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Hurricane Earl Headed Toward North Carolina; Middle East Peace Talks Resume; Fix Our School

Aired September 02, 2010 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Now, Hurricane Earl is back up to a category 4 storm. There are watches and warnings all up and down the East Coast, North Carolina in particular right now is bracing for the storm to go by it sometime maybe late this evening. There are some mandatory evacuations that are in place especially for tourists but also some full-time residents being told to get out of there.

Others, of course, are hunkering down, going to ride it out. There are threats even though the storm is not expected to make landfall in North Carolina right now at least. Still, it's going to get close enough that they're going to experience some hurricane force winds, also five-foot storm surge, some big, destructive waves, and rip currents.

Up in Portland, Maine, as well. All the way up in Maine right now lifeguards are scrambling. They had to get out there and save a swimmer or two because of these rip currents. And in South Florida, take you back down that direction, dangerous conditions in the water there possibly as well. Big waves, rough surf, and rip currents as well.

Our hurricane headquarters. This is where you are right now. Reynolds Wolf tracking Earl here at the weather center. We're going to get to him in just a second.

Let's start with our Rob Marciano who is on the North Carolina coast. Rob, hello to you. It's coming. It's not supposed to make a direct landfall there but, still, it is going to make things a bit tricky. How is the weather right now?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the winds are picking up but there's no rain or stormy conditions. Actually, you wouldn't know that there's a hurricane out there, quite frankly, and there was a nice sunrise. But the waves are picking up just a little bit. It's still low tide. Low tide is coming in. You notice, a lot of our hurricanes and storms the past couple of years have been on the gulf coast. While this landscape is completely different.

The run up here on the beach is different. You don't get quite the big storm surge you would, say, on the Florida panhandle. But you do get big waves and these waves will be building throughout the day today. We can see 20, 30-footers at times breaking on this beach. And further down the road and down towards Cape Hatteras, which has had a mandatory evacuation, there is a road there that has been blown out in previous hurricanes and that is the fear with this one, regardless of how close it gets, even if it gets category 1 strength down there, it could certainly blow a hole through that road and that is a huge concern.

How are people taking this? Well, yesterday when we were out and about, they were pretty casual about it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're from Michigan so we're used to storms. This is our first hurricane so we're kind of excited about it and hope everything goes well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're going to party your way through, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's the best way. Ignorance is bliss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got three bottles of wine hidden in there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's all you need, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kids are good with the milk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So are you not really worried about it though?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. It might ruin some beach time. But looks like it's OK. But you know, we'll keep an eye on the TV, right. You guys let us know if we need to be worried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: Well, you should be worried. Whether or not it's going to make a direct impact, that is yet to be seen. But people, I can tell you this morning, are taking it much more serious. Now that it's a category 4 with still the forecasts that it will come very, very close and potentially even closer. And T.J., if does even jog 10, or 20, or 30 miles west that could put this area right in the core of that western eye wall and that is not a place you want to be. So that is the fear and until this thing passes us late tonight, and early tomorrow morning, folks here are certainly sweating it just a little bit and visitors have been told to get out of the outer banks in (INAUDIBLE) County and we have seen folks doing just that in anticipation of the storm.

HOLMES: Well, even though it sounds like it should go without saying, Rob, we appreciate you saying it. Yes, folks, you should take it seriously. Rob, we appreciate you. We're going to continue to check in with you. Reynolds, head over to you now. Always amazing to hear someone say something that sounds so stupid. We're kind of excited about it.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, the thing about it is if you happened to be in the outer banks, many of the bridges that lead back to the mainland, shut them down as soon as the winds get up to 39 miles an hour. Once they get to tropical storm force, 39 - those bridges are closed. If you're on the outer banks, you're not going anywhere else. The reason why it is so important and so dangerous is because, as Rob mentioned, if this storm were to come even relatively close to land, you're still going to be dealing with the western half of the storm.

