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CNN Saturday Morning News

At Least Seven Air Raid Sirens Sounding Over Haifa; Psychological Toll of War is Huge; Nawar Sahili Interview; How Medical Care is Practiced in a War Zone

Aired July 22, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, it's 10:00 Eastern. We do have some breaking news to tell you about out of Israel. Let's get straight to CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney. She is in Haifa, Israel. Fionnuala, what have you seen and heard?

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there have been at least seven air raid sirens sounding over the city of Haifa this day. And there was within the last hour and a half seven rockets landing in an open area. And just within the last few minutes Betty, the air raid sirens wailed again. Usually that's an indication rockets that rockets are going to land in the area within 30 seconds.

And that's a 30-second warning for people to get off the street. But what has happened here within two minutes of those air raid sirens sounding which was about five minutes ago there were no signs of rockets. So in a sense -- I don't want to say it's a false alarm. Because once these air raid sirens go off then there's every indication and possibility a rocket can land.

We're just 20 kilometers from the Lebanese border. We heard the air raid sirens go off a few minutes ago reverberating around the bay of Haifa but no rockets did actually land. However, that doesn't mean that because they haven't landed in Haifa that they aren't landing elsewhere.

Usually these are coordinated attacks and a swath of rockets are sent throughout the band of northern Israel and often landing elsewhere. Everything is very quiet here in Haifa at the moment. It's the Jewish Sabbath. And there is really nothing moving on the streets except the only thing one can hear occasionally are explosions further up north presumably as the Israeli artillery, military, bomb positions in southern Lebanon.

There's a police helicopter in the sky above us now that's usually par for the course following an air raid siren but everybody here is staying very quiet. The city very much under siege at the moment from the barrage of rockets that have been falling here over the past 11 days of this conflict -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Fionnuala, of course, do keep in touch with us. We will be checking back with you. And of course if anything develops we will take you live. Thank you, Fionnuala Sweeney joining us live from Haifa, Israel. RICHARD LIU, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Here is what else we know at this moment. Just within the past hour Israeli tanks have been rolling into southern Lebanon. It is not clear if that signals a start of a wider ground offensive into that country. 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. That air strike has disrupted both television and phone service throughout northern Lebanon. The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation says one of its employees was killed in that strike.

Well if you're just joining us, we've been watching extraordinary pictures from southern Lebanon. The advancement of a column of Israeli tanks on a small village there. CNN's Paula Newton has been monitoring the Israel movements from her post near the Lebanese border. She joins us on the phone with the latest.

Paula, we understand you had to relocate a bit there.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is what Fionnuala Sweeney was talking about and why the sirens are going in Haifa. We don't have that kind of warning because we're literally a few hundred feet away from the actual border which is where we saw the Israeli troops operating in Maroun al Ras which is a Lebanese town just over the border. We had to move.

There were two Katyushas that were landing very close to us, those are on the town of Avivim. Avivim just north of here has been where the Israeli troops have lost four soldiers and others wounded in heavy fighting with Hezbollah guerillas. The last 24 hours, though, the Israeli military there has moved to cleanse that area and to have its first foot hold in to southern Lebanon.

The thing is here, though, we're not exactly sure what their intention is. They are continuing to do what they say which is wipe out Hezbollah infrastructure and they will cleanse that territory and hold it. They will not retreat at this point. They are still trying to put in the buffer zone. But I think there is a key thing that has to be asked here, they continue to say that they are wiping out Hezbollah infrastructure but the rockets keep flying into northern Israel.

Our rockets were number 72 and 73 for the day. They are still flying. That's a very busy day considering it is still late afternoon here for Katyushas flying into northern Israel. They just continue to fly in right now. We're looking at plumes of smoke in an open area where another one most likely has landed or ignited a fire -- Richard.

LIU: Paula, as the IDF tanks move on and they are saying they will not retreat. It's quite different or the same on the other side. Hezbollah, are they retreating?

NEWTON: They have retreated and they have melted into the civilian population. That does not mean they are not regrouping to fight again. They have really given up that territory around Maroun al Ras. They are certainly regrouping.

