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On the Story

Will Emptying Maryland Pond Help Anthrax Investigation?; U.S. Open Under Way; Mideast Diplomacy in Turmoil

Aired June 14, 2003 - 10:00   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.


KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN's ON THE STORY where our journalists have the inside word on the stories we covered this week.
I'm Kelli Arena.

On guard for terrorism at home and abroad. Will emptying a pond in Maryland offer up new clues about the anthrax murders?

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Josie Karp in Olympia Fields, Illinois.

I'll be back later on the story on the U.S. Open where you'll find the game's best player and its most controversial both on the front page of the leader board.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on the story of how Mideast violence echoes all the way here to Washington and how President Bush finds his week-old Mideast diplomacy in turmoil.

We'll be talking about all of these stories. Also, we'll talk about the book, how Hillary scored big this week with bestseller sales and political buzz.

And, at the end of the hour, we'll hear President Bush's weekly radio address released just a few minutes from now.

Tell us what's on your mind. E-mail us here, onthestory@cnn.com.

Right now, road map or dead end?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL SHARON, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We have the deepest obligation to do everything to go forward with a peace process that will bring peace and quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASSER ARAFAT, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (through translator): The evil vicious circle of military operations from all parties must stop immediately. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now we're hoping that Kelly Wallace will join us momentarily from Gaza.

But, from the point of view of the United States, of course, Kelli, this was really a tough week for the White House.

This weekend, the president's new envoy John Wolf is headed to the region. They are hoping that he is the man who at least can try to stop both sides from the violence.

He, of course, is being sent there to really set up shop there and to be the negotiator, the mediator, the person who will help both Palestinians and Israelis move forward with the road map.

But he can't do that, he can't start his job until the violence starts -- stops, which isn't going to be easy at all.

ARENA: We also heard from the White House this week. There seemed to be a shift, a change in tone. In the beginning of the week, we heard a very seemingly angry George Bush coming down hard on Israel, somewhat changing tone. Was there a shift in tone, or was it my imagination?

BASH: On Tuesday, when Israel launched a missile into Gaza, an attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader, the president was really angry. The White House was really angry.

The president came out, very tough words, really unusual words for the Israel prime minister -- or for Israel for doing that, saying it was very unhelpful for the process.

But it certainly changed -- the focus now is on terrorism and Hamas.

And with that, we do have Kelly Wallace in Gaza.

Kelly, certainly, an incredible scene there, and you have some news on some potential new developments there. Bring us up to date.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, sorry for some technical problems at the top here, but, yes, there's a tremendous amount going on behind the scenes to try and calm this situation down, after more than 50 people have been killed, Palestinians and Israelis, included.

Palestinian sources are telling us that there could be a high- level meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security officials as early as this evening, and the discussion is expected to center on plans for the Palestinians to take control of security in some areas of the Gaza Strip, and what that would mean would be Israeli forces would then pull out of those areas.

Palestinians, though, say for that to happen, they want to see at least a temporary halt in these attacks on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but it isn't clear if Israel will be willing to do that because, privately, Israeli officials are telling us they will continue to go after Hamas forcefully. One official says this is now an all-out war.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Does Mahmoud Abbas have much control at this point over the Palestinian people?

WALLACE: Did you ask -- was that Hamas that has most control over the Palestinian people? I believe you did.

COHEN: Actually, Mahmoud Abbas.

WALLACE: Right now, at least here in the Gaza Strip -- oh, Mahmoud Abbas. Well, it's a big battle right now. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, in fact, is not even in the region at the moment. He is in Jordan for some eye surgery.

Hamas is very, very popular on the Palestinian streets, and there is tremendous anger here right now after what we have seen, a number of Israeli air strikes over four days leaving more than 20 Palestinians dead.

So the message the Palestinians are trying to convey to the Israelis is you need to stop these kind of actions to give Mahmoud Abbas some support, some standing to try and convince these groups such as Hamas to halt their attacks against the Israelis.

An interesting development also on the Israeli side. It seems public sentiment is somewhat shifting. A poll that was released on Friday showed that 67 percent of Israelis are now saying they want to see a temporary halt to these Israeli air strikes to try and give the Palestinian prime minister a chance to kind of reassert himself because he's right now in a very, very shaky position.

ARENA: Kelly, every time I had seen you this past week, it looked like complete and utter chaos going on around you. Obviously, you are in Gaza.

Do you have any sense of what it is like beyond the strip? I mean is it -- it is business as usual, life going on, or is this permeating throughout the entire country?

WALLACE: Well, it isn't business as usual, Kelli. In fact, the streets today -- it's the beginning of the work week here in the Gaza Strip, and the streets are very, very quiet. People do seem -- they told us, in fact, just yesterday that they are concerned.

They have seen seven Israeli air strikes over four days, so there is some fear on the streets about when there could be another such attack. It seems to be affecting people moving around, possibly going to their jobs. So it's not business as usual.

At the same time, it might be hard for people to believe that after a suicide bombing in Israel and these Israeli air attacks, there is diplomacy going on behind the scenes. The Palestinians and the Israelis are talking to each other. Key issue here is the American pressure. The Palestinians are believing that the Americans are putting pressure on the Israelis. The Israelis believe the Americans are putting pressure on the Palestinians.

Both sides, though, are feeling some pressure, some sense right now to try and calm the situation down -- Kelli.

BASH: Kelly, my question for you is there has been sort of a talk and almost a fear here in the United States among some commentators and experts that there might be almost a civil war of sorts among the Palestinians.

Is that something that you are sensing as a possibility? Is it something that we're almost starting to see with what's going on between Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas and the P.A.?

WALLACE: The sense from the groups, Dana -- and we've been talking to a number of them -- is that, no, they do not believe they will go down that path of a civil war between various Palestinian factions, and the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, himself has said he wants to try and use dialogue to try and convince these groups to halt their attacks, not to use force, because he does not want to create any civil war between these groups.

Right now, what you have really, in essence, is a war between Israel and Hamas. Israel saying it's going to keep up the pressure. Hamas saying it's going to keep up the pressure. In fact, it issued a leaflet on Thursday urging foreigners to leave Israel, warning that there will be pending attacks against the Israelis.

So, right now, no fears of a civil war, but it's not clear exactly if Israel is saying it's going to keep up the pressure, Hamas saying it will continue attacks.

Right now, it's a big job ahead particularly, Dana, for the White House to try and pull the two sides back just a bit.

COHEN: Kelly, in the middle of all this -- this mess really do you see any rays of hope, anybody on either side who is ready to start talking peace, who has ideas to achieve peace?

WALLACE: Well, you know, there is -- there are some rays of hope because just the fact that there are likely to be meetings headed up on the Palestinian side by Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian security chief who the Israelis say they can do business with -- so that is one sense of a ray of hope.

