Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Israeli Tanks Roll into Southern Lebanon; American Evacuations Out of Lebanon Continue

Aired July 22, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what we know on this busy Saturday morning. Israeli tanks are now rolling into southern Lebanon. Now it's not clear if it signals the start of a wider ground offensive into that country. We'll stay on top of this.
But we'll tell you that throughout the night Israeli troops and equipment massed along the border. Israel also unleashed an overnight barrage of bombs and rockets. Also earlier Israeli missiles took out a transmission tower north of Beirut. The air strike has disrupted both television and phone service throughout northern Lebanon.

From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, July 22. What a day it's been so far. 9:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. 4:00 p.m. in the Middle East. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.

RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Richard Lui from CNN Pipeline also a very good morning to you. Tony Harris is off this weekend.

NGUYEN: He sure is. We've got a lot to tell you about. Again, just within the past hour Israeli tanks and soldiers crossed into southern Lebanon. CNN's Paula Newton is on the Israeli Lebanese border with an update. What are you seeing Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well we've been here for a few hours and especially during the last two hours we have seen a heavy bombardment from Israeli guns into southern Lebanon. They were doing two things: trying to wipe out Hezbollah positions just behind me on the Lebanese border; and beyond that, those shells that we will see exploding on this mountaintop were trying to provide some cover for the tanks and the armored bulldozers going in.

What is happening here is that the Israeli army is picking its targets carefully and picking its points carefully in terms of where it wants to enter Lebanon. While they continue to say that they are operating in these villages and they claim to be wiping out launchers, missiles and rockets, they say this is not a full scale ground invasion, not yet. But we have seen a heavy movement of machinery, armored personnel carriers, tanks and troops towards this border ready to be mobilized perhaps as many as 5,000 -- Betty.

NGUYEN: It looks like the prelude, the beginnings of that ground assault. But let me ask you, Paula. The Israeli government is picking its targets very carefully in these villages. Tell me about that village where those tanks are right now? What's held there? NEWTON: That's called Maroun al-Ras and it is just what you would claim it to be, pretty much a rural village. But right at that rural village because it is so close to the Israeli border, Hezbollah set up an outpost there. Just in the last couple days we've seen this kind of a fight when the Israelis first tried to go out there and wipe out infrastructure they ended up just taking on Hezbollah.

We saw mortar rounds around here, even an anti-tank missile fired. In fact at least four Israeli soldiers lost their lives in that fight. But now it's quite calm. They do not see Hezbollah in there. There are some civilians left but they do not see Hezbollah. And so this is their first foot hold in southern Lebanon.

They have now believed that they have cleared out a lot of the Hezbollah positions behind me and they will now hold that mountaintop and continue on from there. What they're trying to do is east to west along the border is cleanse the area for about a half mile. And they believe that will be the beginnings of a buffer zone for them -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And make no mistake, this is an important point in this conflict. Paula, we will be checking in with you.

In the meantime let's get the latest from the Israeli side of the conflict. Joining us by phone from Tel Aviv is Captain Erik Snider. Captain thank you for being with us today.

CAPTAIN ERIK SNIDER, SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Thank you.

NGUYEN: I understand tanks have knocked down a border fence in Lebanon. Talk to us about that movement. We just spoke with our Paula Hancocks there. Tell me about the movement inside Lebanon right now.

SNIDER: Well the nature of the movement is still limited in scope. At the same time we are expanding our operations slightly in order to gain a little bit more of a foothold to take care of areas where we know that Hezbollah has been very active. The ultimate goal of our operations in the area of southern Lebanon close to the border is to eliminate the infrastructure and the posts that have been established by Hezbollah over the past six years since Israel pulled out of Lebanon.

NGUYEN: Is this just one particular area right now where the troops are inside Lebanon or is it all across the border and we're just talking about one?

SNIDER: It's not all across the border. There are some specific areas in which they are operating. Obviously there's been a lot of attention paid to a couple of particular places including Maroun Al Ras. They are limited in scope and it's not across the entire border.

NGUYEN: How long before a full scale ground assault in Lebanon?

