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CNN Live At Daybreak
Funeral and Burial Plans For Arafat; Delta's Deal With Its Pilots
Aired November 12, 2004 - 06:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yasser Arafat's body is on its way to Ramallah for interment. You're looking at live pictures right now of Palestinians gathering at the burial site this morning.
It is Friday, November 12, and this is DAYBREAK.
Good morning, everyone.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Carol Costello this morning.
Now in the news, the body of Yasser Arafat is being returned to his people at this hour, after a military funeral in Cairo, Egypt. Dignitaries from around the world attended the service. The Palestinian leader will be interred in Ramallah about three hours from now.
In Iraq at this hour, U.S. troops are battling insurgents in the alleyways and bombed out buildings of Falluja. At least 18 Americans and five Iraqi soldiers have been killed and more than 200 wounded in the assault.
John Hinckley will be back in a Washington courtroom this morning. Hinckley is seeking permission to leave a psychiatric hospital for longer visits with his parents. He's been hospitalized since his 1981 attempted assassination of President Reagan.
A new juror joins deliberations in the Scott Peterson double murder case this morning. The jury will be starting from scratch again after the judge dismissed the jury foreman. It was the second dismissal in as many days.
And let's check in with Chad again this morning.
Either you want fun and sun in Miami or perhaps head to the mountains and go skiing.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. There will be snow, actually, in Colorado all weekend, which is obviously some great news there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat makes his final journey to the West Bank. After a military funeral in Egypt, the Palestinian leader is scheduled to be interred at his Ramallah compound in just a few hours.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us live from Cairo, where the funeral took place a few hours ago.
And -- Christiane, a whole lot of dignitaries but no ordinary citizens.
Why?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, partly because of security, partly because the Egyptian authorities didn't want some spontaneous eruption of uncontrollable grief. They did control the situation and the access quite strictly and it was only hundreds and hundreds of security officers who were deployed around here and then the dozens and dozens of dignitaries who came to pay their last respects.
There was, it's called a military funeral. And the last time Egypt saw such a funeral was when Anwar Sadat was buried after he was assassinated back in 1981. He, of course, the first ever Arab leader to make peace with Israel.
There were representatives at the head of state level, head of government, foreign ministry and other mid-level representation from all over the Arab world, Africa, Asia, Europe and, of course, mid- level from the United States.
Yasser Arafat's coffin was draped with a Palestinian flag. It was borne on a carriage that was drawn by six black horses, who were ridden by military honor guards. And in front there was a riderless horse who led the cortege. And then after the dignitaries had met in the tent behind me and prayers had been said in the mosque over Arafat's coffin, then they all processed about 200 meters to an air field, where his body, his casket was put on a plane and flown out to Ramallah.
Now, one of the saddest scenes, really, was that of a young daughter saying good-bye to her father, a young daughter, Zawah (ph), nine years old, who had left the territory's with Arafat's wife, her mother, Suha, several years ago and who didn't know her father perhaps as well as she might have done. A young daughter just saying good-bye to her father, but a man who was named the father of a nation. And both his wife and others have said that he really didn't have much time for family affairs. He was married to the cause. And that's, you know, one of the more poignant, more human images of what we saw at this funeral today -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much for that update coming from Cairo.
The United States sent Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to Arafat's funeral in Egypt. U.S. Consul General to Jerusalem, David Pierce, will attend Arafat's burial in Ramallah. The Bush administration now must decide how to deal with Arafat's replacement. Elections for a successor are set to take place within 60 days.
Well, what does the political future hold for the Palestinian leaders?
For that, let's talk to Middle East analyst Mark Perry, who is Washington editor of the "Palestine Report."
All right, good to see you, Mark.
MARK PERRY, WASHINGTON EDITOR, "PALESTINE REPORT," AUTHOR, "A FIRE IN ZION": Good morning.
WHITFIELD: Well, apparently the White House is considering a proposal that was offered by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to try the appoint a special Middle East envoy.
How soon should that process get under way and is that the right thing to do?
PERRY: The process -- there are a lot of people who are really pushing for this. Tony Blair is not the only one. There are people inside the administration who want a special envoy. I think that we can be over anxious here. This new leadership needs to consolidate its position. It needs increased legitimacy on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza. There need to be elections. I think it's going to be some time, at least two months, perhaps a little bit longer, before we see this new leadership emerge and become stronger.
