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Car Believed to Contain Kidnapped Baby, Mother & Suspect Surrounded; Bush & Sharon; A Mass Protest

Aired April 11, 2005 - 12:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Daryn. Let me pick up where you left off, the standoff that's unfolding in New Jersey right now.
I want to bring in our Deborah Feyerick. She's in our New York bureau. She's watching this story, together will all of us.

There are viewers just tuning in right now at the top of the hour, Deborah. And we'll show the pictures. Tell our viewers what's going on.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what we know so far. Apparently, according to New Jersey State Police, Almutah Saunders, who's 28 years old, forced his daughter, Jada Saunders, who's 4 months old, and the baby's mother, Erika Turner, into a gray- silver Honda Accord with New Jersey license plates. That's the car that you see there just at the sort of upper right of your screen.

He shot Jada's maternal grandfather in the leg. That is, the father of the mother's -- of the mother of the child.

Now, police do believe that this is a case of domestic violence. We can tell you that right now, they are negotiating. That's what we're being told by New Jersey State Police Captain Al De La Favre (ph), that they are negotiating with the driver of that vehicle.

They say that even though there was a pretty high-speed chase about 90 miles per hour, they do describe the chase as being controlled at all times. No motorists were ever in danger.

Now, we do know that that car apparently drove into an area that's really filled with cul-de-sacs, sort of small homes and apartments there. We're being told that perhaps the suspect's sister lives in that area. The problem is, once you get in there, you can't get out.

He pulled up in front of what appeared to be three homes in a cul-de-sac, and then when he realized he couldn't go anywhere, began to roll the car out. There were police that met him there, police with their guns drawn, and they were inching towards the car. And that's when he backed into that parking space right there.

You can see that there are a number of members of the New Jersey State Police and S.W.A.T. teams, some of them with shields. You can see that one of the police cars has the doors open. We do believe that that's the car from which one of the negotiators is trying to make contact, or is speaking to the man in that car, trying to figure out what it is he wants and what he's going to do with that 4-month- old child and the child's mother, make sure they get out unharmed.

Apparently, according to New Jersey State Police, the man took the baby from her home on April 4. He later returned her, and there was an arrest warrant out for him at that time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to get that picture back up there, the picture on the right side of the screen, that car in the middle now of the screen. We believe -- is this what you're saying, Deborah, that inside that car is Almutah Saunders, the father of this child, Jada Saunders, 4-month-old little girl, and the mother, Erika Turner? We believe all three of them are in that car, is that what you're saying?

FEYERICK: That is what we believe at this time. That's according to New Jersey State Police. And that is actually according to a report phoned in by the grandfather. So that's what we're looking at now. We believe that all three of them are in the car at this moment.

BLITZER: And the grandfather was shot in the leg, he's in the hospital. But he's expected to do just fine out of this incident.

But that's the car, we believe, the father, the mother and the 4- month-old little girl. They're inside, and we see these law enforcement officers backed up behind these vehicles with these shields. They're ready to take action, but they're trying to negotiate right now a peaceful resolution of what clearly is some sort of domestic dispute. Is that right?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. And on some levels, because of this complex where he drove into, the area is self-contained, which means that essentially he's stuck, he can't get out of there. So the danger is, of course, because there's the belief that he does have a gun, they want to get him out of that car and make sure that the child and the child's mother, both of them, are unharmed.

BLITZER: According to The Associated Press, Deborah, the Amber Alert that had been issued for this 4-month-old girl, Jada Saunders, said that the suspect in this case "threatened to commit murder and kill himself." Do we know more details? Anything else beyond that?

FEYERICK: No, and that's something that we're working to confirm as well. We do understand that that's what the AP is reporting, and we have -- we're getting backup on that, trying to get that from two additional sources.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch this story together with you, Deborah. We'll get back to it if there are developments.

Let's hope this situation can be resolved quickly and peacefully for everyone's sake. Deborah Feyerick helping us, doing some good reporting there from her post in New York City.

We'll move on now to another huge story we're following this hour, President Bush and the Israelis. The president hosting the Israeli prime minister specifically, Ariel Sharon, for potentially difficult talks in the path towards some sort of resumption of the peace process. With the Palestinian leadership now in place that the parties are willing to work with, there's pressure mounting upon the Israelis to make something positive happen as well.

With the story now from Crawford, Texas, our White House correspondent Dana Bash.

Sharon is already at the ranch, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Wolf. And at this hour, they should be wrapping up their one-on-one meeting this morning at the Bush ranch.

And as you mentioned, there certainly is a lot of attention on this particular meeting. And the primary focus we're hearing from both the Israelis and White House officials is to put the spotlight on a massive event that we are going to see in just a little more than three months from now. And that is an Israeli plan to pull out of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip, and four on the West Bank.

Now, this is a Sharon plan, you'll remember, that Mr. Bush signed onto almost exactly a year ago at the White House. And it was quite controversial at the time, in part because it was done without the consent of Palestinians.

Now, at this time, at this meeting, we are told that it is very likely that Prime Minister Sharon is going to make clear that he wants the help of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian president, in terms of political coordination, in coordinating in terms of security in order not to leave a vacuum that they hope would not essentially allow a breeding ground for terrorism.

Now, of course, as you know, Wolf, the Mideast is always a delicate diplomatic dance for any U.S. leader. But at this point, this is a crucial time, all sides agree, in setting the tone. That this pullout plan is crucial in terms of future talks, but particularly, this is a crucial time for Ariel Sharon, this is a wrenching issue in Israel.

The president is well aware of that, that well aware of the fact that it was very difficult for Ariel Sharon to get the Knesset to approve this plan, and that there is intense emotional opposition from Israelis, many of whom have supported Ariel Sharon for a long time, because of the pullout of about 9,000 Israelis from this area. So much so that Ariel Sharon told NBC News that he fears that it looks like it is the eve of a civil war in his own country.

But, Wolf, nevertheless, even though the president understands it's a tense time, he did make clear, Mr. Bush said himself, that he is going to tell Ariel Sharon that it is not an appropriate time to expand any settlements. That goes against the so-called road map that all sides signed onto.

The issue right now is that Israelis have made it clear that they do intend at some point in the future to expand a settlement in the West Bank that could potentially connect one settlement to east Jerusalem. Palestinians say that that is a move, they say, to try to block their access to a part of Jerusalem they want as their own. And, of course, the president has said and it is likely at this hour telling Ariel Sharon he thinks that would be a bad idea -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And CNN's Dana Bash reporting from Crawford, Texas. We're going to have coverage later this hour and the next hour of the news conference scheduled between the prime minister and the president. We'll have coverage of that. We'll also have substantive analysis of what's going on later this hour.

We'll move on now to some other stories we're following.

A gesture of honor by the Vatican angers some American Catholics. At this hour, Cardinal Bernard Law is celebrating one of nine daily masses to honor the late Pope John Paul II from Rome.

With more, CNN's Chris Burns. He's joining us live.

What's going on, Chris?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there are two American women who have lost their campaign to try and keep the cardinal from giving his homily today. They are Barbara Dooris (ph) and Barbara Blaine.

These are two women who say they were abused by priests when they were young girls. They now head a group that they claim to have 5,000 members in the United States who were abused by priests in the past. And they say that Cardinal Law, who was archbishop of Boston and resigned back a couple of years ago for having looked the other way, or at least not disciplined certain priests who were involved in sexual abuse cases, pedophile cases, that he should not give that homily today for that reason.

They also want him not to be part of the conclave next week. As a cardinal, he can rightly vote in that conclave. And they say that he should not be there.

So that is why they're continuing their campaign throughout this week. They're going to try to be pressing the Vatican not to allow him. Obviously, there's not any answer yet back from the Vatican in that regard.

Also, that the cardinals themselves, there's a press blackout. They're not allowed to talk to the press between now and the conclave -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Chris Burns, let's be clear. No one is accusing Cardinal Law himself of any sexual abuse or anything along those lines. What they've accused him of is covering up, if you will, standing on the sidelines in the face of serious allegations against other priests in his -- in his diocese.

That's the problem right now. That's why he was forced to step down. He is one of these 115 cardinals who will select the next pope. He's one of the 11 cardinals involved in that conclave, is that right?

BURNS: Yes, absolutely. And the thing is that they -- these two women who are in this group called Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests -- they call -- it's called SNAP -- they say that because Cardinal Law when he was archbishop in Boston did not aggressively go after these priests, that he is indirectly responsible for the abuse of hundreds of children, perhaps more than 1,000, she says, children in the Boston area during that time.

And also think of the financial side as well, that the Boston diocese had to sell $100 million worth of property in order to pay for lawsuits involving these young children, lawsuits of some 500 children who were abused by these priests. And so that is another aspect in the United States where these sex abuse scandals have virtually run these dioceses into the ground -- Wolf.

BLITZER: One final question, Chris. And I know you're having a little trouble hearing me. But how many people showed up in Rome for this demonstration? Was it just a handful, or were there in the hundreds?

BURNS: This is a two-woman campaign as far as we could tell. It was a huge press turnout. There were some 150 journalists from all around the world interviewing them, covering what they were saying.