If they can fire rockets it means they are out there. They have weaponry and they have launchers. And these are guerilla fighters who are hell-bent on making sure that Israelis do not set foot into Lebanon once more. They will continue to fight and you can imagine that the Israelis will encounter fierce fighting from the guerillas any time they try to go into southern Lebanon.

LIU: Paula Newton on the move at the Israeli Lebanese border. Thank you very much for that update, we'll talk to you again later.

Well, the Israeli military says its focus is still on pinpoint operations inside southern Lebanon. Last hour we talked with a spokesman for the Israel Defense Force about the latest incursions into Lebanon.

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CAPT. ERIK SNIDER, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: 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 the 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 established by Hezbollah over the past six years since Israel pulled out of Lebanon.

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LIU: Other Israeli troops are massed along the Lebanese border poised for a possible widening of operations there.

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to take CNN's back to Beirut for an update on the Israeli air strike near there just a few hours ago. CNN's Alessio Vinci is covering that for us. Have you seen any developments as of late?

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty, basically the latest development is that there are some casualties as a result of the Israeli air strikes against four television and telecommunication antennas in the north part of the country and we understand that one Lebanese television employee has been killed and another one has been injured.

And we have seen recent television pictures of Lebanese television employees actually digging through the rubble perhaps trying to recover some of the victims as a result of that attack which has completely blacked out the television signal in the northern part of the country of several television stations including the Al-Manar television which is run by Hezbollah but also the signal of Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation as well as Future Television which are two national broadcasters, extensive damage there as a result of those attacks.

And also what we're seeing here in the last few hours on television is pictures of thousands of people trying to flee the southern part of the country as a result of the military offensive that Paula and Fionnuala were just reporting about. But thousands and thousands in cars, in trucks, whatever means they can find.

They are fleeing the southern part of the country. Coming towards the north. They are not arriving all here in Beirut. Many of them trying along the way to find refuge with friends, with relatives, with people offering their health.

Obviously, these people fleeing by putting a white flag on top of the car. Because there have been instances in which the Israeli military have targeted the convoys killing scores of civilians and therefore these people besides fleeing the home villages and towns obviously they are trying to protect themselves as they are trying to get out of the region.

We understand from the United Nations as many as half a million people are on the way. There are some reports here this morning in the local media up to a million people may be on the move. One hundred fifty thousand of them already crossed into Syria. Many of them of course arriving in the surrounding areas of Beirut. Beirut already trying to cope with what appears to be now a looming humanitarian disaster.

There has been some aid that has arrived here. A corridor has been established. Twenty-two tons of first aid has reached the southern port city of Tyre, another area inhabited by Shiite Muslims including many Hezbollah sympathizers. Twenty-two tons of blankets, food and medicine arrived there. More is needed.

But of course there is obviously a big problem because the bridges, the roads, are being targeted by the Israeli military and therefore movement around the southern part of the country is limited. Not just for obviously the Hezbollah militants which Israel says it wants to target but also to the civilian population that is trying to flee and for those who are trying to bring in the much needed assistance.

NGUYEN: But let's talk about those civilians trying to flee and when they get to some sort of safety there obviously you mention the humanitarian efforts that are being conducted in the area but give us a sense of what life is like for those who found some kind of safe shelter at least for the moment. What kind of conditions are they facing?

VINCI: Very dire conditions. First of all imagine psychologically what these people are going through. This is happening really fast, really quickly. This is a 10 day old crisis here. Many people leaving the southern part of the country. They don't know when they are going to come back. They don't know if they're going to go back.

They haven't really had a chance to collect much of the belongings. We're seeing cars packed with people. I mean cars that can usually drive or carry five people they are packed with six, seven, ten people. And therefore not much room for luggage. So these people left in a hurry. So the psychological toll, of course, is huge. Because obviously they are leaving behind their own possessions. There is also the fact once they arrive in the centers the Red Cross is still struggling to organize because they have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of people leaving the southern part of the country therefore the country itself, the government, the Health Ministry, all the NGOs, they are simply overwhelmed because all this was not really expected. And this is of course a country that was not prepared to face this kind of humanitarian crisis.

