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It's Secretary of State Powell's trip, But President Bush's Policy On Line

Aired April 11, 2002 - 11:05   ET

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


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the White House to get the latest on word from there on this mission to the Middle East. Let's check in now with our Major Garrett -- hello, Major.

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. It is Secretary of State Powell's trip, but it's President Bush's policy that's on the line and, to a certain extent, his prestige in the region. And for that reason, senior officials here at the White House and the State Department are very aggressively trying to manage expectations for the Powell trip. The secretary of state is doing so as well.

The word here at the White House is this trip is really about containing this crisis, making sure it does not spin wildly and dangerously out of control into Lebanon and Syria, for example, and trying to at least create some progress toward a peace process, not necessarily a cease-fire. Secretary of State Powell himself in Madrid today addressed sort of the minimized expectations for his trip.

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COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Because I don't like wallowing with pessimists. I am going in here because it's necessary for me to go. It's necessary for me to go to represent President Bush and his desire to see this crisis brought to an end and to get us back to a track that will lead to discussions.

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GARRETT: Leon, the key there, bring the crisis to an end and on track to discussions, maybe not even a cease-fire achieved. Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, telling reporters here just about an hour ago that the stated goal from President Bush to his secretary of state is to -- quote -- "create an environment for peace." When asked if a cease-fire was necessary for Secretary of State Powell to achieve on this trip, Ari Fleischer said, you know that's kind of a hypothetical. We don't want to get into that level of detail.

Also the White House press secretary had something very interesting to say, I think many will consider it interesting assessment from the president about Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. Ari Fleischer says -- quote -- "The president believes Ariel Sharon is committed to finding peace in the region."

Also asked about the pace of Israeli withdrawals, Ari Fleischer said they are continuing. He described that is a neutral assessment from the Bush White House, but he also said that the Bush administration expects Arab nations and Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to do more to denounce terror. That hasn't happened at all, so it doesn't take much, Leon, to see that the Bush administration is at least partially pleased with what's happening on the Israeli pullout, not pleased with the lack of denunciations of terror nations from Arab nations or Yasser Arafat -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. Thank you very much -- Major Garrett at the White House.

Now, we will have live coverage of Secretary Powell's arrival in Amman, Jordan. We expect that to happen sometime within the next 20 minutes or so. You'll see that right here on CNN.

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