They were handing out leaflets, but there -- this was not a demonstration. These were just two women who were taking their campaign from the United States to the steps of St. Peter. They're in now, watching that homily of the man they wish were not giving it -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Chris Burns reporting for us from the Vatican. Chris, thank you very much.

Let's move right back to Washington. On Capitol Hill right now, a showdown over John Bolton, the diplomat President Bush wants to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations. Some critics charge sending Bolton to the U.N. is akin to putting a bull in a China shop.

Our Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill. Confirmation hearings under way before the Senate Foreign Relation committee right now.

How has it gone so far, Andrea?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as expected, the Democrats have come out swinging. The comment that you just alluded to was repeated again by a ranking member of the committee, Democrat Joe Biden. But John Bolton has been coming under a lot of fire.

At the moment, he's being questioned by Democrat Russ Feingold from Wisconsin. Just a short time ago he was questioned by Christopher Dodd, another Democrat from Connecticut, who really -- a lot of the Democrats see the Achilles' heel potentially for John Bolton, stemming back to a couple of years ago. Allegations that while Bolton was the assistant secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the State Department, a position he still holds at this moment, he tried to influence, perhaps even pressure some superiors at the State Department to reassign some intelligence analysts who disagreed with what Mr. Bolton wanted to say in a speech that was entitled "Beyond the Axis of Evil."

Let's listen in to what Christopher Dodd had to say to John Bolton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Trying to rob a bank and failing to do so is a crime, in my view. Trying to remove someone as an analyst from their job because you disagree with what they're saying I think is dreadfully wrong.

And you've got an opportunity to defend yourself here. And I want to get to the bottom of it if we can.

Now, you've made the statement in response to Senator Biden that you did not try -- or you did try to remove -- or at least you recommended that these two individuals -- one, we've talked about, Mr. Westermann, the other we'll just call an intelligence officer because his name should be kept private. Is that -- did I hear you correctly when you responded to Senator Biden?

JOHN BOLTON, NOMINEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I don't think so, Senator, respectfully. The way you put it at the beginning was that I tried to have people removed because of their -- because I disagreed with their intelligence conclusions. And that's not true.

DODD: You thought because they went behind your back?

BOLTON: I thought in -- I thought in both cases, if I may say so, their conduct was unprofessional and broke my confidence and trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Democrats also allege that John Bolton is the wrong man for the job because of his outright disdain and public condemnation of the United Nations, especially when he was out of government back in 1994. But his supporters, Wolf, say that he is blunt and he tells it the way it is, and that's why he is the right man for the job. And that he's the one who is going to be carrying out the president's policy. And the president is the one who's been pushing a lot of the issues that John Bolton has been trying to fulfill in the field.

So we're expecting this to run on much of the afternoon and perhaps into the evening. And then tomorrow we're expecting to hear from some of those State Department intelligence analysts and their criticism of John Bolton -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea, a couple questions before I let you go. The issue of the intelligence assessment was involving Cuba, Fidel Castro, and whether or not he was engaged in some sort of biological weapons program. Is that the issue at the core of this dispute?

KOPPEL: It, is Wolf. And John Bolton wanted some of the intelligence that he was seeing, some classified intelligence to be declassified. And these intelligent analysts allege that he went forward and made things public without going through the proper channels, and that he was trying to pressure them to declassify that intelligence.

BLITZER: Is it looking like it's going to be a party line vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee? All the Republicans supporting Bolton's nomination? All the Democrats opposing it?

There's one moderate Republican, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who sometimes votes with the Democrats. He potentially could be the swing vote that would block this nomination in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What is Lincoln Chafee looking like based on the questions, assuming he's already asked some questions already?

KOPPEL: Well, at the moment, you are absolutely right, Wolf. Lincoln Chafee is sitting on the fence.

We spoke to his spokesman last week. He said the senator has not made up his mind.

He had some very pointed questions for Mr. Bolton. And, in fact, a lot of the stop Bolton campaigning that's going on out there, television ads, are targeting Rhode Island, the state that Mr. Chafee represents.

At the moment, Wolf, it is looking like eight Democrats on the committee are going to be voting against Bolton. And Chafee, who is one of 10 Republicans, again, sitting on the fence at this hour.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch to see what happens on that front. Andrea Koppel reporting for us from Capitol Hill. Thanks, Andrea, very much.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is having his own problems with some of his own Republican supporters. He's used to Democrats carping at him, but now even a few Republicans are taking him to task. We'll sort out the latest dust up on Capitol Hill. That's coming up.

Also, the president and the prime minister, U.S.-Israeli diplomacy, the road map to peace in the Middle East. We'll go live to Jerusalem for the latest.

You're watching NEWS FROM CNN, and we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

I want to update our viewers who are just tuning in. Let me set the stage for you, what you're seeing. This is a standoff happening outside New York City in New Jersey, suburban New Jersey, Irvington, New Jersey, happening right now. In that sort of bluish car in the middle of the screen we believe are three individuals.

Almutah Saunders, he's the father of 4-month-old Jada Saunders. And the mother of Jada Saunders, Erika Turner. Those are some of the pictures.

This has been a kidnapping, if you will, that police say has been happening now for the past few hours. They also are accusing Almutah Saunders, the father, of shooting the grandfather of Jada Saunders in the leg. He's in a hospital, expecting to recover from that.

The standoff is continuing as negotiations, we're told, between law enforcement and Almutah Saunders continues. The three of them in that car. He's holding Jada Saunders and Erika Turner, the mother, in that car.

Police standing behind that vehicle. They are protected by shields.

We're watching this story, hoping it will be resolved peacefully and quickly. Let's watch it and continue to watch it. I want to point out to our viewers, though, those pictures that we're showing are on a five-second delay in case there is some sort of violence that happens. We will not show that to our viewers.

We'll get back to the story as we get more information, as developments warrant. But we'll move to some other news we're following here in Washington.

One of the most powerful politicians in the nation's capital undoubtedly feeling some heat today over his continuing ethics problems. It's no longer just Democrats who are calling on the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, to resign.

Here with more what's going on the story to help sort it all out for us, our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry.

Ed, a lot of our viewers have not necessarily been paying all this close attention to the story. So update them on the latest. What exactly is happening?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a top Republican privately acknowledged to me this morning that the Tom DeLay story has now turned into a full-scale feeding frenzy after Republican Congressman Chris Shays came out and said Tom DeLay has become an embarrassment to his party and should step down as majority leader.

But senior Republican Party officials correctly point out it's important to put those comments from Shays in their proper context. He's a very liberal Republican. He's frequently clashed with GOP leaders. He's from a swing district in Connecticut where he only won 52 percent of the vote last November. So Chris Shays is a target of Democrats. And in order to save his seat in Congress, he's under heavy pressure to distance himself from Tom DeLay.

He did just that yesterday, telling The Associated Press that Tom DeLay's conduct is hurting the Republican Party. And, in fact, just moments ago, Chris Shays finally came on camera to also say Tom DeLay should go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R) CONNECTICUT: I'm not asking him to step down. You're asking me if I think he should?

Yes, I think he should. That's just an honest answer to a question. But I'm not arguing and demanding that he step down. He's still the leader. But if I think -- but that's what I think, I think he should step down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So you hear a little bit of hairsplitting there. Chris Shays saying he's not urging him to step down, but he personally wants Tom DeLay to step down.

What he's referring to is the fact that Tom DeLay was rebuked by the House Ethics Committee three times last year, and now is facing new allegations that he may have violated House rules by allowing lobbyists to secretly pay for about three overseas trips. But Republican Party officials note that, as I mentioned, Chris Shays has never been a of Tom DeLay, he's an obvious person to criticize the majority leader, and he's not a leader in his party.

So party officials are confident that Chris Shays will now provide cover for other Republicans to now come forward and demand Tom DeLay's resignation. As one part official told me, Wolf, it's going take a movement conservative, not a liberal, not a moderate, but a movement conservative to step forward and say Tom DeLay has to go, and then there could be an avalanche.

BLITZER: But what about the conservative Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, yesterday? He didn't urge Tom DeLay to step down or anything like that, but he did say that Tom DeLay needs to answer some questions.

HENRY: That's right. And that was the first movement conservative, Rick Santorum, and also a party leader in the Senate Republican leadership to say you need to come clean, basically. That Tom DeLay has to come forward and explain himself.

But it was vague. He didn't really pin it down as exactly what Tom DeLay has to do. He didn't spell it all out. And he also, as you mentioned, fell well short of saying that Tom DeLay should resign.

Again, it's going take a Rick Santorum-type of conservative, a party leader to step forward, say Tom DeLay has to go. And that could break the dam.

BLITZER: Rick Santorum is up for reelection next year in Pennsylvania. A moderate...

HENRY: He's facing a little pressure as well. And that may be why he's trying to show a little bit of pressure on Tom DeLay.

He's from a blue state of Pennsylvania, just like Chris Shays, as you mentioned. So that also has to be put in context about Rick Santorum. But he fell far short of saying that Tom DeLay should go.

BLITZER: All right. Let's talk about one of the serious allegation against Tom DeLay, that, in effect, he accepted all the junkets, these trips around the world, if you will, trips overseas, from so-called think tanks or public policy groups that were really secretly funded by lobbyists.

