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American Morning
Obama's Message to the Muslims; U.S. Journalists Face Trial
Aired June 04, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to everyone. It is Thursday, June 4th. I'm Carol Costello in for Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm John Roberts. Thanks very much for being with us. Here is what is on this morning's agenda. Stories that will be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes here on CNN. President Obama wrapping up a historic speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, offering a friendship to moderates but saying the U.S. will relentlessly confront extremists. We've got some of the best minds on television standing by to break down the president's remarks.
As we speak, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are on trial in North Korea, and we could find out very soon whether they will be set free or spend years in a labor camp.
And we're watching your money this morning. Right now, markets overseas are mixed. Back here in the United States. And after a down day on the Dow, investors will be closely monitoring some key sales reports and new jobless numbers. We'll bring those to you about half an hour's time, in just the minute we get them.
But the big story, of course, this morning, President Obama's highly anticipated speech in Cairo. The president telling the 3,000 people who gathered this morning at the Great Hall at Cairo University. The fundamental purpose of the speech is to reset Middle East relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world. One based on mutual interests and mutual respect and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap and share common principles, principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all its forms. In Ankara, I made clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam.
We also know that military power alone is not going solve the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That's why we plan to invest $1.5 billion each year over the next five years to partner with Pakistanis to build schools and hospitals, roads and businesses, and hundreds of millions to help those who've been displaced. That's why we are providing more than $2.8 billion to help Afghans develop their economy and deliver services that people depend on.
The second major source of tension that we need to discuss is the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world.
For decades, then, there has been a stalemate. Two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It's easy to point fingers.
For Palestinians to point to the displacement brought about by Israel's founding and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history, from within its borders as well as beyond. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth. The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.
(APPLAUSE)
The third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons. This issue has been a source of tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. For many years, Iran has defined itself, in part, by its opposition to my country. And there is, in fact, a tumultuous history between us.
In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government. Since the Islamic revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians. This history is well known.
Rather than remain trapped in the past, I've made it clear to Iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. The question now is not what Iran is against but, rather, what future it wants to build.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And joining us now to break down President Obama's speech, CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley and Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent.
I wanted to talk a little bit about Cairo University itself. Because it was an interesting backdrop to the president's speech. Cairo University has 180,000 undergrads, which is astoundingly --
ROBERTS: It's huge.
COSTELLO: It's bizarre. I mean, that's 180,000.
ROBERTS: It's like six American colleges.
COSTELLO: It is. Student political groups are prohibited there. The policy on artistic and cultural events is to protect students from corrupt thoughts. A student blogger was jailed for two months for public agitation at the university for just speaking out about his political views.
Some might say what a strange backdrop for President Obama to deliver this kind of speech.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Or wouldn't it be incumbent upon him to talk about political pluralism and democratic rights, which he did. Look, there are a lot of Egyptian dissidence and professors who's here in the United States, who side over him, who is basically, you know, reminding everybody that, yes, over the last several years, there has been quite a vigorous crackdown on any kind of sort of political activity, political groups, the precise kinds, that you talk about, and that it is time right now to talk about democracy and how the United States is going to help the young people of not only Egypt, but around the Arab and Islamic world to pursue democratic rights.
It's something that President Bush tried to do, and actually made Egypt his centerpiece in that effort in the freedom agenda back in 2005, and then pulled back because the United States saw Islamic parties winning, didn't like it and pulled back. And since then, there's been a huge crackdown in many parts particularly in Egypt. And this is something that many people who were watching. One of the biggest lines of applause for Obama was when he talked about U.S. commitment to young people, any people pursuing a government that reflects the will of the people.
COSTELLO: And yet, just a few years ago, they threw a political dissidence, somebody who was a real threat to President Mubarak in jail, right? And -- I'm talking about the Muslim brotherhood.
AMANPOUR: Well, the Muslim brotherhood, basically, did very, very well in the elections to parliament.
COSTELLO: Right.
AMANPOUR: They weren't allowed to run as Muslim brotherhood, but as independents. But yes, there were other political parties like Kefaya, which means "enough" and others where the leaders were harassed, put in jail and same with the brotherhood as well. And how sort of democratic aspirations have really been stopped in their tracks.
And, again, that is something that the Egyptians and many people around that part of the world were looking to see whether he would address. And one young man stood up and said, "We love you." He's the only voice we heard, but he stood up when Obama said about democracy and got an applause.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: So the speech --
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you only went and spoke places that agreed with what you thought or that acted perfectly, he would have given this speech at the University of Arizona. I mean, these are precisely --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: But they wouldn't give him an honorary degree.