SNIDER: That's not something I can answer. Obviously that's speculation at this point if we're going to engage in such an activity. Right now our focus is on pinpointed activities in certain areas along the border where Hezbollah has established posts which they've used to carry out both rocket attacks as well as historically they've used these posts as places to carry out attacks upon Israeli soldiers who are guarding the Israeli side of the border.

As we saw about ten days ago when Israeli soldiers were attacked, killed and as well as kidnapped into Lebanon. This is a situation that has been going on for six years. The Lebanese government has not taken responsibility for keeping its border quiet. There are no Lebanese army forces on the border instead these are Hezbollah posts that have been established. And it's time that this changes.

NGUYEN: Well Captain, let me ask you this, because you say you're not sure if a ground assault by troops will be the case but it is very obvious that you have staged troops along this border and you have sent some already into Lebanon. Is this the prelude for a ground assault?

SNIDER: Well again I don't want to speculate about the future. I can't for operational security reasons tell you, what we expect will happen and what action we'll take in accordance to that. Obviously it's important for us to have all the options available that we need along the northern border.

We've had more than 70 Katyusha rockets and missiles fired into Israel just today. There's a lot of violence in the north. Unfortunately a lot of Israeli civilians are under fire day after day. We have to make sure that we have as an army we have everything available to try and prevent this from happening.

NGUYEN: But if you do go in by ground, what can your troops do on the ground that can't be done by air?

SNIDER: Well, obviously the nature of a ground offensive is a little bit different than what you can do from the air. Fortunately our air attacks have been very successful so far and again I don't want to speculate too much about a major ground offensive. That's not something that we intend to do. It's not something that we're intending to do at this time. Our focus is putting pressure on the Hezbollah. Trying to get to a point where they can no longer carry out attacks on our home front, return the two soldiers that were kidnapped ten days ago.

NGUYEN: But how would this fare in the plan to create a buffer zone? If you say you're not sure you're going to want to go in by ground of course you are still moving forward with this buffer zone, correct?

SNIDER: The best solution to this conflict and what's going on right now is for the international community and for the Lebanese to finally take responsibility for southern Lebanon. If they return the two soldiers and the Lebanese army is capable with perhaps support from the international community to be able to go down to the border and take care of what they are responsible for, their own sovereign territory, then there's no problem and we don't need to move any further.

NGUYEN: But if this buffer zone is created, and your troops are involved in that, I mean you can't hold it forever, what next?

SNIDER: Well, again, we left Lebanon six years ago with no intention of returning. And I can tell you at this point we still have no intention of returning to Lebanon. That's not the focus of our operation. That's not the goal of our operation. What we're trying to do is we're trying to eliminate a threat that is posed to us from our northern border. What needs to happen is for the international community to support Lebanon in eliminating Hezbollah and bringing quiet to that border.

NGUYEN: Captain Erik Snider, the spokesperson with the Israeli defense forces. We thank you for your time today.

LUI: OK let's get more on those Israeli air strikes targeting communications in northern Lebanon for you. CNN's Alessio Vinci joins us live from Beirut with the latest now. Alessio?

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Richard. Israeli air strikes targeting four separate television and telecommunication antennas in the northern part of the country, basically disrupting both television and the phone services up there. We understand from television pictures that provided us by Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation that there is extensive damage, firemen there trying to contain the fire.

No casualties, several television networks knocked off the air including the LBC, including the Hezbollah run Al-Manar Television, which may have been obviously the target of this attack. And we understand that mobile telephone communications as well as some land lines have also been disrupted. But again, an attack against infrastructure and we have no reports of casualties at this time. Richard?

LUI: Alessio, so they are not making a distinction here Al Manar being targeted as well as LBC and Al Manar of course being the Hezbollah supported network?

VINCI: Well you know these television towers obviously carry the signal of several television stations and so I think you can't really make a difference. Once you knock one of it you knock everything down. And so while attacking Al Manar relay station, you're attacking the relay stations of every other television station that counts, and that counts on that particular antenna. So that is why I think several television stations including LBC and Future TV have been disrupted and not just the Al Manar TV station.

LUI: Alessio Vinci in Beirut. Thank you very much for that update.

