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CNN Live At Daybreak

International Wrap, Eye on World

Aired January 12, 2004 - 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: Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us now. On the agenda this morning: Israel and Syria. In the news is also Mexico and lots of stuff.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, President Bush is off to Mexico today, Monterrey, the Summit of the Americas, meeting with all of the Latin American and Central American and North American leaders. It should be interesting.

We're not necessarily expecting too much dramatic progress on the issues, but the key issues, from President Bush's point of view: immigration and trade. He's made some, not exactly unilateral, but certainly some pre-emptive moves there himself with the moves on immigration laws here in the United States just within the last couple of weeks, and some trade deals done with some of the members of this summit already within the last two months, but...

COSTELLO: But, of course, some Latin American leaders don't really want to talk about those things.

CLINCH: Yes, there wasn't exactly the welcome for the immigration issue or some of the trade deals that have at least been offered. Some of them have not been finalized yet, let alone by the Latin American countries, but even by Congress here. So, still some talking to be done there, but it is nice and warm down there, so we shall see President Bush in Mexico during the day today.

We were discussing earlier some moves between Israel and Syria on the surface towards negotiations. We've been hearing from the Israeli president today, not a man with political power, but who is of very strong opinions. He was on Israel Radio today, and offered a surprising invitation for the president of Syria, President Assad, to come and visit Israel and to restart negotiations. It's not clear that he had the support of Prime Minister Sharon to issue that invitation.

But in the meantime, Syrian officials have been telling us that they're not taking President Katsav's invitation seriously. They say Israel is still pursuing far a too aggressive supplement policy and setting far too many limits on what those negotiations would be. So, Syria and Israel are still too far apart to start talking again.

COSTELLO: So, it's unlikely that Mr. Assad will be traveling to Israel anytime soon.

CLINCH: Not anytime soon, as far as we can see. Another story that we're just seeing popping on the Israeli wires -- we've been following this story for awhile -- but an Israeli cab driver is being arrested for, to some degree, unwittingly driving a Palestinian bomber to the scene of a suicide bombing.

Now, when I say "some degree unwittingly," he knew he was driving a Palestinian without declaring that he had a Palestinian through lines towards Israel. He did not, apparently, know that it was a suicide bomber, but Israel taking this breaking of the rules seriously enough to actually go to the extent of arresting this cab driver for driving this suicide bomber to the scene of that bombing.

COSTELLO: Awful. All right...

CLINCH: So, a lot of other stories out there today. Iran, still fascinating, we talked about this at 5:00 -- the hard-line cleric banning hundreds of reformers who want to run in the upcoming elections, setting off another clash there, not at this point any unrest in the street or anything like that. But the reformers and the hard-liners in Iran are at it again.

COSTELLO: And they're in their election process.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks. We appreciate it.

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 January 12, 2004 - 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: Our senior international editor, David Clinch, joins us now. On the agenda this morning: Israel and Syria. In the news is also Mexico and lots of stuff.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, President Bush is off to Mexico today, Monterrey, the Summit of the Americas, meeting with all of the Latin American and Central American and North American leaders. It should be interesting.

We're not necessarily expecting too much dramatic progress on the issues, but the key issues, from President Bush's point of view: immigration and trade. He's made some, not exactly unilateral, but certainly some pre-emptive moves there himself with the moves on immigration laws here in the United States just within the last couple of weeks, and some trade deals done with some of the members of this summit already within the last two months, but...

COSTELLO: But, of course, some Latin American leaders don't really want to talk about those things.

CLINCH: Yes, there wasn't exactly the welcome for the immigration issue or some of the trade deals that have at least been offered. Some of them have not been finalized yet, let alone by the Latin American countries, but even by Congress here. So, still some talking to be done there, but it is nice and warm down there, so we shall see President Bush in Mexico during the day today.

We were discussing earlier some moves between Israel and Syria on the surface towards negotiations. We've been hearing from the Israeli president today, not a man with political power, but who is of very strong opinions. He was on Israel Radio today, and offered a surprising invitation for the president of Syria, President Assad, to come and visit Israel and to restart negotiations. It's not clear that he had the support of Prime Minister Sharon to issue that invitation.

But in the meantime, Syrian officials have been telling us that they're not taking President Katsav's invitation seriously. They say Israel is still pursuing far a too aggressive supplement policy and setting far too many limits on what those negotiations would be. So, Syria and Israel are still too far apart to start talking again.

COSTELLO: So, it's unlikely that Mr. Assad will be traveling to Israel anytime soon.

CLINCH: Not anytime soon, as far as we can see. Another story that we're just seeing popping on the Israeli wires -- we've been following this story for awhile -- but an Israeli cab driver is being arrested for, to some degree, unwittingly driving a Palestinian bomber to the scene of a suicide bombing.

Now, when I say "some degree unwittingly," he knew he was driving a Palestinian without declaring that he had a Palestinian through lines towards Israel. He did not, apparently, know that it was a suicide bomber, but Israel taking this breaking of the rules seriously enough to actually go to the extent of arresting this cab driver for driving this suicide bomber to the scene of that bombing.

COSTELLO: Awful. All right...

CLINCH: So, a lot of other stories out there today. Iran, still fascinating, we talked about this at 5:00 -- the hard-line cleric banning hundreds of reformers who want to run in the upcoming elections, setting off another clash there, not at this point any unrest in the street or anything like that. But the reformers and the hard-liners in Iran are at it again.

COSTELLO: And they're in their election process.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: David Clinch, many thanks. We appreciate it.

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.