The side right here, you got the winds spinning counterclockwise. You can still deal with the brunt of this wind, which will extend about some 90 miles from the center of it. Tropical storm force winds over 200 miles from the center. So keeping that in mind and looking at the path we have at the National Hurricane Center, if the storm were to stay just right on this forecast line or perhaps deviate a bit more to the east or even to the west, the coastline is still going to be ravaged by some heavy winds.

Of course, you're going to have this tremendous waves. Power outages are almost a certainty from Boston southward to the Carolinas, perhaps even as far north as Maine, and I tell you, even areas that are not under the gun, for the time being, places like say, the Florida coastline or even the Georgia coastline, you are going to be dealing with some very, very strong undertows, certainly some rough times in terms of rip currents. It's going to be a danger for a lot of people.

Millions of Americans are going to be affected through the holiday weekend and of course, the very latest on the storm, keep it here at CNN, your hurricane headquarters. T.J., let's pitch it back over to you.

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you and like you said there a lot of people could be affected if you're trying to travel, a lot of people are traveling, of course, the holiday weekend. Some airlines trying to help you out, though, because of this hurricane.

Continental, Delta, U.S. Airways, Air Tran and Frontier, they're going to let customers change their flight dates without a fee. This affects people flying to or from the East Coast including the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia Washington, D.C., also down to Raleigh and Greensboro. You need to check with your airlines but they're at least trying to make it a little easier if you are affected by the storm.

Also, I've been telling you about this for the past hour, we are just moments away. We're starting to see people arrive here. But what you're watching is something that we haven't seen in about a year and a half. Direct talks, direct peace talks between the Israeli leader and the Palestinian leader. This is happening at the State Department.

We're starting to see people arrive but the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, will be sitting down together for direct talks at the State Department, being hosted by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

We're awaiting her remarks. When she does speak, we will dip back into this live for you and let you hear her. But again, people are starting to gather there. Let me turn over to Suzanne Malveaux though who is at the White House for us.

Suzanne, we saw the president taking a role yesterday. He was pretty much out there, hosting a dinner, hosting that mini press conference, if you will, the statements we saw him out last night. But today, the direct talks being put into the hands of Secretary of State Clinton. Why?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I spoke to senior administration official this morning, T.J., and essentially he said that the president has set the stage here, that the nitty- gritty of diplomacy and negotiations, that is not the president's job.

His job was essentially to bring these leaders together and to say, look, this is the time of political courage, political will. This is the time for these two leaders to negotiate if you are willing to do so. This is not going to be a president who is going to be involved in every step of the way.

As a matter of fact what the hope is is that you're going to have Secretary Clinton and George Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy, to try to get these two sides together and their delegates to talk and hash through some of the initial things that they have to work through whether it's security, whether it's Israeli settlement expansion, that type of thing, and then moving forward, trying to build on the momentum a little bit, perhaps meet and have additional talks in Egypt, in Cairo, hosted by the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the next couple of weeks or so because they want to build on whatever progress is being made.

That's not going to involve President Obama. It likely will involve Secretary Clinton going over there, likely involving George Mitchell, and, of course, those delegates. So this is the kind of thing that the president has offered. If you need me, I'll be there. If there's some sort of impasse but this is your job now. I'm putting it in your hands. T.J.?

HOLMES: Well, some kind of impasse. There are plenty of things they could possibly hit a stalemate on but one thing they could have in common here and they want to work certainly together or incentivize the work together is about Iran. Nobody wants to see Iran go nuclear.

MALVEAUX: Well, that's true. And George Mitchell mentioned that yesterday saying that that was really an important issue among all of these leaders here because the Palestinians and the Israelis don't want to see a nuclear Iran. Obviously, the Israelis because they feel they'll be under direct threat and also if you think about it, T.J., you got the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, well, his main rival is Hamas.