NGUYEN: And we do have some new developments to tell you about. Let's get straight to the international desk and CNN's Randi Kaye. Randi what do you have? RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Betty we can tell you that just into CNN's international desk, LBC, which is the Lebanese Broadcast Channel, we have now been told by them they are reporting that one of their employees was killed in that Israeli air strike on their transmission tower and also they are telling us that one of their employees was injured in that air strike that Alessio Vinci was just talking about.

Those happened earlier today. Bombs blasted the towers there for -- in four different areas actually, one near Tripoli, one near Mt. Lebanon, one near, actually two just north of Juni (ph). These were the first major air strikes in the heartland of Lebanon.

Blasting the towers, phone service including some mobile phone service was affected. And now we're learning from LBC, which is the leading private network in Lebanon, that one of their employees was killed in that air strike and one injured. That is the very latest from CNN's international desk -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right Randi, thank you.

LUI: All right we're going to go to break right now. But stay with us right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We're going to have more on the crisis in the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, here's what we know. Israeli tanks are now rolling into southern Lebanon. It is not clear if it signals a start of a wider ground offensive in that country. An Israeli air strike has disrupted both television and phone service throughout northern Lebanon.

Missiles took out a transmission tower north of Beirut and killed an employee of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. And the death toll grows in the Mideast crisis. Lebanon says at least 264 people have died in that country. To the south, Israel is reporting 34 people dead.

LUI: Well the pace of getting Americans out of Lebanon, that is picking up. More flights carrying evacuees are due to arrive in the U.S. today. As of late yesterday the State Department said more than 5700 Americans had been evacuated. Earlier this morning we spoke with the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus where evacuees continue to arrive from Lebanon.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

AMB. RONALD SCHLICHER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CYPRUS: Today in fact for us here in Cyprus is our most intense day so far because of the speeded up effort on the Beirut end. So today we're anticipating the arrival of around 3900 Americans and they will be coming in to us on the "USS Trenton," the "USS Nashville" and a civilian ship, as well. So our challenge is to get those folks in and to get them on planes to the U.S. as soon as possible.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LUI: Well U.S. marines on a mission to get Americans out of harm's way. The marines have returned to Lebanon for the first time in more than 20 years to help with the evacuations there. Our pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr was there when troops went in and Americans came out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The military never expected to be here, offshore Lebanon, on a mission to rescue thousands of Americans from a war zone that erupted with little warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to do the right thing.

STARR: A last minute prayer for success aboard the small boat that is about to land in Beirut. The U.S. marines will land on the beaches of Lebanon 23 years after their Beirut barracks were bombed and 241 marines were killed. In an extraordinary coincidence many of the marines on this day are part of the same unit that was attacked. Today, they are making history. CNN is along.

SGT. MAJ. ROBERT PITCHFORD, U.S. MARINE CORPS: All the marines are taught ever since boot camp is the history of the marine corps in Lebanon. I don't think it's registered to them yet just how important this mission is. I think as time goes on and once they actually see the people ashore and realize the reaction of the people as we come in, I think it will hit home to them how important what they are doing is.

STARR: 40 marines land, they do what marines do. They quickly move going to get the Americans. This day is all about rescue. The Lebanese army is watching.

(on camera): These marines here today tell us their main job will be to help as many Americans as they can get out of Lebanon. But make no mistake, if trouble breaks out, these marines are ready.

(voice-over): And suddenly the Americans trapped for days emerge by the hundreds. A human wave as there always is in war where the military rescues those who desperately need their help. Protection is everywhere in the face of possible attack by Hezbollah. We are escorted by some of the navy's biggest guns.

On this one run, nearly 400 people are evacuated by small boat to an amphibious warship just offshore. It will be a long ride to safety. On deck, it is a site no one could have imagined. Exhausted Americans wondering what will happen to them next and marines determined to write a new page in their history in a country that 23 years ago caused them so much pain. Barbara Starr, CNN, off the coast of Lebanon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well we do have some new developments to tell you about as this crisis does escalate this morning. Let's get to CNN's Randi Kaye at the international desk. Randi?