Mahmoud Abbas is not in the position right now to begin negotiations with the Israelis, even were that possible. He simply needs to consolidate his hold. They need to control this government. They need to sit down and hammer out their own principles and negotiating positions before we can have negotiations begin.
WHITFIELD: And the Palestinian law says elections to take place within 60 days. A, do you even see that happening?
PERRY: It's going to be very difficult. This is a land that's under occupation. There has to be some talks, initial low level talks, to the Israelis to make sure that registration, which is starting already, can continue and that polling places can be set up. It will be very interesting to see whether there is voting in East Jerusalem. If there is not, the election will not be considered legitimate by the Palestinian people. There are a lot of issues on the table and the law does call for an election in 60 days and the Palestinian people, I think, are very adamant that there be an election.
WHITFIELD: Then, B, a follow-up question to that, then, is, you know, should, after the election, any kind of negotiations or talks begin between Palestinian and Israeli leaders? I mean why start the process if it's still uncertain who will be at the helm of the leadership?
PERRY: Well, that's right. But, you know, there are reports in Washington, apparently very authoritative, that President Bush is very keen in this administration, his second term, to make this a priority. He told Secretary General Kofi Annan that. He's reassured Tony Blair that it is a priority. He's going to have to start to move and I think we're going to see the United States start to move.
I don't know that there will be a special envoy. I think the administration is very skeptical of such a position. But they need to show that they're very engaged in the process and to push the road map forward.
So as soon as a leadership emerges with legitimacy in the Palestinian areas, I think the Bush administration will move, and it needs to.
WHITFIELD: All right, Mark Perry, Washington editor of the "Palestine Report," thanks so much this morning.
PERRY: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: Well, a helicopter carrying the body of Yasser Arafat is on its way to the West Bank and it's due to arrive very shortly in Ramallah.
CNN's Michael Holmes is in Ramallah right now, where already it appears hundreds of people, Michael, have gathered for this interment.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In fact, it's many thousands now. In the last hour or so, the numbers have swelled exponentially. There are people with drums. There are people chanting and singing and marching as much as they can through the crush.
Now, something has gone a little bit chaotic here. I'm going to show you. We're going to zoom forward. Where you see those people inside the compound, they are not meant to be there. Palestinians, ordinary Palestinians were to be allowed to come in and see the tomb of Yasser Arafat at 6:00 p.m. this evening. The actual ceremony that's taking place here, they were not meant to be inside for. However, they have scaled the walls in their thousands, have poured into that bottom end of the compound and given a real headache to Palestinian security there, having to put basically a wall of security forces there.
They pushed them back about 40 or 50 feet, I suppose, from where they were a few minutes ago. But they're not going to be able to remove these people now that they are in.
Now, as you were saying, the helicopters are going to arrive. There will be two of them, one carrying the body of Yasser Arafat and one carrying other Palestinian officials who were in Cairo for the funeral ceremonies. Once the helicopters arrive here, they're going to land right there behind us in the Muqataa and then the burial ceremony will happen after prayers.
As we've been reporting, they've been building this tomb for Yasser Arafat, a monument for him over the last 36 hours or so. It appears to be pretty much complete now, made out of stone and marble. It goes down about seven feet into the ground.
We want to bring in quickly the Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, who is here with us. Now, this sort of encroachment, if you like, into the compound, an indication of the emotion here today?
HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: Absolutely. There is just a spontaneous expression of raw feelings, a sense of grief, a sense of loss, a sense of anger, a sense of being, as I said, orphaned. And the Palestinians want to be part of this. They want to say good-bye to their leader, to the father of their nation. And therefore they feel that they have been, in a sense, robbed of him while he was under siege here. And now he's free in the sense that he's dead, but they still want to be able to pay their respects, to show their loyalty and to express their real grief at his loss.
HOLMES: Even though deep down ordinary Palestinians, and also Palestinian officials would like to one day see Yasser Arafat buried in the capital of a sovereign state, that being East Jerusalem, this is it for the time being, until some huge breakthrough can be made.
How will this place be revered now?
ASHRAWI: Well, this place will be seen as the temporary resting place of President Arafat. It will be symbolic of his last stand, so to speak, of his being held hostage or prisoner here, a sense of his suffering, his being a victim, like the rest of the people. But at the same time, he has a bit of Jerusalem with him, because they've brought in the soil from the Haram Al-Sharif and from the Al Aqsa Mosque from Jerusalem, because his last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem.