Also, a sense that -- you get a feeling from Palestinians, a feeling from Israelis -- they have been in this now for more than two- and-a-half years. They have seen so many people killed on both sides. The situation is deteriorating. The Palestinian economy is in devastating shape. The Israeli economy is also feeling the heat from this. So there is a sense that this cycle of attack and counterattack can't go on. But people are somewhat skeptical. You know, there were a lot of smiles in Aqaba, Jordan, one week ago, a lot of cautious optimism, and, when you talk to veterans in this region, commentators and everyday Israelis and Palestinians, they say, you know what, said to say we have seen this before, and they just say they're just not confident this new peace plan is really going to make a big difference just yet.

BASH: Kelly, my question is, over the past few days, we have seen Colin Powell burning up the phone lines, making calls to not only the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but also to Arab leaders in the region because they say that what really needs to happen really is for -- particularly the Arab leaders -- they need to come out, they need to condemn Hamas and condemn these other terrorist groups.

Is it your sense that that is something, A, that will happen forcefully, and, B, will make any difference?

WALLACE: Well, two things, Dana. And you saw it there in Aqaba, Jordan, yourself.

You know, the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, coming out publicly at the podium condemning terrorism -- no matter what the motivation, that was a strong rebuke to groups like Hamas who say this is not terrorism, they are fighting for the cause of the Palestinian people.

Secondly, we know the Egyptians are working behind the scenes. An envoy has been in the region. The chief intelligence chief, rather, of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, has been meeting with the Palestinians, trying to work with groups like Hamas as well.

So there is a sense there is pressure coming from the Egyptians and possibly from Arab leaders.

It's also interesting, Dana -- and you saw this at the White House -- you had that criticism from President Bush on Tuesday. But then, since then, you haven't really heard direct, blunt criticism of the Israelis from the White House.

The Israelis say they passed along to the White House information about that Hamas leader, Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, and about Hamas, and they believe that has helped them in terms of having the White House see that Hamas needs to be reined in in order for this road map to have any chance of success down the road.

ARENA: Kelly, in the public's psyche, is it possible to separate Hamas from the Palestinian people in terms of goals, overall goals?

I mean there's -- there seems to be a shift, I was saying. You know, Palestine is not -- is not the enemy. The Israelis and other -- it is Hamas.

It is the terrorists that are the enemy, but can you really make that separation in the psyche of the Palestinian people? WALLACE: Well, Kelli, you raise a great point because viewers might not realize, but Hamas, this Palestinian militant group -- it says its ultimate goal really is creating an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel, and that, of course, has Israelis very concerned because they believe Hamas is basically out to destroy Israel as we know it.

Everyday, Palestinians, though -- most people you talk to say they want to see an end to Israeli occupation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, and we talked to a prominent Palestinian political activist yesterday.

He says, look, when there are reasons to be hopeful, there is less support for things like suicide bombings. When there is despair, there is more support for suicide bombings. So he said, if you end Israel's presence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, there would be no need for groups like Hamas. He said there would be no public support for suicide bombings. It would bring an end to groups like Hamas and groups really with the goal of the destruction of Israel.

So you do have sort of a different approach from everyday Palestinians, but, right now, Hamas -- they have a lot of support, or it has a lot of support because of the Israeli presence, Palestinians say, in the Palestinian territory.

BASH: Kelly Wallace, thank you for joining us.

Kelly, before we let you go, what is your day like ON THE STORY for the rest of the day?

WALLACE: Well, we will be checking to see if, in fact, that security meeting takes place, if not tonight, then tomorrow, and then we are waiting -- because it has been an incredible couple of days here -- so waiting for the possibility at any moment for breaking news.

Back to you.

BASH: Thanks, Kelly.

Well, Kelly was talking about the White House and how Washington is seeing what is going on in the Middle East, and everything that happens in the Middle East certainly is heard here in Washington as well.

And just ahead, the challenge for President Bush who just last week put the prestige of his presidency on the line to help find peace.

We're back ON THE STORY in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Isolate those who hate so much that they're willing to kill to stop peace from going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Blunt and angry talk from President Bush after the latest terrorist attacks that killed Israelis and retaliation that killed Palestinians.

Welcome back. We're ON THE STORY.

And when you saw, Kelli, the president's face, his demeanor just now, you can -- you could hear the anger in his voice. What a difference since last week, one week before that.

I was in Aqaba with the president. I was on the press pool on his plane, on Air Force One, coming from there. He brought us all up. Very rare that he does this. Actually, he hasn't done it since he's been president. But he brought us all up to the front of the plane and you could see the optimism in his -- not only in his face but the way he was talking about the meeting that he has just had. He was clearly really up.

He talked about the fact that he had brought both the Israeli and Palestinian prime minister out on to the grounds of King Abdullah's estate by the Red Sea. He watched them interact. He saw that -- he thought that the two of them really could be the two men who can forge peace in the future.

And he also said something really interesting, which was he thought it was a different time because people in the region, he believed -- believed still, I guess -- are sick and tired of death. He said that they're battle fatigued.

(CROSSTALK)

ARENA: ... one would hope, but, Dana, what is puzzling to me, is that, you know, despite that early involvement, despite that gung-ho attitude, as far as I can tell, he hasn't picked up the phone and gotten involved, you know, since this -- since this whole thing seems to be exploding. Why not?

BASH: He hasn't picked up the phone, that's right, and that's actually something that we've asked every day over the past week, whether he actually has placed the phone calls because one of the other things that we were asking the president after the summit last week was what is your involvement going to be, and his answer was I'm going to be there to -- now it's become famous -- "ride herd," to help get the sides together, and to hold the two sides to account.

But he also made clear that he's got his point man. He's a delegator, he said. He's got his point people which are -- who are Condoleeza Rice, his national security adviser, and Colin Powell, secretary of state, and they're the ones who are going to be on the phone and really pushing. They have done that. They have been on the phone all week.

The other interesting thing -- when we asked many times this week why hasn't the president called, Ari Fleischer said who's he going to call, Hamas, because they believe right now that it's really Hamas. As Kelly Wallace was saying, Hamas is the bad guy, clearly, and the Israelis are not the issue, and the Palestinians are not the issue. It is Hamas.

COHEN: Dana, the news this week out of the Middle East has just so dominated the headlines and the airwaves. How much is it covering up some of the domestic issues that the president has to deal with it?

BASH: You know, Elizabeth, this week, I was in Chicago with the president, and it was a speech to launch his drive to get Medicare -- prescription drugs for recipients of Medicare. That was his entire speech.