COSTELLO: That's right. They wouldn't give him a honorary degree.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: It's a different one for Arizona State. But, anyway, you know, the problem is that, of course, you go to these places and you don't go to the place and criticize. You don't go to Saudi Arabia and criticize what's going on. You go there and say here's what we believe.
ROBERTS: But here is I think the crucial question here. A lot of folks in the Muslim world were looking for a plan when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian process. We knew going in that the president wasn't going to give one. But this speech was building relations, it was also a statement of goals and principles.
But how do you do the tough work of putting those goals and principles into action and coming up with concrete results? Because that's the really tough part of this.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. And that's what has defied several presidents prior to this one. And, honestly, doesn't it all come down to who's going to take that first step? Is it going to be Israel in the settlement? Is it going to be something on the Palestinian side? Somebody has to blink here. Somebody has. And that's -- that's --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: And how long have we been waiting for the blink?
CROWLEY: Well, exactly. I mean, in the end, is there a new plan? I mean, your experts would be better at that than me. But, no, what there has to be is some sort of diplomacy, some sort of very active, which he said he would be, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But all presidents say that.
CROWLEY: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: I mean, President Obama said, you know, I'm committed to peace in the Middle East. We've got to get back to this road map. But a lot of presidents have said that and nothing has happened.
(CROSSTALK)
AMANPOUR: Well, that's true. The perception and the reality is the Bush administration decided that this was too much political capital to expend for no big dividend. And so they pulled back from active involvement in the peace process. And already, President Obama has had a review from some in the Arab world. We heard from Iraq, somebody saying this speech when it came to talking about the Palestinians and Israelis re-injected the notion of some even- handedness in this process.
ROBERTS: Hold that thought, because we've got to go to Ed Henry who is in Cairo, because this is -- we're going to go to a little bit of sound first.
We have to hit Ed Henry, because here's a narrow window of opportunity because of pool situations there with the White House Press Corps.
But first of all, president calling on Palestinians, we've been talking about, to abandon violence using the U.S. civil rights movement as a parallel example.
Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding.
This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia, to Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: violence is a dead end. It is a sign neither of courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children or to blow up old women on a bus. That's not how moral authority is claimed, that's how it is surrendered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Ed Henry now is joining us live. He's in Cairo this morning.
And, Ed, it was really interesting to see the president weave in those historic parallels. And while that doesn't necessarily represent his background, his father came from Kenya, he did interweave a lot of his own personal story into the speech.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He definitely did. And we do not hear him talk a lot about the civil rights movement. He doesn't talk a lot about race in America. He hasn't done that in the first few months of his presidency.
In private, his aides say he doesn't want to be known solely as the first African-American president. He wants to be known as America's president. And doesn't want to only talk about race. But, here, he clearly saw an opportunity for a parallel. And he picks up on what Candy was saying about on the Palestinian side, people needing to stand up and say, look, we need to show that we can govern ourselves, that we can stop the violence if we're going to move forward just like on the Israeli side.
The president suggested there needs to be an understanding, that there needs to be two states side-by-side so that Palestinians can have their own state as well. And on that point of personal references, the president also talked a lot about his father's Muslim roots. He talked about growing up himself in Indonesia. There were several references to the Koran. That's obviously the kind of stuff we did not hear last year on the U.S. presidential campaign because it was quite controversial.
And I can tell you that some of his top aides in private here, in the Mid-East have been quite candid about saying they realize now that they can emphasize it a little differently, and it could help the president try to get his point across in this region.
John?
ROBERTS: I had a question on that point that you just made about his father. That the actual line from the speech, Ed, was, I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. He didn't actually say his father was a Muslim. Any idea why?
HENRY: Yes, I don't know why he didn't specifically say he was Muslim. I know that some of his aides in the past have suggested that he was perhaps not practicing Muslim his entire life, so, you know, there may be some personal stuff there.
ROBERTS: Got you.
HENRY: But they don't talk so much about in public, but he certainly wanted to make a reference to it in general to try to connect with this audience -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Ed Henry for us live in Cairo this morning. Ed, thanks so much.
Carol?
COSTELLO: And I know you want to see more of the president's speech so to watch clips of President Obama's Mid-East speech and read the full transcript, all you have to do is visit our blog at cnn.com/amfix.
And, of course, we always welcome your comments because they're always pretty juicy and we enjoy that, don't we?