That is in Gaza but Hamas is also in Iran. Iran is supporting Hamas. So they're supporting his enemies. And so this gives them an opportunity, if you will, to unite the enemy of my enemy, is of course my friend. That is what they are talking about here. Perhaps they can get all of these sides together and move forward so that they can go ahead and tackle whatever kind of threat they believe Iran will be in the future. HOLMES: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us from the White House, keeping an eye on things. Suzanne, we appreciate you, as always. And, of course, we're keeping an eye on that live picture, again, when Secretary of State Clinton steps out, we will bring that to you live.

But peace talks happening today. Again, the first we've seen in a year and a half but over the past couple of decades, the U.S. has been involved in several key efforts, peace efforts, between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Going back to 1993. The Oslo Agreement, the PLO leader Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shared their famous handshake at the White House.

Then in 2000, President Clinton brought both sides together again, this time at Camp David but could not reach a final agreement between Arafat and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Then move forward to 2007, President George W. Bush, he brought together the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This was in Annapolis, Maryland. But those talks broke down the following year.

Again, we're keeping a close eye on what's happening at the State Department. We'll take you there live when it starts.

Also, let me turn to just outside of Washington. Bomb searching crews now have wrapped up work at the headquarters of the Discovery Channel. The explosions you're hearing there were last night, hours after the ordeal actually ended.

This was in Silver Spring, Maryland. A gunman had stormed into the network's reception area and had taken three hostages. He was shot and killed. He earlier told negotiators that he had a number of bombs with him. The hostage taker has been identified as James Lee. He had a long-standing grudge against the network because it did not promote his radical environmental views.

Well, you have been hearing about those miners in Chile that are stuck right now, been stuck underground for weeks, could be stuck for months. But look at this. Looks like a pretty happy crew. Looking at this video, some new video released. We'll show it to you and it shows us kind of what their life is like down there.

Also, Hurricane Earl, category 4, is on its way. It's going to get real close to North Carolina some time tonight. Our Reynolds Wolf keeping a close eye on that storm force. We're checking in with him, coming up. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, they seem to be in pretty good shape, pretty good spirits considering the fact that they have been trapped for weeks under ground in a mine and they could be trapped there for the next couple of months. These are the miners in Chile. The story we have been following - that's some new video we're getting of them.

Now our CNN's Anderson Cooper shows us what life is like for them after getting some deliveries of basic supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): For the 33 men, this is their life line, one of three narrow tubes that brings them bottles of water, food and medicine, also supplies needed to sustain them for months underground.

The latest video taken by the miners offers encouraging new details about their subterranean existence. "There's nothing that's done without order" says Mario Sepulvera (ph), who became the spokesman for the men. Everything that's here is at hand, he says and everything that you need, you see.

Unlike last week's footage, the new video shows several of the men in shirts, clean shaven, and apparently in better health. When the ordeal began the men were given only liquid vitamins and protein. Now they're being sent sandwiches, yogurt and cereal.

"We've been eating according to the diet you sent us," Mario Sepulvera (ph) says. Meds have also arrived piece by piece through the pipe although not enough for all. Meds are given to those who need them the most, he says. Here the phone they use to communicate to officials and loved ones, to show us their sense of humor is intact. We put the phone over here so each one can have some privacy, he says. "Chilean men are very macho and they don't like people to see us cry."

Joking, despite the disaster, another promising sign for the men who now have mp3 players and speakers. The music has arrived and we're organizing today's party, he says. "We're super happy. We've been dancing to a couple of songs."

2,300 feet above, a drill cuts into the earth the beginning of what everyone prays is the end. The families of the miners are nearby in tents. They call it Camp Hope.

"We're happy because the drill has arrived," the wife of one miner says. "We're happy because we know they'll rescue them."

Back in the mine, a strange sight. A white pickup truck once used to ferry the men to work is now a place to sleep for one of the miners. The truck is in an area they'll move to as rescue crews draw closer.

The video ends with a chant for their country and with the message of unity and patriotism. "To all of Chile," he says. "If we felt proud of our country and Chilean mining before, we feel even more proud today because of what's being done."

Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And, again, we are keeping a close eye on this hurricane, Hurricane Earl, category 4 right now. We have watches and warnings all up and down the East Coast. North Carolina is bracing right now, expecting to get the first hit some time this evening.

Our Reynolds Wolf coming your way in just a couple of minutes. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Taking a look at some of the stories making headlines, this will be making headlines for some time, at least the next couple of days, maybe over the weekend. A category 4 storm Hurricane Earl could be passing really close to the outer banks of North Carolina sometime tonight. A lot of watches and warnings are in place up and down the East Coast.

Also, the Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He is in Afghanistan right now. He's there on an unannounced visit. Going to be stopping by to meet certainly with the military leaders. Also a lot of the troops. Also meeting with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.

Also, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, about to have face-to-face talks for the first time in about a year and a half. You're seeing a live picture where those talks are going to take place at the State Department in Washington, D.C.. They are going to be hosted by the secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, expected to hear from her in short order. When she steps out to speak, we'll cover that for you live.

Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, second week in a row, jobless claims have gone down. That's some good news. Alison Kosik has the details for us in the New York Stock Exchange. It was a bit of a drop but still significant enough people are paying attention. That's two weeks in a row.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, every little bit. You know, we found out that weekly jobless claims, they fell by 6,000 from last week to 472,000. You know, it is a move in the right direction. But look at the overall picture, T.J., that 472,000 number is still really high.

You know, claims have been stuck in that mid to upper 400,000 range for almost a year now.

HOLMES: Alison, forgive me, dear lady. We have to jump in here. We're expecting this event and here it is happening now. My apologies to Alison.

But for the first time in a year and a half we are seeing the two sides sit down to direct talks. Hillary Clinton hosting the event here at the State Department. Let's go ahead and listen in to the Secretary of State.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: (INAUDIBLE) I want to thank all of you for joining us today to relaunch negotiations - (INAUDIBLE). As you know, the decision to sit at this table was not easy. We understand the suspicion and skepticism that so many feel, borne out of years of conflict and frustrated hopes, a tragic act of terror on Tuesday and the terrorist shooting yesterday are yet additional reminders of the human costs of this conflict.

But by being here today, you each have taken an important step toward freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change. And moving toward a future of peace and dignity that only you can create. So, thank you. Thank you for your courage and your commitment.

I also want to recognize the support of Egypt and Jordan, which have long been crucial partners for peace. And we appreciate the support of the Arab League for the vision of a comprehensive peace embodied in these talks.

I also wish to thank former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the special representative of the quartet for his leadership and efforts. Mr. Blair's work in support of the institutional and economic development of the Palestinian people is critical to the success of these peace efforts.

As we've said all along, progress on this track must go hand-in- hand with progress in negotiations. And let me also, as represented by this overwhelming turnout of representatives of the press from across the world, express our gratitude to many friends and allies who have worked so hard for progress toward our shared goals.

To those who criticize this process, who stand on the sidelines and say no, I ask you to join us in this effort. As President Obama said yesterday we hear often from those voices in the region who insist that this is a top priority and yet do very little to support the work that would actually bring about a Palestinian state.

Now is the opportunity to start contributing to progress. For our part, the United States has pledged its full support for these talks and we will be an active and sustained partner. We believe, Prime Minister and President, that you can succeed and we understand that this is in the national security interests of the United States that you do so.

But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

Now for many of us in this room, this is not the first trip to the negotiating table. I look around and I see veterans from all three of us. We've been here before and we know how difficult the road ahead will be. There undoubtedly will be obstacles and setbacks.

Those who oppose the cause of peace will try in every way possible to sabotage this process as we have already seen this week. But those of you here today, especially the veterans who are here today, you have returned because you have seen the cost of continued conflict. You know that your people deserve the benefits of peace. The core issues at the center of these negotiations, territory, security, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and others, will get no easier if we wait. Nor will they resolve themselves. Success will take patience, persistence and leadership. The true test of these negotiations will not be their first day and it will not be their last day.