But you almost didn't hear anything about it because, unfortunately, that was the day of the bus bombing and he had to come out and talk about the fact that, you know, he was clearly upset about it, and the domestic issue, the number one domestic issue of the day, Medicare, really didn't get very far at all.

So it probably is clouding things a bit, but, by the same token, the war in Iraq is essentially off the front pages. So he is able to talk about a lot of the domestic issues.

Not only that, but the child-care tax credit has been a big issue, and the Democrats are certainly going to help that along because they believe, for them, the domestic issues, particularly the economy, are going to help them going into the next election.

ARENA: Dana, just one quick question. The situation with Hamas is puzzling to me because you have the United States, of course, going after terrorists. I mean that was the main -- you know, one of the main headlines for the war with Iraq. But you have the United States trying to tell Israel hold off, wait a second, don't -- you know, don't go after the terrorists.

BASH: That's a very interesting question because Condoleeza Rice was asked that, why -- are you holding Israel to a double standard. You've got the president of the United States going out, saying we will not tolerate terrorism. And yet, at the beginning of the week, they were making it clear that Israel -- they didn't want Israel to necessarily go after Hamas.

Well, towards the end of the week, they were changing their tune really in a big way and making it clear that terrorism cannot go forward and that they did hope that Israel would use restraint in retaliating, but they also didn't give the green light to Israel to go after the terrorists, but also held back a little bit.

ARENA: It's a very fine line.

BASH: Very fine line.

ARENA: It is a very fine line, yes.

Well, it is not just the politicians and the diplomats who have their bad days. What about Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open? Well, Josie Karp is ON THE STORY in two minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Jose Karp is a correspondent for CNN Sports. She joined CNN in 1998. Earlier, she covered the Dallas Cowboys for the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram." She graduated from Harvard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: No, I don't ever feel like I've ever been in a slump. No. I think my overall career has been pretty -- pretty good. Ever since I came out of the womb and started playing golf, I've had a pretty good career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARP: That's Tiger Woods, the world's best golfer, showing he also has a sense of humor, too.

Welcome back to ON THE STORY.

We're here in Olympia Fields, Illinois, where they're playing the U.S. Open this week.

And it was a little bit of a strange week for Tiger Woods because, normally, going into a major championship like this, everyone's focused on just how well Tiger Woods is playing, what his chances are, but he actually did have to answer a question about whether he's not -- he's in a slump.

And this is interesting because Tiger Woods has really set a new standard. If he's in a slump just because he hasn't won a major championship in almost a year and he hasn't won a single tournament since March, even though he started out the year winning three of his first four tournaments, he has to answer these questions.

So Tiger took it out on the golf course yesterday, ladies. He is right back contention now.

BASH: Josie, there's another interesting drama going on there, and that is with Vijay Singh. We talked about him certainly before because of the Annika Sorenstam controversy. Is that -- how is that playing into the current tournament there?

KARP: Well, it's come up again because Vijay Singh went out yesterday and he tied a major championship record and a U.S. Open record by shooting a 63, and he's right up there tied for the lead, as they head into the weekend now.

And you'll remember, just going back, Vijay Singh had those controversial comments about Annika Sorenstam. He says that he's not focused on that, he's only focused on his golf game, but we saw it yesterday on the 14th hole.

If that is true, he has some incredible focus because there was a heckler in the stands who actually had to be removed after he said something about Annika Sorenstam. Singh denied that he saw anything, but he made a gesture that really made it seem like he knew what was going on.

And, again, a lot of people think that Vijay Singh has been judged way too harshly because of what he said.

ARENA: You know, my -- my favorite story there, Josie, is the Tom Watson story, 53 years old and just booking out there. I -- that's just amazing.

KARP: Everyone seems to be really touched by this story, even if you're not all that interested in golf. Any 50-something out there has to take some inspiration from Tom Watson.

He's 53, the oldest guy in the field, and, after round one, he was in the lead. But it's not just Tom Watson that's so inspiring. He's getting his inspiration from his caddy, Bruce Edwards. And if you're out here and you're walking around, you can see that there's something a little different about Bruce Edwards.

He's 48 years old. He looks a little bit older. That's because he's suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, and he's out here walking 18 holes, carrying the bag for Tom Watson. His prognosis is not good. They don't know how long they're going to be together, not just out on the golf course, but really how long Bruce Edwards is going to live because this is a disease that has no cure.

So this is another story. If Vijay Singh was the touchstone for controversy, well, then Tom Watson was the touchstone for feel-good stories this week.

COHEN: That is really incredible. Have the two men been together for a long time? Have they been working out there together far a long time?

KARP: They have been. It's been almost 30 years that these two have been together, and, if you consider that Bruce Edwards is 48, you know, he was a teenager when these two teamed up.

Another thing about Olympia Fields -- this is where Tom Watson played his first professional tournament. These two had so many great moments together, and it seemed like they were just grateful to have one more.

In fact, being out here, it was a public moment, but they really seemed to share something private and very personal and very special on Thursday. In fact, you don't see this a lot. There were tears in the eyes of both men for a couple of holes -- it wasn't just at the very end -- as they went through this, realizing that it was something very, very special.

ARENA: Well, talking about other mature athletes, Roger Clemens. Hello!

KARP: I know. He finally won his 300th game, and this was a situation that really looked like it might degenerate into something far from what you hoped it would be, which is, again, an inspirational moment.

It took him four tries, and then the watch became is he going to do it, is he going to do it, will he ever do it. But he finally did it last night on the same night that he got his 4,000th career strikeout. For the 40-year-old, really an incredible feat.

And it took a little pressure off the Yankees, too, because I don't know if you've noticed -- they've been in the headlines not the way they normally are because they're playing so well, but they got no hits this week.

ARENA: I know! I know!

KARP: It's been a bad week for the New York Yankees.

ARENA: This is the first time ever that they got a no hit. I'm a New Yorker. This cannot be!

(CROSSTALK)

KARP: ... a long time. Yes, it's the first time in a long time, Kelli. But, certainly, with Roger Clemens getting that victory last night, it was a moment in time for the New York Yankees, a moment in time for him, and it certainly took a little bit of the pressure off of Joe Torre, the manager of the Yankees, at least for a little while.

BASH: Josie, I want to ask you just quickly about another controversy brewing in the sports world, and that is with the coach -- I guess now former coach -- at the University of Washington. Some gambling issues there.

KARP: Yes, it seems like we can't escape this in the world of college athletics. We were talking about this on the show a couple of weeks ago. The two coaches, one at Iowa State and one at the University of Alabama, who got into trouble. That was sex and booze. These are some vices we're talking about.

