this crisis can hit you at home.

Stay with CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Now an update on the crisis in the Middle East.

Israel today expanded its air offensive over Lebanon to include targets father north and the Lebanese side of the Syrian-Lebanon border. Israeli authorities say they are checking out reports an Israeli air strike hit a minibus, killing at least 15 civilians. And Israeli military officials have found the body of a sailor killed in yesterday's Hezbollah missile attack on an Israeli warship.

Three other Israeli soldiers are still missing at this hour.

Now, in a CNN interview, we asked the U.S. assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs whether U.S. forces, or even other forces, may be drawn into this conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. DAVID WELCH, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS: 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 United States forces. There are U.N. forces present in Southern Lebanon and they, too, have been hampered by restrictions placed upon their security because of the Hezbollah militia. And they're unable to adequately deploy in this area. Conceivably that might be part of a solution to this problem down the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK.

We want to show you live pictures now.

We will attribute the source of these pictures in just a moment.

But once again, as you can see, there is a reporter there in the middle of a live shot right now reporting on new action, another attack, a fresh attack in Lebanon.

All right, once again, as we follow the breaking developments in this story, you have a picture on the left of your screen that shows you smoke and some of the damage. And on the right you see a reporter in the middle of a live shot right now describing what looks to be a new attack in Beirut, Lebanon.

Again, we will continue to follow the developments on this story.

Our International Desk hard at work on this.

And Anand Naidoo handling it all and bringing it all together and putting it into context for us.

More developments as they become available to us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know where to turn. I mean we came to you because we didn't have any other choice. It seems that we -- we can't take people when it's hurry up and wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Americans stuck in Beirut -- their families scramble to get their loved ones home.

That story, when we come right back.

You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We have some breaking news to tell you about.

There are some new casualties to report to you out of Tyre, Lebanon.

Let's go straight to CNN's Anand Naidoo at the International Desk with the latest on that -- what do you know?

NAIDOO: Good morning again from the International Desk, Betty.

Yes, there have been new attacks in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well. Those attacks taking place just over an hour ago. Now, Tyre is a port city which is in Southern Lebanon. Israeli airplanes attacked that port city earlier on. In one incident, they hit a van or a truck. There were some 17 people in that truck that were fleeing from their village.

Among those 17 people were eight children.

We are looking at pictures there of the hospital in Tyre where these -- where the injured -- injured and the dead were taken. These pictures coming to us from an Arabic language television station in Lebanon.

This attack on Tyre taking place earlier today.

Now, the Israelis have also launched what would appear to be the opening salvos in another kind of war, the war for hearts and minds.

Joining me now to tell you more about that is our senior Arab affairs editor, Octavia Nasr -- Octavia, the Israelis are now dropping pamphlets on Nabatiya, which is in Southern Lebanon.

NASR: Right. In other parts of South Lebanon, really, they're dropping leaflets, pamphlets that are calling basically for people not to support Hezbollah, trying to portray Hezbollah as the enemy of the people of the south. Actually, they're using a proverb saying: "in the face a brother, in the back a snake."

So basically trying to describe Hezbollah as double-faced, basically looking like a brother, but in the back they're not going to be good for you.

And the interesting thing is how TV stations are dealing with this, you know? New TV (ph), for example, which we were showing earlier, they're showing people getting those leaflets and tearing them, basically totally not accepting the message that Israel is sending them. While others are basically looking at them, trying to get a message.

Now, very important to say that as you saw in those images of the injured in Tyre, I mean people are being targeted and roads are closed. Their bridges are destroyed. There is no way to help people, to bring in supplies for them or to get them out to safety.

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, Israel threw leaflets to people telling them to get out and to stay away from Hezbollah areas and Hezbollah headquarters and centers. So it's interesting how Israel is on the move here, sending messages through those leaflets. This is -- and these leaflets are in Arabic. So basically they're speaking the language of the people, trying to convey their message to them.

NAIDOO: But, of course, that's a very difficult thing, because these targets that the Israelis are hitting are in very heavily populated areas and the headquarters, say, of Hezbollah, and the heavily populated areas aren't one and the same?

