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CNN Live At Daybreak
Palestinian Prime Minister Appointment
Aired April 29, 2003 - 06:34 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: The Palestinian parliament today votes on the appointment of prime minister-designate Abu Mazen, and the move could pave the path for the road-to-peace plan.
Our Jerrold Kessel is live in Ramallah. He joins us with the latest.
And, Jerrold, we thought this would move more quickly, but it certainly hasn't.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not a political earthquake here this morning, Carol, but it certainly is an unusual day, as this special session of the Palestinian parliament gets under way in the headquarters here of Yasser Arafat's battered Muqata headquarters. And the reason it's being held here is that Yasser Arafat wanted to address the session of the parliament itself before it voted on the new cabinet of Abu Mazen.
The two men, Yasser Arafat and his prime minister-designate, no doubt the man who will be confirmed as the Palestinian prime minister later in the day or early tomorrow. Abu Mazen went across the courtyard here at Arafat's headquarters to the improvised hall, where the session is now taking place inside this wall here, so that Yasser Arafat could take part. He didn't want to leave the headquarters until he's been guaranteed his future by leaving it.
So, he addressed it this morning. He asked for the endorsement of the parliament of the new cabinet of Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen. He also had some tough words to say about the U.S. in Iraq, saying he called on the world to try to get the end of the U.S. occupation in Iraq as soon as possible.
But it was a fairly conciliatory speech from Yasser Arafat about the prospects of peace.
And then, about a half-an-hour or 20 minutes ago, Abu Mazen himself began to deliver his keynote address, asking for the approval of the parliament for his new government.
Anybody who is looking for a radical departure in policy will be disappointed, but anyone looking for a conciliatory tone, certainly it was there, although a tough tone as well from Abu Mazen, as he said, there is no military solution. There has to be a comprehensive political solution, a peace solution, and he promised he would work in that direction.
But he gave no word of disarming the militants or trying to take on the militants, although he said the Palestinian Authority would be unchecked, its authority would have to be unchecked, and he would (UNINTELLIGIBLE) no interference in it.
So, a tough speech, but at the same time a conciliatory speech. But he said that that road map to peace that's about to be issued once his cabinet is confirmed should not be negotiated. It is as is, and it should be implemented, he said.
And while the Palestinians are in session here at the Muqata headquarters and afterwards to discuss and to endorse that parliament, Israelis, like the rest of the world, of course in Washington, watching very closely the outcome of this debate, as likely as are Israelis, of course. And Israelis are watching very closely.
But Israel this morning and today has also had a very different focus.
That was 10:00 this morning, a couple of hours ago, when all traffic came to a halt, sirens blared out for two minutes across Israel, as Israelis stood to attention and remembered the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazis during World War II. This is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Israelis are absorbing, as they always do on this day, the message of the Holocaust and adapting it to how they adapt to the changing Middle East -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Very ironic. Jerrold Kessel, many thanks -- Jerrold Kessel live from Ramallah.
The White House is monitoring the Palestinian vote today.
For more on that, let's go live to Washington and White House correspondent Dana Bash.
Good morning -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, what Jerrold was just talking about is certainly a key, key event for this Bush administration. The president himself made the confirmation of Abu Mazen as prime minister key and a requirement to the Bush administration endorsing the so-called road map that would set up -- it is intended to set up a Palestinian state by 2005. The White House has made clear that they do not want to deal with Yasser Arafat; instead, that they are waiting for Abu Mazen to take control, or to at least get a good bit of power.
Now, the White House is saying that as soon as this is absolutely confirmed, as soon as it is finalized, they will in very short order release that road map and get things rolling as soon as possible.
Secretary of State Colin Powell will be heading to the region at the end of the week, later this week, to start discussing the issue with the various parties. It is certainly not going to be easy, especially since, as you heard Jerrold say, the Palestinians say that they don't want any changes. The Israelis are, of course, saying that they do want changes. This is going to be a long road, but at least it will start very shortly as far as the Bush administration is concerned.
COSTELLO: Yes, I don't think anybody is surprised that it's going to be a long road, despite what happens in the Palestinian parliament today.
On another topic, what's on the president's agenda today, Dana?
BASH: Well, Carol, he's got one public event. He's going to be in the Rose Garden talking about his $15 billion global HIV/AIDS initiative that he first endorsed, first talked about in his State of the Union. That's his public event.
Privately, though, he will be working on getting his tax cut plan through Congress. He will be having some private meetings here at the White House with key members of Congress. Congress is back after a two-week recess this week. And key members -- key House and Senate committees this coming week are going to start to write his tax plan.
As you know, Carol, the president has been talking up his plan, trying to get as much as possible through Congress. It is not going to be easy, particularly since the Republicans -- many moderate Republicans in the Senate just don't want what he wants, which is a $550 billion tax cut. They want to slice it to $350 billion, because they said they're worried about the deficit.