Now it's gambling with the University of Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel. He has been fired because it's a public university. They have to go through a situation where he can appeal until June 26th, but he bet money in one of those NCAA college basketball pools, which everyone does, but the NCAA has ruled against these things.

When you're the head coach of a major university or any university, you're not allowed to gamble. There was a little bit of a discrepancy. Neuheisel thought it was OK to go out and spend a total of $6,000 in this pool over the last two years because there had been a memo that circulated via e-mail from the compliance officer at the university saying these types of pools were OK.

But the University of Washington says that, hey, even if this memo was in error, you have to know better than that, and -- it's not just the gambling, though. There's some other issues with Rick Neuheisel.

It seems like this is an opportunity for the university to get rid of a guy who hasn't necessarily been in compliance with other NCAA rules in the past and who, the athletic director suggests, lied earlier in the spring about whether or not he interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their head coaching vacancy.

So there's history here. It's not just this one thing.

BASH: Josie, thanks for joining us from the Open there in Chicago.

And we are going to turn to the other big spectator sport this week. That was watching the hoopla surrounding Hillary Clinton and her autobiography.

We're back with the check on the headlines of the hour and ON THE STORY in two minutes.

But, first, a check of the headlines from CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: The ON THE STORY question: Did Hillary launch her bestseller and her presidential hopes this week?

Welcome back.

It was a media and marketing and, some say, political campaign that was impossible to miss this week.

And, Kelli, my favorite slip of the tongue for the week was -- I think it was a Barnes and Noble manager saying that she sold all of these Hillary Potter books. Completely missed the tongue.

But let me tell you it was an amazing week. She broke all records for a non-fiction book, 200 million in -- excuse me, 200,000 -- 200 million would be a lot -- 200,000 in the first day. The -- there was a million printed at the beginning.

They kept sort of bouncing it up throughout the week, and I'm told that there could be a million and a half printed by this week. So it was really a tremendous boon for her, much more than really anybody had imagined.

KARP: Dana, you know, obviously, Clinton's been the object of a huge media crush before. I'm wondering how that compares to this crush that she felt as she went on the book signing tour. It just looked incredible, the turnout, not just the sales.

BASH: Well, I'm told -- I, unfortunately, didn't get to go to any of the turnouts, but I was -- talked to somebody who has been with her a lot, and she -- he was telling me about the massive amount of people, particularly at the Wal-Mart, which was here in suburban D.C.

Apparently, the line went through 16 aisles at the Wal-Mart, and she was there signing books for so many hours that her hand like stopped -- it actually stopped working. She had to get a massage on her hand because she couldn't form the letters anymore. She told her aides that she almost felt like a child trying to figure out how to write again.

So it was really really tremendous. She -- I think she has her fifth book signing today, fifth in a week, so she's really rocking and rolling.

COHEN: Dana, as I've heard people talk about this this week, I've heard sort of the cynical and the not so cynical reviews of it. And the cynical reviews are sort of like, well, she just wants to be president in a couple of years and this is all about her political ambitions, and other people saying, no, she's writing her memories because she was first lady, and that's what first ladies. What do you think?

BASH: Well, I'll tell you the -- the line from her camp is that this is what first ladies do, that this is in keeping with what her predecessors have done. Barbara Bush wrote about a memoir just about this time when she had been out of office, and others have, too.

Of course, you can't compare Hillary Clinton to any of the former first ladies because she is a current political figure. She's a United States senator. And, of course, she is somebody who is saying for sure she will not run for president in 2004, and...

ARENA: But what does she say? What does she say?

BASH: ... her standard -- well, 2004 is out. She said when she ran for Senate, she's not going to do it. You know, there are...

ARENA: What about 2008?

BASH: Two thousand eight -- the line is -- listen to any interview -- is I have no intention of running in 2008. She will stick to it. She will say it over and over again, and that is really the standard response from any politician who doesn't really want to go there yet, and she doesn't want to go there yet.

She's -- you know, she's talking about the book. She is talking about the fact that, you know, she is the United States senator from New York, and it's -- it was interesting just covering her for a while in Congress. At the beginning, she really did a very good job. She got applause from all across the board, Republicans and Democrats, for being what they call a work horse and not a show horse.

But things are definitely changing. This book was in the makings for a while, since she left the White House, and it's something that she says -- she said in a number of interviews -- that she felt like she had to write, and...

But just the amount -- the number of people who want to know the story -- everybody lived it. Everybody lived impeachment. Everybody lived what happened with Monica and everything else. And there is still such an interest. It's amazing to know really what happened behind the scenes, what was really going on inside the White House.

KARP: Dana, she's getting so much publicity, and, whether she's a candidate or not, she's certainly getting the kind of publicity candidates can only dream of. What's been the reaction from those Democrats who do dream of running for president in 2004 who are already out there?

BASH: Well, there certainly has been a lot of talk of -- actually some grumbling about the fact that she's been sucking up all the air from all of the nine candidates who are running for president from the Democratic side, you know, and -- talked to a strategist who is certainly a Hillary supporter who said, look, you know, the fact that people are talking about the fact that she's sucking up their air is giving those candidates more air time than they would ever get if Hillary didn't even exist.

So that's their line, but it is an interesting dynamic to see the difference between her and all nine of the other candidates.

COHEN: Dana, Hillary was the big political story this week. The big medical story this week is smallpox. When we come back, we'll talk about where it came from and how serious will it be.

I'm back ON THE STORY in two minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Elizabeth Cohen is a CNN medical correspondent. She joined CNN in 1991. Earlier, she worked as a newspaper reporter in Washington and Albany. She has a master's degree in public health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID FLEMING, CDC DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We do need to be prepared for the fact that monkeypox can be a fatal disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Dr. David Fleming of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the potential danger of monkeypox. Now, earlier, I said we'd be talking about smallpox. I got my poxes mixed up. We're talking about monkeypox.

Welcome back to ON THE STORY.

We've -- I've been talking about monkeypox all week. Let's give the monkeypox number rundown here: 85 cases of monkeypox in human beings are under investigation in the United States; 13 of those have been laboratory confirmed. Now there are 16 possible cases among children at a day-care center in Indiana. I know when you hear that, your heart just drops. What happened -- this is a day-care center in a private home, and the owners decided to buy two prairie dogs for the kids to play with.

ARENA: What a...

COHEN: ... with, and now...

ARENA: OK. Elizabeth...

COHEN: ... 16 of them might have monkeypox.

Yes, Kelli?

ARENA: I am sorry. I am sorry. But does this open up the question to anyone but me as to whether or not people should actually have these exotic animals in their homes?

COHEN: Kelli, absolutely. You are not alone. Many people have been saying -- many public health experts have been saying for years why do we have these exotic animals, why do people have them? Exotic animals can carry diseases.