How serious are these allegations? Because based on everything -- I've been covering Washington for a long time, a lot longer than you. A lot of these think tanks, a lot of these policy groups, there's overlapping membership, and they get funding from fat cats, whether Democrats or Republicans, who then send these congressmen on all sorts of trips around the world.

HENRY: You're absolutely right. Lawmakers in both parties fly all around the world on a dime of a lot of these outside groups. But the problem potentially here for Tom DeLay is that this is not vague.

Very clearly in the House rules its says if lobbyists, not outside charitable groups, but lobbyists pay for your overseas or domestic travel, that is a clear violation of House rules. What this will come down to is that Tom DeLay told CNN producer Ted Barrett last week, and he also said on his official forms with the House of Representatives, that the charitable organizations paid for these trips. But there is some evidence...

BLITZER: He says he didn't know that there were lobbyists behind the funding for these organizations that actually funded it. The checks went through them, but didn't know that the money was really coming from lobbyists.

HENRY: Right. So the bottom line is there may not be a smoking gun if there was anything improper, and I stress "if" there was anything improper. There may be no smoking gun proving that Tom DeLay knew that secretly the lobbyists were paying for it.

But anonymous sources have come forward to "The Washington Post" saying that, in fact, the lobbyists involved secretly funded these trips to Britain, to Russia and also to South Korea. That would be a clear violation of House rules.

There is nothing gray about that. But the problem here for the folks whoa re trying to pursue Tom DeLay is that it's very hard to pin down exactly what he knew and when he knew it. That is why, in part, it could be difficult, as you mentioned, for Tom DeLay, the fact that Rick Santorum, a very prominent conservative, says it's time to have a full accounting, explain all of this.

That's what Democrats have been calling for, for weeks, maybe even months, come forward and explain all the details. Tom DeLay has not yet done that. He has said that he's willing to have his staff cooperate with the House Ethics Committee, but so far Tom DeLay has not publicly come out and spelled out exactly who paid for these trips.

BLITZER: One other question before I let you go. The $500,000 that his wife and daughter took in from his political action committee, his PAC, what has he explained about that? Because certainly on the surface, that doesn't necessarily look that great. Although, I take it it's a lot more common with members of Congress than would meet the eye.

HENRY: I think it would be a lot more serious for Tom DeLay if he had his wife and daughter on his personal payroll and the taxpayers were picking it up. Instead, this is political money.

It may look a little odd, but the fact of the matter is, just like the travel, there are a lot of lawmakers in both parties who have family members on their campaign payroll. Again, it might look a little odd, but it's not illegal. Not improper, according to any of the agencies involved.

And also, this was $500,000 over the course of three or four years. And so when you spread it out, for example, Tom DeLay's daughter only made about $50,000 a year as chief fund-raiser. $50,000 sounds like a lot in one year for a lot of people around the country, but in Washington, as you know, these political operatives, $50,000 is chump change.

That's not a lot of money at all. So, in context, I don't think that that's quite as serious as the travel.

BLITZER: You'd be surprised to know that $50,000 a year even outside of Washington is not necessarily all that high of a salary either. But then again, everything is relative.

Thanks very much, Ed Henry. I suspect this story is not going to go away. We'll continue to discuss it.

Ed Henry is our congressional correspondent.

You think you're paying too much for gas here in the United States? Wait until you see what the prices are overseas. We'll count the costs when the NEWS FROM CNN continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Focusing now on the high cost of gasoline. As you certainly know, gas prices have hit new highs, up some 19 cents a gallon over the past three weeks alone. The Lundberg National Survey finds the average price is now $2.29 a gallon. But where you live determines what you pay. And Newark, New Jersey has the lowest price; Bakersfield, California has the highest.

Chris Huntington is watching all of this for us from New York, and going to give us some perspective.

Chris, what have you learned?

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, for any of us who have ever traveled overseas, particularly in Europe, and if you have relatives over there, you know what they pay for gasoline. By the way, the Department of Energy predicting that gasoline prices in this country will average about $2.35 next month for the whole month. That may sound like a lot, but consider this, if you are driving a full size SUV over in Holland these days and you had to fill up the entire tank, you'd spend near $300 filling it up.

Take a look at gas prices on the continent. We'll show you this right now. The Department of Energy computing these in dollars per gallon for premium unleaded, because that's the comparable standard of gasoline used over there, and you can look down there. Cut right down there to the Netherlands, $6.49 a gallon. Now if you're lucky enough to find down at the bottom there, $2.40 for premium, would be a good find these days. But the fact is the relative comparison is huge.

Most of that, however, is in taxes, and probably you knew that. But take a look what the underlying cost of the fuel is. Interestingly enough, the cost that we're paying for the actual gasoline component at the retail pumps is a little bit more here in the United States than in some places in Europe, more than, for instance, in the United Kingdom. It's still less than what they pay in the Netherlands. It's about the same as they pay over in Italy.

Now we had a chance over the weekend to catch up to motorists in London to find out what they think about the prices they pay for petrol, as they call it, over there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's way expensive. I mean, look at America -- how many cars are in America?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I only drive kind of local, but if I wanted to go to Brighton or something like that, I'd go on the train or the coach. It's too expensive for the people, you know, to buy a lot of petrol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cost of fuel in London is not expensive, because I've got experience in our country, and relative we've got more expensive fuel than, for example in Poland, and I think generally our answer is no. In London, the cost of fuel is normal. It's normal. It's fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTINGTON; So, Wolf, there you have it, a Polish gentleman living in London telling the world prices in London are just fine, they're quite normal. So a bit of relativism for those of you in the United States feeling the pain at pumps.

BLITZER: I had an easier guy understanding the Polish guy than the two British guys, whose accents were pretty thick there.

Chris, so what you're saying is that gasoline prices here, even though they're record high, are really a bargain compared to what people are paying in Europe. It's an amazing story. What's happening, though, is that people are going increasingly trying to get some fuel-efficient cars in the United States. Is that happening yet?

HUNTINGTON: It is happening, Wolf. It's quite amazing that in fact the first place we're beginning to see the anecdotal reaction, if you will, to high gasoline prices is actually in the car-buying lots, not so much at the gas pumps with regard to demand on the highways with the way people are driving. You're starting to see it at the sales lot. For instance, Ford just over the weekend coming out and dramatically cutting its earnings outlook, saying that its sales of its big truck platform SUVs are plummeting. That's a huge sign that people are reacting to high gas prices. General motors making a similar announcement a couple of weeks ago.

And now, again, this is anecdotal evidence, the hybrids in huge demand. They're in very, very short supply. The production runs on these cars -- and you're looking at a Toyota Prius here -- have been very, very low. On several Web sites, we're seeing people most Priuses for sale. These are preowned, in some cases new, but mostly preowned, at prices well above the ordinary sticker prices. It's not been unusual that some of these hybrids have been going for a slight premium because there's a long waiting list. But now the premiums are really jacked up.

On one West Coast listing for a Prius very similar to this one here for in excess of $31,000. That particular model would sell for something around -- would list at least for something around $26,000.

So people are really starting to see the demand. Again, particularly on the West Coast for the hybrids, because no secret, in Southern California, some of the most expensive pump prices in the nation.

BLITZER: Chris Huntington reporting us, giving us some perspective on all of this.

Thanks, Chris, very much. Good report.

When we come back, the road map toward peace in the Middle East. Is the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon going to have some tough talks with President Bush? We're standing by for their news conference. We'll have that.

In the meantime, we'll speak live with two journalists who know firsthand what's going on in the Middle East, the obstacles ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. We're awaiting statements from Crawford, Texas, where President Bush continues to meet at this hour with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Under mounting pressure from Washington, the Israeli leader face serious problems back home, where some Israelis are incensed at his proposal to pull out of Gaza.

Joining us now live from Jerusalem, CNN's John Vause. He's ready to tell us what's going on there -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf.

There's no doubt the pressure is mounting on Ariel Sharon as he pushes ahead with this disengagement plan. Just this morning in an interview he spoke of the mood in Israel being like on the eve of a civil war. He also spoke of how all his life he has protected Jews, and now he must be protected from Jews, a clear reference to the number of death threats he was received over the last few months. Security around the prime minister and other senior government officials has been increased.

And just yesterday, there was protesters who clashed with police at the Temple Mount. That is a sacred site which is disputed sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and Muslims call it the Noble Sanctuary.

Now these protesters, mostly settlers and their supporters, said they want to go to the Temple Mount to pray en masse. The Palestinian militant groups warned that would be a provocation and would mean an end to the two-month-long cease-fire, but a massive police presence stop the settlers, but as this disengagement draws near, they say there will be more protests up until the disengagement, up until July 20th.

Now settler leaders, though, have condemned the violence, and they said their protests will be peaceful. If it's any consolation for the Israeli prime minister, Wolf, the opinion polls have shown that a majority of Israelis support his disengagement plan, his withdrawal from the Gaza Strip -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John Vause, reporting for us from Jerusalem. Thanks, John, very much.