It will be all those long days in the middle when the path toward peace seems hidden and the enemies of peace work to keep it obscured. But we are convinced that if you move forward in good faith and do not waver in your commitment to succeed on behalf of your people, we can resolve all of the core issues within one year.

You have taken the first steps. You have both embraced the idea of a two-state solution, which is the only path toward a just, lasting peace that ensures security and dignity for both Israelis and Palestinians. I fervently believe that the two men sitting on either side of me, that you are the leaders who can make this long, cherished dream a reality, and we will do everything possible to help you.

This is a time for bold leadership and a time for statesmen who have the courage to make difficult decisions. Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President, you have the opportunity to end this conflict and the decades of enmity between your peoples once and for all.

And I want to conclude by just saying a few words directly to the people of the region. Your leaders may be sitting at the negotiating table but you are the ones who will ultimately decide the future. You hold the future of your families, your communities, your people, this region, in your hands.

For the efforts here to succeed, we need your support and your patience. Today, as ever, people have to rally to the cause of peace, and peace needs champions on every street corner and around every kitchen table.

I understand very well the disappointments of the past. I share them. But I also know we have it within our power today to move forward into a different kind of future, and we cannot do this without you. So, now let me turn to the prime minister who will make his remarks followed by the president.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Madam Secretary. I want to thank you and President Obama for the many efforts that you've invested to bring us to this moment. My friend, Senator Mitchell, thank you for your consistent effort for you and your staff's efforts to bring a lasting and durable peace to our region.

President Abbas, as I said yesterday in our meeting at the White House, the president of the United States, the president of Egypt, and the king of Jordan, I see in you a partner for peace. Together we can lead our people to a historic future that can put an end to claims and to conflict.

Now this will not be easy. A true peace, a lasting peace, would be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides. From the Israeli side, from the Palestinian side. From my side, and from your side. But the people of Israel, and I as their prime minister, are prepared to walk this road and to go a long way, a long way in a short time. To achieve a genuine peace that will bring our people security, prosperity and good neighbors. Good neighbors. To shape a different reality between us.

That's going to involve serious negotiations because there are many issues in contention. The core issues that you outlined, Madam Secretary, are things that we have disagreements on, but we have to get from disagreement to agreement. A big task.

Now, two years ago, or rather a year ago in a speech I gave in Bar-llan University in Israel, I tried to outline the two pillars of peace that I think will enable us to resolve all the outstanding issues. And these are legitimacy and security. Just as you expect us to be ready to recognize a Palestinian state as the nation state of the Palestinian people, we expect you to be prepared to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. There are more than a million non-Jews living in Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people, who have full civil rights. There is no contradiction between a nation state that guarantees the national rights of the majority and guaranteeing the civil rights, the full civil equality of the minority.

I think this mutual recognition between us is indispensable to clarifying to our two people -- our two peoples -- that the conflict between us is over.

I said, too, yesterday that a real peace must take into account the genuine security needs of Israel, that if changed -- they've changed since I was last here. You spoke about the veterans who are gathered here around this table.

We've been here before. We fashioned the Hebron agreement and the Wye agreement. This was 12 years ago. In these 12 years, new forces have risen in our region, and we've had the rise of Iran and its proxies and the rise of missile warfare. And so, a peace agreement must take into account security arrangement against these real threats that have been directed against my country, threats that have been realized with 12,000 rockets that have been fired on our territory, and terrorist attacks that go unabated.

President Abbas, I'm fully aware and I respect your people's desire for sovereignty. I'm convinced that it's possible. To reconcile that desire with Israel's needs for security. We anticipate difficult days before we achieve the much desired peace. The last two days have been difficult. They were exceedingly difficult for my people and for me. Blood has been shed. The blood of innocents. Four innocent Israelis gunned down brutally. Two people wounded. Seven new orphans.

President Abbas, you condemned this killing. That's important. No less important is to find the killers. And equally, to make sure that we can stop other killers. They seek to kill our people, kill our state, kill our peace. And so achieving security is a must. Security is the foundation of peace. Without it, peace will unravel. With it, peace can be stable and enduring.