What happened in this case is that an exotic animal called a Gambian rat came from Africa to Texas, was in the same facility as some prairie dogs. The prairie dogs were then shipped to Illinois and were purchased there.

And so what the government's doing now is now they have banned the importation of rodents from Africa and banned the sale of prairie dogs and other similar kinds of rodents.

So, yes, many people are saying why -- why do we let them -- why do we let people do this. For example, I think a lot of people don't know that 70,000 people a year get salmonella from reptiles, not from eating them but from playing with them. So it's definitely a question on many people's minds.

BASH: No, but there are people who do have prairie dogs here in the United States. Are there telltale signs for those people to determine whether or not their prairie dogs do have monkeypox?

COHEN: Well, yes, there are telltale signs for the animals and also telltale signs for themselves, and that would be a fever and those sort of lesions that we just a picture of, those little sores, also a cough and muscle aches and headache.

Now, unfortunately, monkeypox can look like a whole bunch of other diseases, and so the numbers go up and down. They think someone has monkeypox, but it turns out they actually have chickenpox. But that's what you want to look for.

Anyone who has a prairie dog or knows someone, has been in contact with someone who has a prairie dog and gets that kind of flu- like illness -- they really need to call their doctor. ARENA: Elizabeth, you said that children, you know, at a day- care center may have it. I mean it -- we have not seen any fatalities here due to this, right?

COHEN: That's right. We haven't seen fatalities.

The people who know the most about this disease are Africans, and that's because that disease has been recognized there since 1970. There, up to about 10 percent of the people die.

Now public health experts here tell me they don't expect to see that mortality rate here because the medical care is better, and, also, they're offering the smallpox vaccine to people who might have been exposed to monkeypox.

Smallpox and monkeypox are closely related. So they're telling people if you think you've been exposed to an animal that has monkeypox, let us know and we'll offer you the smallpox vaccine.

BASH: Elizabeth, tell us about the smallpox vaccine exactly and how it's being distributed, who's getting it, and whether people should think about getting the smallpox vaccine, if they at all think that they might have been exposed to monkeypox.

COHEN: Right. It's only for people who truly, seriously believe that they might have been exposed. I mean just anyone should not run out and get -- ask for the smallpox vaccine. They couldn't get it anyhow. It is a potentially very dangerous vaccine, and you only want to get it if you really need it.

In other words, if you have a prairie dog and that prairie dog got monkeypox and died, then you definitely should be calling your local health department.

ARENA: Hello? Hello? Hello?

COHEN: Yes.

ARENA: But what about -- Elizabeth, I remember the horrible pictures of victims of smallpox and how they just were deformed afterwards. You know, their skin -- are we -- will we see the same result for people who are infected with monkeypox?

BASH: Or do they even know?

COHEN: Well, one thing to remember about monkeypox is that some of the patients have not had very many of these lesions. They don't necessarily cover their whole body. Public health experts tell me that sometimes the scars are permanent and sometimes they're not.

ARENA: Well, another scientific whodunit is playing out around Washington this week. The latest hunt for clues in the still unsolved anthrax killings.

I'm back in two minutes ON THE STORY.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Kelli Arena is CNN's justice correspondent. Earlier, she worked for CNN's Financial News. The New York Festivals awarded her a 2002 Best Correspondent Award.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF KIM DINE, FREDERICK, MARYLAND, POLICE: The information we've been provided has continually indicated that there's no problem with the water and there's no anthrax in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: That was Kim Don, Frederick, Maryland, police chief, talking earlier in the week to reassure nearby residents that draining a pond would not spread anthrax.

Welcome back. We're ON THE STORY.

So the FBI is out there in Frederick, Maryland, draining an acre pond.

BASH: What a scene.

ARENA: You know, it took them several days to empty the pond. They put the water into other nearby ponds.

Big environmental concerns, but they took care of that. They made sure that they safeguarded some exotic plants, including some orchids that exist around the pond.

And they are hunting now, going through mud knee deep, some of them needing to be pulled out by other agents because they're sinking in the slosh that is there. The rain here has not helped.

But they're looking for anything that may, you know, help them in the investigation of the anthrax killings, that this was a tip that dates back to the winter in December that led them to the ponds in Frederick, Maryland, which is not far from Fort Deitrich where there's an Army research lab that has the strain -- that works with the strain of anthrax that was used in the anthrax killings, you know, back in 2001.

So some agents are calling this a shot in the dark, others are saying it is a very logical next step in this investigation. But, so far, nothing.

COHEN: Kelli, we just heard that official say there's no problem with the water, there's no anthrax in the water. So then what are they doing in the water?

ARENA: They actually -- well, they've been there several times at this pond, and, back in the winter, they dredged up a box, a clear box with holes in one side, that investigators describe as being similar to those that are used in a laboratory to limit exposure to hazardous materials, and there's one theory that is out there.

It is not a widely held theory, but it is a theory out there that the anthrax killer may have gone into the waters, submersed this in the water, and filled the envelopes with the anthrax under water, and that may be why there has been no trace of anthrax found anywhere on land. Just one theory.

Another theory is that the anthrax killer may have prepared the anthrax and then thrown the equipment into the pond. Again, nothing that has come up in this pond yet has tested positive for anthrax. Testing does continue, though, on some stuff that was dredged up several months ago because protocols have to be put in place and it does take a while.

BASH: It was a very scary arrest in Thailand this week.

ARENA: Yes, speaking of hazardous material...

BASH: Tell us about that, the...

ARENA: Hello.

BASH: ... potential to make a dirty bomb.

ARENA: Make a dirty bomb, right. The U.S. investigators -- Customs agents, actually -- had gotten a tip back in October about someone who was peddling at the time who was saying it was uranium to make a dirty bomb.

They set up a sting operation with Thai police. They go. They buy some of the product from this individual. They go back. They test it. It turns out to be cesium-137, which is also useful in the making of radiological dirty bombs. They continue the relationship, set up another sting operation, and arrest him.

But here's the thing. So far, this person through the investigation has not turned up any ties to any terrorist organization, so...

BASH: But it's -- OK. He's...

ARENA: This looks like pure profit. This looks like somebody who's out there trying to sell this stuff for a quarter of a million bucks, and it is available. It is out there on the black market.

BASH: But they don't know who he was trying to sell it to yet?

ARENA: Well, I mean -- well, allegedly to these -- to the individuals that were trying to buy it. So he was just making himself known and available. So that's -- that's what it was -- that's -- so very scary, but the investigation there continues. But no evidence that this was involved in any plot against the United States or anywhere else, for that matter. BASH: Kelli, thank you. And thanks to all my colleagues.