NASR: No. And that's -- that's really the biggest dilemma. You know, when you look at these images, I mean people who are being injured, they're being killed in these attacks, it's very understandable. I mean there is no way that people can survive these attacks because, you know, if the headquarters or the office of one of the Hezbollah leaders is in a building, well, that building has several stories, sometimes 10, 12, 14 stories. Each floor has at least two apartments; some of them have three or four apartments. That's a lot of people living in those areas.

And the attacks are not just targeting the leaders, the Hezbollah leaders, but they're also killing and injuring and maiming some Lebanese civilians in the process. So that is the biggest dilemma. And of course, you look at, when you watch CNN air, we're not getting a lot of images of casualties, not much images from hospitals because the situation is so dangerous right now. Camera crews, TV crews cannot really walk around during a raid. Lebanon is so small and that area that is being targeted is so tiny and so concentrated. It is the southern suburb of Beirut. So it's a tiny area within Beirut itself. They do have hospitals there. The news coming out is that people are being rushed to hospitals. But we don't have pictures of those -- of those injured in hospitals.

What you're looking at now, this is a live picture from a new TV. Actually, on the left hand side of the screen, you are looking at these leaflets that we were talking about earlier. It says the resistance protects -- I can't read the last word. Basically the resistance is the reference to Hezbollah. You see people there picking up those leaflets, looking at them. You're going to see them tear them and basically totally disregard the message that Israel is trying to send them. You see they're looking at them. There you go. They're tearing them apart saying you know, and basically if you hear them, because I heard them earlier saying we're not going to believe what Israel is telling us. They still believe strongly in Hezbollah and they see it as definitely a source, you know, of resistance.

When we're looking at these images here, let me explain a little bit to our viewers, you're looking at four separate stations, Arab stations that we're monitoring. Let's start here on the right-hand -- on the top right-hand corner of the screen, this is New TV. This is basically a pro-Hezbollah TV station in Lebanon, New TV right here. Right next to it is LBC. This is the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. This is a Christian television network that is an independent television network and basically while New TV is focusing on a live picture of the latest raid on the suburb, the southern suburb of Beirut, LBC is going with -- right here in the bottom right- hand screen, we're looking at Monard (ph) TV. Monard TV is the Hezbollah television station. It is important to say, Monard TV is banned in the United States. It is banned in the European Union. Last year, there were orders by the U.S. government and European Union to not carry Monard TV anywhere. So here, you know, we are showing it because we are following the news. Monard TV is reporting, it's giving us all the details about Hezbollah, what they're doing, where they are in this conflict. And right here on the left-hand corner, you're looking at I believe this is -- I don't want to say -- this is al Jazeera. Right, thank you for taking that banner off. This is al Jazeera television, the 24-hour news network based in Doha and basically, they are in the middle of a newscast right now. You can see here all the way at the bottom of the screen, they have Lebanon under siege. That's the headline of their coverage at this point.

ANAND NAIDOO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Great Octavia, thank you very much. Our senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr talking to us there. Just Tony and Betty, one other item coming to us out of the region, and that is AP quoting witnesses as saying that Israeli helicopter gun ships have fired rockets on the northern Lebanese port city of -- or parts of that city of Tripoli. These are Israeli helicopter gun ships firing rockets on Tripoli. We'll get more details on that and bring that to you. Back to Tony and Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot is happening and very quickly and in the midst of all of this, Americans are stranded in Lebanon, some 25,000 in the area, and the U.S. State Department is working on trying to get them out and to safety just as quick as possible. One of those stranded is Caroline Shamoun, She is in Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley. She joins us on the phone. Caroline, we've been talking about the different shellings that have been going on and the fact that leaflets have been dropped from the air, as well. What is the situation where you are? What have you seen and heard in the past few hours?

