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Israel Pays Final Farewell to Shimon Peres. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 30, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:11] ISHA SESAY, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, world leaders gather in Israel for the state funeral of Shimon Peres, the last of the country's founding fathers will be buried in the coming hours.
SESAY: Tensions arise between two old adversaries after a deadly incident along the India/Pakistan border.
VAUSE: And a commuter train leaves the track, becomes airborne, crashing into a station during the height of the morning rush hour.
SESAY: Hello, and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us, I'm John Vause. This is another hour of NEWSROOM L.A.
The family of Shimon Peres is expected to arrive at the Knesset this hour, a part of the delegation which will take the former president and former prime minister to his state funeral. And this is the site - I think we have live pictures actually outside the parliament, the building where he served for 45 years. His body has been lying in state there since yesterday.
SESAY: The former Israeli leader died Wednesday at the age of 93. The Peres' family will escort the former Israeli leader's coffin to Mount Herzl, Israel's national cemetery, that will be his final resting place.
VAUSE: Senior International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins us now live from Jerusalem. And Nic, Israel has not seen a state funeral like this for 20 years, that was when they buried Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister who was assassinated by Jewish nationalist.
[01:01:44] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And we're seeing associated with that so many world leaders past and present coming here. President Bill Clinton was here yesterday, paid his respects at the Knesset. President Obama is expected in the next few minutes. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived already. You had the President of France, Francois Hollande coming here today. A list of other Presidents from Switzerland, Cyprus, Romania, Greece, Togo, Ivory Coast, Serbia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Prime Ministers: Belgium, Netherlands, Estonia, Hungary, Sweden, Canada, Italy, the list goes on. This is something that's creating a security challenge, if you will, for the Security Services here in Israel. This is the biggest security operation they've mounted to facilitate the funeral and farewell service today. This farewell memorial and eulogy that will begin after Shimon Peres'ss body is driven in a hearse in the next hour or so to Mt. Herzl. You'll begin to see the international dignitaries arriving there at Mt. Herzl. We will be hearing speeches from Shimon Peres's children, his daughter, his two sons, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from President Rivlin. We'll also be hearing as well from President Clinton, will give a speech there. Our President Obama will give a speech as well. But it's not just current leaders that are coming. You have - you have many leaders from around the world who were close to Shimon Peres. You have Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister. David Cameron, the former British Prime Minister, also coming here. So this is, as you say, for 20 years, Israel hasn't seen something on this scale. And of course, this is - this is a farewell to the last of Israel's founding fathers. This is a very somber and solemn day here in Israel. John?
VAUSE: And Nic if you cast your mind back to 1995, King Hussein of Jordan was there. Hosni Mubarak the former President of Egypt, he turned up, and they did a eulogy for Yitzhak Rabin, but this time, these countries have sent lower level delegations. Is that simply protocol or is that kind of a snub, or is that just how things are right now between these countries?
ROBERTSON: Today is a different time and place than 20 years ago. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated and his funeral, obviously coming as a result. Many would see of his efforts to establish a lasting peace process with Palestinians back in 1995. It was a different time and place. It was the end of communism. You'd had the, sort of, first war in Iraq. There were -- the region felt as if it was in a different place. Today, you're looking at a situation where the Mideast Peace Process as such has really foundered. We're in the twilight days of the Obama administration, he tried so much with first, with Hillary Clinton and with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to get that process going. And then I think that certainly reflected here today. You do have the Foreign Minister from Egypt coming. You have representative -- Senior Representatives coming from Turkey. Of course, Israel has re-established relationships there recently, has developed trading ties, Shimon Peres part of that, sort of, developing trading ties throughout the region. But absolutely, we're not seeing a senior level delegation from -- coming from Jordan, and that is symptomatic of a different relationship there, one that's more guarded, one that's more cautious, one that perhaps viewed Shimon Peres as more of somebody they saw as something of an intriguer, somebody perhaps who was sort of behind the scenes manipulating, if you will. But the fact is, that the Mideast Peace Process and the aspirations that existed two decades ago, are not in the same place today. The divisions are much greater than they were back then, John.
VAUSE: Back then, Arafat did not attend Rabin's funeral. But today, we are expecting Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Leader to turn up to the funeral of Shimon Peres. Nic, thank you. We'll be checking in with you in about 30 minutes from now. Thanks for being with us.
SESAY: To some other news now. India says Pakistan has captured one of its soldiers who inadvisably crossed into Pakistani controlled Kashmir. The two countries are in talks about the soldier's release. Indian officials say he was not taking part in recent strikes in the area. Wednesday night, Indian forces carried out what it called "surgical attacks" along the line of control. India says it was targeting terrorist. But Pakistan says India started a shootout that killed two Pakistani soldiers. CNN's India Bureau Chief Ravi Agrawal joins us now from New Delhi. Ravi, let's get straight to the latest, what more can you tell us about the circumstances that led to this Indian soldier being captured?