ROBERTS: We do.
COSTELLO: Some more people want to talk. But, look, they are itching to talk, aren't they? Look at them. How excited they are.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. COSTELLO: We're going to come back with more analysis of the president's speech. We'll be joined by Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo, Republican strategist Ed Rollins, our Middle Eastern scholar Fawaz Gerges and Robin Wright, who wrote the book, "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East."
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour. We're back with more from Ed Rollins, Lisa Caputo, Fawaz Gerges and Robin Wright.
In your book, "Dreams and Shadows," Robin, which was great read, you talked about the aspirations for peace among many people in the Middle East. There are so many people who would love to embrace this idea of a peace plan. They want prosperity. They just want to be able to provide for their families.
You know, if you try to change hearts and minds, too. It's always good to get them while they are young. Because you get them while they're young is a chance you got them for the rest of their lives.
And the president was talking to a lot of young people there at Cairo University. And I think it's as many as 65 percent of Muslims around the world. They're between the ages of 15 and 24.
How do you think he hit those people today? Did he set the right tone for them?
ROBIN WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "DREAMS & SHADOWS": I think he did, in part, because the attitude was more of a partnership, rather than patronage and preaching. I read President Bush and Condi Rice's two critical speeches about outreach to the Islamic world and what the U.S. goals were, and the tone was very different.
We know what's right for you. Our values are the ones that can be embraced by all people in the region. And this time, President Obama really talked about respecting their culture. And he talked about democracy, knowing that this is not going to be an imitation of Western democracy, that it's going to be a synthesis with Islamic traditions. It was very respectful of the Islamic world and its past, its current and particularly some of the things in terms of women. The right of women to wear hijab --
ROBERTS: What?
FAWAZ GERGES, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Well, John, I mean, I think the speech has two-prong message. Educate Muslims about Americans and to a lesser extent educate Americans about Islam. That it's not Islam as seen in a stereotypical way.
I think the speech itself is the beginning of a complex, a process. Because the president, as we know, faces many challenges. The question as you said earlier, will he be able to translate his rhetoric into concrete policies? Will he be willing to invest some of his precious political capital in basically driving the agenda? In particular, on the Arab-Israeli conflict. And this brings us to the domestic context. That is the American domestic context is us challenging as the Islamic context.
ROBERTS: And at that point, I think, we should bring in Ed, who is sitting very quietly over here on the left side of the panel, but he's got some ideas that make the speech hit the right notes.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, it certainly hit the right notes for the audience that they were addressing there. I think you're going to find a real conservative outpouring here of criticism. They see this is a weakness. They see this, you know, they don't think that we overthrew elected government in Iran.
ROBERTS: And sort of American history begins in 1979.
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: And I think to a certain extent the Jewish community once again, which very, very important constituency as the Democratic Party, is not going to be happy with some of this. And a new government is not going to be happy with it. And you can't make it.
This is a president who has evolved as a great speechmaker. He likes this. He has sort of defined himself in the course of his two- year campaign, America can be a better place. I think this is -- the world can be a better place today by doing all of these things. How much of these things are realistic or how? Or how difficult they are? That's the big test.
LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: But you know what, you have to -- as a marketer, I would say you have to engage the consumer. And that's what he did. And I do think, you know, Americans and the world are looking for a leadership from a United States president to be inspirational again, to be hopeful, again.
And I think that's why when he hit on the notion of pursuing partnerships with governments and community organizations, and international organizations around education and technological innovation and having a global effort to eradicate polio with an organization, I think these are all things that are important in that. There is a desire and a yearning to have.
I will say, you know, he underscore that the U.S. is not at war with Islam. And that is an important thing to note. That I think we have to keep it coming back.
ROBERTS: But President Bush also said that, too.
Go ahead, Robin?
WRIGHT: No, I wanted to make a point on marketing. Because I think what the State Department is doing in the aftermath of the speech is absolutely intriguing. It's setting up a Web site to allow Muslims from all over the world to comment. It's made -- it's made -- CAPUTO: Text messaging.
WRIGHT: Text messages in Urdu.
CAPUTO: Arabic.
WRIGHT: Farsi, Arabic, available as the speech was happening. The outreach on this speech is like nothing I have ever seen. And I've been covering foreign policy since 1973.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, definitely decide to try to improve America's image.
GERGES: I mean, symbolism matters and matters a great deal. Not just in domestic politics and international politics as well. I mean, we've been talking about the political aspects, but let's not underestimate as you said the symbolic power of this particular speech. The narrative that Barack Obama, his story resonates deeply.
