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CNN Live Today

Middle East Road Map Will Help Blair

Aired March 14, 2003 - 11:00   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, the showdown with Iraq and the sudden summit. The U.S., the British, and the Spanish. They are all going to meet this weekend in the Azores islands. It is a plot -- they're trying, actually, to plot a way out of a diplomatic bog at the United Nations.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, begins our coverage this hour -- John, good morning once again.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again to you, Daryn. The reasons for this summit, quite obvious. The effort by the United States, Great Britain, and Spain to get a new resolution through the United Nations Security Council is in shambles to say the least.

France and Russia have threatened to veto the resolution. There has been difficulty even trying to get a simple majority of the 15 council members to support it. So, a hastily arranged summit will now be held Sunday in the Azores islands. That is part of Portugal, an island chain in the Atlantic Ocean.

President Bush will be in attendance, as will be Prime Minister Blair of Great Britain, and the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, hosted by the prime minister of Portugal. The discussions, we are told by White House officials, will focus almost exclusively on diplomacy, and whether anything can be salvaged to get a new resolution through the United Nations. Mr. Bush has been quite skeptical. He has been making urgent phone calls in recent days, trying to come up with a compromise.

U.S. officials say this is proof and should be proof to this president's skeptics that he is willing to go the extra mile to try to get a new resolution through the Security Council. Now, as the president prepares for that summit, movement on another sticky diplomatic issue as well. Mr. Bush in the Rose Garden earlier this morning here at the White House saying that political developments in the Middle East have now made it possible for the administration to get on the verge of laying out what it calls the road map, a sequence of steps designed to try to get the Israelis and the Palestinians back to the bargaining table. Mr. Bush says because of recent developments, political developments in the region, the time is now right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After its recent elections, the nation of Israel has a new government, and the Palestinian Authority has created the new position of prime minister. Israeli and Palestinian leaders and other governments in the region now have a chance to move forward with determination, and with good faith, to be a credible and responsible partner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, White House officials saying this is an initiative of its own right, that it has nothing to do with the diplomacy about Iraq and the possible military confrontation, but this president has been criticized by Europeans, pushed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, criticized by other Europeans, and certainly by many Arab leaders in the region, saying that it had put the Israeli/Palestinian problem on the back burner while dealing with Iraq.

Mr. Bush saying today he wants to try to move the process, again, back toward a peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and again, Daryn, making plans for that emergency summit Sunday to see if he and his chief European allies can come up with some new formation to get a resolution through the Security Council, clearing the way for military confrontation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Right. And a couple questions here. First on that summit, why that location? Why the Azores islands?

KING: Well, they wanted to have it in a neutral country. We are told after consultations back and forth between Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Aznar, and President Bush that Portugal offered that location for the three leaders. It is relatively convenient, if you will, if you look at a map. How does the president of the United States, the prime minister of Spain, and the prime minister of Great Britain get to a location where they each can meet? That was picked as a neutral site, if you will.

KAGAN: I'll meet you in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a beautiful island. It looks like that is the plan there. And in terms of this road map for the Middle East, what is actually, in practical terms, the next step for this, besides the president coming out to the Rose Garden today?

KING: Well, Mr. Bush said the next step, the immediate step has to be a real, powerful, and Palestinian prime minister. Yasser Arafat has created the position. The question now is whether that position actually has authority, and that Yasser Arafat is prepared to step back from the day to day affairs of the Palestinian Authority. The United States says it will insist on that.

If you get a Palestinian prime minister that has the authority the United States believes that position should have, a reformed Palestinian Authority, if you will, then the question is, the United States can put this road map forward, but the Israelis and the Palestinians would have to agree to work on it. They would have to agree, among other things, to talk to each other. Sounds rather simple, but it is something that has not happened in any constructive way toward a peace dialog in months and months and months.

So first we have to see, from the U.S. standpoint, the swearing in of a new Palestinian prime minister. Then, both governments commitments to this frame work will be put to the test.

KAGAN: We will be watching. John King at the White House, thank you so much.

Want to show our viewers also what we're watching, a live picture from 10 Downing Street. We're expecting any minute for British prime minister Tony Blair to be coming out and have a news conference.

