Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Bush Speaks Out Against Mideast Violence

Aired August 04, 2002 - 18:04   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: From Maine, President Bush is speaking out against the violence in the Middle East. CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before an early morning golf game, an angry and frustrated President Bush condemns the latest bombing in Israel.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are a few killers who want to stop the peace process that we have started. And we must not let them.

WALLACE: The bombing -- yet another blow to an already fragile peace process, coming just days after a blast at a Jerusalem university left five Americans and two Israelis dead. The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for that attack and Sunday's bombing, leading U.S. senators to argue the Bush administration needs to pressure Arab allies, such as Saudi Arabia, more, to prevent money from flowing to Hamas.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I believe that the Saudis continue to support Hamas. Others do, as well. But we ought to get the Saudis to stop that kind of financial aid.

WALLACE: Another Republican lawmaker says the president must also do more to make progress on peace.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R-NE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: I think the president is going to need to lay out probably in firmer, more definitive terms here soon some kind of a road map, a plan, a process, that gets us back connected. We don't have that now.

WALLACE: Bush advisers argue the president laid out a plan in his June Rose Garden speech, calling for a Palestinian state, but only after there are democratic reforms and new leaders. Mr. Bush says Yasser Arafat must go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And in an effort to bolster new leadership, this week Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to meet in Washington with senior Palestinian officials. The meeting, though, comes as the Bush team faces growing calls to do more to stop the bloodshed -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much, Kelly Wallace, reporting live from Kennebunkport, Maine.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com