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CNN Saturday Morning News
President Bush Visits Poland
Aired May 31, 2003 - 07:14 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.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is in Poland at this hour, the first stop in a week of traveling that ends with the Israeli-Palestinian peace summit.
Senior White House correspondent John King is traveling with the president's delegation, and John joins us now live from Krakow.
And John, if you would, go ahead and give us a look at the day ahead.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Arthel, this day ahead and this week ahead, a major test of this president's diplomatic skills. He is here in Poland. First, a warm reception here today. On to additional stops in Europe, in which he will come face to face with the three leaders who most fiercely opposed him when it came to the war in Iraq, President Putin of Russia, President Chirac of France, Chancellor Schroeder of Germany.
And then at the end of this trip, as you noted, Mr. Bush will be in the Middle East trying to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to take the early steps on what is called the road map for peace in the Middle East.
Mr. Bush started this morning here in Poland with a very sober visit to two Nazi death camps, Auschwitz and Birkenau, more than 1.5 million Jews slaughtered during the Holocaust at Auschwitz alone. Mr. Bush touring those camps along with First Lady Laura Bush, paying very quiet tribute to the victims there.
Then later he delivered a speech here in Krakow. Mr. Bush drew on the lessons of the visit to the camp in that speech. He said in his view that some in Europe were perhaps forgetting that the reason this continent was free was because "beyond the barbed wire," as the president put it, "there were many who were willing to take up arms to fight evil."
Clearly the president still a bit perturbed at the support, the lack of support from France and Germany and Russia, others in Europe for his policy in Iraq. That is why he made the deliberate stop here first in Poland, which sent several hundred troops to join the coalition forces in Iraq. Mr. Bush promised the United States would not forget Poland's support in the war.
And as he heads on to those other meetings, Mr. Bush says he wants to put behind him the bitter debate over Iraq, that it is time for the European allies to work with the United States and move on to deal with issues like global terrorism, like fighting AIDS in Africa.
But as the president talked about unity and talked about trying to settle these bitter debates, it was also clear this president very much wants to settle them on his terms, Arthel.
NEVILLE: Well, then, John, let's fast forward for a moment now. Let's talk about this week of diplomatic maneuvering and what will have had to happen by week's end to consider it a success.
KING: Well, on the European front, Mr. Bush believes if he gets a bit more of a financial commitment out of the Group of Eight nations, as it is called, to fight AIDS in Africa, if there is discussion about postwar reconstruction in Iraq, that it will be at least one or two early steps toward bridging the divide in the alliance right now.
The biggest challenge, of course, is in the Middle East. Mr. Bush is hoping to get public commitments from Prime Minister Sharon of Israel, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, public commitments, delivered standing side by side, those two leaders along with President Bush, to implement in the days and weeks ahead the early benchmarks in that road map to peace.
That means the Palestinians would have to reform their security forces. That means the Israelis would have to lift travel and other economic restrictions on the Palestinians and begin to pull back from Palestinian territory. Mr. Bush wants those commitments delivered in public, and he promised in his speech here in Krakow that the United States will be prepared to enforce that peace deal if he can get the two parties to take the early steps, Arthel.
NEVILLE: And John, quickly, before I let you go, of course Mahmoud Abbas is saying that he believes he can get Hamas on the page with this road map to peace. How likely is that to happen?
KING: Well, the White House says it is very encouraged by Mahmoud Abbas's efforts and his apparent progress in saying he can get ceasefire out of Hamas. The White House is very happy that Prime Minister Sharon has used the term "occupation" when it comes to the Palestinian territories.
What the White House says now is necessary is to go beyond the stated promises, to turn them into concrete deeds, and then to take every step forward and quickly build another step of progress, because the history of the Middle East is one step forward, two or three steps back. The president is trying to build momentum. The White House says it is fragile, but that at the moment, there is at least some momentum to build on, Arthel.
NEVILLE: OK, John King, thank you very much for that live report.