[01:06:53] RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN INDIA BUREAU CHIEF: Well, what the Indian side is saying is that this has nothing to do with the surgical strike that was conducted Thursday morning. So the soldier just happened to wander across the border, and he was captured as you would expect from the Pakistani side obviously, because tensions are quite high between the two sides. And you would imagine there would soon be talks between Indian-Pakistan to figure out what to do with this soldier. But the larger, sort of, backdrop to what we're seeing here, is that tensions between the two countries, and they're both nuclear- armed countries, are the highest they've been in years. And this is because India acted Thursday on what it is calling actionable intelligence that there were militant bases along its border with Pakistan, the - what is known as "the line of control" that divides Kashmir into Indian and Pakistani administered territories. And the Indian action, according to the Indian side, is that on the border itself, they attacked militant bases. And they're saying that it was a successful attack. They killed and neutralized a number of militants. Pakistan entirely disputes this version of events. It is saying that this was a naked and unprovoked act of aggression. So competing narratives from both side this Friday, as the leaders of both sides holds top level meetings to assess their military readiness.
SESAY: Ravi, competing accounts of what happened, the question most people have on their minds is what happens next as this tensions ratchet up, is there expectation of further violence?
AGRAWAL: There could well be. We don't know. Just as background, what is interesting to note here is that this isn't the first time India has conducted a surgical strike of this nature in recent years. What is different with Thursday's strike is that it is publicly claiming the strike. So much of what we're seeing right now is both sides playing to domestic audiences, playing to their media on both sides, so that they can appear to be strong, they can appear to be tough on the other side. So the Indian action on Thursday was perhaps driven, some say here, to placate factions within the Indian media that we're calling for some sort of an attack as revenge almost on a recent attack on an Indian Military Base that killed 19. So the question now moving forward is whether Pakistan will feel similarly to take some sort of a tough stance on Thursday's actions in which two of its soldiers were killed. The backdrop to this again, is that both countries are nuclear states. So, any actions they take will need to be very carefully calibrated that they're not severe enough to warrant the ultimate option from either side.
SESAY: Ravi Agrawal joining us there from New Delhi with the very latest on this rising tension between India and Pakistan. Ravi, we appreciate it. Thank you so much.
VAUSE: Let's go back to Israel now where Air Force One has touched down with President Barack Obama on board. He is leading the U.S. delegation for the funeral of Shimon Peres. He will not be in country for very long. Just a few hours, we understand, but he is leading the delegation, so, too, joining him is the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. And Bill Clinton, the former U.S. President, arrived yesterday has already paid his personal respects to Shimon Peres, visiting his casket there. Shimon Peres and Barack Obama, they have a long history. Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. And Shimon Peres for his part awarded him Israel's Highest Civilian Honor as well. These two men have a very close relationship. Mr. Obama will be amongst the dozen or so world leaders who will gather at Mt. Herzl in a few hours' time for the state funeral.
SESAY: Yeah. And as the point has been made, Israel has not - has not organized an event of this size since the passing of Yitzhak Rabin back in 1995. This is a massive undertaking, coordinating all the many element with all these heads of states and world leaders there on the ground. We're hearing that there's some 8,000 Israeli security officials in the mix with these many different branches of the security apparatus, if you will, working to keep all these different heads of state and leaders safe as they move from the airport to Mt. Herzl where Shimon Peres will be laid to rest.
VAUSE: I'll be very surprised if Air Force One is touching down in Jerusalem as we're seeing on the screen, most likely Tel Aviv. And we'll move on right now. Federal investigators are on the scene of the deadly commuter train crash in New Jersey. One person was killed, more than 100 others injured when the train barreled through the terminal during Thursday morning rush hour in Hoboken.
SESAY: The passengers say it didn't feel like the train slowed down as it approached the station. Our Jean Casarez has more.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators are looking for clues as to what caused the New Jersey Transit train to plow through a major station concourse during rush hour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a bomb like explosion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded like nails like on a chalk board, you know what I mean? And then this is followed by this deafening silence.
CASAREZ: A train employee says the train hit a safety bumper and went airborne.
MIKE LARSON, NEW JERSEY TRANSIT EMPLOYEE: It went up in over the bumper block, through the depot, and came to rest at the wall by the waiting room.
CASAREZ: Official say one woman believed to be seen in this video was killed standing on the platform. WILLIAM BLAINE,FREIGHT ENGINEER: I ended up stepping over a dead woman's body. That bothered me. You know, I backed up and watch her - what the - and nothing you can do for her.
CASAREZ: Witnesses inside the front car described the impact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just didn't stop. And just got thrown around, lights went out. I think the roof caved in on the train.
JAMIE WEATHERHEAD-SAUL, TRAIN PASSENGER: Everyone that was standing in the vestibules between the first and second car, flew over into the first car, and many people were like thrown and there was a lot of blood.