CAROLINE SHAMOUN, AMERICAN STRANDED IN LEBANON: Well, we've been hearing that there have been bombings, south Lebanon and there have been bombing from location in the Bekaa Valley. I'm in the Bekaa Valley. And we go out on the balcony, we could see that. Everybody's afraid. Everybody's scared. We don't know what to do, especially that we have American passports, me and my two boys and I have my brother and his wife, she's American. And he has four kids with him here. We're stuck. We don't know what to do. We just wondering if we're going to get any help. And there's a lot of other American people around in some resorts in (INAUDIBLE). There's a lot of American people, they're renting chalets and condominium there, and they are afraid. We don't know what to do.

NGUYEN: There is a lot of fear going on right now. You are from Corpus Christi, Texas. Obviously you want to get home just as safely and as quickly as possible. What have you heard from the American embassy, from the State Department about the plan to evacuate Americans just like yourself?

SHAMOUN: I called them several times. The main thing they mentioned, just to stay where we are and be ready. And sign on the Internet and most of the people, they all did that here, but we don't know what to do. And some people, they don't have access on the Internet at home. So we've been wondering if we're going to hear from them if we don't have the access at home. But we did sign on the Internet our names and our kids' names. But we still worry what to do. We don't know exactly what to do. We're waiting for some support.

NGUYEN: The key is to get registered. There's phone numbers that people can call as well. We're going to put that up during the show to make sure that the U.S. State Department knows where you are. So when this evacuation plan goes into effect, you are ready and you will be among those who will be led out of Lebanon. Caroline, safe passage to you, best of luck to you. Of course, we're going to be keeping in touch and stay tuned as we have the latest on what that evacuation plan is. Thank you for your time.

HARRIS: You can hear the anxiety, the fear and everything in her voice.

Along with the offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli forces continue their operations in Gaza against Hamas. CNN's Ben Wedeman is there and he joins us live now with the very latest. Ben and what is the latest there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, it's been a relatively quiet day in Gaza. In the early hours of the morning, Israeli rockets hit the Palestinian economics ministry. And just a few hours later, another three-story house was hit just north of here in Gaza City. In that instance, one Hamas militant was killed, according to Palestinian security sources. Eight other people were wounded, including a woman and two children. Now, we're on a corner here in Gaza City just below our office, which is nine floors above and we just want to give you a feeling for what it's like here. I'm going to cross the street here. But before actually I go, let me just step out of the way and show you -- I've been talking about some of the garbage that's been piling up in Gaza City because of the current crisis. In this particular area, there was a huge line of black garbage bags in the middle of the road but local merchants got together and had it hauled away.

This mounting garbage problem is causing some concern. There's been an outbreak of rats in the city. In fact, one of my colleagues was having dinner the other night and had some rats jump on her dinner table. I'm just going to cross the street here. Today it's actually relatively quiet, Tony with the exception of course, of those air strikes. This corner in particular, excuse me, has been the scene of clashes in the past between rival Palestinian gunmen. Fortunately, today, it's relatively quiet.

Now, just to give you an idea, the -- one of the problems we've had recently, of course, is electricity outages. There have been -- the Israelis just a few weeks ago hit Gaza's only power plant. In that instance, almost all the electricity was cut. Now electricity is also coming from Israel but it's not enough to meet demand. So what people do, for instance, like that bakery across the street has a generator out there to keep them in business. Other storekeepers work by candlelight. In fact if you just follow me here, I'll introduce you to one man, we go to to buy our essential supplies. This is Mr. Munza Zaled (ph). I'm just going to step in here.

MUNZA ZALED: Talk about election. I talking about election.

First, Mr. Munza -- I think people are very interested in knowing just what are conditions like here in Gaza for you? How is business?

MUNZA: My business is very bad here in Gaza. There is no business.

WEDEMAN: Why?

MUNZA: Because it's closed between us and Israel. There is no money. There is no jobs. There is nothing. They're asking about the election here, the democratic election. We are making election here in Gaza. Hamas win. When the Hamas win, they refuse - Hamas. They're fighting Hamas, not just Americans, Israel. Also Arab countries (INAUDIBLE)

WEDEMAN: OK, Mr. Munza, now of course, at the moment, there's active battles going on in Lebanon. We've had here in Gaza some serious fighting. How do you see it? How do you see the situation in Lebanon and here in Gaza?

