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American Morning

Discussion With Reverend Jesse Jackson

Aired July 03, 2003 - 08:05   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back in 1997, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was named special envoy for democracy in Africa by then President Clinton. Among the leaders Jackson met during his tenure, President Charles Taylor of Liberia.
The Reverend Jackson joins us now live from Chicago to talk about the situation.

Good to have you with us, Reverend Jackson.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: What are the chances Charles Taylor will step down and leave the country?

JACKSON: They are great if the U.N. negotiates the transition and he ought to leave. But the U.N. ought to supervise that transition. In several instances, we've done that. Idi Amin was, in a sense, transitioned out of Uganda. We even offered Saddam Hussein a way into an Arab state to avoid that conflict. And so his stepping down, in my judgment, is the right thing to do. But the U.N. ought to supervise such a transition.

Then the U.S., in the meantime, should send in peacekeeping troops because both sides have invited them, and then move on towards some plan for reconstruction.

O'BRIEN: Let's go back and talk about what sort of a package Mr. Taylor might be anticipating or desiring. Certainly he would probably be looking for some sort of immunity deal, wouldn't he?

JACKSON: Well, I would assume that. But then that should kind of be left to the U.N. But these deals have come in various ways. As I said, Idi Amin is now in Saudi Arabia. Apparently Hussein refused a deal to go to an Arab state. It takes on many forms. But getting him out is an important thing to happen.

We are indebted to Liberia as a nation in a very special way. Liberia was the U.S. outpost. It was the Voice of America outpost of America. Roberts Field was our military landing place in the Second World War. All of our tires, the Firestone rubber plantations were in Liberia, which were headquartered in Akron, Ohio.

We are indebted to Liberia and we have, in a sense, let Liberia down.

O'BRIEN: Now, you have been supportive of President Taylor in the past. This morning you're calling for him to leave the country. What happened?

JACKSON: No, the U.S. government's policy was, given the crisis it had helped to create, was to accept Taylor as the president. But that has failed.

To take a step back, when we had a democratic government there led by Bill Reverend Tolbert, Sergeant Doe overthrew that government, a democratic government, which is our outpost. We did not protect that government when they drug those leaders down the street and killed them before the whole world. Mr. Reagan invited Sergeant Doe, the over thrower of the government, to the White House at a White House ceremony, almost honoring the overthrow in that government -- in that country.

We did nothing to help stabilize Liberia or to bring it back. We would not even allow Liberian allies to go in the U.S. Embassy for safekeeping. So that's a kind of ugly bit of history here now.

And so finally, after all of the killing, our government embraced Taylor as the alternative. Now it's obvious that he cannot govern that country. And we should go in there immediately with -- and allied with the U.N. with peacekeeping troops, negotiate him out of there. But beyond bringing peacekeeping, there must be some commitment to economic and health and education and reconstruction in Liberia.

O'BRIEN: Have you had any contact directly with Mr. Taylor? And have you told him to step down?

JACKSON: No, I have not had any contact with him since I stepped away from the role as government envoy.

O'BRIEN: Would you do that?

JACKSON: Well, I would do so for our government. Any time I can give some service to our government to try to bring about some peace, I would do it. So many people are dying there. We have abandoned Liberia for so long. We must do something immediately to bring about the relief from the pressure there. But I say, getting Taylor out is a thing. But the other thing is to bring in some stability.

Unlike Iraq, where we are facing hostility because we are there as an occupying force, in Liberia both parties, the rebels and Taylor, are inviting us in. That would be for a different climate, say, for example, than Iraq.

But we need to use this as a stepping stone for a new, more comprehensive African policy.

O'BRIEN: All right, and just quickly, Reverend Jackson, do you see any Somalia parallels here? Is this something that could be very disastrous for U.S. troops?

JACKSON: Well, any time you're on foreign soil there's always that potential. But it's not as likely in Liberia because both factions are inviting us in. Plus, the U.S. has such a long history in Liberia. After all, it is a state that we essentially founded. We have deep roots there, American speaking Africans in Liberia. This could be a good launching pad for a new Africa policy that shows the U.S. as dealing with AIDS and trade and stability and the economic reconstruction.

This would be, could be a signal of a positive sort for Mr. Bush's trip to Africa.

O'BRIEN: Reverend Jackson, thank you very much.