Joining us now for some analysis, two guests here in Washington, veteran journalist Salemeh Nematt. He's the Washington bureau chief of the Arab language daily newspaper "Al-Hayat," and joining us from Seattle, Washington, the author and journalist Hirsh Goodman. He's a senior research associate for the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv. He's also the author of a new and important book entitled "Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said to Himself." We'll have more on the book a little bit later.

But I'll start with you, Hirsh. There's a lot of speculation these talk between President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon could be tense today. What do you expect?

HIRSH GOODMAN, ISRAELI AUTHOR: I don't expect them to be overly tense. I think Sharon's actually come to clarify that the settlement issue, and he'll probably explain to the president that Henry Kissinger one said that Israel doesn't have a foreign policy, it only has internal politics. And that the new houses that were announced to be built on Maler Damil (ph) are to try to pacify those who are opposed to the Gaza pullback. So I don't think the talk will be particularly tense, Wolf.

All right, what about you, Salemeh? What do you think?

SALEMEH NEMATT, "AL-HAYAT": I think they'll agree to disagree on the issue on of settlements. There is no doubt there is a commitment by the U.S. president to the road map, and the road map makes it very clear that there should be no more settlements. So in a sense both will stick to their guns, while at the same time, the U.S. government is going to express concern that this might undermine the newly elected Palestinian prime minister, and if he's undermined, then who's going to be the partner for the Israelis in the peace process?

BLITZER: The issue, Hirsh, is on the settlement issue, which is a very sensitive issue in Israel. Does the road map specifically say there shouldn't be any thickening or expansion of existing settlements because that's been always been a little bit hazy in my mind. How far it goes, there's the issue of natural growth in the settlements versus construction of new homes.

GOODMAN: Well, I think, there's not too much tension over natural growth within the limits of the actual settlements themselves. But what's happened is when Bush last met Sharon, he gave him a list of 18 illegal settlements in the hilltops that have gone up, and Sharon had given the president his commitment that those would come down. Not a single one of those have come down. Police have tried. They've taken down two caravans, the settlers have put up two caravans, and I think, frankly, Sharon will try and explain, listen, Mr. President, what I have to do is uproot 8,000 people on 16 settlements in Gaza, and I don't want to deplete my forces and my energy on running after kids in the hilltops. Let me get the big one over first, and then I'll go deal with the margins. So I think that is probably what he's trying to explain to the president.

BLITZER: The Israelis are saying now, Salemeh, and the vice prime minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, was on this program last week, that they're going to leave the houses in Gaza, the greenhouses, the factories, all intact. They're not going to bulldoze them like they did when they withdrew from Sinai way back in the early 1980s, and it's up to the Palestinians to decide what to do with those houses. What do you think -- the Palestinian position has been vague on this, what they want the Israelis or what they're planning on doing with it.

NEMATT: I'm not sure what their plans are, but I'd imagine that the Palestinians would move into these settlements. Basically there's a very severe housing problem in Gaza, and that's one of the most crowded places in the world. And so these might be used for development projects, to house people who might work on development projects in that part of Gaza. But when it comes to basically, you know, compensating settlers politically by, you know, removing the settlements in Gaza and then for other settlements in the West Bank, and then building or expanding settlements near Jerusalem. We should not forget that East Jerusalem is a disputed part of the territories, the Palestinian territories, and yet the Israelis are supposed to negotiate a withdrawal from these territories according to the road map parameters, which are basically you have resolution 242 (ph).

The problem is that Sharon is not providing an endgame. He talks about initial disengagement from Gaza and the West Bank, or parts of the West Bank. He doesn't tell us where he's going draw line.

BLITZER: Well, he says that's going to be negotiations, part of the negotiations. He doesn't want to negotiate with the media; he wants to negotiate presumably with the Palestinians.

NEMATT: It seems increasingly he's negotiating with the United States government.

BLITZER: Well, that may be true, too.

Hirsh, how much of a political problem, and maybe even more than a political problem, does Sharon face in Israel? All of us remember Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated not by a Palestinian, but by an Israeli Jew. How much of a civil disobedience, civil unrest, maybe even civil war as some people are talking about, does Sharon face because of this Gaza pullout?

GOODMAN: Well, this certainly won't be a civil war. For civil war to occur, the army has to turn against the government, and that's certainly not going to happen in Israel.

I think the settlers in the West Bank are going to try to make the pullback as traumatic as possible. They're going to make it so traumatic that the people of Israel watching this are going to say, oh my gosh, we can never do this again, I that's their goal.

On the other hand, we've had a long time to prepare this. There are only a few access roads that give access into Gaza. You can control that. A lot of settlers in Gaza have been taking compensation quietly because of peer pressure, but they've taking compensation.

So a combination of time, planning, expectation, limited access, are all factors of who will mitigate the traumatic nature of what's going to happen here.

The other thing involved is that, frankly, the settlers, first demonstration was 300,000. Second demonstration, 300,000. Third demonstration, 300,000. Their cause hasn't gained traction.

And what was mentioned in your report from Jerusalem is the vast majority of Israelis understand this need for consolidation, understand that 8,000 people cannot be living in 40 percent of the land in Gaza, using 45 percent of the water in Gaza and require four brigades of troops to protect them. So he's got the country's support. The Knesset has voted to get out of Gaza. The cabinet has voted to get out of Gaza. We understand the potential trouble.

However, all that said and done, there are wild elements in the settler movement, and the rabbis that gave Yigal Amir the message to kill Rabin have not mitigated their vociferous criticism of Sharon, and some misguided individual may misunderstand the message, and God forbid, we could be faced with another political assassination.

BLITZER: If you've seen the security detail around the prime minister of Israel in recent months, you certainly understand the sense of urgency on that specific question.

Salemeh, the Palestinians have their own disagreements in these negotiations with the Israelis, the new Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He faces enormous problems from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. He's got his own potential for civil war.

NEMATT: There's no doubt about that. But President Abbas was elected by the people, the majority, clear majority. Hamas, and Jihad and the other groups remain in the opposition, which is fine. The problem is that if Abbas was signed onto the road map, finds himself playing a completely new ballgame with Sharon basically and introducing the disengagement plan, replacing the road map with the disengagement plan where we don't know, you know, the endgame.

BLITZER: Hirsh, we don't have a lot of time, but I want you to explain to our viewers, what you mean by the title of your new book, "Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said to Himself." This is a memoir about your life in Israel.

GOODMAN: Well, it's actually. It's a book that starts off with a little boy growing up in apartheid South Africa, and then coming to Israel full of idealism and expectation, and then 30 years as a journalist covering reality. The title was chosen by publisher, Peter Osnos (ph).

In the book, as a little boy, I'm on the train, and it's going through the Cape, and I look around the at the beauty of this country, and the trees and vines and I said, God's got a sense of humor, he takes a place on this Earth, he gives it everything gold, diamonds, wealth, bounty water, says let me put a couple of blacks here, a couple of whites here, let me see how they get on. And he took the title from there.

And it also, it deals with my expectations for Israel, and as a write at the very end of the book, I've seen the end of apartheid and I've seen modern Israel rise from the ashes of the Holocaust, so don't tell me there can't be miracles, and that's the way I feel about the future.

BLITZER: Hirsh Goodman has written a fascinating book. I've read it myself. I can tell you it's not only a story about Hirsh Goodman's experience, it's really a story about Israel itself.

Hirsh Goodman, as usual, thanks very much for joining us.

GOODMAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Salemeh Nematt, thank you to you as well.

Always good to have two good friends on this program.

We'll take another quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: CNN's "LIVE FROM" comes your way at the top of the hour. Joining us now with a little preview, Miles O'Brien standing by. Miles, what have you got?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wolf, we've got a lot on our mind today. We're curious about the KLM-747. You heard about this story over -- actually, on Friday. A 747, nearly 300 people on board, 15 horses in the hold, gets orders for a U-turn, a 180 in pilot parlance, in mid-flight, because there was a people on there on the terror watch list. We want to know why these things happen. We're going to talk about to an expert about it.

And then the lovely Kyra Phillips will have a tete-a-tete, so to speak, with Chris DeMarco. Chris DeMarco. That was a good putt, but it wasn't enough, Wolf. He's kind of a bridesmaid. I don't know if Kyra is going to call him that to his face, but we will be hearing from Chris DeMarco, among other things on "LIVE FROM" -- Wolf, take it away.

BLITZER: The shy and very demure Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: Demure.

BLITZER: Miles, why isn't she talking to the winner of that Masters, Tiger himself?

O'BRIEN: Well, the truth is -- you want to know the truth? Kyra is a big DeMarco fan. She doesn't have much time for Tiger Woods.

BLITZER: If Tiger Woods were on my program, Miles, what would the banner be across the bottom of the screen?

O'BRIEN: Wolf on Tiger?

BLITZER: Or Tiger and Wolf?

O'BRIEN: Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my. Oh, my.

BLITZER: We can get into that on another occasion. I will be watching at the top of the hour. Miles O'Brien, Kyra Phillips, always important to watch on "LIVE FROM." We'll take another break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I'll be back later today, every week day at 5:00 p.m. Eastern for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Among other things, we'll hear from President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on their meeting today in Crawford, Texas. Until then, thanks very much for watching the "NEWS FROM CNN." I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips and Miles O'Brien coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 11, 2005 - 12:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Daryn. Let me pick up where you left off, the standoff that's unfolding in New Jersey right now.
I want to bring in our Deborah Feyerick. She's in our New York bureau. She's watching this story, together will all of us.