CASAREZ: Train workers and bystanders rushed to the scene to help passengers trapped inside the mangled severely damaged train cars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were kicking out the windows and trying to get out off the train.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone had his eye, it was gone, and, you know, he had only one side, and all the blood everywhere.
CASAREZ: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says the train was traveling at excessive speed.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: This train came in at a high rate of speed into the station and crashed through all of the barriers, bringing it right to the interior wall.
CASAREZ: Investigators focusing on the train engineer, who was pulled from the train unresponsive.
CASAREZ: The engineer, as you may know, was injured. He's been released from the hospital, and we will be interviewing him.
CASAREZ: We learned from the National Transportation Safety Board that this train in particular did not have positive train control, which is an advance technology which can actually anticipate that an accident is going to happen, and has the train stop, literally, in its tracks, to avoid an accident. Now at this point, that technology is being required by congress to an extension to not have to be on trains until 2017, and the New Jersey Transit train did not have it. Additionally, the female victim - the one female victim has been identified as a 34-year-old woman, her name is Fabiola Bittar de Kroon. And she most recently worked for SAP in Brazil. Back to you.
VAUSE: Jean Casarez, thank you for that report. We'll take a short break. When we come back, in the race for the White House, it might just be the ultimate spin on the First Presidential Debate. Donald Trump, he still says he won.
SESAY: And we'll have much more live coverage of the funeral for former Israeli leader Shimon Peres. The hearse carrying his coffin will be leaving the Knesset shortly, heading to Mt. Herzl where Peres will be laid to rest. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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[01:16:58] KATE RILEY, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN WORLDSPORT Headlines. Wayne Rooney came off the bench to rescue Manchester United in their Europa League clash at Old Trafford. The Red Devils were playing Ukraine's Zorya Luhansk to Rooney's impact with almost immediate he got himself an assist as his mishit shot found Zlatan Ibrahimovic to head at home.
(INAUDIBLE) one of the biggest sporting events this year, the Ryder Cup where the United States will hope to end Europe's control with the win on home soil. The Europeans have been dominant force over the last couple of decades, winning 8 of the last 10. If there isn't enough incentive for the U.S. to claim a first victory since 2008. Contentious statements made by Danny Willett's brother will surely add to the host's motivation. Pete Willett who made the headlines with his hilarious tweets during his brother's Masters triumph in April made controversial comments about U.S. fans in an article he wrote for a golf website. Neither Danny nor European captain Darren Clarke were happy about the article.
And team USA's Olympic and Paralympic athletes visited the White House to meet with the president. They presented and Michelle Obama with surfboard signed by the team in recognition of the President's Hawaiian background. Mr. Obama spoke to the team, congratulating them for their long list of firsts that they achieved in Rio. And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
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[01:18:46] SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. While in the race to the White House, Republicans in congress are warning Donald Trump not to take the low road and attack Hillary Clinton on her husband's infidelities, calling it a losing strategy. The republican candidate says he personally has very good history in his marriages, all three of them, and that same interview, Mr. Trump insists he did not lose Monday's debate with Hillary Clinton.
TRUMP: Every online poll had me winning the debate. So, every single one of them, many of them, so - look, I found it to be an amazing experience, actually. We had 88 million people or something around that number, and I just found it to be an amazing experience. You know, I think we did well. I think I did - you know, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.
VAUSE: Well, joining us now, Hillary Clinton supporter or former L.A. councilwoman Wendy Greuel, and CNN political contributor and Trump supporter, John Philips. OK. So, Donald Trump, he likes his online polls, the one that people click, click, click, click, click, click. But there are real polls that were done, and we did our own shortly after the debate. This was the result, it came out that 62 percent felt Clinton won that debate, 27 percent voted Trump actually won the debate. John, the online polls that he's talking about, they're fan polls, essentially. I mean, they're not scientific. Even Fox News said to their anchors on air, stop using them.
[01:20:02] JOHN PHILIPS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Right. Well, she's a professional politician, she's been in elected office for years. She's been in appointed positions for years. She's a first lady.
VAUSE: But would you agree - but who won the debate, though? What do you think?
PHILIPS: I think different candidates were trying to do different things. I think as what he was trying to do was go out there and not have a complete disastrous performance, which he didn't do. And I think also, he was trying to get a lot of those white college educated women that voted for Mitt Romney last time around. I don't know if he was as successful at doing that, frankly. And Hillary Clinton was out there trying to generate enthusiasm with the Obama coalition, liberals, young people, minorities. And I don't necessarily think she have really a generated interest with them to the - to the levels which she needs like the 2008, 2012 turnout numbers. She's going to need those people to turn out in huge numbers if she's going to win this election.
SESAY: When he - when he keeps going with this narrative that he won, what is that about? Is it about firing up his base or is it about - because mostly - it's not about expanding the tent. I mean, how do you read it?