JACKSON: Thank you very much.

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 July 3, 2003 - 08:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back in 1997, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was named special envoy for democracy in Africa by then President Clinton. Among the leaders Jackson met during his tenure, President Charles Taylor of Liberia.
The Reverend Jackson joins us now live from Chicago to talk about the situation.

Good to have you with us, Reverend Jackson.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: What are the chances Charles Taylor will step down and leave the country?

JACKSON: They are great if the U.N. negotiates the transition and he ought to leave. But the U.N. ought to supervise that transition. In several instances, we've done that. Idi Amin was, in a sense, transitioned out of Uganda. We even offered Saddam Hussein a way into an Arab state to avoid that conflict. And so his stepping down, in my judgment, is the right thing to do. But the U.N. ought to supervise such a transition.

Then the U.S., in the meantime, should send in peacekeeping troops because both sides have invited them, and then move on towards some plan for reconstruction.

O'BRIEN: Let's go back and talk about what sort of a package Mr. Taylor might be anticipating or desiring. Certainly he would probably be looking for some sort of immunity deal, wouldn't he?

JACKSON: Well, I would assume that. But then that should kind of be left to the U.N. But these deals have come in various ways. As I said, Idi Amin is now in Saudi Arabia. Apparently Hussein refused a deal to go to an Arab state. It takes on many forms. But getting him out is an important thing to happen.

We are indebted to Liberia as a nation in a very special way. Liberia was the U.S. outpost. It was the Voice of America outpost of America. Roberts Field was our military landing place in the Second World War. All of our tires, the Firestone rubber plantations were in Liberia, which were headquartered in Akron, Ohio.

We are indebted to Liberia and we have, in a sense, let Liberia down.

O'BRIEN: Now, you have been supportive of President Taylor in the past. This morning you're calling for him to leave the country. What happened?

JACKSON: No, the U.S. government's policy was, given the crisis it had helped to create, was to accept Taylor as the president. But that has failed.

To take a step back, when we had a democratic government there led by Bill Reverend Tolbert, Sergeant Doe overthrew that government, a democratic government, which is our outpost. We did not protect that government when they drug those leaders down the street and killed them before the whole world. Mr. Reagan invited Sergeant Doe, the over thrower of the government, to the White House at a White House ceremony, almost honoring the overthrow in that government -- in that country.

We did nothing to help stabilize Liberia or to bring it back. We would not even allow Liberian allies to go in the U.S. Embassy for safekeeping. So that's a kind of ugly bit of history here now.

And so finally, after all of the killing, our government embraced Taylor as the alternative. Now it's obvious that he cannot govern that country. And we should go in there immediately with -- and allied with the U.N. with peacekeeping troops, negotiate him out of there. But beyond bringing peacekeeping, there must be some commitment to economic and health and education and reconstruction in Liberia.

O'BRIEN: Have you had any contact directly with Mr. Taylor? And have you told him to step down?

JACKSON: No, I have not had any contact with him since I stepped away from the role as government envoy.

O'BRIEN: Would you do that?

JACKSON: Well, I would do so for our government. Any time I can give some service to our government to try to bring about some peace, I would do it. So many people are dying there. We have abandoned Liberia for so long. We must do something immediately to bring about the relief from the pressure there. But I say, getting Taylor out is a thing. But the other thing is to bring in some stability.

Unlike Iraq, where we are facing hostility because we are there as an occupying force, in Liberia both parties, the rebels and Taylor, are inviting us in. That would be for a different climate, say, for example, than Iraq.

But we need to use this as a stepping stone for a new, more comprehensive African policy.

O'BRIEN: All right, and just quickly, Reverend Jackson, do you see any Somalia parallels here? Is this something that could be very disastrous for U.S. troops?

JACKSON: Well, any time you're on foreign soil there's always that potential. But it's not as likely in Liberia because both factions are inviting us in. Plus, the U.S. has such a long history in Liberia. After all, it is a state that we essentially founded. We have deep roots there, American speaking Africans in Liberia. This could be a good launching pad for a new Africa policy that shows the U.S. as dealing with AIDS and trade and stability and the economic reconstruction.

This would be, could be a signal of a positive sort for Mr. Bush's trip to Africa.

O'BRIEN: Reverend Jackson, thank you very much.

JACKSON: Thank you very much.

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