Everybody looks upon this as a temporary resting place. When there is peace and we do have Jerusalem, East Jerusalem as our capital, then he will be buried there, where he rightfully belongs.
HOLMES: Do you see this day, as some have, a showing of respect for Yasser Arafat that he hasn't had internationally for some time?
ASHRAWI: The funeral in Cairo, in a sense, placed him within the embrace of the Arab world as an Arab leader, a world leader. It gave him the respect, the exposure, the standing that is rightfully his globally in the Arab world and globally, as well.
Here you are going to see more of a popular, immediate, emotional, visceral reaction. But it is important to the Palestinians to see him accorded the respect that he deserves, because his humiliation at the hands of the Israelis was seen as a humiliation of the whole people, of the Palestinian people. His captivity was symbolic of the captivity of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation. And therefore the assaults on his compound, the fact that he was being demonized and dehumanized made the Palestinians rally around him and support him. And now in death they're trying to show their affection and their loyalty in this immediate way.
HOLMES: That's partly what I was going to ask you next. I mean many people would say that he was a man who symbolized aspirations for statehood, but he's a man who failed to achieve that dream. There are many out there who say Yasser Arafat failed all these people. How do they view him?
ASHRAWI: No, I think the term failed should not be used. I've heard this repeatedly used by some of your reporters, including Walter Rodgers. But I think that's wrong. The Israelis use that now.
He managed to keep the Palestinian issue alive. He managed to place the Palestinian identity within the recognition of the world, of humanity. We were the people who were told we didn't exist. We were being obliterated nationally as victims of a land without a people or a people without a land. I mean Palestine was described as being empty and we were transformed into poor refugees.
Arafat, the revolution, his people with him, I mean placed us on the map, said that we are a nation with national rights, therefore, self-determination is ours, that we have accepted also to serve historical Palestine, that we accepted the state of Israel on 78 percent of historical Palestine. We need our state on the remaining 22 percent, which is a major compromise.
So Arafat is seen not only as having kept the identity alive in the struggle, but also as having made the historical compromise for the two state solution that without his standing couldn't be made.
He didn't fail. He launched a process. The process has to go on. And in the vacuum left by a larger than life leader, we have to fill it with the rule of law, with institutions and with democratically elected people.
HOLMES: The reality is that he is a man that the Israeli government and the Bush administration said they would not do business with, who was not a partner in peace.
Do you think that that now, that excuse, if you like, dies with him?
ASHRAWI: Absolutely. This convenient excuse, Arafat as a convenient scapegoat is gone. He's being maligned and it's unfortunate that the American administration picked up its cue from the Israelis. Sharon had a personal score to settle. Right now he's launched a campaign to malign Arafat and to soil his name again.
But I think it's important that people understand he was democratically elected. Regardless of his faults and his mistakes, he is respected by the people, by the Arab world, by all three people, and he must be afforded his historical standing and the peace process cannot be made dependent upon Israeli priorities and Israeli refusal to see a Palestinian partner.
HOLMES: All right, Hanan Ashrawi, we're out of time.
Thanks very much.
Senior Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi.
She'll be part of the new order, if you like, as it goes forward from here.
Many Palestinians hoping as they mourn the passing of Yasser Arafat that they may see a new start, as well -- back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Michael Holmes in Ramallah.
Thanks so much.
And Yasser Arafat's casket arrives in Ramallah just moments from now and we'll take you back live to that scene to cover the interment of the Palestinian leader when it happens.
And a soldier's eye view of the battle against insurgents. Looking for the elusive enemy in Falluja.
And later, an apparent abduction caught on tape. A woman screams for help as others stand by and watch.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Your news, money, weather and sports coming up.
It is now 19 minutes after the hour.
And here's what's all new this morning.
Yasser Arafat's body is on the way to Ramallah for interment. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians have swarmed through the gates and over the walls of Arafat's headquarters.
Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic wants former President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to testify at his war crimes trial. The U.N. court says Milosevic must prove their testimony would be relevant.
In money, Microsoft's new search engine encountered some problems on its first day. The glitches caused users to be told that Web sites were unavailable. The Microsoft search beta is supposed to challenge Google as top Web search engine.