NGUYEN: Which leads to the point that Kofi Annan said last night on "LARRY KING" the fact that this could lead to a humanitarian crisis. Alessio Vinci thanks for that update. Now we will get more on the latest moves by the Israeli forces at the bottom of the hour. CNN military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange will join us to talk about the prospects of a full scale attack.

LIU: And talking about what Alessio Vinci was reporting, what about the humanitarian effort? Well, the first emergency supplies reach civilians caught in the cross fire of the Middle East crisis. The Red Cross delivered more than 20 tons of food and supplies to Tyre, Lebanon. And in an exclusive interview on CNN's LARRY KING LIVE the UN secretary-general said it makes barely a dent in the deepening refugee crisis.

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KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm afraid of major humanitarian disaster. As we speak, about -- over 700,000 people have been displaced. Five hundred thousand internally in Lebanon. About 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.

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LIU: Well Annan asked the warring sides to clear the way creating corridors so supplies can be delivered to those refugees.

Later in an hour, in about an hour, rather, a closer look at the humanitarian concerns and Veronica de la Cruz of CNN.com will show you how you can help. So stay with CNN SATURDAY MORNING for that.

NGUYEN: And you can join us for our prime time coverage tonight at 8:00 Eastern. Out Anderson Cooper hosts CNN PRESENTS for an in depth look inside Hezbollah. What drives the terror organization.

The next hour, CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" has the latest on the Middle East crisis and diplomatic efforts. Then at 10:00 Eastern Anderson Cooper is live on the front lines in Beirut. He will have a complete wrap-up of the crisis in the region.

This is where you want to be for any new developments coming out of the Mid-East. LIU: Plus in just a few minutes a Hezbollah representative from Lebanon's parliament joins us live to answer tough questions about this crisis. Stay with us for that. Our special coverage in the Mid- East continues here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

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LIU: And welcome back. We're closely monitoring all the developments across the region in the Middle East. Joining us with the latest, CNN's Randi Kaye at the international desk. Randi?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Once again we're getting word right now of another air strike on the transmission towers. We've been seeing the Israeli forces attacking transmission and television towers in Lebanon for several hours now. This one apparently hitting a transmission tower in Ito Mountain (ph) which is in north Lebanon in the town of Aden. Once again another attack on a transmission tower. This has been going on for hours.

Future TV, LBC, which is the leading private network and al Manar which is Hezbollah's channel there have all been attacked this morning. We have some video to show you of some of the earlier attacks. Four different areas were struck were four different towers. One tower near Tripoli. One near Mount Lebanon and two others just north of Juni.

These are considered to be first major air strikes in the heartland of the country. LBC, which is the Lebanese Broadcast Corporation, the leading private network is telling us that one of their employees was killed in this tower attack in Fatka (ph). We have also some video to show you of the search for survivors. You can see just how major this air strike was by those twisted satellite dishes and all of that thick black smoke on the ground.

They are now searching for survivors. One employee dead, two injured at the transmission tower that was attacked in Sanin in north Lebanon. That information coming to us from LBC, the Lebanese Broadcast Corporation. Israeli soldiers also on the move on the ground not just from the air. We have been watching very closely this morning here at CNN's international desk. The tanks rolling into the area of Maroun al Ras. That's a Lebanese border village just across from the city of Avivim in Israel. They are just a few kilometers apart.

Israeli tanks. Armored vehicles knocking down a border fence at United Nations observation posts racing past the post and heading into the border village where there are already Israeli soldiers present. Although Hezbollah is denying that.

We're told this is not a full scale ground invasion. Want to make that very clear. Not a massive incursion. Seems to be the Israelis just trying to pinpoint their operations and take out Hezbollah's infrastructure.

