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Bush Monitors Situation in Middle East
Aired June 13, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is in Kennebunkport, Maine, for a family celebration, but the agenda includes Mideast diplomacy as well as down time. Our Chris Burns is in Maine now with more on a busy weekend ahead, and I'm sure, Chris, reaction to some of what's happened today in Gaza.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Heidi. Over my shoulder the Atlantic Ocean here in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the president was out fishing earlier today. We can have a few pictures of that. He caught a fish and threw it back in. So he was successful there.
Earlier, he did play some golf with his father, former President Bush. So he's here for the Father's Day weekend and former President Bush's birthday weekend, as well.
However, at the same time, the president getting his national security briefing, his intelligence briefing, a phone call with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Much about what is going on in the Middle East, and in the last few minutes we've been seeing some pictures out of Gaza, the more violence there. More than 50 people dead in the last week or so on both sides in that conflict, and how is the White House responding to that?
Well, Ari Fleischer gave a press briefing, a little gaggle earlier today, talking about the need to cooperate to fight terrorism, as he put it. The Palestinian Authority needs to be helped, aided to build their security force. And that everything begins with security.
But he said, also, it ends with a vision, that Israel, he later on said, needs to be mindful of the need to keep the vision alive. So it does appear to be a rather balanced call for things to calm down. A message of restraint from Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier today, saying we've just got to get past this violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Now, we have to execute that plan and keep moving forward and not allow ourselves to be distracted or thrown off point from the promise that's out there with the road map by this surge of violence. We have got to punch our way through with it, punch our way through it, and get on with steps called for in the road map.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNS: And that road map for peace, calling for an independent Palestinian state by the year 2005, Secretary Powell will be traveling to the region in about a week and before that, just this weekend, there will be a troubleshooting team headed by Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf. He will be meeting with both sides, hoping, just hoping to get both sides back on track with confidence-building measures -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Chris, any idea where Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf will start with that, and was this trip planned before all of the violence that has most recently broken out, of course, today that we're talking about?
BURNS: Yes, absolutely, Heidi. That trouble-shooting team had been talked about at least for more than a week now, just right around the time that the president had his Red Sea summit with both the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers about a week ago, where they all committed themselves to this road map for peace. That trouble- shooting team had been planned, so that is nothing new, but obviously, it is going to be doing some hand holding on both sides. Not sure which side they're going to be talking to first, but it's a team of more than a dozen diplomats, so they very well could be talking to both sides.
There is also, of course, the CIA helping the Palestinian Authority rebuild its security forces, trying to take on, confront, quell those militants, and, also, there is word from the White House publicly and also even behind the scenes talking about the importance of the Arab world to weigh in and exert its influence in trying to stop the militant attacks, stopping the flow of money and support to those groups, and also making expressions of support for peace -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So much work ahead, once again, Chris Burns live from Kennebunkport, Maine. Thanks so much, Chris.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 13, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is in Kennebunkport, Maine, for a family celebration, but the agenda includes Mideast diplomacy as well as down time. Our Chris Burns is in Maine now with more on a busy weekend ahead, and I'm sure, Chris, reaction to some of what's happened today in Gaza.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Heidi. Over my shoulder the Atlantic Ocean here in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the president was out fishing earlier today. We can have a few pictures of that. He caught a fish and threw it back in. So he was successful there.
Earlier, he did play some golf with his father, former President Bush. So he's here for the Father's Day weekend and former President Bush's birthday weekend, as well.
However, at the same time, the president getting his national security briefing, his intelligence briefing, a phone call with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Much about what is going on in the Middle East, and in the last few minutes we've been seeing some pictures out of Gaza, the more violence there. More than 50 people dead in the last week or so on both sides in that conflict, and how is the White House responding to that?
Well, Ari Fleischer gave a press briefing, a little gaggle earlier today, talking about the need to cooperate to fight terrorism, as he put it. The Palestinian Authority needs to be helped, aided to build their security force. And that everything begins with security.
But he said, also, it ends with a vision, that Israel, he later on said, needs to be mindful of the need to keep the vision alive. So it does appear to be a rather balanced call for things to calm down. A message of restraint from Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier today, saying we've just got to get past this violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Now, we have to execute that plan and keep moving forward and not allow ourselves to be distracted or thrown off point from the promise that's out there with the road map by this surge of violence. We have got to punch our way through with it, punch our way through it, and get on with steps called for in the road map.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNS: And that road map for peace, calling for an independent Palestinian state by the year 2005, Secretary Powell will be traveling to the region in about a week and before that, just this weekend, there will be a troubleshooting team headed by Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf. He will be meeting with both sides, hoping, just hoping to get both sides back on track with confidence-building measures -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Chris, any idea where Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf will start with that, and was this trip planned before all of the violence that has most recently broken out, of course, today that we're talking about?
BURNS: Yes, absolutely, Heidi. That trouble-shooting team had been talked about at least for more than a week now, just right around the time that the president had his Red Sea summit with both the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers about a week ago, where they all committed themselves to this road map for peace. That trouble- shooting team had been planned, so that is nothing new, but obviously, it is going to be doing some hand holding on both sides. Not sure which side they're going to be talking to first, but it's a team of more than a dozen diplomats, so they very well could be talking to both sides.
There is also, of course, the CIA helping the Palestinian Authority rebuild its security forces, trying to take on, confront, quell those militants, and, also, there is word from the White House publicly and also even behind the scenes talking about the importance of the Arab world to weigh in and exert its influence in trying to stop the militant attacks, stopping the flow of money and support to those groups, and also making expressions of support for peace -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So much work ahead, once again, Chris Burns live from Kennebunkport, Maine. Thanks so much, Chris.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