President Abbas, history has given us a rare opportunity to end the conflict between our peoples, a conflict that has been lasting for almost a century. It's an unprecedented opportunity to end a century conflict. Well, there have been some examples in history, but not many. But we face such a task. To end the bloodshed and to secure a future of promise and hope for our children and grandchildren.

In the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, there's a story of how two brothers in conflict -- brothers -- Isaac and Ishmael, joined together to bury their father, Abraham. Our father. The father of our two peoples. Isaac, the father of the Hebrew nation; Ishmael, the father of the Arab nation, joined together in a moment of pain and mutual respect to bury Abraham in Hebron.

I can only pray, and I know that millions around the world, millions of Israelis and millions of Palestinians and many other millions around the world, pray that the pain that we have experienced, you and us, in the last hundred years of conflict, will unite us not only in a moment of peace around a table of peace here in Washington but will enable us to leave from here and to forge a durable, lasting peace for generations.

Shalom, salaam, peace.

PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): In the name of God, Madam Secretary Hillary Clinton, Mr. Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, ladies and gentlemen. Let me in the first place once again extend my thanks to President Barack Obama and to Secretary Clinton and Senator George Mitchell and their teams for the unrelenting effort they exerted during the last months in order to relaunch the negotiation on the final status between the PLO and the Israeli government.

Ladies and gentlemen, now that you are launching these negotiations today, we do know how hard the hurdles and challenges are we are facing and we will face during these negotiations. Negotiations that should, within a year, lead to an agreement that will bring the peace -- the just peace of international law, international legality between our two people, the Israelis and the Palestinians.

What's encouraging as well and what's giving us confidence is that the road is clear in front of us. In order to reach peace, the role of international law is represented by the National Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Quartet, and the positions of the European Union, of the Arab (INAUDIBLE) committee. All these positions clearly for us represent international unanimity on the references, the basis and the goals of the negotiation.

Ladies and gentlemen, also, we're not starting from scratch because we had many rounds of negotiations between the PLO and the Israeli government. And we studied all horizons and we also defined and determined all the pending issues. We will work on all the final status issues, Jerusalem, the settlements, the borders, security, water, and also releasing detainees in order to end the occupation that started in 1967, the occupation of the Palestinian territories. And in order to create the state of Palestine existing in Israel, in order to end the conflict and the historic demands in the Middle East and to bring peace and security for the two people and all the peoples in the region.

Once again, we want to state our commitment to follow on all our engagements, including security and ending incitement, and we call on the Israeli government to move forward with its commitment to end all settlement activities and completely lift the embargo over the Gaza Strip and end all form of incitement.

Also, with respect to security, you do know, ladies and gentlemen, that we have security apparatuses that are still being built, that are still young but that are doing everything expected from them. Yesterday, we condemned the operations that were (INAUDIBLE). We did not only condemn them, but we also followed the perpetrators. And we were able to find the car that was used and to arrest those who sought and bought the car, and we will continue all our effort to take security measures in order to find the perpetrators.

We consider that security is of essence, is vital for both of us. And we cannot allow for anyone to do anything that would undermine your security and our security. And we, therefore, not only condemn but we keep on working seriously. Security is fundamental and sensitive.

Ladies and gentlemen, once again, I want to state today what I said at the White House meeting yesterday in front of President Obama, President Mubarak and King Abdullah. And I do believe their participation was of essence and was vert strong and represented the belief of Jordan and Egypt in peace. These two states alongside with other Arab states do believe that peace is a vital interest, not only for the Palestinians and the Israelis, but also for all the people in the region and for the United States as President Obama said when he said that the creation of a Palestinian state, or the two-state vision is a vital national American interest.

The PLO participates in these negotiations with good intentions and seriousness and is adamant about bringing just peace that guarantees freedom and independence for the Palestinian people attached to his land and his rights. The fair solution of the problem of the refugees, according to international resolutions, we are attached to the international resolutions. We do not want anything above, and we do not want anything under.