We're also being told by the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, they are confirming that Israeli troops are on the ground there in Maroun al Ras just a few kilometers inside Lebanon. All morning we've been watching this. We'll continue to watch it throughout the day here on the international desk. We have about 10 or so different feeds coming in from all different networks in the Middle East. We'll bring you the very latest as it comes in.

LIU: Randi, thanks. We'll touch base with you just a little bit later.

KAYE: OK.

NGUYEN: Well the capture of two Israeli soldiers 11 days ago touched off the latest hostilities. A Hezbollah member of Lebanon's parliament tells CNN that seizing a soldier was justified but he Nawar Sahili also says that Hezbollah has always been prepared for a cease- fire. And he joins us live on the phone from an undisclosed location in Lebanon. We appreciate your time. Mr. Sahili, first of all, let me get your reaction to the fact that Israeli tanks are inside Lebanon.

NAWAR SAHILI, HEZBOLLAH PARLIAMENT MEMBER (on phone): Well, until now we cannot confirm or deny this information. We don't have any official statement from the resistance in the south Lebanon. But after 11 days one of the strongest army in the region, if they cannot have anything positive for them they said that they have this war to attack Hezbollah and all they are doing now is attacking the infrastructure.

And even on television they are killing innocent people, destroying bridges all over Lebanon. Maybe they will interfere inside the border but I don't think they can stay more than hours and hours because the resistance is ready and waiting for them.

NGUYEN: Well, let me ask you this, you say they are killing innocent people but Hezbollah is known to set up operations right in the center of civilian areas, I want you to listen what former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN. Take a listen.

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BINYAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: That should not give the terrorists immunity because if they know that you will not strike them because you fear civilian casualties then they will hit you again and again and again.

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NGUYEN: So let me ask you, is Hezbollah setting up its operations inside civilian areas using humans as shields and is Hezbollah to blame for this bloodshed just as well?

SAHILI: Well, you know, this is exactly what -- the prime minister said, the Israeli prime minister -- they are reacting, not acting, when attack the civilian positions in Israel and northern Palestine we do this as reaction. We waited one day, two days, three days. And when we saw that they are only attacking civilians we were obliged to attack civilians from the first day of capturing the soldiers we said we want cease-fire.

We don't want to go into escalation but Israeli army was prepared for this I think several months ago. This is not reaction against only kidnapping two soldiers. This is something prepared before against Lebanon and I think they are now doing a big thing but unhopefully the U.S. government is totally with them.

NGUYEN: Well, speaking of the U.S. government, Hezbollah as you mentioned has asked for a cease-fire but many including the secretary of state Condoleezza Rice says a cease-fire without long-term solutions is simply not the answer. Take a listen to what she had to say.

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CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: If you simply look for a cease-fire that acknowledges and freezes the status quo ante we will be back here in six months again, or in five months or nine month or in a year trying to get another cease-fire because Hezbollah will have decided yet again to try to use southern Lebanon as a sanctuary to fire against Israel.

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NGUYEN: So is that true? If there is a cease-fire, say it happens, will it only give Hezbollah time to regroup and attack again?

SAHILI: Well, you know, the problem that may be there's a misunderstanding. Hezbollah is a resistance movement, a popular resistance movement. We have people in Israeli prisoners. We have territory occupied by Israel. So if you don't have any more territory occupied by Israel. If you don't have any prisoners why should we attack? We are not attacking.

We are only having reaction. This is the first time in the history you are looking for political solution before cease-fire. You wait until all those dead and those injuries and destruction and then after you see for the cease-fire and all the wars all over the world you make a cease-fire then you go to the political solutions not the political solution before the cease-fire. This is something illogic.

NGUYEN: Talking about political solutions. I want to ask you one more thing. The U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, ambassador to the UN, said and we will quote here "We cannot defang Hezbollah and Hamas while ignoring those who back them with weapons, financing and political support."

There is his quote. Obviously he's referring to Syria and Iran. Has Hezbollah spoken with its contacts in those countries and will they intervene whether it be diplomatically or militarily?