[01:21:02] WENDY GREUEL, FORMER L.A. COUNCILWOMAN: I think it's about ego in all honesty, because - look, anyone who watched that debate knows that he did not do well. And people gave him a little credit maybe the first 15, 20 minutes, he did OK, but he just continued to go downhill after that. And I think that the individuals, the women, those college educated women that he wants to get, if he hadn't already lost them, he lost them that night, in the comments that he made not only about Hillary Clinton's stamina, you know, but about women and all of that. So, I think that it's clear that he -- that she won that debate. And yes, she prepared for that. And the one thing - I mean, I thought her line was fabulous about she - yeah, I prepared for this debate and I'm prepared to be President of the United States. That's what it takes. You can't wing it. And look, Donald Trump has been on TV, Donald Trump has been around the block a few times. He knows how to perform, and this, I would say, he got a D- in my book.
VAUSE: OK. Well, at the campaign stop earlier today, Trump - he was referencing the Clinton scandals of the 1990s, the same ones that he said he wasn't mentioning. A very brief mention. Listen to this.
TRUMP: The Clintons are the sorted past. We will be the very bright and clean future. VAUSE: OK. All indications are that he'll bring up Bill Clinton's infidelities in -- from the 1990s. Hillary Clinton was specifically asked about that as well.
CLINTON: He can run his campaign however he chooses. I'm not going to comment on how he runs his campaign. You'll be able to see, we have two more debates, what he says and what I say.
VAUSE: John, do you know when you have a child and you say, "Don't touch the stove because it's hot," and there are kids out there that have to touch the stove. Is that kind of like what this is like for Donald Trump right now? No matter what everyone says to him, it's probably a bad strategy. He just can't resist going there?
PHILIPS: Well, if he brings up the affairs, yes. But if he brings up the intimidation of women who say they were sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton or say that they were sexually harassed, I think that's absolutely fair game. You want to talk about how women are treated. Let's talk about how women who are treated who say that they were sexually assaulted? Hillary Clinton herself put out a tweet not long ago, saying, that all women who allege sexual assault should be believed. And what about wanting the (INAUDIBLE) what about Kathleen Willey?
SESAY: Listen, going down this road opens Donald Trump up to questions about his own past and his own relationships with women.
PHILIPS: He was never accused of sexual assault.
SESAY: But his own infidelities, if you will.
PHILIPS: Because he's too right (INAUDIBLE) the past, the first wife.
SESAY: Yeah. Of infidelities. That was put to him. Listen to what he said.
TRUMP: I guess, I mean, they could do, but a lot different than his, that I can tell you. I mean, we have a situation where we have a presidential - it was a disaster, and he was ultimately impeached over it in a sense for lying. And so, we'll see whether or not we discuss it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not worried about your past history at all?
TRUMP: No, not at all. I have a very good history.
SESAY: Wendy, should the Clinton campaign hit him back with his own infidelities if he brings it up in the next campaign?
GREUEL: No, I mean, I think - again, not to defend, you know, they're not going to sit back and take everything. Although, as, you know Michelle Obama said, you know, "When they go low, we're going to go high. And I think unless you heard from Hillary Clinton. WE're going to have the issue. This week, she's talking about college education. She's talking about the importance of our economy. She's going to focus on that. And I think it makes Donald Trump seems small. He's very thinned-skinned. You saw that in the debate. You saw, you know, he said Hillary's not being nice to me. Well, welcome to the real world. And you know, look, Bill Clinton is not running for President of the United States. Hillary Clinton is running for President of the United States. And is going to continue to talk about the issues and I think she's correctly going to say, you know what, we don't really want to hear you anymore, Donald Trump about all the said issues. She'd like to focus on what's important to American people.
VAUSE: OK. What was interesting about Monday nights' debate is that Trump is now attacking the moderator, Lester Holt from NBC.
TRUMP: Then I had to put up with the anchor and fight the anchor all the time on everything I said. What a rigged deal. I'd say we're in such a rigged -- it is terrible. What's going on in this country is so sad, but it will change. Remember, November 8th. November 8th.
VAUSE: What was interesting, though, is that, like, just after the debate, Donald Trump had a very different opinion of Lester Holt. Listen to what he said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, how do you feel about how Lester Holt did?
TRUMP: I thought Lester did a great job. I thought - honestly, I thought he did a great job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You thought the questions were fair?
TRUMP: Yeah, I thought it was good.
VAUSE: What happened between, "I thought he did a great job" to -
PHILIPS: Well, you have to ask him about that, but I can say this, I thought it was interesting that Lester Holt thought there was enough time in the debate to talk about Rosie O'Donnell -- Trump calling her a fat pig. But there wasn't enough time to talk about immigration, which is the reason why Donald Trump won the Republican Primary, that was his quintessential issue. They had time to talk about his taxes but not about the Clinton Foundation. It was definitely an evening that skewed in Clinton's favor.
SESAY: It still departed from the principal issue where Donald Trump said he did well, and then he changed his mind. Wendy, is this about psyching out the remaining moderators? What is this about, Donald's kind of attack on Lester Holt?