In culture, a 92-year-old message about the Titanic's sinking sold at auction for $4,500. The message, called a Marconigram, was sent by radio inventor Marconi himself to the ship carrying the Titanic survivors.
And in sports, Arizona State University will remember former football player Pat Tillman during its game this weekend. Tillman was killed in combat in Afghanistan. The Sun Devils will retire his number 42 jersey.
Now, let's take another look at weather this morning with Chad -- hello again, Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Fredricka.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, minutes from now, Yasser Arafat's casket arrives for interment. We'll take you to Ramallah live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, we want to show you a live picture right now of Ramallah, where thousands of people have gathered at the compound where the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat once lived. A special ceremony took place in Cairo just over an hour ago. His body is now being brought over to Ramallah via helicopter and when it does, at the bottom of the hour now, a special ceremony will begin on his burial. And there, thousands of people, Palestinians, ordinary citizens, have gathered to witness that event when it happens. And when it does, we'll be taking you there live.
Meantime, time now for a little "Business Buzz."
Details on Delta's pilots about making a big concession. But will it save the airline from bankruptcy?
Carrie Lee has the story and she's at the Nasdaq market site in Times Square -- hello, Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.
No guarantee that Delta will be able to avoid bankruptcy. But this is a big step for the airline. The pilots union have agreed to a 32.5 percent pay cut and they're going to skip raises for the next five years. The concessions will begin on December 1 and they'll save Delta $1 billion a year. That's very important because Delta is trying to persuade its creditors to restructure over $20 billion worth of debt.
Now, keep in mind, Delta pilots are among the highest paid in the nation. Salaries average between $100,000 and $300,000 a year. Again, no guarantee that they'll be able to stave off bankruptcy, but Delta did say it needed these wage concessions to stay afloat.
So we'll certainly be watching Delta's stock today. Shares have more than doubled in the past month. They trade in the $6 range today.
We're also keeping an eye on Dell, out with profits after the bell last night. They met the Wall Street estimate on profits. Sales up 18 percent. Shares were fluctuating in the after hours session, so it will be interesting to see what they do today. Dell does, like some other companies, have a history of beating the expectations. So we'll see if Wall Street thinks this is good or bad news.
Futures for tech stocks, meanwhile, looking a bit weak this morning. Across-the-board, it looks like we could see a flat market open. The S&P 500, though, Fredricka, is now at a three year high. So we have seen some momentum lately. And that is the latest business new -- back to you.
WHITFIELD: A little bit of encouragement there.
LEE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: That's good.
All right, thanks a lot, Carrie.
Well, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in El Salvador. It's part of his week long Latin America tour. Rumsfeld is expected to bestow the Bronze Medal of Valor to six Salvadoran soldiers who saved the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq. El Salvador has 370 troops in the war zone. The defense secretary also compared El Salvador's civil war to what is happening in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Today the Iraqi people are learning what the, our people, your people, discovered during our own struggles for independence and freedom, that the fight is not easy. It never is. That it requires patience and that it has costs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: On day five of the massive assault on Falluja, Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi troops have essentially taken the southern sector of the city.
Brian Todd helps illustrate what they're up against from even small cells of insurgents in the street to street battles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A wall is no cover if you're on the wrong side of it. In seconds, everything can change, from taking a defensive position to looking for an enemy who has disappeared or the lure he's left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check them for booby traps.
TODD: Don't tell these guys the most dangerous insurgents have left Falluja. Here, every corner, pile of rubble, dark room or rooftop could be the last thing you see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out, watch out. Let me get a shot. Hold on. (INAUDIBLE).
TODD: In one sequence, a cameraman is in the middle of an American unit taking fire in an alleyway. It's a tight cluster of buildings. The Americans at first can't tell if they are being targeted from eye level or above.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you got him?
TODD: With the help of a spotter on an adjacent rooftop, the Americans think they've got a read on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, he's in that garage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we've got friendlies on the roof.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody break out!.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Break out!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Break out!
TODD: The Americans open up. More confusion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, is that friendlies on the roof?
TODD: Whoever they are looking for escapes the camera's eye in this sequence. The combat team keeps firing from behind walls and backed up against them. Then a break -- maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, he's wounded, in between these two houses. I don't know how far down 3rd Squad is.