KAYE: Betty getting some new pictures in from LBC, that is the Lebanese Broadcast Corporation. They were one of the channels that was under attack earlier today about two and a half hours ago. You're looking at the new video.

The pictures coming in from Lebanon after Israeli air strikes in four different areas, one transmission tower, telephone tower near Tripoli, one near Mt. Lebanon and two north of Juni, knocking out phone service including some mobile phone service. Certainly knocking out the television stations there although their satellite feeds are continuing which is allowing us here on CNN's international desk to continue to monitor exactly what's going on there.

We've been watching now for the last two and a half hours or so the search for survivors and the Lebanese broadcast corporation which is the leading private network in Lebanon is now reporting that one of their employees was killed in this attack on their transmission tower, these air strikes, and one was injured.

So one dead, one injured so far in these air strikes from just about two and a half hours ago in Lebanon. That is the very latest. We will of course continue to watch at least ten different feeds coming in from networks in Lebanon and bring you the very latest as we get it here.

NGUYEN: All right, Randi a lot of developments this is morning in this crisis as it indeed is escalating. We'll still have much more to come right on the other side of this break.

LUI: That's right, stay with us. We're going to go away for a little bit. But come on back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning, once again, I'm Randi Kaye here at the CNN international desk. We want to bring you the very latest on Middle East conflict. We have some new pictures coming into us from LBC. This is the search for survivors after some attacks earlier this morning on transmission towers, telephone towers.

You can see there this video coming into us from LBC which is the Lebanese Broadcast Corporation looking for survivors. The network there which is the leading private network in Lebanon is reporting after these Israeli air strikes about two and a half hours ago that one employee is dead.

Now these pictures coming in to us have not been monitored. So you want to take a careful look there at what we're seeing. But one employee has been killed from LBC as a result of these strikes and one has been injured. Once again, you're looking at a very difficult search for the injured and any survivors. These transmission towers were attacked by the Israelis earlier this morning. One tower near Tripoli, another near Mt. Lebanon and two north of Juni.

Phone service was knocked out, including some mobile phone service. The networks have been knocked off the air there in Lebanon. But the satellite feeds are still working and we are able to get here at the international desk the pictures for you and for us to monitor exactly what is happening there. But the very latest from the LBC. One employee dead and one injured.

NGUYEN: Yes, some difficult pictures for you this morning but that's what's coming out of the situation there. It's the reality of what's going on in this crisis. Randi, thank you for that update.

KAYE: You're very welcome.

LUI: Well U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying a major humanitarian disaster could result from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. In an exclusive interview on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE," Annan said the fighting has already displaced more than three-quarters of a million people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm afraid of major humanitarian disaster. As we speak, about -- over 700,000 people have been displaced. 500,000 internally in Lebanon, 150,000 have crossed the border to Syria. With the destruction of the bridges and the infrastructure, it's extremely difficult to even get to the ground to assess how many people need help and how we are going to get it to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Well as part of those numbers that Kofi Annan was talking about some 140,000 Lebanese displaced. Well we have a story about that for you right now. A mother reunited with her 17-month-old son, one of many dramatic stories of evacuations from Lebanon.

Paula Yacoubian joins us by phone from Larnaca, Cyprus. Paula, very good morning to you. So how did this all happen? You had to go back to get your child. You were in the United States. Can you fill in the rest for us?

PAULA YACOUBIAN, SON EVACUATED FROM LEBANON: Yes, I was in the United States and I came to Larnaca Cyprus which is our -- the closest city to Beirut. And I have to give my son to someone here, thank you so much. He is being cranky, he didn't have a good journey.

So I had to come here to Larnaca and wait for the marines to help him evacuate from Beirut and that's what they did. I'm very thankful to everybody who contributed to -- who helped me get reunited again with my son and I wish the same for all those families, all those parents that I meet here in Larnaca who are desperate. They know nothing about their loved ones back in Beirut.

LUI: So Paula, you got separated because you left back to the United States. You had left your son with your son's grandmother, is that right? Now tell me about the process because we've heard so much about the U.S. embassy in Beirut having been overwhelmed by the number of people. Were they very helpful in the process of you getting reunited with your son?

