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CNN Live At Daybreak
Cease-Fire Efforts in Middle East
Aired June 16, 2003 - 06:36 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 president's top people, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, they have been working the phones trying to get a cease-fire in the Middle East.
Let's check on the efforts now. Let's go live to Washington and our senior White House correspondent, John King.
Good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
And one thing the administration is doing is working behind the scenes to support those talks, you just mentioned, led by Egypt. The short-term goal is to get a cease-fire, to get Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups to commit to ending attacks at least temporarily on Israel. That would clear the way for the Palestinian Authority to take over security of more of the Palestinian territories, and for the Israeli military to back off of it, if you will. That is the immediate goal.
But if you listen to President Bush, who was up in Kennebunkport, Maine, over the weekend, even as these cease-fire talks go on, Mr. Bush is talking about completely putting Hamas and those militant groups out of business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The message is clear: Prime Minister Abbas wants peace, Prime Minister Sharon wants peace, America wants peace, the European Union wants peace, but there are clearly killers who don't. And for those of us who are interested in moving the process forward, we must combine our efforts to cut off all money, support, for anybody who tries to sabotage the peace process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the Egyptian diplomacy is taking center stage at the moment, but the United States will assert itself a bit later in the day. The president's new special envoy, Ambassador John Wolf, is on the ground. His first round of meetings later today with Israeli officials to focus again on improving security cooperation, and then moving on to the early steps in that so-called road map for peace.
And as Ambassador Wolf and his team get going in the Middle East, Secretary of State Powell is also planning a trip to the region later in the week to meet with European Union, United Nations and Russian officials. They are hoping by then, by the end of this week, that there is a period of calm, and they can get back to talking about the peace process, not just about ending bloodshed and violence.
And, Carol, the president was up in Maine for the weekend, a stop in New Jersey today to talk about the economy, back at the White House by early afternoon.
COSTELLO: Oh, and also to raise some money for the Republicans and his campaign. Two hundred million dollars the goal?
KING: Over the next couple of weeks the president will raise somewhere between $170 and $200 million. Some believe he'll even exceed $200 million. He starts it this week. By the time this year is out, before he even gets to the re-election year, the president will have somewhere in the area of 200 million, perhaps even more.
COSTELLO: And he's running unopposed in the primary.
KING: He gets a lot of money to spend.
COSTELLO: Thank you, John King live from the White House this morning.
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 16, 2003 - 06:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The president's top people, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, they have been working the phones trying to get a cease-fire in the Middle East.
Let's check on the efforts now. Let's go live to Washington and our senior White House correspondent, John King.
Good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
And one thing the administration is doing is working behind the scenes to support those talks, you just mentioned, led by Egypt. The short-term goal is to get a cease-fire, to get Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups to commit to ending attacks at least temporarily on Israel. That would clear the way for the Palestinian Authority to take over security of more of the Palestinian territories, and for the Israeli military to back off of it, if you will. That is the immediate goal.
But if you listen to President Bush, who was up in Kennebunkport, Maine, over the weekend, even as these cease-fire talks go on, Mr. Bush is talking about completely putting Hamas and those militant groups out of business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The message is clear: Prime Minister Abbas wants peace, Prime Minister Sharon wants peace, America wants peace, the European Union wants peace, but there are clearly killers who don't. And for those of us who are interested in moving the process forward, we must combine our efforts to cut off all money, support, for anybody who tries to sabotage the peace process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the Egyptian diplomacy is taking center stage at the moment, but the United States will assert itself a bit later in the day. The president's new special envoy, Ambassador John Wolf, is on the ground. His first round of meetings later today with Israeli officials to focus again on improving security cooperation, and then moving on to the early steps in that so-called road map for peace.
And as Ambassador Wolf and his team get going in the Middle East, Secretary of State Powell is also planning a trip to the region later in the week to meet with European Union, United Nations and Russian officials. They are hoping by then, by the end of this week, that there is a period of calm, and they can get back to talking about the peace process, not just about ending bloodshed and violence.
And, Carol, the president was up in Maine for the weekend, a stop in New Jersey today to talk about the economy, back at the White House by early afternoon.
COSTELLO: Oh, and also to raise some money for the Republicans and his campaign. Two hundred million dollars the goal?
KING: Over the next couple of weeks the president will raise somewhere between $170 and $200 million. Some believe he'll even exceed $200 million. He starts it this week. By the time this year is out, before he even gets to the re-election year, the president will have somewhere in the area of 200 million, perhaps even more.
COSTELLO: And he's running unopposed in the primary.
KING: He gets a lot of money to spend.
COSTELLO: Thank you, John King live from the White House this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