There are viewers just tuning in right now at the top of the hour, Deborah. And we'll show the pictures. Tell our viewers what's going on.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what we know so far. Apparently, according to New Jersey State Police, Almutah Saunders, who's 28 years old, forced his daughter, Jada Saunders, who's 4 months old, and the baby's mother, Erika Turner, into a gray- silver Honda Accord with New Jersey license plates. That's the car that you see there just at the sort of upper right of your screen.

He shot Jada's maternal grandfather in the leg. That is, the father of the mother's -- of the mother of the child.

Now, police do believe that this is a case of domestic violence. We can tell you that right now, they are negotiating. That's what we're being told by New Jersey State Police Captain Al De La Favre (ph), that they are negotiating with the driver of that vehicle.

They say that even though there was a pretty high-speed chase about 90 miles per hour, they do describe the chase as being controlled at all times. No motorists were ever in danger.

Now, we do know that that car apparently drove into an area that's really filled with cul-de-sacs, sort of small homes and apartments there. We're being told that perhaps the suspect's sister lives in that area. The problem is, once you get in there, you can't get out.

He pulled up in front of what appeared to be three homes in a cul-de-sac, and then when he realized he couldn't go anywhere, began to roll the car out. There were police that met him there, police with their guns drawn, and they were inching towards the car. And that's when he backed into that parking space right there.

You can see that there are a number of members of the New Jersey State Police and S.W.A.T. teams, some of them with shields. You can see that one of the police cars has the doors open. We do believe that that's the car from which one of the negotiators is trying to make contact, or is speaking to the man in that car, trying to figure out what it is he wants and what he's going to do with that 4-month- old child and the child's mother, make sure they get out unharmed.

Apparently, according to New Jersey State Police, the man took the baby from her home on April 4. He later returned her, and there was an arrest warrant out for him at that time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to get that picture back up there, the picture on the right side of the screen, that car in the middle now of the screen. We believe -- is this what you're saying, Deborah, that inside that car is Almutah Saunders, the father of this child, Jada Saunders, 4-month-old little girl, and the mother, Erika Turner? We believe all three of them are in that car, is that what you're saying?

FEYERICK: That is what we believe at this time. That's according to New Jersey State Police. And that is actually according to a report phoned in by the grandfather. So that's what we're looking at now. We believe that all three of them are in the car at this moment.

BLITZER: And the grandfather was shot in the leg, he's in the hospital. But he's expected to do just fine out of this incident.

But that's the car, we believe, the father, the mother and the 4- month-old little girl. They're inside, and we see these law enforcement officers backed up behind these vehicles with these shields. They're ready to take action, but they're trying to negotiate right now a peaceful resolution of what clearly is some sort of domestic dispute. Is that right?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. And on some levels, because of this complex where he drove into, the area is self-contained, which means that essentially he's stuck, he can't get out of there. So the danger is, of course, because there's the belief that he does have a gun, they want to get him out of that car and make sure that the child and the child's mother, both of them, are unharmed.

BLITZER: According to The Associated Press, Deborah, the Amber Alert that had been issued for this 4-month-old girl, Jada Saunders, said that the suspect in this case "threatened to commit murder and kill himself." Do we know more details? Anything else beyond that?

FEYERICK: No, and that's something that we're working to confirm as well. We do understand that that's what the AP is reporting, and we have -- we're getting backup on that, trying to get that from two additional sources.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch this story together with you, Deborah. We'll get back to it if there are developments.

Let's hope this situation can be resolved quickly and peacefully for everyone's sake. Deborah Feyerick helping us, doing some good reporting there from her post in New York City.

We'll move on now to another huge story we're following this hour, President Bush and the Israelis. The president hosting the Israeli prime minister specifically, Ariel Sharon, for potentially difficult talks in the path towards some sort of resumption of the peace process. With the Palestinian leadership now in place that the parties are willing to work with, there's pressure mounting upon the Israelis to make something positive happen as well.

With the story now from Crawford, Texas, our White House correspondent Dana Bash.

Sharon is already at the ranch, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Wolf. And at this hour, they should be wrapping up their one-on-one meeting this morning at the Bush ranch.

And as you mentioned, there certainly is a lot of attention on this particular meeting. And the primary focus we're hearing from both the Israelis and White House officials is to put the spotlight on a massive event that we are going to see in just a little more than three months from now. And that is an Israeli plan to pull out of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip, and four on the West Bank.

Now, this is a Sharon plan, you'll remember, that Mr. Bush signed onto almost exactly a year ago at the White House. And it was quite controversial at the time, in part because it was done without the consent of Palestinians.

Now, at this time, at this meeting, we are told that it is very likely that Prime Minister Sharon is going to make clear that he wants the help of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian president, in terms of political coordination, in coordinating in terms of security in order not to leave a vacuum that they hope would not essentially allow a breeding ground for terrorism.

Now, of course, as you know, Wolf, the Mideast is always a delicate diplomatic dance for any U.S. leader. But at this point, this is a crucial time, all sides agree, in setting the tone. That this pullout plan is crucial in terms of future talks, but particularly, this is a crucial time for Ariel Sharon, this is a wrenching issue in Israel.

The president is well aware of that, that well aware of the fact that it was very difficult for Ariel Sharon to get the Knesset to approve this plan, and that there is intense emotional opposition from Israelis, many of whom have supported Ariel Sharon for a long time, because of the pullout of about 9,000 Israelis from this area. So much so that Ariel Sharon told NBC News that he fears that it looks like it is the eve of a civil war in his own country.

But, Wolf, nevertheless, even though the president understands it's a tense time, he did make clear, Mr. Bush said himself, that he is going to tell Ariel Sharon that it is not an appropriate time to expand any settlements. That goes against the so-called road map that all sides signed onto.

The issue right now is that Israelis have made it clear that they do intend at some point in the future to expand a settlement in the West Bank that could potentially connect one settlement to east Jerusalem. Palestinians say that that is a move, they say, to try to block their access to a part of Jerusalem they want as their own. And, of course, the president has said and it is likely at this hour telling Ariel Sharon he thinks that would be a bad idea -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And CNN's Dana Bash reporting from Crawford, Texas. We're going to have coverage later this hour and the next hour of the news conference scheduled between the prime minister and the president. We'll have coverage of that. We'll also have substantive analysis of what's going on later this hour.

We'll move on now to some other stories we're following.

A gesture of honor by the Vatican angers some American Catholics. At this hour, Cardinal Bernard Law is celebrating one of nine daily masses to honor the late Pope John Paul II from Rome.

With more, CNN's Chris Burns. He's joining us live.

What's going on, Chris?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there are two American women who have lost their campaign to try and keep the cardinal from giving his homily today. They are Barbara Dooris (ph) and Barbara Blaine.

These are two women who say they were abused by priests when they were young girls. They now head a group that they claim to have 5,000 members in the United States who were abused by priests in the past. And they say that Cardinal Law, who was archbishop of Boston and resigned back a couple of years ago for having looked the other way, or at least not disciplined certain priests who were involved in sexual abuse cases, pedophile cases, that he should not give that homily today for that reason.

They also want him not to be part of the conclave next week. As a cardinal, he can rightly vote in that conclave. And they say that he should not be there.

So that is why they're continuing their campaign throughout this week. They're going to try to be pressing the Vatican not to allow him. Obviously, there's not any answer yet back from the Vatican in that regard.

Also, that the cardinals themselves, there's a press blackout. They're not allowed to talk to the press between now and the conclave -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Chris Burns, let's be clear. No one is accusing Cardinal Law himself of any sexual abuse or anything along those lines. What they've accused him of is covering up, if you will, standing on the sidelines in the face of serious allegations against other priests in his -- in his diocese.

That's the problem right now. That's why he was forced to step down. He is one of these 115 cardinals who will select the next pope. He's one of the 11 cardinals involved in that conclave, is that right?

BURNS: Yes, absolutely. And the thing is that they -- these two women who are in this group called Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests -- they call -- it's called SNAP -- they say that because Cardinal Law when he was archbishop in Boston did not aggressively go after these priests, that he is indirectly responsible for the abuse of hundreds of children, perhaps more than 1,000, she says, children in the Boston area during that time.

And also think of the financial side as well, that the Boston diocese had to sell $100 million worth of property in order to pay for lawsuits involving these young children, lawsuits of some 500 children who were abused by these priests. And so that is another aspect in the United States where these sex abuse scandals have virtually run these dioceses into the ground -- Wolf.

BLITZER: One final question, Chris. And I know you're having a little trouble hearing me. But how many people showed up in Rome for this demonstration? Was it just a handful, or were there in the hundreds?

BURNS: This is a two-woman campaign as far as we could tell. It was a huge press turnout. There were some 150 journalists from all around the world interviewing them, covering what they were saying.

