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CNN Live At Daybreak
Presidential Focus on Middle East Peace Process
Aired June 23, 2003 - 06:33 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: In addition to Iraq, President Bush is also having to deal with a very shaky Middle East peace plan.
Live to Washington now and White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, the White House insists that Hamas is the obstacle to peace, but really the frustration now is with Israel. That is because they believe, some U.S. officials believe, that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is on the verge of winning a cease-fire with Hamas, but that Israel's policy of targeting and killing Hamas leaders is really preventing a truce from taking place.
It was just a little less than two weeks ago that Israel attempted to kill Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the White House quickly condemning that attack. And then it was Saturday that Israel killed a top Hamas militant in Hebron.
Now, Israel insists that it was trying to arrest that individual. They say that they were justified in their attack, but Secretary Powell over the weekend expressing some concern. This morning in Jordan he also expressed, however, a determination that both sides could move forward, that this thing would work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've got to keep pressing ahead, but this does not mean that we will not have incidents that will come along that will cause people to wonder whether or not we're going to succeed. And what we have to do is keep driving ahead and not let these incidents keep us off course or stop the progress that I think it is possible to make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Carol, to make sure that it stays on course, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be in the area sometime later next week to move this forward -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, you know, Suzanne, Jerrold Kessel said Colin Powell put a sort of timetable on the peace plan. He's giving it two weeks. Does that come as a surprise? MALVEAUX: Well, it doesn't come as a surprise to any parties involved, and that is simply because you can only be optimistic for a certain period of time before it seems as if that window of opportunity -- and the administration has been talking about this for some time -- a narrow window of opportunity that all sides want to make this work. That's why they are pushing both Israelis and the Palestinians as hard as they can, both publicly and behind the scenes, to make these first initial steps before they lose that momentum.
COSTELLO: Suzanne Malveaux live from Washington 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 23, 2003 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In addition to Iraq, President Bush is also having to deal with a very shaky Middle East peace plan.
Live to Washington now and White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, the White House insists that Hamas is the obstacle to peace, but really the frustration now is with Israel. That is because they believe, some U.S. officials believe, that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is on the verge of winning a cease-fire with Hamas, but that Israel's policy of targeting and killing Hamas leaders is really preventing a truce from taking place.
It was just a little less than two weeks ago that Israel attempted to kill Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the White House quickly condemning that attack. And then it was Saturday that Israel killed a top Hamas militant in Hebron.
Now, Israel insists that it was trying to arrest that individual. They say that they were justified in their attack, but Secretary Powell over the weekend expressing some concern. This morning in Jordan he also expressed, however, a determination that both sides could move forward, that this thing would work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've got to keep pressing ahead, but this does not mean that we will not have incidents that will come along that will cause people to wonder whether or not we're going to succeed. And what we have to do is keep driving ahead and not let these incidents keep us off course or stop the progress that I think it is possible to make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Carol, to make sure that it stays on course, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be in the area sometime later next week to move this forward -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, you know, Suzanne, Jerrold Kessel said Colin Powell put a sort of timetable on the peace plan. He's giving it two weeks. Does that come as a surprise? MALVEAUX: Well, it doesn't come as a surprise to any parties involved, and that is simply because you can only be optimistic for a certain period of time before it seems as if that window of opportunity -- and the administration has been talking about this for some time -- a narrow window of opportunity that all sides want to make this work. That's why they are pushing both Israelis and the Palestinians as hard as they can, both publicly and behind the scenes, to make these first initial steps before they lose that momentum.
COSTELLO: Suzanne Malveaux live from Washington 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.