MUNZA: The situation in Lebanon like here in Gaza, because there is Hezbollah, wanted prisoner from Israel. Israel fighting Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon. Like Gaza, directly like Gaza, the situation in Lebanon, now it's very bad. Bridges is broken and the airport is destroyed. Everything, everything in Lebanon is destroyed now. The life is destroyed in Lebanon. Israel wants so after Lebanon, Syria. They fight with Syria. After when they do this, I expect so.

WEDEMAN: Mr. Munza and of course, everybody is also looking at the United States in this crisis.

MUNZA: Yeah.

WEDEMAN: What would you the like the United States, what would you like President Bush to do about this?

MUNZA: I want to from President Bush some justice from you Mr. President, because the American is very big country in the world. We need some justice, looking for us because we need peace. We need peace. We want to live in peace. We hate war. He must understand so. Every Palestinian, ask everybody here in the street, everybody want it to live in peace and hate war. We want to live with Israel, two countries beside others, two countries beside others, one country for Israel, out of our country to Palestinian people. We want so.

WEDEMAN: OK, thank you very much.

MUNZA: OK, you are welcome.

WEDEMAN: Take care. So there you have it, Tony. People here actually do want peace. People are -- many ordinary Palestinians don't have a lot of enthusiasm for the radical politics that often times you see on your television screen. They have basic desires just for peace and the ability, like Mr. Munza to do business.

HARRIS: That's a great -- Ben, thank you. That is a great look. I have to ask you quickly, is your location somehow understood to be off limits to possible air strikes from Israel?

WEDEMAN: Could you repeat the question one more time?

HARRIS: Is your location, I'm just curious about your location, where you are now, the streets that you're walking now, is your location, somehow understood to be off limits to a possible Israeli air strike?

WEDEMAN: Well, actually not. Matter of fact, before I got to Gaza, but when my colleagues were here, right next door to the building we work out of, literally just a one minute walk from here, an office that is somehow affiliated with Hamas was hit by an Israeli missile. So and in fact, the building we're in in the past has been hit before because there was an office, I believe, a radio station affiliated with Hamas there. So there's no guarantee, unfortunately, that we are not very far from potential targets. But such is life. Tony?

HARRIS: OK, just wanted to establish the framework there on ground and how tenuous the situation is. OK, Ben, thank you. Let's get you to you to the international desk. Once again, Anand Naidoo. Anand.

NAIDOO: Thanks Tony. We want to show you some pictures now of the aftermath of the Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut. We reported earlier that Israelis had targeted Hezbollah, the headquarters of the Hezbollah spiritual leader in the southern suburbs of Beirut. They also targeted the office of the Hamas leader in Beirut. These pictures that you're looking at right now is the aftermath of those Israeli attacks. As you can see, they're people who have been killed in those attacks. Earlier on, we saw some pictures of people who had been injured. These pictures coming to us from an Arabic language television station right now. These are pictures of that attack as I mentioned. We'll bring you more on this as we get it. Back to you Tony.

HARRIS: Oh, boy. OK. Anand, appreciate it, thank you.

NGUYEN: Just the realities of the situation that's going on, this crisis that is simply escalating by the minute and we've been following every single step of it. Want to talk on the phone now with John Kelly, the former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon calling from Conyers, Georgia. Ambassador, let me ask you about what has happened today. You've seen the developments. What do you make of it?

VOICE OF JOHN KELLY, FORMR. U.S. AMB TO LEBANON: Obviously, the situation is getting worse. I think what's going to happen is that six months from now, the fighting will have continued. The economy will have been destroyed. The infrastructure destroyed and the two Israeli soldiers will still be captives of Hezbollah. I think there's an issue here of proportionate response.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about that. Do you feel that Israel's response is disproportionate to what happened to those soldiers? Has this escalated out of control at this point?

KELLY: I think it has. I think Israel has gone far beyond efforts to recover the soldiers. What they're basically trying to do now is destroy Hezbollah, particularly the attack on the spiritual leader now. The sad thing is is that there have been prisoner exchanges dozens of times before. The last major prisoner exchange that Israel did with Hezbollah was in 2004, two years ago. And so this is a departure from, if you will, the practices of the last 40 years by Israel.