SAHILI: Sure, they will not interfere militarily -- we are a Lebanese movement, we are a Lebanese group, we are all Lebanese. Our target is the freedom of Lebanon and only our aim is Lebanese without any conditions. We don't -- Iran doesn't understand (ph) directly. They support us politically but we are Lebanese 100 percent. NGUYEN: Well, Hezbollah says it will not accept the Israeli terms for a cease-fire which basically means returning those two kidnapped soldiers and dismantling. What kind after realistic cease- fire or agreement does Hezbollah see in the future?

SAHILI: Well, we would like I told you before, we now seek for a cease-fire without any conditions and after the cease-fire we are ready to have indirect negotiation for the two soldiers and for captives in the Israeli prison. And after that we see for the political solution inside Lebanon something Lebanese that can be discussed in the Cabinet, on the table, where there's all the political parties in Lebanon.

NGUYEN: Mr. Nawar Sahili, a Hezbollah member of parliament. We appreciate your time with us today. Thank you.

SAHILI: You're the most welcome, thank you.

LIU: Well, Betty as you're asking Nawar Sahili the humanitarian efforts going forward. We're going to touch base with Sanjay Gupta in Beirut with the latest on that.

Plus, Israeli tanks moving into southern Lebanon this morning. We showed you some of the first pictures of the new development earlier this morning. What does that mean? Ahead we put that question to CNN military ...

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LIU: And welcome back. For the civilians caught in this conflict, the last 10 or 11 days have been a nightmare in the Middle East especially in Lebanon. It's equally harrowing for the medical staff trying to attend to the many casualties there. CNN's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Beirut to report on how medical care is practiced in a war zone. He joins us now live.

Sanjay, let's start by asking, how are the hospitals coping with all of this?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's incredibly difficult, Richard. One of the things I have seen so many times as I have traveled to terrible places like this on earth often times having a Red Cross or a Red Crescent being a well- known hospital makes you somewhat immune to things.

From what I have seen here in Beirut not really the case. Ambulances have targeted while actually trying to bring supplies into some of the hospitals. Some of the hospitals themselves have been bombed so badly they cannot actually practice medicine without taking the patients deep underground where they can practice only a very limited medicine.

So you have a combination of things, Richard. And not only the casualties from the bombing itself, they also have patients who already existed before this ever started a couple of weeks ago who also need medical care and now you have frightened staff, you have frightened doctors, frightened nurses who are concerned not only for their own safety but the safety of their families. So they are starting to leave. More patients coming in, fewer staff, fewer resources, you can understand how it is becoming increasingly difficult.

LIU: Probably one of the first things you're looking at, Sanjay, is the capabilities they have. What sort of inflictions, what sort of situations can they handle at this moment?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, one thing I should point out, Richard, is we're in Beirut. This is a really a medical Mecca in so many ways of this part of the world. It really can handle many things. I mean American University is here, they do transplant surgery, they do cardiac surgery, a phenomenal medical center for the most part.

What is happening where the bombing is occurring you typically have smaller hospitals that aren't that well trained or designed to basically handle this high level of trauma. You also can't move the patients because of the destruction of so many of the roads and so many of the bridges, as well. So to answer your question, Beirut and Lebanon itself typically has the ability to handle all sorts of injuries but given the inability to get patients to the center and the persistent bombings, it just makes it difficult.

LIU: And Sanjay, as you probably heard Kofi Annan calling for corridors to get supplies to those areas. How much longer can these hospitals survive based on what they have got in the storerooms?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, they talk about the corridors of tranquility to actually allow supplies and ambulances to get patients in and out and medical supplies in. I tell you, it's hard to say. Richard, I think every hospital is a little different. Mount Lebanon hospital, for example, which is a big private hospital in this area probably a couple more weeks at the most.

You know, the rate limiting step here is probably blood products. I talked to these doctors, what is it that you need more than anything else? They say we need blood. And blood, unfortunately, is a perishable item but you need it to take care of trauma victims and you need it as quickly as you possibly can get it.

LIU: Well, we hope for the best there. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much for the update there on the hospital care in Beirut.

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