I mean, many poor Egyptians and Arabs basically find lessons in his own story -- overcoming great hurdles. This is the -- I mean, in a way, John, Barack Obama is the greatest ambassador for the United States of America.
ROBERTS: And, Ed, in that context, you don't think he's going to give away the story, do you?
ROLLINS: No, absolutely not. And we also talk about consumers. And this may be the future generation. But someone like Mubarak who's 81 years old, who wants to hand the presidency off to his son. Other Arab leaders that have not been advocates of democracy. And no offense to our experts on Iran. Iran still is, you know, democracy with a very small "D" and very big "K" above it.
You know, whoever -- it's just not like our democracy. And to a certain extent, are you basically creating seeds of revolution. And is that going to be a perception?
WRIGHT: There are going to be a lot of very nervous leaders in the Middle East. In Israel and across, you know, his host country in Egypt, and across the Islamic world. There are going to be an awful lot of people who are at the top wondering how far --
GERGES: One minute.
ROBERTS: Well, we don't have a minute but try to make them ten seconds.
GERGES: The truth is, I mean, he tried to walk a fine line. That's undermining America's allies and also promoting democracy. I would have like him to have gone further to support democracy and human rights, but that's the reality and that's why it's --
ROBERTS: Hold it there, folks. Thanks very much. We will come back to you one more time before we get off the air this morning.
It's 21 minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A lot of people weighing in this morning. We've got tweets. We've got iReports. We've got comments on our blog. So allow me to share some of our viewer's response to President Obama's speech. I'm going to start with the blog.
It says, this is from Najib (ph). He said, "When I heard the president mentioning the fact that Morocco, where I am from, was the first country to recognize the independence of the United States I felt that Mr. Obama wants to open a new page between the West and East. A page of mutual respect and mutual interest are dominant above all. To finish, I just want to thank Mr. Obama for his magnificent speech."
Most of the comments we're getting so far are very positive.
This from Adam. "President Obama is a visionary. I thought his speech was fair, respectful and well-organized. As someone who's been exposed to Muslim culture myself, I thought he was right on. He makes me proud."
This from a tweet from -- I don't want to even say his name, because I can't pronounce it. But he says, "Wow, it's 5:00 in the morning and I'm up to watch. They must say something about a political speech."
IReporters also weighing in this morning. Here's what some of them are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAJID BANGASH, IREPORTER: Obama should focus on other things. He should not just prepare for speeches. Speeches cannot resolve the real issues alone. He should focus on the grassroots of the problems.
EGBERTO WILLIES, IREPORTER: It is definitely the right time for President Obama to be in the Middle East and in many other places at this time. Constructive engagement always pays dividends even when not immediate obvious.
DAVID SEAMAN, IREPORTER: The president has so much to work on here at home. I don't know if now is the best time for him to be going overseas and giving speeches. That does not seem to me like a radical departure from previous administrations to just go out of town or go out of the country whenever the going gets tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So not all of them were positive, but most of them were. And we're hearing from a lot of Muslims who live in the United States. And we continue to want to hear your comments so e- mail us, blog us. Do whatever. CNN.com/amfix. You can send us an iReport, you can call our show hotline, 877-my-amfix. Send them in. We'll put them on. It's 25 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 28 minutes past the hour, checking our top stories now. We may soon know the fate of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who are being held prisoner by North Korea.
They were scheduled to go on trial more than six hours. Ling and Lee were arrested in March near the North Korean border. They're charged with illegal entry into North Korea and hostile acts. If convicted, they could spend years in a North Korean labor camp.
Air France Flight 447 apparently broke apart in the air in its final moments over the Atlantic. That scenario from an aviation expert based on messages that were automatically transmitted from the plane. Those transmissions suggest a loss of cabin pressure and complete electrical failure in the final seconds of the flight, but they offer no explanation for the malfunction.
New Hampshire now the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. The governor signed the measure into law yesterday, even though he opposes it. Lawmakers agreed churches and other religious groups would not be force to officiate the marriages. The law takes effect on January 1st.
ROBERTS: President Obama speaking directly to the world's billion and a half Muslims. His widely anticipated speech now widely debated. The president promised to patiently pursue Middle East peace saying the Israelis and Palestinians must work together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.
(APPLAUSE)
This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We want to see how Muslims are reacting to the president's speech and the impact of his message going forward.