GREUEL: I think the polls that he's not acknowledging, he actually publicly understands he didn't do well. So he's got to blame somebody. So he's going to blame everybody else except himself. That he was not prepared to debate the issues. If he wanted to talk about immigration, anyone knows that if there's an issue you want to talk about, you insert it whenever you possibly can. He didn't do that. It was in my book Amateur Hour, as far as his - he being prepared for that debate.
VAUSE: OK. Thank you so much, guys. SESAY: See how he does in the next one.
VAUSE: Tell me he get the New York (INAUDIBLE) we might have that later on. OK.
GREUEL: I appreciate it. Thank you.
VAUSE: Thank you. And when we come back, we'll have more live coverage from Israel, the state funeral for Shimon Peres. His family is expected to escort his casket to the National Cemetery in the coming hour.
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[01:30:47] JOHN VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Israel is paying its final respects to Shimon Peres. The former Israel leader died Wednesday aged 93. Leaders from around the world will be attending his state funeral in Jerusalem. That is a live image outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Right now it is 8:30 on a Friday morning there in Jerusalem. There is incredible security as the world leaders gather to pay their final respects to a man who walked the world stage many years and a man was held up abroad as a statesman, and loved at home, too, when he became president.
Joining us now in Jerusalem is Nic Robertson. Also, Oren Liebermann is standing by on Mt. Herzl.
Nic, first to you. I want to work out the logistics here. The family of Shimon Peres are expected at the Knesset. From there, his casket will be loaded into a hearse and taken to Mt. Herzl, and then what?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The drive is expected to take 15 or 20 minutes perhaps to Mt. Herzl. His casket is expected to be there and be in place in about half an hour from now. And then we can expect to see the dignitaries that have been arriving. We have seen President Obama and John Kerry arrive to the airport in the last few minutes in Tel Aviv. Preceding them have been many world leaders past and present. They will gather at Mt. Herzl. And we will begin then to see what is being called a farewell ceremony and the eulogies begin. We will hear from the Israeli President Rivlin and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We'll hear from the daughter and two sons of Shimon Peres. We'll also hear from President Bill Clinton, who will give a speech. There will be prayers. There will be song parts of this farewell ceremony. We'll also hear last is that part of the proceedings, President Barack Obama give a speech as well. There will be a pause, then, as the casket is moved at Mt. Herzl to the grave site. The procession will be followed by his family behind, the dignitaries. It will move over to the grave site, and about noontime here in Jerusalem, we can expect the concluding elements of the funeral service, the casket to be buried there on Mt. Herzl.
So this is what we're witnessing and what we're seeing here now, the beginning of what is going to be expected to be a very dignified, a very solemn and very somber service. Of course, so many international dignitaries arriving here as well. Over 70 aircraft touched down in the past hours here, bringing people like President Francois Hollande, the former President Nicolas Sarkozy. You have Prince Charles from Great Britain representing the queen, presidents from Mexico, the prime minister of Canada, Latvia, Holland, Belgium. So many countries represented here with their different and varied connections with Israel, both at a state level and also at a personal level with Shimon Peres. You have past British Prime Ministers Cameron and Tony Blair here as well. So for many of those attending on an international scale there will be personal as well as state connections here -- John?
VAUSE: And, Oren, to you, we're seeing the procession now with the flag-draped coffin being carried to the gates of the Knesset. Oren, what is this part of the ceremony?
[01:35:00] OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the part where he will be brought from the Knesset and travel the 15 to 20 minutes to Mt. Herzl and this is where he will be buried. This is where the giants of Israel history are buried. And Shimon Peres earned his spot decades ago. We knew this would happen and it finally happened two weeks after Peres suffered that stroke.
As Nic mentioned, world dignitaries and leaders, 90 delegations from 70 countries will be here, some already flying in. President Barack Obama arrived a short while ago. President Clinton was here yesterday. He had such a profound friendship with Shimon Peres. He landed and immediately came to the Knesset to pay his own respects to Shimon Peres. He walked in and came with Rueven Rivlin and he stood by himself and invited him to speak with him. I thought, when Clinton was standing there, there was a bit of a smile remembering fond memories of Peres. And that is how much he meant to not only Israel but to the American leadership, a man who lasted in public service and political life for so long, had gained a wisdom that so many have learned from. And those will be here to once again hear how much he contributed to this country and to many others -- John?
VAUSE: We can see the family walking behind the casket right now. His son, his son-in-law, who is also his personal physician, who was treating him as he was trying to recover from that stroke. He suffered that more than two weeks ago. There was some hope he would recover. But on Tuesday, he took a turn for worst, and passed away on Wednesday with his family by his side. And his family is by his side once again as his casket heads to Mt. Herzl.
And, Oren, Mt. Herzl on one side, there is a military cemetery. On there is a holocaust museum. This is sacred territory to so many Israelis.