KING: Thank you.
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 May 31, 2003 - 07:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is in Poland at this hour, the first stop in a week of traveling that ends with the Israeli-Palestinian peace summit.
Senior White House correspondent John King is traveling with the president's delegation, and John joins us now live from Krakow.
And John, if you would, go ahead and give us a look at the day ahead.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Arthel, this day ahead and this week ahead, a major test of this president's diplomatic skills. He is here in Poland. First, a warm reception here today. On to additional stops in Europe, in which he will come face to face with the three leaders who most fiercely opposed him when it came to the war in Iraq, President Putin of Russia, President Chirac of France, Chancellor Schroeder of Germany.
And then at the end of this trip, as you noted, Mr. Bush will be in the Middle East trying to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to take the early steps on what is called the road map for peace in the Middle East.
Mr. Bush started this morning here in Poland with a very sober visit to two Nazi death camps, Auschwitz and Birkenau, more than 1.5 million Jews slaughtered during the Holocaust at Auschwitz alone. Mr. Bush touring those camps along with First Lady Laura Bush, paying very quiet tribute to the victims there.
Then later he delivered a speech here in Krakow. Mr. Bush drew on the lessons of the visit to the camp in that speech. He said in his view that some in Europe were perhaps forgetting that the reason this continent was free was because "beyond the barbed wire," as the president put it, "there were many who were willing to take up arms to fight evil."
Clearly the president still a bit perturbed at the support, the lack of support from France and Germany and Russia, others in Europe for his policy in Iraq. That is why he made the deliberate stop here first in Poland, which sent several hundred troops to join the coalition forces in Iraq. Mr. Bush promised the United States would not forget Poland's support in the war.
And as he heads on to those other meetings, Mr. Bush says he wants to put behind him the bitter debate over Iraq, that it is time for the European allies to work with the United States and move on to deal with issues like global terrorism, like fighting AIDS in Africa.
But as the president talked about unity and talked about trying to settle these bitter debates, it was also clear this president very much wants to settle them on his terms, Arthel.
NEVILLE: Well, then, John, let's fast forward for a moment now. Let's talk about this week of diplomatic maneuvering and what will have had to happen by week's end to consider it a success.
KING: Well, on the European front, Mr. Bush believes if he gets a bit more of a financial commitment out of the Group of Eight nations, as it is called, to fight AIDS in Africa, if there is discussion about postwar reconstruction in Iraq, that it will be at least one or two early steps toward bridging the divide in the alliance right now.
The biggest challenge, of course, is in the Middle East. Mr. Bush is hoping to get public commitments from Prime Minister Sharon of Israel, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, public commitments, delivered standing side by side, those two leaders along with President Bush, to implement in the days and weeks ahead the early benchmarks in that road map to peace.
That means the Palestinians would have to reform their security forces. That means the Israelis would have to lift travel and other economic restrictions on the Palestinians and begin to pull back from Palestinian territory. Mr. Bush wants those commitments delivered in public, and he promised in his speech here in Krakow that the United States will be prepared to enforce that peace deal if he can get the two parties to take the early steps, Arthel.
NEVILLE: And John, quickly, before I let you go, of course Mahmoud Abbas is saying that he believes he can get Hamas on the page with this road map to peace. How likely is that to happen?
KING: Well, the White House says it is very encouraged by Mahmoud Abbas's efforts and his apparent progress in saying he can get ceasefire out of Hamas. The White House is very happy that Prime Minister Sharon has used the term "occupation" when it comes to the Palestinian territories.
What the White House says now is necessary is to go beyond the stated promises, to turn them into concrete deeds, and then to take every step forward and quickly build another step of progress, because the history of the Middle East is one step forward, two or three steps back. The president is trying to build momentum. The White House says it is fragile, but that at the moment, there is at least some momentum to build on, Arthel.
NEVILLE: OK, John King, thank you very much for that live report.
KING: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