Joining us now is Hisham Melhem. He's the Washington bureau chief of Al Arabiya.
What did you think in the overall, Hisham, of the president's speech?
HISHAM MELHEM, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, AL-ARABIYA: I think it was very well-crafted, eloquent. He did a good job infusing history, culture, politics and personal narrative. And I think he boldly discussed some thorny, tough, sensitive issues that sometimes Muslim leaders and Arab leaders don't like to hear and he asked them somewhat to engage in introspection. I think he was very honest with both Israelis and Arabs.
He, clearly, defined America's objectives in the war against Al Qaeda and not -- he didn't talk about the war on terrorism in general. He was thoughtful when he talked about democracy and human rights and he did not use the Messianic, metaphysical theological language that his predecessor George Bush used to use. There were no combustible phrases like Islam or fascism. I just wish that he went a little bit further and was a bit blunter when he was addressing the Arab and Muslim leaders on the issue of democracy and human rights.
You know, John, all of us complain about Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and for the right reasons, like everybody else. But Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib pale in comparison to what takes place to what Arab and Muslim prisons.
We are talking here about political repression on mass. We are talking about imprisoning activists, journalists and lawyers. Not violent people and we're talking about basic denial of basic human rights. And if I were one of his speech writers I would have added a paragraph where the president would say I'm doing my share to start this new beginning between us and you have to do your share. And he should have been a little bit more blunt -
ROBERTS: Right.
MELHELM: About the responsibility of Arabs and their need to engage in introspection and self-criticism, the way he was doing.
ROBERTS: We were talking about this earlier in our panel, Hisham, with Christiane Amanpour and Candy Crowley, and this idea of how far do you go when you're standing on somebody else's territory to criticize them. And you know, one of the issues that we were pointing to was this idea of women's rights. And the president made that one of the focuses of his speech. Yet, the day before, he was in a country where a judge said at a meeting on domestic violence, a conference on domestic violence, that it's OK to slap your wife if she spends too much money. So, you know, where do you draw the line between coming up forcefully to tell the leadership this is what you need to do and practicing the fine art of diplomacy?
MELHELM: Absolutely. This is the challenge and this is the right man to do it and it's always difficult to balance in your international relationship between the requirements of bilateral relationships. In the case of Saudi Arabia, it's oil, security and the same thing with Egypt to a lesser extent, as well as sticking to principles. The president doesn't talk about ideology as he is correct and so he talks about certain principles that these are universal principles.
I think they should be applied to Muslims and non-Muslims. I admit this is a very difficult balance but the president should engage the Arabs and what the Arabs themselves call Musaraha(ph) that is frank talk. And since he is engaging in some sort of self-criticism when he even said that we overthrew a government in Iran in 1953, when he said you also did certain wrong things. He should tell the Arabs, he should tell the Muslims, as a friend, as someone who is trying to start a new beginning based on mutual interest and mutual respect, you have to do your share, too.
ROBERTS: Right, so -
MELHELM: And the man responsible for the sorriest state of the government that exist in your societies and stop blaming the west for it.
ROBERTS: And he did challenge them to do that, to say in public what you say in private, you know, in regards to Israel, in regards to Iran. Do you expect that that is going to happen? Or will there continue to be this dichotomy between, you know, the public face and what is said in private?
MELHELM: Well, look. I don't - I don't expect autocrats to change. But, look, if you go back to the encounter between France and Egypt, more than 200 years ago, sometimes western pressure or outside pressure when you have these encounters between powers, you jolt these ossified societies. And maybe the Arabs and the Muslims need to be jolted on some issues.
Autocrats don't change but the audience of the president of the United States today were not only the autocrats of the Arab and the Muslim world, they were the people of the Muslim world. They were the democrats with small d. They were the reformers and you know, one of the - of course, they applauded him when he talked about the Koran. Muslims loved to hear that. But the point is they applauded him well on the issue of democracy. I mean there is that yearning for democracy. This yearning of human rights and all of these principles we talk about and we cherish and the issues of tolerance.
And he was good in trying to remind the Arabs and the Muslims that in the by-gone days of Andaluz in Spain and other places and in Cairo in medieval times there was a great deal of tolerance. And he was right to say this. Not Islam is the source. It's how you interpret Islam.
ROBERTS: Right.
MELHELM: We are talking about issues of politics in government. Governance. Not theology. Although extremists use theology to justify political ends. So, on the whole, he was excellent. And I think people needed to hear what the president articulated forcefully and eloquently.