TODD: They blast into doorways and run in. We don't know if they found their attacker. We know they found weapons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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Aired November 12, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yasser Arafat's body is on its way to Ramallah for interment. You're looking at live pictures right now of Palestinians gathering at the burial site this morning.
It is Friday, November 12, and this is DAYBREAK.
Good morning, everyone.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Carol Costello this morning.
Now in the news, the body of Yasser Arafat is being returned to his people at this hour, after a military funeral in Cairo, Egypt. Dignitaries from around the world attended the service. The Palestinian leader will be interred in Ramallah about three hours from now.
In Iraq at this hour, U.S. troops are battling insurgents in the alleyways and bombed out buildings of Falluja. At least 18 Americans and five Iraqi soldiers have been killed and more than 200 wounded in the assault.
John Hinckley will be back in a Washington courtroom this morning. Hinckley is seeking permission to leave a psychiatric hospital for longer visits with his parents. He's been hospitalized since his 1981 attempted assassination of President Reagan.
A new juror joins deliberations in the Scott Peterson double murder case this morning. The jury will be starting from scratch again after the judge dismissed the jury foreman. It was the second dismissal in as many days.
And let's check in with Chad again this morning.
Either you want fun and sun in Miami or perhaps head to the mountains and go skiing.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. There will be snow, actually, in Colorado all weekend, which is obviously some great news there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat makes his final journey to the West Bank. After a military funeral in Egypt, the Palestinian leader is scheduled to be interred at his Ramallah compound in just a few hours.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us live from Cairo, where the funeral took place a few hours ago.
And -- Christiane, a whole lot of dignitaries but no ordinary citizens.
Why?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, partly because of security, partly because the Egyptian authorities didn't want some spontaneous eruption of uncontrollable grief. They did control the situation and the access quite strictly and it was only hundreds and hundreds of security officers who were deployed around here and then the dozens and dozens of dignitaries who came to pay their last respects.
There was, it's called a military funeral. And the last time Egypt saw such a funeral was when Anwar Sadat was buried after he was assassinated back in 1981. He, of course, the first ever Arab leader to make peace with Israel.
There were representatives at the head of state level, head of government, foreign ministry and other mid-level representation from all over the Arab world, Africa, Asia, Europe and, of course, mid- level from the United States.
Yasser Arafat's coffin was draped with a Palestinian flag. It was borne on a carriage that was drawn by six black horses, who were ridden by military honor guards. And in front there was a riderless horse who led the cortege. And then after the dignitaries had met in the tent behind me and prayers had been said in the mosque over Arafat's coffin, then they all processed about 200 meters to an air field, where his body, his casket was put on a plane and flown out to Ramallah.
Now, one of the saddest scenes, really, was that of a young daughter saying good-bye to her father, a young daughter, Zawah (ph), nine years old, who had left the territory's with Arafat's wife, her mother, Suha, several years ago and who didn't know her father perhaps as well as she might have done. A young daughter just saying good-bye to her father, but a man who was named the father of a nation. And both his wife and others have said that he really didn't have much time for family affairs. He was married to the cause. And that's, you know, one of the more poignant, more human images of what we saw at this funeral today -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much for that update coming from Cairo.
The United States sent Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to Arafat's funeral in Egypt. U.S. Consul General to Jerusalem, David Pierce, will attend Arafat's burial in Ramallah. The Bush administration now must decide how to deal with Arafat's replacement. Elections for a successor are set to take place within 60 days.
Well, what does the political future hold for the Palestinian leaders?
For that, let's talk to Middle East analyst Mark Perry, who is Washington editor of the "Palestine Report."
All right, good to see you, Mark.
MARK PERRY, WASHINGTON EDITOR, "PALESTINE REPORT," AUTHOR, "A FIRE IN ZION": Good morning.
WHITFIELD: Well, apparently the White House is considering a proposal that was offered by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to try the appoint a special Middle East envoy.
How soon should that process get under way and is that the right thing to do?
PERRY: The process -- there are a lot of people who are really pushing for this. Tony Blair is not the only one. There are people inside the administration who want a special envoy. I think that we can be over anxious here. This new leadership needs to consolidate its position. It needs increased legitimacy on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza. There need to be elections. I think it's going to be some time, at least two months, perhaps a little bit longer, before we see this new leadership emerge and become stronger.