LIEBERMANN: It absolutely is surrounded by so many important monuments. But Mt. Herzl may be the most important of those monuments. He'll be buried among so many other important names in Israel's history. These were people he learned from and worked with. Rabin and Shamere (ph) were his political ravels. Rabin in his own party, they had battles throughout the years. Shamere, in the opposing party. They battled it out. But because of Peres' long life in public service he also worked with the two. That is a testament to Peres' ability to change and to work with who he needed to at different times.
Let's remember the legacy he is being remembered for, the legacy the man who carried forward peace and kept the hope and dream of peace alive, is not who Peres was his entire life. He started off as a pro- settlement hawk. It is over the years that he became the man he is remembered for today, a man who believed in peace and building trust and confidence between Israelis and Palestinians, and any warring peoples. And he believed that simple talks and discussions could go a long way to building relationships and that's what he tried to do with the many projects he had with the appearances he made and what he spoke for. He would speak of Israel's technology and what Israel could offer the world. He was a great promoter of Israel. Meeting with the dignitaries throughout years, it was always something he brought up. But it is a legacy of peace that is what everyone will be eulogizing here today, his unfailing belief it was possible -- John?
VAUSE: Oren, is there any reason, any formal reason for protocol while he will be buried between those two? Is there symbolism or significance to that?
LIEBERMANN: I think just because of Peres' long life anyone he is buried to will have a measure of symbolism in it. Those are two of his great rivals and those who he had partnerships with. There is inherent symbolism there. Just because of how long he served and worked with all the Israeli giants. Peres is the last of the founding fathers, the last with the direct connection to the founding of the state, a disciple of Ben Gurion, who is not buried at Mt. Herzl. He is buried in the place he lived. But anyone he's buried next to, he had connections to. He touched every aspect of the country and every corner of the country. Peres had some contribution to it at the very least.
VAUSE: Nic, many world leaders have gathered this day in Jerusalem and he is remembered with great fondness in the Western world as a peacemaker and statesman. But there is a different response from much of the Arab world. One of the exceptions being the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.
[01:40:08] ROBERTSON: The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has said that he will attend and is expected to attend today. There is a certain amount of pressure from within the sort of Palestinian community. Hamas have criticized President Abbas for coming, saying it ignores the suffering of the Palestinians and blood spilled by Palestinian martyrs and others. This is against the backdrop of a political backlash in his own community, if you will. He is certainly someone who aspired to bringing a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis. But we're also seeing today, you know, we're seeing the Egyptian foreign minister coming today. Now when President Rabin was assassinated, Prime Minister Rabin, rather, was assassinated, we saw at that time a much greater out-flowing of support from Arab nations and leaders within the region. There isn't that on this occasion. But it is an indication of Peres' more recent pushes for peace that you see president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, coming. However, more broadly across the region there will be certainly in many of the Arab countries a look back to Peres and his days more of a hawk than a dove over the past couple of decades, when he was more pro settlements and that, perhaps, is part of the picture why we're not seeing quite the level of representation, a leadership level presidential, prime minister level, let's say, from other countries much closer to Israel -- John?
VAUSE: For viewers who are just joining us, the casket carrying Israel's ninth president, Shimon Peres, has now left the Knesset building where it spent a day lying in state. It is making the short journey up the hill to Mt. Herzl.
Air Force One touched down a short while ago with President Barack Obama. He is leading the American delegation for the funeral. The world leaders will gather at the top of the hill at the top of the hour about 18 minutes from now for the state funeral.
That is the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of Shimon Peres. His family escorted it to the gates of the Knesset. And it will certainly -- shortly, rather, be making that drive.
Nic let's pick up on the issue of this being a different time from back in the '90s. Many people are looking for hope here that Shimon Peres' plan for peace will not be buried with him. You know, the talks seem to be going nowhere. Maybe today, there may not be a thaw in relations, but a handshake, perhaps between Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu. Would that be a significant progress on a day like this?
ROBERTSON: If a hand shake like that does come I think it will be something that is more of respect for the passing of Peres than the reality that there can be a rekindling of a process that has just run out of impetus at the moment.
Look, the United States has been the leading country trying to bring about a lasting peace agreement here. And you have right now President Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arriving here and on the way to Mt. Herzl right now. They are in the twilight of President Obama's administration. He has tried and struggled with Hillary Clinton and John Kerry subsequently to rekindle the peace process that Peres wanted to see happen but it hasn't happened. The reality is with the United States on the cusp of a changing administration, you're very unlikely to see a real rekindling that can actually generate something going forward, where the United States is just not in a position to pick that up and carry it at this time. Conversely, you're seeing in the region at the moment, if we compare to 20 years ago, conversely, you are seeing so much turmoil and you're seeing Russia playing a greater role in the region as we're seeing not far from here where we sit in Syria. Russia itself, President Putin has invited, Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu to come to Moscow for talks. The reality is, is that while both men have not turned that offer down, that hasn't happened. But we're beginning to see Russia thrust itself here in the absence of the United States, if you go back to where we were, the Oslo Peace Accords, where Peres, Rabin, both along with Yasser Arafat, all received Peace Prizes in 1994 for that. Back then, it was the end of Communism, and the world felt like it was changing and more things felt possible. You had the war in Iraq. It changed perceptions of what can be done. Today, having the peace process run its course, Prime Minister Netanyahu here, of course, in a coalition supported by more right-wing elements within Israel than would have been the position 20 years ago.