ROBERTS: Hisham, it's always great to get your thoughts. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Appreciate it. Hisham Melhelm, he's the Washington bureau chief for Al Arabiya. Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That was fascinating.
There is other news today. The jobless report is out and don't run from the room because it's actually good news or at least better news. Christine Romans will join us right after this break. It's 35 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Just in to CNN, a new jobless claims report came out just minutes ago. Christine Romans is here to break it down. And I'm smiling because there's a bit of a bright note in this.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: There is. We've been waiting for months to be able to tell you the continuing claims, the number of people who are continuing to get unemployment claims has fallen. And for the first time since January, the number of people who are continuing to get unemployment insurance has fallen. Fallen very slightly. For the first time since January, 6.735 million people are continuing to get unemployment benefits. Folks, that is not a sign of a healthy economy. That is a sign of a labor market in distressed but it is the first time in 20 weeks, I think, that it's actually declined.
COSTELLO: So we should get up and do the AMERICAN MORNING dance?
ROMANS: No. I wouldn't be dancing just yet. But we all have our jobs and fewer people had to line up for unemployment benefits last week. That's what it's telling us. 621,000 people lined up for unemployment benefits for the very first time last week. That's down about 4,000. So these numbers we've been saying for the past few weeks we've seen little tiny signs that the mass layoffs are slowing. This does not mean employers are running out there and hiring people. It means the mass layoffs are falling.
ROBERTS: I've heard that some sectors though are beginning to start to pop in terms of hiring people.
ROMANS: And that's true. And it's a very dynamic economy. Remember, it's a huge labor market and there's always little places where people are hiring. The government has been hiring a lot. Health care has been hiring. Education has been hiring. That's been consistent over the past few months, but the mass layoffs are slowing. There is also a number that came out worker productivity rose, about 1.6 percent. So that's good from a stock market perspective. That means companies are getting more out of every hour of your day and your day. The more, they are getting more out of our work. That is a result of, frankly, worker productivity
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: They're getting more out of us, either because we're much better workers or -
COSTELLO: We fear losing our jobs.
ROMANS: We fear losing our jobs, right.
ROBERTS: A lot of us are staying longer but getting paid the same. ROMANS: That's right.
And tomorrow we get this big jobs report. It's probably going to show a lot of people are going to lose their jobs again, but we're going to be able to look in there and see are there any signs that this is moderating. And again, this is about mass layoffs, slowing down. It's not about wholesale hiring yet in the economy but we'll take what we can get, right?
COSTELLO: Exactly. And you know, in these tough economic times, some people are not just hanging on, they are really thriving really in our special series "Money & Main Street," we are spotlighting those creative new ways to make money. Our Sean Callebs found one restaurant owner who not only beat a bad economy but survived a natural disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there is one thing New Orleans can do is amazing cuisine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I need to order more crab?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we need to order more crabs -
CALLEBS: Stephen Schwartz is the owner of this "Mat and Naddie's" in New Orleans uptown. Tourists and locals have a wealth of restaurants to choose from. But the economic downturn is making competition that much more fierce.
STEPHEN SCHWARZ, MAT AND NADDIE'S RESTAURANT OWNER: It's a matter of how much stamina we can have. And how long we can last before things turn around.
CALLEBS: Consider this - before Katrina, there were about 800 restaurants in New Orleans. Now, it's close to 1,000.
SCHWARZ: I think, eventually, there are going to be places that are going to go out of business. They are going to have to.
CALLBES: Schwarz has no plans on becoming a statistic. Now in his early 50s, Schwarz came to New Orleans on a visit about 30 years ago and never left. To keep the restaurant going, his catering business is branching out and now accounts for about 40 percent of Schwarz's income.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like something?
CALLEBS: He employs about 28 people, part and full-time. Without catering, Schwarz would have gone under and without glowing reviews, his business would withered on the vine.
KRYSTAN HOSKING, MICHAEL'S CATERING: Word of mouth is very important because if you get one bad review, there is tons of restaurants that will, you know, people are just waiting to try. CALLEBS: Meeting payroll and paying suppliers is a monthly challenge. Schwarz benefited from a $10,000 dollar and a $40,000 low interest loan he received from the state. It's part of Louisiana's effort to help small businesses recover from Katrina's devastating effects. But in this case, it's money getting him through the lean months of this recession.
SCHWARZ: How much capital do you have or how much capital can you generate to maintain a slow loss over a long period of time and still be able to meet your obligations.