While we await that to happen, want to bring in our senior European political correspondent, from London, Robin Oakley joining us this morning from the British capital. Good morning. Tell us more about this news conference we're standing by for.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an important moment for Tony Blair, above all others, Daryn, because he, more than anybody else, needs the political cover of that second U.N. Security Council resolution that this weekend meeting will be designed to bring forward. Tony Blair has got a big revolt from his own MPs in his own party, members of his own cabinet threatening to walk out if he goes to war without authorization from the U.N. Security Council, and public opinion very much against him unless he gets the backing of the U.N. So it's a case partly of George Bush going to the last inch of the last mile to help Tony Blair get that political cover, and significant that we've heard today the president's commitment to the road map for peace in the Middle East, because this is something that Tony Blair has been asking for a long, long time, promising his own MPs that he was able to work on George Bush to get him to push more of an initiative in the Middle East. Tony Blair will be very pleased that George Bush has done that today. But the question is, whether this really fluid dynamic situation that British officials are talking about this weekend, working flat out at the United Nations, is going to be able to get them a resolution which can get the backing of the crucial six swing votes in the U.N. Security Council, and build that nine-vote moral majority that George Bush and Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar are desperate to get -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, as it appears that President Bush is none too popular in Britain, what does it do to Tony Blair to be spending the weekend there with him? Does that help, or does that hurt?

OAKLEY: I think it's probably helping, in that it is a case of George Bush demonstrating his faith in the U.N. process, and following that through to a much greater degree than many in Europe have suspected he was willing to do.

It is a case of George Bush showing his multilateralism when many Europeans have accused him of being a unilateralist, just going his own way. And the fact that he's sticking with it as long as this, that he's postponed that vote in the U.N. while he tries to get Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar and the others off the hook with a proper U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize action against Saddam Hussein. I think that will play quite well for Tony Blair back home, that George Bush has been converted to working in these terms -- Daryn. KAGAN: Well, if, in fact, the United States decides that it does not go for another vote, and still goes ahead with military action, would Tony Blair, at that point, have to say, Sorry, but Britain cannot come along with you?

OAKLEY: I don't believe that he can say that, Daryn. He is in too deep in this policy. He has talked too long about the authority of the United Nations being at stake if action of some kind is not taken against Saddam Hussein. He has committed one-third of Britain's forces, and sent them out to the Gulf. To bring them home again without them firing a shot in these circumstances would leave him as a pretty limp leader.

So I think Tony Blair, although he desperately wants that second U.N. Security Council resolution, will go along with George Bush in any military action that follows, even if that resolution is withdrawn or is defeated -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Robin. We're going to have you stand by, and when that news conference begins, we are going to bring you in once again, and get your insight on what we hear from 10 Downing Street and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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






Aired March 14, 2003 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, the showdown with Iraq and the sudden summit. The U.S., the British, and the Spanish. They are all going to meet this weekend in the Azores islands. It is a plot -- they're trying, actually, to plot a way out of a diplomatic bog at the United Nations.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, begins our coverage this hour -- John, good morning once again.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again to you, Daryn. The reasons for this summit, quite obvious. The effort by the United States, Great Britain, and Spain to get a new resolution through the United Nations Security Council is in shambles to say the least.

France and Russia have threatened to veto the resolution. There has been difficulty even trying to get a simple majority of the 15 council members to support it. So, a hastily arranged summit will now be held Sunday in the Azores islands. That is part of Portugal, an island chain in the Atlantic Ocean.

President Bush will be in attendance, as will be Prime Minister Blair of Great Britain, and the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, hosted by the prime minister of Portugal. The discussions, we are told by White House officials, will focus almost exclusively on diplomacy, and whether anything can be salvaged to get a new resolution through the United Nations. Mr. Bush has been quite skeptical. He has been making urgent phone calls in recent days, trying to come up with a compromise.

U.S. officials say this is proof and should be proof to this president's skeptics that he is willing to go the extra mile to try to get a new resolution through the Security Council. Now, as the president prepares for that summit, movement on another sticky diplomatic issue as well. Mr. Bush in the Rose Garden earlier this morning here at the White House saying that political developments in the Middle East have now made it possible for the administration to get on the verge of laying out what it calls the road map, a sequence of steps designed to try to get the Israelis and the Palestinians back to the bargaining table. Mr. Bush says because of recent developments, political developments in the region, the time is now right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After its recent elections, the nation of Israel has a new government, and the Palestinian Authority has created the new position of prime minister. Israeli and Palestinian leaders and other governments in the region now have a chance to move forward with determination, and with good faith, to be a credible and responsible partner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, White House officials saying this is an initiative of its own right, that it has nothing to do with the diplomacy about Iraq and the possible military confrontation, but this president has been criticized by Europeans, pushed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, criticized by other Europeans, and certainly by many Arab leaders in the region, saying that it had put the Israeli/Palestinian problem on the back burner while dealing with Iraq.