[01:46:07] VAUSE: Oren, U.S. President Bill Clinton is also there. He has arrived earlier, ahead of President Barack Obama. This is the second time he has made a journey like this to Israel. He made the journey 20 years ago or so back in 1995 after the assassination of Rabin. He delivered a eulogy, which ended with him saying, "Shalom, which means "Good-bye, my friend." There is a relationship between Shimon Peres and Bill Clinton. There's also a close relationship between Shimon Peres and Barack Obama.
LIEBERMANN: That's absolutely right. They have met nearly every year since 2008 when Barack Obama was still a candidate for the presidency. They met in 2014 when Shimon Peres ended his term as presidency here. The two had a close relationship. And President Obama respected how long Peres had been in public service and how much he had seen the Middle East change and learned from that. And he respected Peres' ability to see the world around him and to learn from that. He went from a hawk to a dove and carried on the mantle of peace. I think President Obama has a profound respect for that. And he will speak here talking about how he carried that forward. And echoing the famous words of Bill Clinton when he said, "Good-bye, friend," President Obama ended his statement about the passing of Peres with "Thank you, Shimon," and echoing a powerful reminder here to Israelis from President Clinton, and expected to give powerful speech. We saw him here a few months ago for the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Rabin and he gave a very powerful speech that the crowd in Tel Aviv loves very much. I suspect we'll see that again. President Barack Obama, also a close relationship with Shimon Peres. That will be reflected not only in the message we already saw after his passing but in the message he will give today. But what he saw in Peres and the optimism he saw in Peres even in the times where it is difficult to have that optimism. Shimon Peres had that optimism and I suspect that President Obama will remember him for that.
VAUSE: We are watching the funeral procession of the former Israeli President Shimon Peres, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. His casket was loaded into a hearse a short time ago and they are making their way through the government area of Jerusalem for a 15 to 20 minute drive up Mt. Herzl for beginning of a state funeral. Many dignitaries from around the world have arrived. We understand 90 delegations from 70 countries will be there.
Nic, what is interesting, Britain's Prince Charles is there representing Queen Elizabeth. His last visit to Israel was back in 1995 after the assassination of Rabin. Why so long for the royal family to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories?
ROBERTSON: I think what we can see is that in matters of -- and these do come down to political matters -- you see the royal family letting the politicians take the lead. Where Britain would see that its role in the affairs of the Israeli and Palestinians play out is most recently through former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's leadership of the quartet. He spent so much time in Jerusalem and Israel trying to keep the peace process going and trying to find reasons and rationale to bring the sides together. That is something that, of course, wasn't successful. It was something he was doing with the support of the United States as that broader peace initiative. But I think that's why we wouldn't have seen the royal family playing a sort of -- that sort of role here.
Of course, the royal family doesn't discuss publicly its reasons and rationale for what it does and doesn't do. We see Prince William, Princess Katherine in Canada right now. But this is not be, in you will, a natural place for them to come. Today's when you talk about Great Britain, you have former Prime Ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair coming. You have the Foreign Minister Boris Johnson coming here.
Interesting, not the current prime minister, Theresa May. She has opted not to come. Angela Merkel not coming, but the foreign minister is coming as well. So while we are seeing many, many world leaders arrive here and former world leaders, there are interesting and notable absences. And why Angela Merkel and Theresa May are not coming comes not entirely clear, but I think it comes down to, to a degree, of what they have on their political plates right now as well as personal connections and involvement with Shimon Peres.
[01:51:31] VAUSE: One of the reasons perhaps why Hillary Clinton is not there as well. She obviously knew Shimon Peres quite well as first lady, as Senator, as secretary of state. But she is locked in a political campaign right now, so her husband is there without her.
On the right-hand side of the screen is the funeral procession heading up to Mt. Herzl for the state funeral for Shimon Peres.
And, Oren Liebermann, back to you, 20 years ago, the king of Jordan, King Hussain, the late King Hussain, was in attendance for Rabin's funeral. He delivered a eulogy. So, too, Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt. This time, though, they sent lower-level delegations and will not be a part of the ceremony. Is that protocol or a stub?
And before you answer, I'll just tell our viewers on the left side of the screen is the scene right now at the top of Mt. Herzl -- Oren?