They were handing out leaflets, but there -- this was not a demonstration. These were just two women who were taking their campaign from the United States to the steps of St. Peter. They're in now, watching that homily of the man they wish were not giving it -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Chris Burns reporting for us from the Vatican. Chris, thank you very much.

Let's move right back to Washington. On Capitol Hill right now, a showdown over John Bolton, the diplomat President Bush wants to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations. Some critics charge sending Bolton to the U.N. is akin to putting a bull in a China shop.

Our Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill. Confirmation hearings under way before the Senate Foreign Relation committee right now.

How has it gone so far, Andrea?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as expected, the Democrats have come out swinging. The comment that you just alluded to was repeated again by a ranking member of the committee, Democrat Joe Biden. But John Bolton has been coming under a lot of fire.

At the moment, he's being questioned by Democrat Russ Feingold from Wisconsin. Just a short time ago he was questioned by Christopher Dodd, another Democrat from Connecticut, who really -- a lot of the Democrats see the Achilles' heel potentially for John Bolton, stemming back to a couple of years ago. Allegations that while Bolton was the assistant secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the State Department, a position he still holds at this moment, he tried to influence, perhaps even pressure some superiors at the State Department to reassign some intelligence analysts who disagreed with what Mr. Bolton wanted to say in a speech that was entitled "Beyond the Axis of Evil."

Let's listen in to what Christopher Dodd had to say to John Bolton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Trying to rob a bank and failing to do so is a crime, in my view. Trying to remove someone as an analyst from their job because you disagree with what they're saying I think is dreadfully wrong.

And you've got an opportunity to defend yourself here. And I want to get to the bottom of it if we can.

Now, you've made the statement in response to Senator Biden that you did not try -- or you did try to remove -- or at least you recommended that these two individuals -- one, we've talked about, Mr. Westermann, the other we'll just call an intelligence officer because his name should be kept private. Is that -- did I hear you correctly when you responded to Senator Biden?

JOHN BOLTON, NOMINEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I don't think so, Senator, respectfully. The way you put it at the beginning was that I tried to have people removed because of their -- because I disagreed with their intelligence conclusions. And that's not true.

DODD: You thought because they went behind your back?

BOLTON: I thought in -- I thought in both cases, if I may say so, their conduct was unprofessional and broke my confidence and trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Democrats also allege that John Bolton is the wrong man for the job because of his outright disdain and public condemnation of the United Nations, especially when he was out of government back in 1994. But his supporters, Wolf, say that he is blunt and he tells it the way it is, and that's why he is the right man for the job. And that he's the one who is going to be carrying out the president's policy. And the president is the one who's been pushing a lot of the issues that John Bolton has been trying to fulfill in the field.

So we're expecting this to run on much of the afternoon and perhaps into the evening. And then tomorrow we're expecting to hear from some of those State Department intelligence analysts and their criticism of John Bolton -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea, a couple questions before I let you go. The issue of the intelligence assessment was involving Cuba, Fidel Castro, and whether or not he was engaged in some sort of biological weapons program. Is that the issue at the core of this dispute?

KOPPEL: It, is Wolf. And John Bolton wanted some of the intelligence that he was seeing, some classified intelligence to be declassified. And these intelligent analysts allege that he went forward and made things public without going through the proper channels, and that he was trying to pressure them to declassify that intelligence.

BLITZER: Is it looking like it's going to be a party line vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee? All the Republicans supporting Bolton's nomination? All the Democrats opposing it?

There's one moderate Republican, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who sometimes votes with the Democrats. He potentially could be the swing vote that would block this nomination in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What is Lincoln Chafee looking like based on the questions, assuming he's already asked some questions already?

KOPPEL: Well, at the moment, you are absolutely right, Wolf. Lincoln Chafee is sitting on the fence.

We spoke to his spokesman last week. He said the senator has not made up his mind.

He had some very pointed questions for Mr. Bolton. And, in fact, a lot of the stop Bolton campaigning that's going on out there, television ads, are targeting Rhode Island, the state that Mr. Chafee represents.

At the moment, Wolf, it is looking like eight Democrats on the committee are going to be voting against Bolton. And Chafee, who is one of 10 Republicans, again, sitting on the fence at this hour.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch to see what happens on that front. Andrea Koppel reporting for us from Capitol Hill. Thanks, Andrea, very much.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is having his own problems with some of his own Republican supporters. He's used to Democrats carping at him, but now even a few Republicans are taking him to task. We'll sort out the latest dust up on Capitol Hill. That's coming up.

Also, the president and the prime minister, U.S.-Israeli diplomacy, the road map to peace in the Middle East. We'll go live to Jerusalem for the latest.

You're watching NEWS FROM CNN, and we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

I want to update our viewers who are just tuning in. Let me set the stage for you, what you're seeing. This is a standoff happening outside New York City in New Jersey, suburban New Jersey, Irvington, New Jersey, happening right now. In that sort of bluish car in the middle of the screen we believe are three individuals.

Almutah Saunders, he's the father of 4-month-old Jada Saunders. And the mother of Jada Saunders, Erika Turner. Those are some of the pictures.

This has been a kidnapping, if you will, that police say has been happening now for the past few hours. They also are accusing Almutah Saunders, the father, of shooting the grandfather of Jada Saunders in the leg. He's in a hospital, expecting to recover from that.

The standoff is continuing as negotiations, we're told, between law enforcement and Almutah Saunders continues. The three of them in that car. He's holding Jada Saunders and Erika Turner, the mother, in that car.

Police standing behind that vehicle. They are protected by shields.

We're watching this story, hoping it will be resolved peacefully and quickly. Let's watch it and continue to watch it. I want to point out to our viewers, though, those pictures that we're showing are on a five-second delay in case there is some sort of violence that happens. We will not show that to our viewers.

We'll get back to the story as we get more information, as developments warrant. But we'll move to some other news we're following here in Washington.

One of the most powerful politicians in the nation's capital undoubtedly feeling some heat today over his continuing ethics problems. It's no longer just Democrats who are calling on the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, to resign.

Here with more what's going on the story to help sort it all out for us, our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry.

Ed, a lot of our viewers have not necessarily been paying all this close attention to the story. So update them on the latest. What exactly is happening?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a top Republican privately acknowledged to me this morning that the Tom DeLay story has now turned into a full-scale feeding frenzy after Republican Congressman Chris Shays came out and said Tom DeLay has become an embarrassment to his party and should step down as majority leader.

But senior Republican Party officials correctly point out it's important to put those comments from Shays in their proper context. He's a very liberal Republican. He's frequently clashed with GOP leaders. He's from a swing district in Connecticut where he only won 52 percent of the vote last November. So Chris Shays is a target of Democrats. And in order to save his seat in Congress, he's under heavy pressure to distance himself from Tom DeLay.

He did just that yesterday, telling The Associated Press that Tom DeLay's conduct is hurting the Republican Party. And, in fact, just moments ago, Chris Shays finally came on camera to also say Tom DeLay should go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R) CONNECTICUT: I'm not asking him to step down. You're asking me if I think he should?

Yes, I think he should. That's just an honest answer to a question. But I'm not arguing and demanding that he step down. He's still the leader. But if I think -- but that's what I think, I think he should step down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So you hear a little bit of hairsplitting there. Chris Shays saying he's not urging him to step down, but he personally wants Tom DeLay to step down.

What he's referring to is the fact that Tom DeLay was rebuked by the House Ethics Committee three times last year, and now is facing new allegations that he may have violated House rules by allowing lobbyists to secretly pay for about three overseas trips. But Republican Party officials note that, as I mentioned, Chris Shays has never been a of Tom DeLay, he's an obvious person to criticize the majority leader, and he's not a leader in his party.

So party officials are confident that Chris Shays will now provide cover for other Republicans to now come forward and demand Tom DeLay's resignation. As one part official told me, Wolf, it's going take a movement conservative, not a liberal, not a moderate, but a movement conservative to step forward and say Tom DeLay has to go, and then there could be an avalanche.

BLITZER: But what about the conservative Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, yesterday? He didn't urge Tom DeLay to step down or anything like that, but he did say that Tom DeLay needs to answer some questions.

HENRY: That's right. And that was the first movement conservative, Rick Santorum, and also a party leader in the Senate Republican leadership to say you need to come clean, basically. That Tom DeLay has to come forward and explain himself.

But it was vague. He didn't really pin it down as exactly what Tom DeLay has to do. He didn't spell it all out. And he also, as you mentioned, fell well short of saying that Tom DeLay should resign.

Again, it's going take a Rick Santorum-type of conservative, a party leader to step forward, say Tom DeLay has to go. And that could break the dam.

BLITZER: Rick Santorum is up for reelection next year in Pennsylvania. A moderate...

HENRY: He's facing a little pressure as well. And that may be why he's trying to show a little bit of pressure on Tom DeLay.

He's from a blue state of Pennsylvania, just like Chris Shays, as you mentioned. So that also has to be put in context about Rick Santorum. But he fell far short of saying that Tom DeLay should go.

BLITZER: All right. Let's talk about one of the serious allegation against Tom DeLay, that, in effect, he accepted all the junkets, these trips around the world, if you will, trips overseas, from so-called think tanks or public policy groups that were really secretly funded by lobbyists.