We want to have a new era in our region, an era that brings peace, justice, security, and prosperity for all. and let me say here that in 1993 on the ninth of September of this year, we signed, Mr. Prime Minister, what is called a document of mutual recognition between us and Israel. Between former President Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and these document was signed. And in this document, we give enough so to show that our intentions are good, our intentions with respect to recognizing the state of Israel. And you do know, sir, that in Camp David also commitments were required from us. And when we came back with President Clinton, we carried on with all our commitments because we respect our commitments and our agreements. Therefore, we start from here to reach a peace that will end the conflict, that will meet all the demands and start a new era between the Israeli and the Palestinian people.

Thank you and peace be among you.

CLINTON: I want to thank both leaders for their statements, and I also want to thank the members of their respective teams who are here in both delegations. The people sitting here have worked very hard, some for many years. And they certainly have traveled a long way to be here, and we're grateful for their commitment as well.

Today, President Obama and I, Senator Mitchell and our entire team, are prepared to do whatever we can to help you succeed. And we believe in you and we support you. So, again, let me thank you for being here, and now it's time to get to work.

Thank you all very much.

HOLMES: Well, her husband gave it a shot several years ago. And now it's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's turn, sitting down now and hosting what we haven't seen in a year-and-a-half. Direct talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leader about to get under way right now. They already in their opening remarks to the press have kind of set the stage of what are going to be some of the sticking points, including the end of all settlement activity. That's what the Palestinian president did say in his openings remarks, calling on Israel to end all settlement activity.

That is going to be a major sticking point because the moratorium on settlements that the Israelis now have in place is set to expire at the end of this month. I believe the 24th of this month, if I have that correctly. So, he is going to have to make some kind of move to extend that moratorium or to let it expire, which many people in his constituency want back home. So, that is going to be a sticking point.

The Israeli leader, for his part, saying that, yes, he wants to recognize a Palestinian state, but you at the same time need to recognize the Israeli state as the home of the Jewish people, and security will be a major concern.

So, again, we haven't seen this in a year-and-a-half now. A major moment. We have seen many moments like this before over the years that have started with so much optimism but ended in so much heartbreak and bloodshed at the end of the day. But they are trying to give it a go once again. The Israeli prime minister and also the Palestinian president about to go into talks for the first time in a year-and-a-half to try to come up with some solution, a two-state solution, and according to all parties involved, they would like to and believe they can have some kind of an agreement in place maybe within the next year.

The talks begin. We'll see what comes of them. Quick break here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: "Fix Our Schools." CNN has a mission to document the nation's education crisis as America's children head back to class. We've been talking problems and solutions all this week. In this hour, we're heading into the home. We sent our education contributor, Steve Perry, on a house call to help out the Taylor family. Homework going undone, mom struggling to keep her son on track, until Principal Perry comes up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: I'm Dr. Steve Perry. I'm a high school principal. But today, I'm here to make a house call. We're at the Taylor residence with mom, Miss Jasmine Taylor. She's a single mom, and her son Hezakiah. Hezakiah had a tough time last year, barely made it out of the sixth grade.

This year, we're going to make some changes. That's why I'm here.

JASMINE TAYLOR, HEZAKIAH'S MOTHER: Hezakiah is a very rambunctious, happy, loving -- if Hezekiah puts his mind to it, he can be a fabulous student.

Last year, he didn't bring homework home. "Where is homework?" "Oh, we didn't have any today." " I did it in class." Everything under the sun that most kids come up with for not having homework.

He would be scoring like 30s on quizzes and missing like five, six homework assignments.

Why is this shoved in your notebook?

I had to take him to see a therapist because I didn't understand why I couldn't get him to understand the simple things. I would want somebody to help him educationally, to help him find his best way to focus because I haven't found it yet.

Hello.

PERRY: Hello! Steve Perry. Pleasure to meet you. Who is this?

J. TAYLOR: This is Hezekiah.

PERRY: Of course it's Hezekiah.