LIEBERMANN: I don't know if I call it a snub but I think it gets at Shimon Peres' former complicated legacy in the Arab world. In the Western world, it's simple. The last 15 to 20 years, he became the man who carried forward peace. But that's the legacy he created but that's not who he always was. In the Arab world, it's more complicated because of who he was at the beginning of his career, a hawk, pro-settlement, held every position from foreign minister to prime minister to president. He was involved in wars with his Arab neighbors. The king of Jordan and king of Morocco sent their letters of condolences but they are not here in attendance. And that shows how complicated his life was going from the hawk to a dove. He was a man who did carry forward peace. Even if it wasn't where he started, it is where he finished. He wanted a lasting peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. He dreamed about it. He talked about it and built projects toward it. It wasn't where he started but it was where he ended. That was his lasting hope. It is the hope he tried to impart on other leaders to not let that flame die. He was part of that Oslo agreement. As it comes under increased scrutiny today, he believed in its potential. That's why Mahmoud Abbas and negotiators will come here, because they are part of that Oslo generation and tried to forge a peace agreement with a lot of hope behind it. Shimon Peres did everything he could to keep the hope alive.
VAUSE: It looks like the motorcade is close to arriving at the top of Mt. Herzl for the state funeral for Shimon Peres, which is expected to get underway at the top of the hour. Dignitaries and world leaders have gathered for what is a very sad day for many people. Also mixed day around the world. Many, as we have been saying, in the Arab world do not see Shimon Peres in the same light a many others do. This is a day filled with ceremony, tradition, religious symbolism.
Oren, while this is the state funeral, the official farewell, if you like, yesterday was a chance for the people of Israel to pay their respects and to say good-bye.
[01:55:16] LIEBERMANN: Absolutely. The gates were initially opened for 12 hours and they kept them open for a few more hours. We were there most of the day. By mid afternoon, there were 20,000 or 30,000. They expected 50,000 before the end of the day. That is a testament to the public who had so much respect for what Shimon Peres did over the years. Even if they didn't agree on his two-state solution, they respected what he did for the nation. And in speaking to many people there they felt it was their duty and obligation to come to the Knesset from wherever they lived to say a final farewell to Shimon Peres. Many took pictures to have a final farewell and memory on that day of Shimon Peres in a coffin, wrapped in an Israeli flag in a plaza in front of the Knesset. They felt it was their duty to say a final good-bye to Shimon Peres whose duty was to serve them. And many of the world leaders also came in to pay their final respects and stood before the casket for a moment, as did Bill Clinton, who took his time there, as did others, just wanted a moment with Peres after so many years. They got used to the idea of having them there. And with Jewish New Year a few days away, it will be the first without Shimon Peres in this country. Israelis will have to get used to that idea.
VAUSE: We're looking at live pictures of the state funeral for Shimon Peres. This is the top of Mt. Herzl. It named after Theodore Herzl, the founder of political Zionism. He is buried at the top of the hill. This is sacred territory for many Israelis. On the northern slope is a military cemetery and to the west a holocaust museum. We're told Peres will be buried between two former prime ministers, Shamere (ph) and Rabin.
Oren Liebermann is still with us.
And, of course, Oren, one of the big concerns on this day has been security. This is an unprecedented event in scope and just being complicated and complex putting it together so quickly.
LIEBERMANN: Absolutely. And we had a first-hand look at the security trying to bring our equipment in here. It is unprecedented. This is the largest operation they have ever run with 90 delegations from 70 countries coming in for this one day and many of them leaving very quickly after the ceremony. A number of hundreds of security officers pulled from the military and the security forces to secure this organization. Mickey Rosenfeld, the spokesman for the police, said there was no threat they identified. But they feared a lone-wolf attack. That is an individual or small group of people that wouldn't be flagged. Police and the security agency here have scoured social media to see if anyone is threatening to carry out such an attack. But that doesn't mean anyone is relaxed here. Many roads in Jerusalem are closed. The road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv will be closed to facilitate world leaders getting from the airport to Mt. Herzl here. It is unprecedented the security that goes into this. And that shows how many world leaders are coming to pay their respects to Shimon Peres on this final day.
VAUSE: Also, this is a Friday in Jerusalem. And of course, the city does seem to be, as you look at the images of the motorcade as it was making its way up to Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem, does seem to be incredibly quiet on this day. What has it been like to be there as people realize that this is it, this is the good-bye to the man who was there from the very beginning?
LIEBERMANN: I would say that hasn't sunk in for many Israelis yet who are still used to having the presence of Shimon Peres around while in government, as president or even vice president. He didn't take a day off. He was still very busy on the morning of the day he had a stroke. He had given a speech and posted a Facebook video. People were used to seeing him on his own or visiting world leaders who were coming to get his perspective. I don't know that the Israelis have gotten used to the idea he is no longer here.
The city will be a little quieter. So many of the roads are closed. The state does have a sadness hanging over it. Right after the Sabbath is the New Year. And that is a holiday after the Sabbath, so the city and the country slowing down leading into the holidays.