How serious are these allegations? Because based on everything -- I've been covering Washington for a long time, a lot longer than you. A lot of these think tanks, a lot of these policy groups, there's overlapping membership, and they get funding from fat cats, whether Democrats or Republicans, who then send these congressmen on all sorts of trips around the world.

HENRY: You're absolutely right. Lawmakers in both parties fly all around the world on a dime of a lot of these outside groups. But the problem potentially here for Tom DeLay is that this is not vague.

Very clearly in the House rules its says if lobbyists, not outside charitable groups, but lobbyists pay for your overseas or domestic travel, that is a clear violation of House rules. What this will come down to is that Tom DeLay told CNN producer Ted Barrett last week, and he also said on his official forms with the House of Representatives, that the charitable organizations paid for these trips. But there is some evidence...

BLITZER: He says he didn't know that there were lobbyists behind the funding for these organizations that actually funded it. The checks went through them, but didn't know that the money was really coming from lobbyists.

HENRY: Right. So the bottom line is there may not be a smoking gun if there was anything improper, and I stress "if" there was anything improper. There may be no smoking gun proving that Tom DeLay knew that secretly the lobbyists were paying for it.

But anonymous sources have come forward to "The Washington Post" saying that, in fact, the lobbyists involved secretly funded these trips to Britain, to Russia and also to South Korea. That would be a clear violation of House rules.

There is nothing gray about that. But the problem here for the folks whoa re trying to pursue Tom DeLay is that it's very hard to pin down exactly what he knew and when he knew it. That is why, in part, it could be difficult, as you mentioned, for Tom DeLay, the fact that Rick Santorum, a very prominent conservative, says it's time to have a full accounting, explain all of this.

That's what Democrats have been calling for, for weeks, maybe even months, come forward and explain all the details. Tom DeLay has not yet done that. He has said that he's willing to have his staff cooperate with the House Ethics Committee, but so far Tom DeLay has not publicly come out and spelled out exactly who paid for these trips.

BLITZER: One other question before I let you go. The $500,000 that his wife and daughter took in from his political action committee, his PAC, what has he explained about that? Because certainly on the surface, that doesn't necessarily look that great. Although, I take it it's a lot more common with members of Congress than would meet the eye.

HENRY: I think it would be a lot more serious for Tom DeLay if he had his wife and daughter on his personal payroll and the taxpayers were picking it up. Instead, this is political money.

It may look a little odd, but the fact of the matter is, just like the travel, there are a lot of lawmakers in both parties who have family members on their campaign payroll. Again, it might look a little odd, but it's not illegal. Not improper, according to any of the agencies involved.

And also, this was $500,000 over the course of three or four years. And so when you spread it out, for example, Tom DeLay's daughter only made about $50,000 a year as chief fund-raiser. $50,000 sounds like a lot in one year for a lot of people around the country, but in Washington, as you know, these political operatives, $50,000 is chump change.

That's not a lot of money at all. So, in context, I don't think that that's quite as serious as the travel.

BLITZER: You'd be surprised to know that $50,000 a year even outside of Washington is not necessarily all that high of a salary either. But then again, everything is relative.

Thanks very much, Ed Henry. I suspect this story is not going to go away. We'll continue to discuss it.

Ed Henry is our congressional correspondent.

You think you're paying too much for gas here in the United States? Wait until you see what the prices are overseas. We'll count the costs when the NEWS FROM CNN continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Focusing now on the high cost of gasoline. As you certainly know, gas prices have hit new highs, up some 19 cents a gallon over the past three weeks alone. The Lundberg National Survey finds the average price is now $2.29 a gallon. But where you live determines what you pay. And Newark, New Jersey has the lowest price; Bakersfield, California has the highest.

Chris Huntington is watching all of this for us from New York, and going to give us some perspective.

Chris, what have you learned?

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, for any of us who have ever traveled overseas, particularly in Europe, and if you have relatives over there, you know what they pay for gasoline. By the way, the Department of Energy predicting that gasoline prices in this country will average about $2.35 next month for the whole month. That may sound like a lot, but consider this, if you are driving a full size SUV over in Holland these days and you had to fill up the entire tank, you'd spend near $300 filling it up.

Take a look at gas prices on the continent. We'll show you this right now. The Department of Energy computing these in dollars per gallon for premium unleaded, because that's the comparable standard of gasoline used over there, and you can look down there. Cut right down there to the Netherlands, $6.49 a gallon. Now if you're lucky enough to find down at the bottom there, $2.40 for premium, would be a good find these days. But the fact is the relative comparison is huge.

Most of that, however, is in taxes, and probably you knew that. But take a look what the underlying cost of the fuel is. Interestingly enough, the cost that we're paying for the actual gasoline component at the retail pumps is a little bit more here in the United States than in some places in Europe, more than, for instance, in the United Kingdom. It's still less than what they pay in the Netherlands. It's about the same as they pay over in Italy.

Now we had a chance over the weekend to catch up to motorists in London to find out what they think about the prices they pay for petrol, as they call it, over there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's way expensive. I mean, look at America -- how many cars are in America?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I only drive kind of local, but if I wanted to go to Brighton or something like that, I'd go on the train or the coach. It's too expensive for the people, you know, to buy a lot of petrol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cost of fuel in London is not expensive, because I've got experience in our country, and relative we've got more expensive fuel than, for example in Poland, and I think generally our answer is no. In London, the cost of fuel is normal. It's normal. It's fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTINGTON; So, Wolf, there you have it, a Polish gentleman living in London telling the world prices in London are just fine, they're quite normal. So a bit of relativism for those of you in the United States feeling the pain at pumps.

BLITZER: I had an easier guy understanding the Polish guy than the two British guys, whose accents were pretty thick there.

Chris, so what you're saying is that gasoline prices here, even though they're record high, are really a bargain compared to what people are paying in Europe. It's an amazing story. What's happening, though, is that people are going increasingly trying to get some fuel-efficient cars in the United States. Is that happening yet?

HUNTINGTON: It is happening, Wolf. It's quite amazing that in fact the first place we're beginning to see the anecdotal reaction, if you will, to high gasoline prices is actually in the car-buying lots, not so much at the gas pumps with regard to demand on the highways with the way people are driving. You're starting to see it at the sales lot. For instance, Ford just over the weekend coming out and dramatically cutting its earnings outlook, saying that its sales of its big truck platform SUVs are plummeting. That's a huge sign that people are reacting to high gas prices. General motors making a similar announcement a couple of weeks ago.

And now, again, this is anecdotal evidence, the hybrids in huge demand. They're in very, very short supply. The production runs on these cars -- and you're looking at a Toyota Prius here -- have been very, very low. On several Web sites, we're seeing people most Priuses for sale. These are preowned, in some cases new, but mostly preowned, at prices well above the ordinary sticker prices. It's not been unusual that some of these hybrids have been going for a slight premium because there's a long waiting list. But now the premiums are really jacked up.

On one West Coast listing for a Prius very similar to this one here for in excess of $31,000. That particular model would sell for something around -- would list at least for something around $26,000.

So people are really starting to see the demand. Again, particularly on the West Coast for the hybrids, because no secret, in Southern California, some of the most expensive pump prices in the nation.

BLITZER: Chris Huntington reporting us, giving us some perspective on all of this.

Thanks, Chris, very much. Good report.

When we come back, the road map toward peace in the Middle East. Is the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon going to have some tough talks with President Bush? We're standing by for their news conference. We'll have that.

In the meantime, we'll speak live with two journalists who know firsthand what's going on in the Middle East, the obstacles ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. We're awaiting statements from Crawford, Texas, where President Bush continues to meet at this hour with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Under mounting pressure from Washington, the Israeli leader face serious problems back home, where some Israelis are incensed at his proposal to pull out of Gaza.

Joining us now live from Jerusalem, CNN's John Vause. He's ready to tell us what's going on there -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf.

There's no doubt the pressure is mounting on Ariel Sharon as he pushes ahead with this disengagement plan. Just this morning in an interview he spoke of the mood in Israel being like on the eve of a civil war. He also spoke of how all his life he has protected Jews, and now he must be protected from Jews, a clear reference to the number of death threats he was received over the last few months. Security around the prime minister and other senior government officials has been increased.

And just yesterday, there was protesters who clashed with police at the Temple Mount. That is a sacred site which is disputed sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and Muslims call it the Noble Sanctuary.

Now these protesters, mostly settlers and their supporters, said they want to go to the Temple Mount to pray en masse. The Palestinian militant groups warned that would be a provocation and would mean an end to the two-month-long cease-fire, but a massive police presence stop the settlers, but as this disengagement draws near, they say there will be more protests up until the disengagement, up until July 20th.

Now settler leaders, though, have condemned the violence, and they said their protests will be peaceful. If it's any consolation for the Israeli prime minister, Wolf, the opinion polls have shown that a majority of Israelis support his disengagement plan, his withdrawal from the Gaza Strip -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John Vause, reporting for us from Jerusalem. Thanks, John, very much.