HEZEKIAH TAYLOR, STUDENT: This is my room. It could be worse.

PERRY: OK, so, what happened?

H. TAYLOR: Yes, I got home from football practice, my room was worse than this. I cleaned it before I went to bed last night. It just -- I didn't make up my bed. Just apparently somehow it's all poofed away when I thought about doing it.

PERRY: How did you do last year in school?

H. TAYLOR: I didn't do so well.

PERRY: What happened?

H. TAYLOR: See, part of the fault was my teachers --

PERRY: What did the teachers have to do with you doing your homework, son? Come on, man. Last year was a tough year, huh?

J. TAYLOR: An extremely tough year for Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a roaring, honor roll student. And in sixth grade, we went from A's and B's to D's and F's.

PERRY: When I look at a child's academic performance, one of the first places I look is how they're doing in physical education or art or music. All a kid really has to do is show up and participate. You simply have to do what the adult who in charge tells you to do. I think we know that our little boy had some trouble with that, yes?

J. TAYLOR: Yes.

PERRY: So, that's something that happens, and this is a tough time for moms because you've been carrying him for so long. You figure if you let him go, he'll just fall down. Here is the thing. He's going to fall. You're going to fall. He's going to.

J. TAYLOR: Okay.

PERRY: That's not the problem. It's what we do with the fall and how we learn from the fall.

What we can do to be successful -- all right -- we're going to come up with some very simple strategies, and this is the beginning of it.

The first one is accountability. We're going to break accountability into two basic parts. The first part is Mom, and the second part is Hezekiah. Accountability, another word is responsibility. That's another way to say accountability. That's exactly what it is. So, we could just as easily change that and put responsibility.

I'm going to point something out to you. One of his assignments was to talk about what he was bad at. Do you know what you did?

J. TAYLOR: I am (ph)?

PERRY: And then you answered it.

Your single mommy has to help out (ph). You can't put all this on you. You can't go to work and go to school and come home and cook and clean while he sits there like the Prince of Sheba. J. TAYLOR: I have some reservations because of the lack of responsibility.

PERRY: How's he going to learn it? How did you learn it?

J. TAYLOR: I don't know, but burning down the house is not an option.

PERRY: Well, you're not going to let him in there with a match! You've got an electric stove.

J. TAYLOR: If I'm not home, the tater tots are burnt and so is my house.

PERRY: Not going to happen.

J. TAYLOR: Okay.

PERRY: His education has to be his responsibility. You have to take a different role in this. If you watched the littlest ones? The coaches are out on the field, right? As they get older, where do the coaches go?

J. TAYLOR: On the sideline.

PERRY: That's right. Got to put you on the sideline.

H. TAYLOR: I'm not trying to say I want to put my mom on the sideline, like one of my coaches.

J. TAYLOR: But aybe you're ready for me to take a step back?

H. TAYLOR: Yes.

J. TAYLOR: All right.

H. TAYLOR: I'm not saying you have to --

J. TAYLOR: It's not a bad thing. I can handle taking a step back if I know you are going to step up in my place.

PERRY: Feels good, right?

J. TAYLOR: It does. I promise you, I struggled last year to pull all of this out of him. I did. I know now that I allowed the situation, the bad grades, the bad reports of the teachers, to have me put my anger first.

PERRY: As much as I'm a principal, I'm a father. And it's my hope that the relationship I have with my son is as strong as you have with yours. You should feel very good about yourself.

J. TAYLOR: Thank you very much.

PERRY: The proof is on the board. Thank you so much.

J. TAYLOR:: Thank you.

PERRY: My man, thank you.

H. TAYLOR:: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

J. TAYLOR:: I'm excited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And our education makeover continues tomorrow.

But for no now -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Moral imperative. Got to fix the schools.

HOLMES: Got to fix the schools.

HARRIS: Moral imperative.

Doctor, good to see you.

HOLMES: Good to see you, as always.

HARRIS: Have a great day, T.J.