CALLEBS: New Orleans will always have great atmosphere and great food. He says it may take creative financing, but Schwarz plans on being part of the city's culinary landscape for years to come. Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And for more stories of people thriving in a tough economy, watch "Money & Main Street," tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on "Campbell Brown." That's right here on CNN. It's 43 minutes past the hour.
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COSTELLO: President Obama is on his way to the outskirts of Cairo right now for a visit to the pyramids and the Sphinx. Earlier this morning, he reached out to the world's 1.8 billion Muslims addressing relations with the west along with a good portion devoted to women's rights. Here is some of what he said in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know, and you can tell from this audience, that there is a healthy debate about this issue. I reject the view of some of the west that a woman who chooses to cover hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that in countries that women are well educated are far more likely to be prosperous. I am convinced that our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons.
(APPLAUSE)
Our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity, men and women, to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal. And I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. And that is why the United States will partner with any Muslim majority country to support expanded literacy for girls and to help young women pursue employment through micro financing that helps people to live their dreams.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: The president talked about literacy for girls as you heard, and people living their dreams and because people under 30 make up more than half of the Muslim population and young people face some of the biggest challenges in terms of poverty and unemployment and political oppression, how did President Obama's message go over with them? Dalia Ziada is an Egyptian human rights activists and blogger. She was in the audience. She and joins us now from Cairo. Good morning, Dalia.
DALIA ZIADA, RUNS CAIRO OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: Good morning! Hi, Carol!
COSTELLO: Hi. First of all, I want to know what it was like to sit in the audience. What was the mood like?
ZIADA: The whole - the hall was full of people from different walks of life. Mostly Egyptians and Muslim brother who mixed with liberals and mixed with socialists, capitalists, people from different backgrounds, religious backgrounds like Muslims, Christians, skeptics and (inaudible). Obama did what we always fail to do which is bringing all of us together in one whole and agreeing on certain things and certain points.
COSTELLO: Well, I want to ask you about that.
ZIADA: Also -
COSTELLO: Dalia, while he was talking about women's rights, did most of the audience clap? Did just some? Did just women?
ZIADA: No. All the audience clap because he took it from a traditional point of view. You know, people will believe you more and - believed Obama and Obama was incredible more for them because he spoke, first, about tradition, about Islam. And from this, he speaks about women rights. He refused extremism, he rejected extremism, which we all reject, but he did not reject Islam. So everyone clapped, including men who are against women's rights, who consider women's rights is not something good to speak about. Everybody clapped.
COSTELLO: And I know by your note to us, you were happy about that. I want to talk a little bit about the students and how this went over with them. Because Barack Obama is very much trying to win the hearts and minds of young people. You know, you talk about the Cairo University and student political groups are prohibited. The policy on artistic and cultural events is to protect students from corrupt thoughts. So how did President Obama go over with a student body that has to - that has to get their education with these rules in place?
ZIADA: Education is the biggest problem in the whole Muslim world, particularly for women. And, you know, always enemy for any society is ignorance. And once you remove ignorance, anything can happen. Once you fail to have educated - this generation will know the rights and they will fight for it in an unviolent way and that is what we want. COSTELLO: Well, I was going to ask you about that. Will this spur young people to fight against the government restrictions in place right now against them? Against the freedoms that they want?
ZIADA: Yes, of course. Obama said he believes in young people and he believes that young people can re-emerge the whole world. He said let's forget about the past, let's forget about yesterday and focus on tomorrow. And I totally agree with him on that.
COSTELLO: Dalia Ziada, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it. I know you've got to get to your blogging.
ZIADA: Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: So we'll allow you to do that. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, we talk about, Carol, how this speech played in the Arab world, but what about the broader Muslim world? Was there something in for folks says in Indonesia? How about Bangladesh? We'll talk about that coming up. It's 51 and a half minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Well, here to dig deeper on the president's speech this morning, we've got republican strategist and CNN senior political analyst Ed Rollins, democratic strategist Lisa Caputo, Fawaz Gerges, he's a Middle East scholar in Sarah () College and Robin Wright, who is the author of "Dreams & Shadows: The Future of the Middle East."
So we've been talking to most of them this morning about how this hover in the Arab world. But Robin, how do you think it went over the broader Muslim world because it goes far beyond the Middle East.
ROBIN WRIGHT, AUTHOR "DREAMS & SHADOWS: THE FUTURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST": Absolutely. When you think that Nigeria has three times as many Muslims than Saudi Arabia, that Ethiopia and China have as many Muslims there are in Iraq. And I think this speech was actually when you look at the issues of democracy, political participation, this was critical for them. This is the last block of countries to hold out against the democratic tide that has swept the rest of the world over the past quarter century.
