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CNN Live At Daybreak

What Washington is Doing to Try to Resolve Crisis Between Israelis and Palestinians

Aired May 03, 2002 - 06:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on what Washington is doing to try to resolve the crisis between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Our senior White House correspondent, John King, has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president huddles with European leaders to discuss the next steps in Middle East diplomacy. A summer peace conference is one part of the puzzle; positive thinking, another.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In this world, there are people who think that a glass is half empty or half full. I tend to look at it as half full. I am optimistic we are making good progress.

KING: Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is now free to roam the Palestinian territories, and one White House worry is that his labeling the Israelis as racist and barbarians will encourage violence.

BUSH: He has just been disappointing. He has disappointed. He has had some chance to grab the peace and hasn't done so in the past. And therefore, he has let down the Palestinian people. Now is a chance to show he can lead.

KING: Secretary of State Powell called Mr. Arafat late Wednesday and told him his words and actions over the next several days will be closely watched in Washington.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Mr. Arafat I hope will understand that he doesn't have any more chances to seize this kind of an opportunity.

KING: A message to Israel as well. Mr. Bush calls for a negotiated end to the occupation of Palestinian lands. And the White House says that the Palestinian leader wants to travel to Arab capitals, Israel must guarantee he can return home.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And Yasser Arafat is now free to travel, and that includes to return to Ramallah or to the Gaza Strip as part of the agreement. KING: Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jordan's King Abdullah come calling on the White House next week. A key goal of those talks is to make sure a peace conference, most likely at the foreign minister level, is worth having.

(on camera): But the main goal is to discuss a timetable for accelerated negotiations to test whether, after nearly two years of deadly violence, the Israelis and Palestinians are ready to sit down and talk peace again.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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