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CNN Saturday Morning News

Bush, Blair Meet in Crawford

Aired April 06, 2002 - 08:13   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots at his Texas ranch, President Bush welcomed British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who showed up in a black business suit.

We get the latest on their meetings from White House correspondent Kelly Wallace live in Texas -- do you have your boots on, too, Kelly?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do. We won't show them, though. They're really dusty and dirty. But, Kyra, you are exactly right. You could call it a very low-key but a very casual -- maybe a Texas-style welcome for the British prime minister.

This was the scene last night when he arrived at the president's ranch. As you said, Kyra, the president wearing his blue jeans, but Mr. Blair dressed a bit more formally. And then really something you don't often see every day, the president of the United States getting in his white pickup truck and driving off with the prime minister and the first lady.

The prime minister is only the second world leader to get what has become a very highly coveted invitation, an invitation to the Bush ranch. You'll recall Russian President Vladimir Putin visited back in November. But this visit really quite serious because the two leaders definitely to discuss the events on the ground in the Middle East, Secretary Powell's upcoming mission to the region, which begins Sunday evening.

The two men will start their day getting a national security briefing, something Mr. Bush gets every day. The prime minister, though, will join with the president, again, to get the latest on the situation.

And, Kyra, the two men will meet with reporters a little bit later. Expect questions about the Israeli military offensive, which continues even as, on Thursday, Mr. Bush called for a halt to that activity. So far no criticism from the Bush White House other than the message the president expects results and expects them as soon as possible.

Another issue the two leaders expected to get questions on that of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Right now the White House is making it very vague about whether Secretary Powell will, in fact, meet with Yasser Arafat when he goes to the region next week. And you can see that Mr. Bush is growing increasingly frustrated with the Palestinian leader.

Just take a listen to an excerpt of an interview he did on Thursday with a British journalist (AUDIO GAP) when he was asked if Secretary Powell would, in fact, be meeting with Yasser Arafat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no idea yet. I'll tell you what he is going to do, he's going to go work with leadership to bring people together. My worry is, is that Yasser Arafat can't perform. He's been given plenty of opportunities.

QUESTION: Has he forfeited your trust?

BUSH: He certainly hasn't earned it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And, Kyra, another interesting part of that interview, Mr. Bush saying that Yasser Arafat has not led but there are other leaders in the region who are leading. And we know that Secretary Powell will meet with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. One strategy appears to be engaging with those Arab leaders, encouraging them to put pressure on Yasser Arafat, but also encouraging them to engage with other leaders within the Palestinian community. The message is if Yasser Arafat is not going to deliver for the Palestinian people, maybe there are other leaders who will -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Kelly Wallace live in Crawford, Texas. Thank you so much.

WALLACE: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Kelly is going to come join us again, along with CNN European political editor Robin Oakley. That will be the back of the half hour with more on the Texas talks between Bush and Blair. And we'd also like to take some of your questions on this issue for Kelly and Robin. So log on and e-mail us at wam@cnn.com.

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