Joining us now for some analysis, two guests here in Washington, veteran journalist Salemeh Nematt. He's the Washington bureau chief of the Arab language daily newspaper "Al-Hayat," and joining us from Seattle, Washington, the author and journalist Hirsh Goodman. He's a senior research associate for the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv. He's also the author of a new and important book entitled "Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said to Himself." We'll have more on the book a little bit later.

But I'll start with you, Hirsh. There's a lot of speculation these talk between President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon could be tense today. What do you expect?

HIRSH GOODMAN, ISRAELI AUTHOR: I don't expect them to be overly tense. I think Sharon's actually come to clarify that the settlement issue, and he'll probably explain to the president that Henry Kissinger one said that Israel doesn't have a foreign policy, it only has internal politics. And that the new houses that were announced to be built on Maler Damil (ph) are to try to pacify those who are opposed to the Gaza pullback. So I don't think the talk will be particularly tense, Wolf.

All right, what about you, Salemeh? What do you think?

SALEMEH NEMATT, "AL-HAYAT": I think they'll agree to disagree on the issue on of settlements. There is no doubt there is a commitment by the U.S. president to the road map, and the road map makes it very clear that there should be no more settlements. So in a sense both will stick to their guns, while at the same time, the U.S. government is going to express concern that this might undermine the newly elected Palestinian prime minister, and if he's undermined, then who's going to be the partner for the Israelis in the peace process?

BLITZER: The issue, Hirsh, is on the settlement issue, which is a very sensitive issue in Israel. Does the road map specifically say there shouldn't be any thickening or expansion of existing settlements because that's been always been a little bit hazy in my mind. How far it goes, there's the issue of natural growth in the settlements versus construction of new homes.

GOODMAN: Well, I think, there's not too much tension over natural growth within the limits of the actual settlements themselves. But what's happened is when Bush last met Sharon, he gave him a list of 18 illegal settlements in the hilltops that have gone up, and Sharon had given the president his commitment that those would come down. Not a single one of those have come down. Police have tried. They've taken down two caravans, the settlers have put up two caravans, and I think, frankly, Sharon will try and explain, listen, Mr. President, what I have to do is uproot 8,000 people on 16 settlements in Gaza, and I don't want to deplete my forces and my energy on running after kids in the hilltops. Let me get the big one over first, and then I'll go deal with the margins. So I think that is probably what he's trying to explain to the president.

BLITZER: The Israelis are saying now, Salemeh, and the vice prime minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, was on this program last week, that they're going to leave the houses in Gaza, the greenhouses, the factories, all intact. They're not going to bulldoze them like they did when they withdrew from Sinai way back in the early 1980s, and it's up to the Palestinians to decide what to do with those houses. What do you think -- the Palestinian position has been vague on this, what they want the Israelis or what they're planning on doing with it.

NEMATT: I'm not sure what their plans are, but I'd imagine that the Palestinians would move into these settlements. Basically there's a very severe housing problem in Gaza, and that's one of the most crowded places in the world. And so these might be used for development projects, to house people who might work on development projects in that part of Gaza. But when it comes to basically, you know, compensating settlers politically by, you know, removing the settlements in Gaza and then for other settlements in the West Bank, and then building or expanding settlements near Jerusalem. We should not forget that East Jerusalem is a disputed part of the territories, the Palestinian territories, and yet the Israelis are supposed to negotiate a withdrawal from these territories according to the road map parameters, which are basically you have resolution 242 (ph).

The problem is that Sharon is not providing an endgame. He talks about initial disengagement from Gaza and the West Bank, or parts of the West Bank. He doesn't tell us where he's going draw line.

BLITZER: Well, he says that's going to be negotiations, part of the negotiations. He doesn't want to negotiate with the media; he wants to negotiate presumably with the Palestinians.

NEMATT: It seems increasingly he's negotiating with the United States government.

BLITZER: Well, that may be true, too.

Hirsh, how much of a political problem, and maybe even more than a political problem, does Sharon face in Israel? All of us remember Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated not by a Palestinian, but by an Israeli Jew. How much of a civil disobedience, civil unrest, maybe even civil war as some people are talking about, does Sharon face because of this Gaza pullout?

GOODMAN: Well, this certainly won't be a civil war. For civil war to occur, the army has to turn against the government, and that's certainly not going to happen in Israel.

I think the settlers in the West Bank are going to try to make the pullback as traumatic as possible. They're going to make it so traumatic that the people of Israel watching this are going to say, oh my gosh, we can never do this again, I that's their goal.

On the other hand, we've had a long time to prepare this. There are only a few access roads that give access into Gaza. You can control that. A lot of settlers in Gaza have been taking compensation quietly because of peer pressure, but they've taking compensation.

So a combination of time, planning, expectation, limited access, are all factors of who will mitigate the traumatic nature of what's going to happen here.

The other thing involved is that, frankly, the settlers, first demonstration was 300,000. Second demonstration, 300,000. Third demonstration, 300,000. Their cause hasn't gained traction.

And what was mentioned in your report from Jerusalem is the vast majority of Israelis understand this need for consolidation, understand that 8,000 people cannot be living in 40 percent of the land in Gaza, using 45 percent of the water in Gaza and require four brigades of troops to protect them. So he's got the country's support. The Knesset has voted to get out of Gaza. The cabinet has voted to get out of Gaza. We understand the potential trouble.

However, all that said and done, there are wild elements in the settler movement, and the rabbis that gave Yigal Amir the message to kill Rabin have not mitigated their vociferous criticism of Sharon, and some misguided individual may misunderstand the message, and God forbid, we could be faced with another political assassination.

BLITZER: If you've seen the security detail around the prime minister of Israel in recent months, you certainly understand the sense of urgency on that specific question.

Salemeh, the Palestinians have their own disagreements in these negotiations with the Israelis, the new Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He faces enormous problems from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. He's got his own potential for civil war.

NEMATT: There's no doubt about that. But President Abbas was elected by the people, the majority, clear majority. Hamas, and Jihad and the other groups remain in the opposition, which is fine. The problem is that if Abbas was signed onto the road map, finds himself playing a completely new ballgame with Sharon basically and introducing the disengagement plan, replacing the road map with the disengagement plan where we don't know, you know, the endgame.

BLITZER: Hirsh, we don't have a lot of time, but I want you to explain to our viewers, what you mean by the title of your new book, "Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said to Himself." This is a memoir about your life in Israel.

GOODMAN: Well, it's actually. It's a book that starts off with a little boy growing up in apartheid South Africa, and then coming to Israel full of idealism and expectation, and then 30 years as a journalist covering reality. The title was chosen by publisher, Peter Osnos (ph).

In the book, as a little boy, I'm on the train, and it's going through the Cape, and I look around the at the beauty of this country, and the trees and vines and I said, God's got a sense of humor, he takes a place on this Earth, he gives it everything gold, diamonds, wealth, bounty water, says let me put a couple of blacks here, a couple of whites here, let me see how they get on. And he took the title from there.

And it also, it deals with my expectations for Israel, and as a write at the very end of the book, I've seen the end of apartheid and I've seen modern Israel rise from the ashes of the Holocaust, so don't tell me there can't be miracles, and that's the way I feel about the future.

BLITZER: Hirsh Goodman has written a fascinating book. I've read it myself. I can tell you it's not only a story about Hirsh Goodman's experience, it's really a story about Israel itself.

Hirsh Goodman, as usual, thanks very much for joining us.

GOODMAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Salemeh Nematt, thank you to you as well.

Always good to have two good friends on this program.

We'll take another quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: CNN's "LIVE FROM" comes your way at the top of the hour. Joining us now with a little preview, Miles O'Brien standing by. Miles, what have you got?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wolf, we've got a lot on our mind today. We're curious about the KLM-747. You heard about this story over -- actually, on Friday. A 747, nearly 300 people on board, 15 horses in the hold, gets orders for a U-turn, a 180 in pilot parlance, in mid-flight, because there was a people on there on the terror watch list. We want to know why these things happen. We're going to talk about to an expert about it.

And then the lovely Kyra Phillips will have a tete-a-tete, so to speak, with Chris DeMarco. Chris DeMarco. That was a good putt, but it wasn't enough, Wolf. He's kind of a bridesmaid. I don't know if Kyra is going to call him that to his face, but we will be hearing from Chris DeMarco, among other things on "LIVE FROM" -- Wolf, take it away.

BLITZER: The shy and very demure Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: Demure.

BLITZER: Miles, why isn't she talking to the winner of that Masters, Tiger himself?

O'BRIEN: Well, the truth is -- you want to know the truth? Kyra is a big DeMarco fan. She doesn't have much time for Tiger Woods.

BLITZER: If Tiger Woods were on my program, Miles, what would the banner be across the bottom of the screen?

O'BRIEN: Wolf on Tiger?

BLITZER: Or Tiger and Wolf?

O'BRIEN: Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my. Oh, my.

BLITZER: We can get into that on another occasion. I will be watching at the top of the hour. Miles O'Brien, Kyra Phillips, always important to watch on "LIVE FROM." We'll take another break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I'll be back later today, every week day at 5:00 p.m. Eastern for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Among other things, we'll hear from President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on their meeting today in Crawford, Texas. Until then, thanks very much for watching the "NEWS FROM CNN." I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips and Miles O'Brien coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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