YACOUBIAN: Well this is a moment of crisis and nobody was expecting this so they had to work really -- day and night to help everybody. They were receiving phone calls like 50,000 phone calls sometimes in one day. It's not easy. The situation is very bad. So I know that people, some people are angry because of that and they feel that they are left alone to their fate.

But I believe they were doing a good job, they were doing everything they could. It's not easy with 25,000 Americans stranded in Beirut. I mean and the only way to take them out was the ships. And there is no -- there's you know, a blockade. So the situation is really, really very critical even the choppers are not safe, are not 100 percent safe. I mean, you don't know what can happen. It's a war zone.

LUI: Paula, how long did you wait for the process to happen?

YACOUBIAN: I waited -- yes, I waited five days here in Cyprus before I was in Washington, D.C. But I put my name on -- my son's name on the list with his grandma, the next day everything happened because I was -- we knew -- I mean I'm Lebanese and I know it was going to take a lot of time so I put it on list the first day. Even though he was on the safe place because I mean there is little bit of places that we can call safe.

LUI: Let's talk about those five days. Did you have access to TV? If you did, what shots did you see? Did that scare you because your son who is only 17 months old was so far away?

YACOUBIAN: Well I had access to TV, definitely, here in Larnaca or in the United States. I was watching all the time CNN and FOX NEWS and all the American channels. I mean I knew what's happening minute by minute. And I was calling back to Beirut all the time.

Now they told me before I come here that they bombarded the cell phones and there is no way to contact Beirut. I don't know if the land lines are still working but the cell phones are very hard to contact which is -- which is something I mean -- I mean they had enough there. This is -- I mean people were able at least to call their loved ones and to see how they're doing and try to help them.

Now you can't even contact them. I'm really thankful that my son is here with me. But I'm thinking about all the others who are in Lebanon and who doesn't have a passport to leave. This is also another crisis. I mean Lebanese people deserve life, deserve freedom, deserve peace, this is all happening and civilians and innocent people are only people paying the price. I don't think this is harming Hezbollah as much as harming the other Lebanese, the innocent ones who just want to live in peace in our wonderful country.

LUI: Paula it's a good thing that you do have your son with you. You were lucky, you were one of those. There are other people who are lucky that are in Larnaca right now. We've heard reports of 4,000 Americans being pulled out yesterday, 2,000 today, perhaps 2,000 tomorrow, we don't know. But, the question to you is how busy is it on the island at this moment?

YACOUBIAN: Larnaca is very busy. They're calling the E.U. and everybody else to help them because there is -- you can't find a room here in all Cyprus. I mean, this is a very bad situation. We can see people sleeping in the seaports of Cyprus.

The Cyprus Authority are doing everything they can but, I mean, there is a limit, and Larnaca Airport is a very small airport. They cannot take a lot of people, and this is the high season here. It's full of stories, so it's a very difficult time.

I was lucky also to find a hotel room in Larnaca, because I booked the first day it happened, but others don't have this luxury. They're just sleeping anywhere. I know Lebanese people who are sleeping in the streets. They have the money to pay for the room, for a house, for anything, but just they can't find a place to stay.

LUI: Paula Yacoubian, thank you very much. The best to you and your son as you make your way back to the United States, sharing your story with us this morning there in Larnaca.

YACOUBIAN: Thank you so much.

NGUYEN: Back to the situation in Larnaca. Breaking news in the Middle East, that's what we've been talking about. We want to bring you up to date with what we know. A short time ago, a column of Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers rolled past a U.N. border checkpoint and into the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras. Now, it appears to be a small operation rather than the start of a large invasion. We will be monitoring.

Near Beirut, just a few hours ago, Israeli warplanes destroyed a communications tower used to relay television and telephone signals. One TV employee was reported killed, and earlier in the day, 10 Hezbollah rockets were fired into northern Israel. Israeli sources say 10 people were hurt.

This is CNN, your most trusted source for breaking news. And do want to let you know, right after this break, we will be speaking in this hour with a retired general who's going to weigh in on the latest developments as Israeli tanks do move in to Lebanon. Stay with CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com