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CNN Live At Daybreak
International News Desk
Aired November 04, 2003 - 05:32 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: And, of course, we're going to be following a lot of international stories throughout the day here on CNN. So let's find out more of what's going on in the world.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us now -- David, you're going to talk a little bit more about Iraq first.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right. Well, Iraq, Israel, a couple of other stories we're following today. But the sort of theme of what I wanted to talk about today is our coverage on Iraq and Israel illustrates today the difference between the easy way to cover Iraq and Israel -- and there isn't really an easy way -- but in some senses the easy way. You stand, as we are doing, as everybody else is doing, in Baghdad and you report from there.
The harder way is to do what we're doing today, sending reporters out again to the Fallujah area, looking more in depth at why that area is such a hotbed of attacks, why the people there apparently are at least tolerating and in some ways supporting the attacks on coalition forces. It's a dangerous place out there. It's a (AUDIO GAP). It is not an easy thing to do. We have to get the right security. We have to make sure that we're going during daylight and operating during daylight. We'll see Ben's reporting tomorrow, but, again, it's so easy to just not only with the bad news, if you want to put it that way, the attacks, to just cover it and then move on. We want to know a little bit more about why those attacks are happening in Fallujah. So we've gone out there.
We also want to know a little bit more about two other aspects -- how these attacks are affecting the morale of U.S. soldiers. That's not easy, either. It's not easy to just walk up to American soldiers and get them to speak freely. Either they're not allowed to or they don't want to or we just can't get access to them. So we're pushing as hard as we can to get access.
We have, as I mentioned yesterday, been told again by the U.S. military we won't see pictures of the coffins coming out from Iraq as they pass through Germany on their way back to the United States. We're not being given access in Landstuhl to that. We are, as we did during the day yesterday and will again today, looking to find out a little bit more about the U.S. soldiers who are out there, particularly the victims.
The same on Israel, just very briefly. We could just, because there's been no major violence, just ignore that story. We're in Ramallah today. The Palestinian prime minister, Qureia, and Yasser Arafat still trying to patch up their differences about who will control Palestinian security. If they can patch that up, if Qureia can name a new cabinet, we hear there are very strong indications that Qureia will soon meet with the Israeli prime minister, Sharon. That would be a significant step towards the peace process, which hasn't really existed for weeks.
COSTELLO: And it would be amazing to most of us if it happened.
CLINCH: It would be, after so many weeks and months of violence and the two sides just not even looking at each other, let alone talking to each other. That would be a significant step. We're not there yet. Qureia and Arafat in Ramallah today. Can they patch up that key point of who controls security? Arafat still has his hands on that. Qureia wants that control so.
And just very briefly, just very quickly, we're keeping an eye on a situation in Sri Lanka that's developing. The prime minister of Sri Lanka is in Washington to meet President Bush this week. Meanwhile, the president back in Sri Lanka has fired a bunch of ministers and there are troops in the streets. So we're keeping an eye on that.
COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, many thanks.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Appreciate it.
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 November 4, 2003 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And, of course, we're going to be following a lot of international stories throughout the day here on CNN. So let's find out more of what's going on in the world.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us now -- David, you're going to talk a little bit more about Iraq first.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right. Well, Iraq, Israel, a couple of other stories we're following today. But the sort of theme of what I wanted to talk about today is our coverage on Iraq and Israel illustrates today the difference between the easy way to cover Iraq and Israel -- and there isn't really an easy way -- but in some senses the easy way. You stand, as we are doing, as everybody else is doing, in Baghdad and you report from there.
The harder way is to do what we're doing today, sending reporters out again to the Fallujah area, looking more in depth at why that area is such a hotbed of attacks, why the people there apparently are at least tolerating and in some ways supporting the attacks on coalition forces. It's a dangerous place out there. It's a (AUDIO GAP). It is not an easy thing to do. We have to get the right security. We have to make sure that we're going during daylight and operating during daylight. We'll see Ben's reporting tomorrow, but, again, it's so easy to just not only with the bad news, if you want to put it that way, the attacks, to just cover it and then move on. We want to know a little bit more about why those attacks are happening in Fallujah. So we've gone out there.
We also want to know a little bit more about two other aspects -- how these attacks are affecting the morale of U.S. soldiers. That's not easy, either. It's not easy to just walk up to American soldiers and get them to speak freely. Either they're not allowed to or they don't want to or we just can't get access to them. So we're pushing as hard as we can to get access.
We have, as I mentioned yesterday, been told again by the U.S. military we won't see pictures of the coffins coming out from Iraq as they pass through Germany on their way back to the United States. We're not being given access in Landstuhl to that. We are, as we did during the day yesterday and will again today, looking to find out a little bit more about the U.S. soldiers who are out there, particularly the victims.
The same on Israel, just very briefly. We could just, because there's been no major violence, just ignore that story. We're in Ramallah today. The Palestinian prime minister, Qureia, and Yasser Arafat still trying to patch up their differences about who will control Palestinian security. If they can patch that up, if Qureia can name a new cabinet, we hear there are very strong indications that Qureia will soon meet with the Israeli prime minister, Sharon. That would be a significant step towards the peace process, which hasn't really existed for weeks.
COSTELLO: And it would be amazing to most of us if it happened.
CLINCH: It would be, after so many weeks and months of violence and the two sides just not even looking at each other, let alone talking to each other. That would be a significant step. We're not there yet. Qureia and Arafat in Ramallah today. Can they patch up that key point of who controls security? Arafat still has his hands on that. Qureia wants that control so.
And just very briefly, just very quickly, we're keeping an eye on a situation in Sri Lanka that's developing. The prime minister of Sri Lanka is in Washington to meet President Bush this week. Meanwhile, the president back in Sri Lanka has fired a bunch of ministers and there are troops in the streets. So we're keeping an eye on that.
COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, many thanks.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