NGUYEN: So is another prisoner exchange, is that going to be the key to this? I mean, is it going to be as simple as that or is this to the point that it's going to take much more this time around. KELLY: I think this time around because of the escalation in the last three days, it's going to take a lot more than that. But there have been many prisoner exchanges before that were not accompanied by this violence.

NGUYEN: What about the stability of the Lebanese government and its ability to control Hezbollah? The strikes here from Israel, will it pretty much unravel this Lebanese government?

KELLY: This has been a fragile and weak government since it was installed last year in the aftermath of the withdrawal of the Syrian troops. It was democratically elected. But it has been unable to control Hezbollah or to bring about the disarmament of Hezbollah and that has been one of its failings. Its intentions were good. It was trying to do the right things. But it has not been able to successfully do anything about Hezbollah. Unfortunately, with the Israeli attacks all over Lebanon now, I suspect that 85 percent of the Lebanese population will rally around positions of resistance to Israel.

NGUYEN: I wanted to ask you about that resistance, too because we are just hearing today that more leaflets have been dropped from the skies by Israeli forces. These leaflets, is it just galvanizing the forces against Israel in Lebanon?

KELLY: I don't think the leaflets make much difference either way. I think you know, people just have form their opinions by what goes on physically around them, not by what leaflets say.

NGUYEN: So the shelling and the smoke and the bombings, that's pretty much what's going to determine what people think about the situation. Let me ask you this. Because there are some 25,000 Americans in Lebanon and a plan is underway to get them out, what do you suggest? You're the former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon. What's the best plan of action to get these Americans out of Lebanon?

KELLY: There are three choices. One would be by helicopters, presumably American military helicopters from a point or several points in Lebanon to the island nation of Cyprus, which is 125 miles away across the sea. The second alternative would be by sea, by ships that come in and pick up the Americans. And that would, I'm sure, be done with the agreement of the Israeli blockading naval forces. The third alternative would be by land north from Beirut. The major road across the Bekaa Valley to Damascus in Syria has been interrupted and several other roads have been interrupted in the south. But I believe the roads that lead north along the sea coast are still open. So there are three choices to get out.

NGUYEN: The key is to get them out quickly. John Kelly, former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon joining us by phone from Conyers, Georgia. Ambassador, we appreciate your time and insight this morning.

KELLY: Thanks.

HARRIS: AND Betty, quickly now, let's get the view on developments in Jerusalem. Paula Newton is there for us. Paula, what do you have?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli defense forces now report that more than 75 rockets have landed in northern Israel. You know, as we've been following the coverage here, we've been hearing about Lebanese people now fearing for their lives and also now feeling for their livelihood. We've heard from Ben Wedeman and first hand from a shop owner there in Gaza. Israelis now, Tony, are also feeling that. You've got almost a million people now every night and during the day, as well, in safe rooms in their homes, headed to bomb shelters. You know, tailing children and elderly people to head south with their relatives.

The problem here, Tony, is that Hezbollah has said and in fact, the Israeli army confirms, that they have thousands of these rockets just raring to go. The key thing here, though, and how this whole situation has escalated in just the last 24 hours is that everyone knew that Hezbollah had upwards of 10,000 rockets that could hit these border towns. There's essentially a radius of about maybe 15 miles.

What's changed here is that now we know and the Israeli intelligence officials confirm that there are short and medium-range rockets now that can hit very high population centers in Haifa, which is a very important port city in northern Israel, but even more importantly Tel Aviv, which is a very large commercial center. More than a million people live there and so far it's been untouched by this conflict. That may not last for long Tony and those are ominous words.

Of course, the Israelis accusing Iran of arming Hezbollah with these rockets. There have even been suggestions that there are dozens of Iranian soldiers in that southern Lebanese area really training the Hezbollah to try and launch these rockets. We've broken a barrier here in terms of the Israeli sentiment. They know now that they are in this conflict and they will feel it intimately. They will feel it personally, certainly not to the extent that they have in Gaza or in Lebanon, but they will be spending days and nights in those bomb shelters. Tony.