Mahmoud Abbas is not in the position right now to begin negotiations with the Israelis, even were that possible. He simply needs to consolidate his hold. They need to control this government. They need to sit down and hammer out their own principles and negotiating positions before we can have negotiations begin.
WHITFIELD: And the Palestinian law says elections to take place within 60 days. A, do you even see that happening?
PERRY: It's going to be very difficult. This is a land that's under occupation. There has to be some talks, initial low level talks, to the Israelis to make sure that registration, which is starting already, can continue and that polling places can be set up. It will be very interesting to see whether there is voting in East Jerusalem. If there is not, the election will not be considered legitimate by the Palestinian people. There are a lot of issues on the table and the law does call for an election in 60 days and the Palestinian people, I think, are very adamant that there be an election.
WHITFIELD: Then, B, a follow-up question to that, then, is, you know, should, after the election, any kind of negotiations or talks begin between Palestinian and Israeli leaders? I mean why start the process if it's still uncertain who will be at the helm of the leadership?
PERRY: Well, that's right. But, you know, there are reports in Washington, apparently very authoritative, that President Bush is very keen in this administration, his second term, to make this a priority. He told Secretary General Kofi Annan that. He's reassured Tony Blair that it is a priority. He's going to have to start to move and I think we're going to see the United States start to move.
I don't know that there will be a special envoy. I think the administration is very skeptical of such a position. But they need to show that they're very engaged in the process and to push the road map forward.
So as soon as a leadership emerges with legitimacy in the Palestinian areas, I think the Bush administration will move, and it needs to.
WHITFIELD: All right, Mark Perry, Washington editor of the "Palestine Report," thanks so much this morning.
PERRY: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: Well, a helicopter carrying the body of Yasser Arafat is on its way to the West Bank and it's due to arrive very shortly in Ramallah.
CNN's Michael Holmes is in Ramallah right now, where already it appears hundreds of people, Michael, have gathered for this interment.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In fact, it's many thousands now. In the last hour or so, the numbers have swelled exponentially. There are people with drums. There are people chanting and singing and marching as much as they can through the crush.
Now, something has gone a little bit chaotic here. I'm going to show you. We're going to zoom forward. Where you see those people inside the compound, they are not meant to be there. Palestinians, ordinary Palestinians were to be allowed to come in and see the tomb of Yasser Arafat at 6:00 p.m. this evening. The actual ceremony that's taking place here, they were not meant to be inside for. However, they have scaled the walls in their thousands, have poured into that bottom end of the compound and given a real headache to Palestinian security there, having to put basically a wall of security forces there.
They pushed them back about 40 or 50 feet, I suppose, from where they were a few minutes ago. But they're not going to be able to remove these people now that they are in.
Now, as you were saying, the helicopters are going to arrive. There will be two of them, one carrying the body of Yasser Arafat and one carrying other Palestinian officials who were in Cairo for the funeral ceremonies. Once the helicopters arrive here, they're going to land right there behind us in the Muqataa and then the burial ceremony will happen after prayers.
As we've been reporting, they've been building this tomb for Yasser Arafat, a monument for him over the last 36 hours or so. It appears to be pretty much complete now, made out of stone and marble. It goes down about seven feet into the ground.
We want to bring in quickly the Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, who is here with us. Now, this sort of encroachment, if you like, into the compound, an indication of the emotion here today?
HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: Absolutely. There is just a spontaneous expression of raw feelings, a sense of grief, a sense of loss, a sense of anger, a sense of being, as I said, orphaned. And the Palestinians want to be part of this. They want to say good-bye to their leader, to the father of their nation. And therefore they feel that they have been, in a sense, robbed of him while he was under siege here. And now he's free in the sense that he's dead, but they still want to be able to pay their respects, to show their loyalty and to express their real grief at his loss.
HOLMES: Even though deep down ordinary Palestinians, and also Palestinian officials would like to one day see Yasser Arafat buried in the capital of a sovereign state, that being East Jerusalem, this is it for the time being, until some huge breakthrough can be made.
How will this place be revered now?
ASHRAWI: Well, this place will be seen as the temporary resting place of President Arafat. It will be symbolic of his last stand, so to speak, of his being held hostage or prisoner here, a sense of his suffering, his being a victim, like the rest of the people. But at the same time, he has a bit of Jerusalem with him, because they've brought in the soil from the Haram Al-Sharif and from the Al Aqsa Mosque from Jerusalem, because his last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem.