And thank you for watching ON THE STORY. We'll be back next week. But still ahead, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" and "The Quest for Peace: The Key Players in the Mideast." And at 12:00 noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, "CNN LIVE SATURDAY." And at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, CNN's "IN THE MONEY" with Jack Cafferty, looking at why our power bills are set to soar this summer.

And coming up at the top of the hour, a news alert, but first, the president's weekly radio address.

(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)

BUSH: Good morning.

June 14th is Flag Day, which commemorates the date in 1777 when the Continental Congress officially made the Stars and Stripes the symbol of America. The founders declared that the 13 stars gracing the original flag represented "a new constellation," just as America represented new hope and new light for mankind.

Over the past 226 years, our flag has been a symbol of freedom wherever it flies. It inspires hope in people suffering under tyranny or terror. It welcomes immigrants from every land searching for a better life. And it rallies our nation in times of conflict and crisis.

Whenever the flag is raised, Americans are reminded of our unity in the great cause of liberty and justice for all. Our nation's flag is hung proudly in homes and schools, honored in parades and stadiums, flown on the field of battle and folded at the graves of heroes.

When Francis Scott Key saw the Stars and Stripes flying over Fort McHenry in 1814, he knew that liberty would persevere. That same faith was affirmed by Marines who planted the flag at Iwo Jima, and by the heroes of 9/11, who raised and saluted the flag at Ground Zero.

By showing respect for our flag, we show reverence for the ideals that guide our nation. And we show appreciation for the men and women who have served and sacrificed in defense of those ideals -- from the early patriots of the Continental Congress to the members of our military defending freedom around the world today.

This weekend, in communities across the nation, Americans will have the opportunity to honor the flag and to thank the men and women who serve our country in uniform. As they continue to fight the war on terror in lands far from home, our troops rely on the support of their fellow citizens. I urge all Americans to participate in Flag Day celebrations honoring American armed forces and recognizing our veterans.

Our nation is strengthened every time a citizen steps forward to serve a cause greater than self-interest. And each of us can serve and strengthen America by reaching out to neighbors in need. There are so many ways to improve the lives of fellow Americans -- by answering the call to feed the hungry, or caring for the elderly, or teaching a child to read, or joining with neighbors to support the police, fire fighters and medics who respond to emergencies. Every action you take will strengthen the bonds of community that unite all Americans and extend the promise of American life to another citizen.

Between now and the 4th of July, Americans will reflect often on the foundations of our freedom. Our country's founding generation established liberty and justice on this continent more than two centuries ago, and every generation is expected to protect and defend those ideals.

Our duty as Americans is to serve our country, to defend the cause of liberty and to extend the realm of freedom across the earth. Our generation can proudly say that we are answering that call.

Thank you for listening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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




U.S. Open Under Way; Mideast Diplomacy in Turmoil>


Aired June 14, 2003 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN's ON THE STORY where our journalists have the inside word on the stories we covered this week.
I'm Kelli Arena.

On guard for terrorism at home and abroad. Will emptying a pond in Maryland offer up new clues about the anthrax murders?

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Josie Karp in Olympia Fields, Illinois.

I'll be back later on the story on the U.S. Open where you'll find the game's best player and its most controversial both on the front page of the leader board.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on the story of how Mideast violence echoes all the way here to Washington and how President Bush finds his week-old Mideast diplomacy in turmoil.

We'll be talking about all of these stories. Also, we'll talk about the book, how Hillary scored big this week with bestseller sales and political buzz.

And, at the end of the hour, we'll hear President Bush's weekly radio address released just a few minutes from now.

Tell us what's on your mind. E-mail us here, onthestory@cnn.com.

Right now, road map or dead end?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL SHARON, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We have the deepest obligation to do everything to go forward with a peace process that will bring peace and quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASSER ARAFAT, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (through translator): The evil vicious circle of military operations from all parties must stop immediately. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now we're hoping that Kelly Wallace will join us momentarily from Gaza.

But, from the point of view of the United States, of course, Kelli, this was really a tough week for the White House.

This weekend, the president's new envoy John Wolf is headed to the region. They are hoping that he is the man who at least can try to stop both sides from the violence.

He, of course, is being sent there to really set up shop there and to be the negotiator, the mediator, the person who will help both Palestinians and Israelis move forward with the road map.

But he can't do that, he can't start his job until the violence starts -- stops, which isn't going to be easy at all.

ARENA: We also heard from the White House this week. There seemed to be a shift, a change in tone. In the beginning of the week, we heard a very seemingly angry George Bush coming down hard on Israel, somewhat changing tone. Was there a shift in tone, or was it my imagination?

BASH: On Tuesday, when Israel launched a missile into Gaza, an attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader, the president was really angry. The White House was really angry.

The president came out, very tough words, really unusual words for the Israel prime minister -- or for Israel for doing that, saying it was very unhelpful for the process.

But it certainly changed -- the focus now is on terrorism and Hamas.

And with that, we do have Kelly Wallace in Gaza.

Kelly, certainly, an incredible scene there, and you have some news on some potential new developments there. Bring us up to date.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, sorry for some technical problems at the top here, but, yes, there's a tremendous amount going on behind the scenes to try and calm this situation down, after more than 50 people have been killed, Palestinians and Israelis, included.

Palestinian sources are telling us that there could be a high- level meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security officials as early as this evening, and the discussion is expected to center on plans for the Palestinians to take control of security in some areas of the Gaza Strip, and what that would mean would be Israeli forces would then pull out of those areas.

Palestinians, though, say for that to happen, they want to see at least a temporary halt in these attacks on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but it isn't clear if Israel will be willing to do that because, privately, Israeli officials are telling us they will continue to go after Hamas forcefully. One official says this is now an all-out war.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Does Mahmoud Abbas have much control at this point over the Palestinian people?

WALLACE: Did you ask -- was that Hamas that has most control over the Palestinian people? I believe you did.

COHEN: Actually, Mahmoud Abbas.

WALLACE: Right now, at least here in the Gaza Strip -- oh, Mahmoud Abbas. Well, it's a big battle right now. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, in fact, is not even in the region at the moment. He is in Jordan for some eye surgery.

Hamas is very, very popular on the Palestinian streets, and there is tremendous anger here right now after what we have seen, a number of Israeli air strikes over four days leaving more than 20 Palestinians dead.

So the message the Palestinians are trying to convey to the Israelis is you need to stop these kind of actions to give Mahmoud Abbas some support, some standing to try and convince these groups such as Hamas to halt their attacks against the Israelis.

An interesting development also on the Israeli side. It seems public sentiment is somewhat shifting. A poll that was released on Friday showed that 67 percent of Israelis are now saying they want to see a temporary halt to these Israeli air strikes to try and give the Palestinian prime minister a chance to kind of reassert himself because he's right now in a very, very shaky position.