The president is going to push back on that today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Dana Bash reporting live from Washington on the subject of taxes.
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 April 29, 2003 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Palestinian parliament today votes on the appointment of prime minister-designate Abu Mazen, and the move could pave the path for the road-to-peace plan.
Our Jerrold Kessel is live in Ramallah. He joins us with the latest.
And, Jerrold, we thought this would move more quickly, but it certainly hasn't.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not a political earthquake here this morning, Carol, but it certainly is an unusual day, as this special session of the Palestinian parliament gets under way in the headquarters here of Yasser Arafat's battered Muqata headquarters. And the reason it's being held here is that Yasser Arafat wanted to address the session of the parliament itself before it voted on the new cabinet of Abu Mazen.
The two men, Yasser Arafat and his prime minister-designate, no doubt the man who will be confirmed as the Palestinian prime minister later in the day or early tomorrow. Abu Mazen went across the courtyard here at Arafat's headquarters to the improvised hall, where the session is now taking place inside this wall here, so that Yasser Arafat could take part. He didn't want to leave the headquarters until he's been guaranteed his future by leaving it.
So, he addressed it this morning. He asked for the endorsement of the parliament of the new cabinet of Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen. He also had some tough words to say about the U.S. in Iraq, saying he called on the world to try to get the end of the U.S. occupation in Iraq as soon as possible.
But it was a fairly conciliatory speech from Yasser Arafat about the prospects of peace.
And then, about a half-an-hour or 20 minutes ago, Abu Mazen himself began to deliver his keynote address, asking for the approval of the parliament for his new government.
Anybody who is looking for a radical departure in policy will be disappointed, but anyone looking for a conciliatory tone, certainly it was there, although a tough tone as well from Abu Mazen, as he said, there is no military solution. There has to be a comprehensive political solution, a peace solution, and he promised he would work in that direction.
But he gave no word of disarming the militants or trying to take on the militants, although he said the Palestinian Authority would be unchecked, its authority would have to be unchecked, and he would (UNINTELLIGIBLE) no interference in it.
So, a tough speech, but at the same time a conciliatory speech. But he said that that road map to peace that's about to be issued once his cabinet is confirmed should not be negotiated. It is as is, and it should be implemented, he said.
And while the Palestinians are in session here at the Muqata headquarters and afterwards to discuss and to endorse that parliament, Israelis, like the rest of the world, of course in Washington, watching very closely the outcome of this debate, as likely as are Israelis, of course. And Israelis are watching very closely.
But Israel this morning and today has also had a very different focus.
That was 10:00 this morning, a couple of hours ago, when all traffic came to a halt, sirens blared out for two minutes across Israel, as Israelis stood to attention and remembered the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazis during World War II. This is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Israelis are absorbing, as they always do on this day, the message of the Holocaust and adapting it to how they adapt to the changing Middle East -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Very ironic. Jerrold Kessel, many thanks -- Jerrold Kessel live from Ramallah.
The White House is monitoring the Palestinian vote today.
For more on that, let's go live to Washington and White House correspondent Dana Bash.
Good morning -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, what Jerrold was just talking about is certainly a key, key event for this Bush administration. The president himself made the confirmation of Abu Mazen as prime minister key and a requirement to the Bush administration endorsing the so-called road map that would set up -- it is intended to set up a Palestinian state by 2005. The White House has made clear that they do not want to deal with Yasser Arafat; instead, that they are waiting for Abu Mazen to take control, or to at least get a good bit of power.
Now, the White House is saying that as soon as this is absolutely confirmed, as soon as it is finalized, they will in very short order release that road map and get things rolling as soon as possible.
Secretary of State Colin Powell will be heading to the region at the end of the week, later this week, to start discussing the issue with the various parties. It is certainly not going to be easy, especially since, as you heard Jerrold say, the Palestinians say that they don't want any changes. The Israelis are, of course, saying that they do want changes. This is going to be a long road, but at least it will start very shortly as far as the Bush administration is concerned.
COSTELLO: Yes, I don't think anybody is surprised that it's going to be a long road, despite what happens in the Palestinian parliament today.
On another topic, what's on the president's agenda today, Dana?
BASH: Well, Carol, he's got one public event. He's going to be in the Rose Garden talking about his $15 billion global HIV/AIDS initiative that he first endorsed, first talked about in his State of the Union. That's his public event.
Privately, though, he will be working on getting his tax cut plan through Congress. He will be having some private meetings here at the White House with key members of Congress. Congress is back after a two-week recess this week. And key members -- key House and Senate committees this coming week are going to start to write his tax plan.
As you know, Carol, the president has been talking up his plan, trying to get as much as possible through Congress. It is not going to be easy, particularly since the Republicans -- many moderate Republicans in the Senate just don't want what he wants, which is a $550 billion tax cut. They want to slice it to $350 billion, because they said they're worried about the deficit.
The president is going to push back on that today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Dana Bash reporting live from Washington on the subject of taxes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