Everybody looks upon this as a temporary resting place. When there is peace and we do have Jerusalem, East Jerusalem as our capital, then he will be buried there, where he rightfully belongs.
HOLMES: Do you see this day, as some have, a showing of respect for Yasser Arafat that he hasn't had internationally for some time?
ASHRAWI: The funeral in Cairo, in a sense, placed him within the embrace of the Arab world as an Arab leader, a world leader. It gave him the respect, the exposure, the standing that is rightfully his globally in the Arab world and globally, as well.
Here you are going to see more of a popular, immediate, emotional, visceral reaction. But it is important to the Palestinians to see him accorded the respect that he deserves, because his humiliation at the hands of the Israelis was seen as a humiliation of the whole people, of the Palestinian people. His captivity was symbolic of the captivity of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation. And therefore the assaults on his compound, the fact that he was being demonized and dehumanized made the Palestinians rally around him and support him. And now in death they're trying to show their affection and their loyalty in this immediate way.
HOLMES: That's partly what I was going to ask you next. I mean many people would say that he was a man who symbolized aspirations for statehood, but he's a man who failed to achieve that dream. There are many out there who say Yasser Arafat failed all these people. How do they view him?
ASHRAWI: No, I think the term failed should not be used. I've heard this repeatedly used by some of your reporters, including Walter Rodgers. But I think that's wrong. The Israelis use that now.
He managed to keep the Palestinian issue alive. He managed to place the Palestinian identity within the recognition of the world, of humanity. We were the people who were told we didn't exist. We were being obliterated nationally as victims of a land without a people or a people without a land. I mean Palestine was described as being empty and we were transformed into poor refugees.
Arafat, the revolution, his people with him, I mean placed us on the map, said that we are a nation with national rights, therefore, self-determination is ours, that we have accepted also to serve historical Palestine, that we accepted the state of Israel on 78 percent of historical Palestine. We need our state on the remaining 22 percent, which is a major compromise.
So Arafat is seen not only as having kept the identity alive in the struggle, but also as having made the historical compromise for the two state solution that without his standing couldn't be made.
He didn't fail. He launched a process. The process has to go on. And in the vacuum left by a larger than life leader, we have to fill it with the rule of law, with institutions and with democratically elected people.
HOLMES: The reality is that he is a man that the Israeli government and the Bush administration said they would not do business with, who was not a partner in peace.
Do you think that that now, that excuse, if you like, dies with him?
ASHRAWI: Absolutely. This convenient excuse, Arafat as a convenient scapegoat is gone. He's being maligned and it's unfortunate that the American administration picked up its cue from the Israelis. Sharon had a personal score to settle. Right now he's launched a campaign to malign Arafat and to soil his name again.
But I think it's important that people understand he was democratically elected. Regardless of his faults and his mistakes, he is respected by the people, by the Arab world, by all three people, and he must be afforded his historical standing and the peace process cannot be made dependent upon Israeli priorities and Israeli refusal to see a Palestinian partner.
HOLMES: All right, Hanan Ashrawi, we're out of time.
Thanks very much.
Senior Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi.
She'll be part of the new order, if you like, as it goes forward from here.
Many Palestinians hoping as they mourn the passing of Yasser Arafat that they may see a new start, as well -- back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Michael Holmes in Ramallah.
Thanks so much.
And Yasser Arafat's casket arrives in Ramallah just moments from now and we'll take you back live to that scene to cover the interment of the Palestinian leader when it happens.
And a soldier's eye view of the battle against insurgents. Looking for the elusive enemy in Falluja.
And later, an apparent abduction caught on tape. A woman screams for help as others stand by and watch.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Your news, money, weather and sports coming up.
It is now 19 minutes after the hour.
And here's what's all new this morning.
Yasser Arafat's body is on the way to Ramallah for interment. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians have swarmed through the gates and over the walls of Arafat's headquarters.
Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic wants former President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to testify at his war crimes trial. The U.N. court says Milosevic must prove their testimony would be relevant.
In money, Microsoft's new search engine encountered some problems on its first day. The glitches caused users to be told that Web sites were unavailable. The Microsoft search beta is supposed to challenge Google as top Web search engine.