ARENA: Kelly, every time I had seen you this past week, it looked like complete and utter chaos going on around you. Obviously, you are in Gaza.

Do you have any sense of what it is like beyond the strip? I mean is it -- it is business as usual, life going on, or is this permeating throughout the entire country?

WALLACE: Well, it isn't business as usual, Kelli. In fact, the streets today -- it's the beginning of the work week here in the Gaza Strip, and the streets are very, very quiet. People do seem -- they told us, in fact, just yesterday that they are concerned.

They have seen seven Israeli air strikes over four days, so there is some fear on the streets about when there could be another such attack. It seems to be affecting people moving around, possibly going to their jobs. So it's not business as usual.

At the same time, it might be hard for people to believe that after a suicide bombing in Israel and these Israeli air attacks, there is diplomacy going on behind the scenes. The Palestinians and the Israelis are talking to each other. Key issue here is the American pressure. The Palestinians are believing that the Americans are putting pressure on the Israelis. The Israelis believe the Americans are putting pressure on the Palestinians.

Both sides, though, are feeling some pressure, some sense right now to try and calm the situation down -- Kelli.

BASH: Kelly, my question for you is there has been sort of a talk and almost a fear here in the United States among some commentators and experts that there might be almost a civil war of sorts among the Palestinians.

Is that something that you are sensing as a possibility? Is it something that we're almost starting to see with what's going on between Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas and the P.A.?

WALLACE: The sense from the groups, Dana -- and we've been talking to a number of them -- is that, no, they do not believe they will go down that path of a civil war between various Palestinian factions, and the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, himself has said he wants to try and use dialogue to try and convince these groups to halt their attacks, not to use force, because he does not want to create any civil war between these groups.

Right now, what you have really, in essence, is a war between Israel and Hamas. Israel saying it's going to keep up the pressure. Hamas saying it's going to keep up the pressure. In fact, it issued a leaflet on Thursday urging foreigners to leave Israel, warning that there will be pending attacks against the Israelis.

So, right now, no fears of a civil war, but it's not clear exactly if Israel is saying it's going to keep up the pressure, Hamas saying it will continue attacks.

Right now, it's a big job ahead particularly, Dana, for the White House to try and pull the two sides back just a bit.

COHEN: Kelly, in the middle of all this -- this mess really do you see any rays of hope, anybody on either side who is ready to start talking peace, who has ideas to achieve peace?

WALLACE: Well, you know, there is -- there are some rays of hope because just the fact that there are likely to be meetings headed up on the Palestinian side by Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian security chief who the Israelis say they can do business with -- so that is one sense of a ray of hope.

Also, a sense that -- you get a feeling from Palestinians, a feeling from Israelis -- they have been in this now for more than two- and-a-half years. They have seen so many people killed on both sides. The situation is deteriorating. The Palestinian economy is in devastating shape. The Israeli economy is also feeling the heat from this. So there is a sense that this cycle of attack and counterattack can't go on. But people are somewhat skeptical. You know, there were a lot of smiles in Aqaba, Jordan, one week ago, a lot of cautious optimism, and, when you talk to veterans in this region, commentators and everyday Israelis and Palestinians, they say, you know what, said to say we have seen this before, and they just say they're just not confident this new peace plan is really going to make a big difference just yet.

BASH: Kelly, my question is, over the past few days, we have seen Colin Powell burning up the phone lines, making calls to not only the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but also to Arab leaders in the region because they say that what really needs to happen really is for -- particularly the Arab leaders -- they need to come out, they need to condemn Hamas and condemn these other terrorist groups.

Is it your sense that that is something, A, that will happen forcefully, and, B, will make any difference?

WALLACE: Well, two things, Dana. And you saw it there in Aqaba, Jordan, yourself.

You know, the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, coming out publicly at the podium condemning terrorism -- no matter what the motivation, that was a strong rebuke to groups like Hamas who say this is not terrorism, they are fighting for the cause of the Palestinian people.

Secondly, we know the Egyptians are working behind the scenes. An envoy has been in the region. The chief intelligence chief, rather, of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, has been meeting with the Palestinians, trying to work with groups like Hamas as well.

So there is a sense there is pressure coming from the Egyptians and possibly from Arab leaders.

It's also interesting, Dana -- and you saw this at the White House -- you had that criticism from President Bush on Tuesday. But then, since then, you haven't really heard direct, blunt criticism of the Israelis from the White House.

The Israelis say they passed along to the White House information about that Hamas leader, Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, and about Hamas, and they believe that has helped them in terms of having the White House see that Hamas needs to be reined in in order for this road map to have any chance of success down the road.

ARENA: Kelly, in the public's psyche, is it possible to separate Hamas from the Palestinian people in terms of goals, overall goals?

I mean there's -- there seems to be a shift, I was saying. You know, Palestine is not -- is not the enemy. The Israelis and other -- it is Hamas.

It is the terrorists that are the enemy, but can you really make that separation in the psyche of the Palestinian people? WALLACE: Well, Kelli, you raise a great point because viewers might not realize, but Hamas, this Palestinian militant group -- it says its ultimate goal really is creating an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel, and that, of course, has Israelis very concerned because they believe Hamas is basically out to destroy Israel as we know it.

Everyday, Palestinians, though -- most people you talk to say they want to see an end to Israeli occupation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, and we talked to a prominent Palestinian political activist yesterday.

He says, look, when there are reasons to be hopeful, there is less support for things like suicide bombings. When there is despair, there is more support for suicide bombings. So he said, if you end Israel's presence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, there would be no need for groups like Hamas. He said there would be no public support for suicide bombings. It would bring an end to groups like Hamas and groups really with the goal of the destruction of Israel.

So you do have sort of a different approach from everyday Palestinians, but, right now, Hamas -- they have a lot of support, or it has a lot of support because of the Israeli presence, Palestinians say, in the Palestinian territory.

BASH: Kelly Wallace, thank you for joining us.

Kelly, before we let you go, what is your day like ON THE STORY for the rest of the day?

WALLACE: Well, we will be checking to see if, in fact, that security meeting takes place, if not tonight, then tomorrow, and then we are waiting -- because it has been an incredible couple of days here -- so waiting for the possibility at any moment for breaking news.

Back to you.

BASH: Thanks, Kelly.

Well, Kelly was talking about the White House and how Washington is seeing what is going on in the Middle East, and everything that happens in the Middle East certainly is heard here in Washington as well.

And just ahead, the challenge for President Bush who just last week put the prestige of his presidency on the line to help find peace.

We're back ON THE STORY in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Isolate those who hate so much that they're willing to kill to stop peace from going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Blunt and angry talk from President Bush after the latest terrorist attacks that killed Israelis and retaliation that killed Palestinians.