HARRIS: That is great context and perspective. Paula Newton for us in Jerusalem. Paula, appreciate it, thank you. Betty.

NGUYEN: We have new pictures coming in to CNN and we want to get right to CNN's Anand Naidoo at the international desk. Anand, this is in Lebanon. Tell us about what we're seeing.

NAIDOO: Right, Betty. The Israelis are carrying out more raids in Lebanon. We had raids earlier on on the southern suburbs of Beirut. In the latest raids, the Israelis have been targeting the port areas of Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli. They hit according to Reuters here, there were two rockets that were fired at Tripoli's port Rada (ph) while two missiles fell in the vicinity of Beirut's port. This of course, is Israel hitting infrastructure targets there in Tripoli and Beirut. We've just heard in the past few minutes that Israeli warplanes have hit targets in the port of Juniae (ph). That's just north of Beirut and what is very significant about this is that Juniae is in the Christian part of Lebanon. It's surrounded by Christian areas. And just north of Beirut, we have no details on what was hit in that port area but the port city of Juniae has been hit, as well.

HARRIS: OK, Anand, I promise you we are working on a map that we can put on screen so that as you talk about these particular areas that are being hit right now in real time, you can almost as you would if we were talking about a telestrator (ph) sort of point out the areas that are being hit and under attack in real time right now. I promise you, we are working on that and we will get that for you as soon as possible because that will help you explain what is going on.

NGUYEN: It will help the viewers understand the scope of these attacks and where they're hitting today. There's so many of them to tell you about. They're happening very quickly. As soon as we can get that to you of course, we'll bring it to you. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We're going to take a quick break but don't go away. There is more news to tell you about. We'll be right back.

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NGUYEN: The CNN international desk working very hard to bring you the latest information out of Lebanon and Israel. Here are some pictures coming out of Lebanon, exclusive pictures, according to this television station that we are getting these from. CNN's Anand Naidoo is at the international desk to talk about how we're getting these pictures and what they're showing at this moment. Anand.

NAIDOO: Thanks Betty. We have a team of people here led by Octavia Nasr, our senior Arab affairs editor right behind me. They are monitoring no less than nine Arabic language television stations to follow minute by minute, second by second what the Arabic television stations are reporting about this crisis in the Middle East. The Israeli offensive in Lebanon has seen a significant escalation today. There have been attacks in the north of the country on roads and bridges. There have been attacks in the south of the country. That's Lebanon on Hezbollah targets.

The latest attacks and these attacks happened in the past 20 minutes, Israeli warplanes have targeted the port areas of Beirut. We also heard that central Beirut has been hit by bombs for the first time in this four-day offensive. The other city that was hit was Tripoli. The port area was hit there. A radio installation was hit at Tripoli and installations on the Beirut port were hit as well. Also, just north of Beirut in Juniae, which is a Christian part of Lebanon, for the first time, Israeli warplanes have targeted that part of the country, as well.

Earlier on, Israel hit targets in the northern part of Lebanon on the Syrian-Lebanese border. They hit a crossing point there. That was on the Lebanese side of that border crossing. Nothing happened on the Syrian side. The Syrians, in fact, confirm that nothing was hit on their side of the border but they did hit targets on the Lebanese side and the Israelis said that that was done to prevent the smuggling of weapons going through that border point, also to prevent any movement of those two Israeli soldiers who had been abducted by Hezbollah earlier on. The Israeli warplanes also hit areas which were in the northern part of Lebanon for the first time. They hit a bridge near the town of Hemel and they continue to hit targets in the south. They targeted the spiritual, the headquarters of the spiritual leader of Hezbollah in the south as well as the headquarters of the Hamas leader in Beirut. More details as we get them from the international desk. Betty, back to you.

NGUYEN: You talk about the strikes in Beirut. Our Alessio Vinci is there. Of course we will be checking with him through the day. CNN SATURDAY with Fredricka Whitfield is up next.

HARRIS: We'll take a quick break and we will be right back.

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