In culture, a 92-year-old message about the Titanic's sinking sold at auction for $4,500. The message, called a Marconigram, was sent by radio inventor Marconi himself to the ship carrying the Titanic survivors.
And in sports, Arizona State University will remember former football player Pat Tillman during its game this weekend. Tillman was killed in combat in Afghanistan. The Sun Devils will retire his number 42 jersey.
Now, let's take another look at weather this morning with Chad -- hello again, Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Fredricka.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, minutes from now, Yasser Arafat's casket arrives for interment. We'll take you to Ramallah live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, we want to show you a live picture right now of Ramallah, where thousands of people have gathered at the compound where the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat once lived. A special ceremony took place in Cairo just over an hour ago. His body is now being brought over to Ramallah via helicopter and when it does, at the bottom of the hour now, a special ceremony will begin on his burial. And there, thousands of people, Palestinians, ordinary citizens, have gathered to witness that event when it happens. And when it does, we'll be taking you there live.
Meantime, time now for a little "Business Buzz."
Details on Delta's pilots about making a big concession. But will it save the airline from bankruptcy?
Carrie Lee has the story and she's at the Nasdaq market site in Times Square -- hello, Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.
No guarantee that Delta will be able to avoid bankruptcy. But this is a big step for the airline. The pilots union have agreed to a 32.5 percent pay cut and they're going to skip raises for the next five years. The concessions will begin on December 1 and they'll save Delta $1 billion a year. That's very important because Delta is trying to persuade its creditors to restructure over $20 billion worth of debt.
Now, keep in mind, Delta pilots are among the highest paid in the nation. Salaries average between $100,000 and $300,000 a year. Again, no guarantee that they'll be able to stave off bankruptcy, but Delta did say it needed these wage concessions to stay afloat.
So we'll certainly be watching Delta's stock today. Shares have more than doubled in the past month. They trade in the $6 range today.
We're also keeping an eye on Dell, out with profits after the bell last night. They met the Wall Street estimate on profits. Sales up 18 percent. Shares were fluctuating in the after hours session, so it will be interesting to see what they do today. Dell does, like some other companies, have a history of beating the expectations. So we'll see if Wall Street thinks this is good or bad news.
Futures for tech stocks, meanwhile, looking a bit weak this morning. Across-the-board, it looks like we could see a flat market open. The S&P 500, though, Fredricka, is now at a three year high. So we have seen some momentum lately. And that is the latest business new -- back to you.
WHITFIELD: A little bit of encouragement there.
LEE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: That's good.
All right, thanks a lot, Carrie.
Well, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in El Salvador. It's part of his week long Latin America tour. Rumsfeld is expected to bestow the Bronze Medal of Valor to six Salvadoran soldiers who saved the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq. El Salvador has 370 troops in the war zone. The defense secretary also compared El Salvador's civil war to what is happening in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Today the Iraqi people are learning what the, our people, your people, discovered during our own struggles for independence and freedom, that the fight is not easy. It never is. That it requires patience and that it has costs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: On day five of the massive assault on Falluja, Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi troops have essentially taken the southern sector of the city.
Brian Todd helps illustrate what they're up against from even small cells of insurgents in the street to street battles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A wall is no cover if you're on the wrong side of it. In seconds, everything can change, from taking a defensive position to looking for an enemy who has disappeared or the lure he's left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check them for booby traps.
TODD: Don't tell these guys the most dangerous insurgents have left Falluja. Here, every corner, pile of rubble, dark room or rooftop could be the last thing you see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out, watch out. Let me get a shot. Hold on. (INAUDIBLE).
TODD: In one sequence, a cameraman is in the middle of an American unit taking fire in an alleyway. It's a tight cluster of buildings. The Americans at first can't tell if they are being targeted from eye level or above.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you got him?
TODD: With the help of a spotter on an adjacent rooftop, the Americans think they've got a read on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, he's in that garage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we've got friendlies on the roof.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody break out!.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Break out!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Break out!
TODD: The Americans open up. More confusion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, is that friendlies on the roof?
TODD: Whoever they are looking for escapes the camera's eye in this sequence. The combat team keeps firing from behind walls and backed up against them. Then a break -- maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, he's wounded, in between these two houses. I don't know how far down 3rd Squad is.
TODD: They blast into doorways and run in. We don't know if they found their attacker. We know they found weapons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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