And for them, the issue of having freedom of speech, right to determine their political future, a sense of participation in the system, as well as the political and economic openings that will offer them opportunities individually, that this speech addressed that. And Obama said specifically we're not trying to dictate what kind of system you have, but we do believe that the will of the people must be reflected in every society.
ROBERTS: Fawaz, what do you think Muslims in Indonesia got out of this? FAWAZ GERGES, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Well, I think Muslims in Indonesia really are not the crux, are not the target. Remember and this where American viewers, the Arab world is the heart of Islam, where Islam was born, where the prophet Mohammad, that the message was born there in Arabia.
America's embrace is basically in the Arab world. The most important fault lines, the Arab-Israeli conflict. That is probably the most critical issue. The war in Iraq and so two-thirds of the all reserves exist in Arabia. So in a sense, the choice of Egypt, and the choice of the Arab world is extremely apt because it really defines America's relations with that part of the world and since the second part of the 20th century.
ROBERTS: We were talking off camera and Robin brought this point out while this was a speech to rebuild relations between the Muslim world, the first action may have to be with Israel, particularly on this issue of settlements. And the president has spoke out strongly against the settlements. President Bush did but not as strongly as this president.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think this president is committed to make this happen. And the truth of the matter is unless the Palestinians and the Israelis are willing to sit down and begin again and he's basically saying past agreements are done and we move forward from there. I don't think they think past agreements are done. I think the Israelis basically think everything is up for grabs. It's a new team and new negotiating.
ROBERTS: Can he get this past the obvious opposition? Lisa?
LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think this is where, you know, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, will play a very key role. Rahm is very knowledgeable of these issues. I think he'll be a real asset to the president certainly on Capitol Hill but obviously with the Israelis. And I think he'll play a pivotal role. And I think, one thing note, we haven't talked about the symbolism of giving this speech in Egypt. Egypt will play a key role in a potential peace process. They long have and I think that's an important thing to note from a historical perspective.
ROBERTS: Folks, thanks so much for your perspective on all of this and for being with us for the past three hours. We really appreciate it. Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. Some final thoughts now from CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley and Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent. Candy, let's start with you. How will America - how will Americans view Barack Obama's speech? How will they accept this?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have long said if you've got a president who has popularity is over 60 percent, pretty much everything he says, 60 percent of the people are going to say we think that was great. I think that because of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel that it's closely looked at but I can't imagine. I mean, basically, he took his formula in the U.S. which is to say we have a commonality of interest. I know that there are things we disagree on, but let's pursue our common goals. He could have been talking to republicans or democrats. It's just that formula at large over the foreign stage.
COSTELLO: OK. So what is his next step?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the big question. You know, many have said, an you saw the warm welcome he got there. Analysts were saying before this that he's bound to get a warm welcome. People like Obama, the person. They are still very skeptical about U.S. foreign policy. He injected a note of even-handedness back into the Israeli-Palestinian process. He also talked about respect for the Islamic world. He also talked about how political pursuits should go in there but using Islam in its traditional way, respecting Islam.
You've heard the blogger who said she was so pleased about that, that he didn't dismiss the idea of religion but respected their tradition. But the real issue is how is it going to play out and what kind of policies are going to be pursued and that is what everybody is waiting for, because it is exceptionally difficult. This was the beginning of a, I think, a period of building between the United States and the Islamic world.
COSTELLO: Do you think it might give the United States some help in like Iraq or Afghanistan from the Arab world?
AMANPOUR: Well, I think, you know, they already did. You heard what Hisham Melhelm said that pleased to hear that the United States has a policy to pull out of Iraq. The real question is, if it does, will it remain stable? They don't like the idea the United States in Afghanistan but it has to be because it has to not only combat the Al Qaeda extremists, but also meet the developmental economic and educational needs of the people there, keep the promises that the U.S. made.
This is also extremely important. The notion that America can only be popular by not being there is a false notion. If it is there, it has to complete the job and keep its promises and that is going to be something that people there are looking for.
ROBERTS: Christiane, Candy, great to have you both with us this morning. Thanks so much.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
ROBERTS: That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. And we'll see you back here again bright and early tomorrow morning.
COSTELLO: We sure will. Right now, here's CNN "NEWSROOM" and Heidi Collins.