Mr. Bush saying today he wants to try to move the process, again, back toward a peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and again, Daryn, making plans for that emergency summit Sunday to see if he and his chief European allies can come up with some new formation to get a resolution through the Security Council, clearing the way for military confrontation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Right. And a couple questions here. First on that summit, why that location? Why the Azores islands?

KING: Well, they wanted to have it in a neutral country. We are told after consultations back and forth between Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Aznar, and President Bush that Portugal offered that location for the three leaders. It is relatively convenient, if you will, if you look at a map. How does the president of the United States, the prime minister of Spain, and the prime minister of Great Britain get to a location where they each can meet? That was picked as a neutral site, if you will.

KAGAN: I'll meet you in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a beautiful island. It looks like that is the plan there. And in terms of this road map for the Middle East, what is actually, in practical terms, the next step for this, besides the president coming out to the Rose Garden today?

KING: Well, Mr. Bush said the next step, the immediate step has to be a real, powerful, and Palestinian prime minister. Yasser Arafat has created the position. The question now is whether that position actually has authority, and that Yasser Arafat is prepared to step back from the day to day affairs of the Palestinian Authority. The United States says it will insist on that.

If you get a Palestinian prime minister that has the authority the United States believes that position should have, a reformed Palestinian Authority, if you will, then the question is, the United States can put this road map forward, but the Israelis and the Palestinians would have to agree to work on it. They would have to agree, among other things, to talk to each other. Sounds rather simple, but it is something that has not happened in any constructive way toward a peace dialog in months and months and months.

So first we have to see, from the U.S. standpoint, the swearing in of a new Palestinian prime minister. Then, both governments commitments to this frame work will be put to the test.

KAGAN: We will be watching. John King at the White House, thank you so much.

Want to show our viewers also what we're watching, a live picture from 10 Downing Street. We're expecting any minute for British prime minister Tony Blair to be coming out and have a news conference.

While we await that to happen, want to bring in our senior European political correspondent, from London, Robin Oakley joining us this morning from the British capital. Good morning. Tell us more about this news conference we're standing by for.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an important moment for Tony Blair, above all others, Daryn, because he, more than anybody else, needs the political cover of that second U.N. Security Council resolution that this weekend meeting will be designed to bring forward. Tony Blair has got a big revolt from his own MPs in his own party, members of his own cabinet threatening to walk out if he goes to war without authorization from the U.N. Security Council, and public opinion very much against him unless he gets the backing of the U.N. So it's a case partly of George Bush going to the last inch of the last mile to help Tony Blair get that political cover, and significant that we've heard today the president's commitment to the road map for peace in the Middle East, because this is something that Tony Blair has been asking for a long, long time, promising his own MPs that he was able to work on George Bush to get him to push more of an initiative in the Middle East. Tony Blair will be very pleased that George Bush has done that today. But the question is, whether this really fluid dynamic situation that British officials are talking about this weekend, working flat out at the United Nations, is going to be able to get them a resolution which can get the backing of the crucial six swing votes in the U.N. Security Council, and build that nine-vote moral majority that George Bush and Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar are desperate to get -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, as it appears that President Bush is none too popular in Britain, what does it do to Tony Blair to be spending the weekend there with him? Does that help, or does that hurt?

OAKLEY: I think it's probably helping, in that it is a case of George Bush demonstrating his faith in the U.N. process, and following that through to a much greater degree than many in Europe have suspected he was willing to do.

It is a case of George Bush showing his multilateralism when many Europeans have accused him of being a unilateralist, just going his own way. And the fact that he's sticking with it as long as this, that he's postponed that vote in the U.N. while he tries to get Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar and the others off the hook with a proper U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize action against Saddam Hussein. I think that will play quite well for Tony Blair back home, that George Bush has been converted to working in these terms -- Daryn. KAGAN: Well, if, in fact, the United States decides that it does not go for another vote, and still goes ahead with military action, would Tony Blair, at that point, have to say, Sorry, but Britain cannot come along with you?

OAKLEY: I don't believe that he can say that, Daryn. He is in too deep in this policy. He has talked too long about the authority of the United Nations being at stake if action of some kind is not taken against Saddam Hussein. He has committed one-third of Britain's forces, and sent them out to the Gulf. To bring them home again without them firing a shot in these circumstances would leave him as a pretty limp leader.

So I think Tony Blair, although he desperately wants that second U.N. Security Council resolution, will go along with George Bush in any military action that follows, even if that resolution is withdrawn or is defeated -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Robin. We're going to have you stand by, and when that news conference begins, we are going to bring you in once again, and get your insight on what we hear from 10 Downing Street and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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