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CNN Live At Daybreak
International Wrap: Summit Expected Later Today
Aired June 04, 2003 - 05:42 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: It is all about Aqaba today. President Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers are in the Jordanian resort to talk peace.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here to talk...
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... more about Aqaba itself.
CLINCH: Yes, Carol, good morning. Aqaba, fascinating, a beautiful place, you can probably see in the live reports that we've been doing from Jordan, very interesting geography. It's just across the border from an Israeli port town, which is almost identical, Eilat, but it's very symbolic.
Aqaba and Eilat are very symbolic of the potential of what could come out of a peace process if it was successful. Both of these port towns are absolutely lovely places, prime tourist locations, except that nobody goes there because it's not safe, there are disputes. The Israelis and Jordanians have been talking for years about cooperating, building joint hotels, building -- there's a live picture of it there -- building an international airport so that Europeans, and presumably Americans too, could fly in, share the resources of the beaches, the hotels and everything in that area. None of that or practically none of that has ever happened.
So, not a coincidence, I think, that this summit is happening there today, because that town, that port is a symbol of the potential if a peace process were to be successful.
COSTELLO: And Jordan is one of the few Arab countries that recognize Israel as a state.
CLINCH: Absolutely. And, again -- we talked about this last week -- Jordan in some degree being rewarded for its support not only in the peace process, but in Iraq and in the war on terror. Jordan gets to hold this summit, King Abdullah definitely being rewarded, and a very grateful President Bush there, from him.
Of course, the question of whether this is a real peace process, whether anything can be achieved today or whether it's a mirage in the desert is still to be discerned.
COSTELLO: Yes, and as positive as everything sounds, it's a very long process. CLINCH: It is, but they're being honest about that, and I think that's the key thing we need to remember. I don't think anybody -- President Bush or anybody else -- is saying there will be a solution today. This is the beginning of a process. We know the motivations for the leaders. President Bush staring into your eyes is a pretty heavy motivation. What remains to be seen is the motivation for the extremists on either side, and that's really the key and we won't know that for a while.
COSTELLO: You're also going to talk about some Pew Research that says what most Americans already know: that many people overseas don't like Americans.
CLINCH: Right. I'll come back at 6:00 to talk about this a little bit more. But the annual Pew Research, global research, on what people think about the United States, again, not a surprise. People not very keen on the United States, but related to the peace process, again, it remains to be seen if that opinion may improve if the peace process succeeds. So, we'll talk about that later on.
And then also in the Dominican Republic today, we'll talk about them celebrating their victory, Miss Universe crowned last night, but then very sad about Sammy Sosa and his cork bat. It's...
COSTELLO: Can you believe that happened?
CLINCH: Front-page pictures in the Dominican Republic newspapers today.
COSTELLO: Yes, and, of course, Sammy Sosa from the Dominican Republic.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: And we haven't really talked about it yet, but he was found using a cork bat last night in a game.
CLINCH: Apparently so.
COSTELLO: He said it was completely an accident.
CLINCH: Yes, he did, and that's what the headline in the papers says this morning, it was a mistake.
COSTELLO: Right. David Clinch, many thanks. We'll see you at 6:00.
CLINCH: OK.
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 June 4, 2003 - 05:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is all about Aqaba today. President Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers are in the Jordanian resort to talk peace.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here to talk...
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... more about Aqaba itself.
CLINCH: Yes, Carol, good morning. Aqaba, fascinating, a beautiful place, you can probably see in the live reports that we've been doing from Jordan, very interesting geography. It's just across the border from an Israeli port town, which is almost identical, Eilat, but it's very symbolic.
Aqaba and Eilat are very symbolic of the potential of what could come out of a peace process if it was successful. Both of these port towns are absolutely lovely places, prime tourist locations, except that nobody goes there because it's not safe, there are disputes. The Israelis and Jordanians have been talking for years about cooperating, building joint hotels, building -- there's a live picture of it there -- building an international airport so that Europeans, and presumably Americans too, could fly in, share the resources of the beaches, the hotels and everything in that area. None of that or practically none of that has ever happened.
So, not a coincidence, I think, that this summit is happening there today, because that town, that port is a symbol of the potential if a peace process were to be successful.
COSTELLO: And Jordan is one of the few Arab countries that recognize Israel as a state.
CLINCH: Absolutely. And, again -- we talked about this last week -- Jordan in some degree being rewarded for its support not only in the peace process, but in Iraq and in the war on terror. Jordan gets to hold this summit, King Abdullah definitely being rewarded, and a very grateful President Bush there, from him.
Of course, the question of whether this is a real peace process, whether anything can be achieved today or whether it's a mirage in the desert is still to be discerned.
COSTELLO: Yes, and as positive as everything sounds, it's a very long process. CLINCH: It is, but they're being honest about that, and I think that's the key thing we need to remember. I don't think anybody -- President Bush or anybody else -- is saying there will be a solution today. This is the beginning of a process. We know the motivations for the leaders. President Bush staring into your eyes is a pretty heavy motivation. What remains to be seen is the motivation for the extremists on either side, and that's really the key and we won't know that for a while.
COSTELLO: You're also going to talk about some Pew Research that says what most Americans already know: that many people overseas don't like Americans.
CLINCH: Right. I'll come back at 6:00 to talk about this a little bit more. But the annual Pew Research, global research, on what people think about the United States, again, not a surprise. People not very keen on the United States, but related to the peace process, again, it remains to be seen if that opinion may improve if the peace process succeeds. So, we'll talk about that later on.
And then also in the Dominican Republic today, we'll talk about them celebrating their victory, Miss Universe crowned last night, but then very sad about Sammy Sosa and his cork bat. It's...
COSTELLO: Can you believe that happened?
CLINCH: Front-page pictures in the Dominican Republic newspapers today.
COSTELLO: Yes, and, of course, Sammy Sosa from the Dominican Republic.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: And we haven't really talked about it yet, but he was found using a cork bat last night in a game.
CLINCH: Apparently so.
COSTELLO: He said it was completely an accident.
CLINCH: Yes, he did, and that's what the headline in the papers says this morning, it was a mistake.
COSTELLO: Right. David Clinch, many thanks. We'll see you at 6:00.
CLINCH: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