Welcome back. We're ON THE STORY.

And when you saw, Kelli, the president's face, his demeanor just now, you can -- you could hear the anger in his voice. What a difference since last week, one week before that.

I was in Aqaba with the president. I was on the press pool on his plane, on Air Force One, coming from there. He brought us all up. Very rare that he does this. Actually, he hasn't done it since he's been president. But he brought us all up to the front of the plane and you could see the optimism in his -- not only in his face but the way he was talking about the meeting that he has just had. He was clearly really up.

He talked about the fact that he had brought both the Israeli and Palestinian prime minister out on to the grounds of King Abdullah's estate by the Red Sea. He watched them interact. He saw that -- he thought that the two of them really could be the two men who can forge peace in the future.

And he also said something really interesting, which was he thought it was a different time because people in the region, he believed -- believed still, I guess -- are sick and tired of death. He said that they're battle fatigued.

(CROSSTALK)

ARENA: ... one would hope, but, Dana, what is puzzling to me, is that, you know, despite that early involvement, despite that gung-ho attitude, as far as I can tell, he hasn't picked up the phone and gotten involved, you know, since this -- since this whole thing seems to be exploding. Why not?

BASH: He hasn't picked up the phone, that's right, and that's actually something that we've asked every day over the past week, whether he actually has placed the phone calls because one of the other things that we were asking the president after the summit last week was what is your involvement going to be, and his answer was I'm going to be there to -- now it's become famous -- "ride herd," to help get the sides together, and to hold the two sides to account.

But he also made clear that he's got his point man. He's a delegator, he said. He's got his point people which are -- who are Condoleeza Rice, his national security adviser, and Colin Powell, secretary of state, and they're the ones who are going to be on the phone and really pushing. They have done that. They have been on the phone all week.

The other interesting thing -- when we asked many times this week why hasn't the president called, Ari Fleischer said who's he going to call, Hamas, because they believe right now that it's really Hamas. As Kelly Wallace was saying, Hamas is the bad guy, clearly, and the Israelis are not the issue, and the Palestinians are not the issue. It is Hamas.

COHEN: Dana, the news this week out of the Middle East has just so dominated the headlines and the airwaves. How much is it covering up some of the domestic issues that the president has to deal with it?

BASH: You know, Elizabeth, this week, I was in Chicago with the president, and it was a speech to launch his drive to get Medicare -- prescription drugs for recipients of Medicare. That was his entire speech.

But you almost didn't hear anything about it because, unfortunately, that was the day of the bus bombing and he had to come out and talk about the fact that, you know, he was clearly upset about it, and the domestic issue, the number one domestic issue of the day, Medicare, really didn't get very far at all.

So it probably is clouding things a bit, but, by the same token, the war in Iraq is essentially off the front pages. So he is able to talk about a lot of the domestic issues.

Not only that, but the child-care tax credit has been a big issue, and the Democrats are certainly going to help that along because they believe, for them, the domestic issues, particularly the economy, are going to help them going into the next election.

ARENA: Dana, just one quick question. The situation with Hamas is puzzling to me because you have the United States, of course, going after terrorists. I mean that was the main -- you know, one of the main headlines for the war with Iraq. But you have the United States trying to tell Israel hold off, wait a second, don't -- you know, don't go after the terrorists.

BASH: That's a very interesting question because Condoleeza Rice was asked that, why -- are you holding Israel to a double standard. You've got the president of the United States going out, saying we will not tolerate terrorism. And yet, at the beginning of the week, they were making it clear that Israel -- they didn't want Israel to necessarily go after Hamas.

Well, towards the end of the week, they were changing their tune really in a big way and making it clear that terrorism cannot go forward and that they did hope that Israel would use restraint in retaliating, but they also didn't give the green light to Israel to go after the terrorists, but also held back a little bit.

ARENA: It's a very fine line.

BASH: Very fine line.

ARENA: It is a very fine line, yes.

Well, it is not just the politicians and the diplomats who have their bad days. What about Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open? Well, Josie Karp is ON THE STORY in two minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Jose Karp is a correspondent for CNN Sports. She joined CNN in 1998. Earlier, she covered the Dallas Cowboys for the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram." She graduated from Harvard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: No, I don't ever feel like I've ever been in a slump. No. I think my overall career has been pretty -- pretty good. Ever since I came out of the womb and started playing golf, I've had a pretty good career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARP: That's Tiger Woods, the world's best golfer, showing he also has a sense of humor, too.

Welcome back to ON THE STORY.

We're here in Olympia Fields, Illinois, where they're playing the U.S. Open this week.

And it was a little bit of a strange week for Tiger Woods because, normally, going into a major championship like this, everyone's focused on just how well Tiger Woods is playing, what his chances are, but he actually did have to answer a question about whether he's not -- he's in a slump.

And this is interesting because Tiger Woods has really set a new standard. If he's in a slump just because he hasn't won a major championship in almost a year and he hasn't won a single tournament since March, even though he started out the year winning three of his first four tournaments, he has to answer these questions.

So Tiger took it out on the golf course yesterday, ladies. He is right back contention now.

BASH: Josie, there's another interesting drama going on there, and that is with Vijay Singh. We talked about him certainly before because of the Annika Sorenstam controversy. Is that -- how is that playing into the current tournament there?

KARP: Well, it's come up again because Vijay Singh went out yesterday and he tied a major championship record and a U.S. Open record by shooting a 63, and he's right up there tied for the lead, as they head into the weekend now.

And you'll remember, just going back, Vijay Singh had those controversial comments about Annika Sorenstam. He says that he's not focused on that, he's only focused on his golf game, but we saw it yesterday on the 14th hole.

If that is true, he has some incredible focus because there was a heckler in the stands who actually had to be removed after he said something about Annika Sorenstam. Singh denied that he saw anything, but he made a gesture that really made it seem like he knew what was going on.

And, again, a lot of people think that Vijay Singh has been judged way too harshly because of what he said.

ARENA: You know, my -- my favorite story there, Josie, is the Tom Watson story, 53 years old and just booking out there. I -- that's just amazing.

KARP: Everyone seems to be really touched by this story, even if you're not all that interested in golf. Any 50-something out there has to take some inspiration from Tom Watson.

He's 53, the oldest guy in the field, and, after round one, he was in the lead. But it's not just Tom Watson that's so inspiring. He's getting his inspiration from his caddy, Bruce Edwards. And if you're out here and you're walking around, you can see that there's something a little different about Bruce Edwards.

He's 48 years old. He looks a little bit older. That's because he's suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, and he's out here walking 18 holes, carrying the bag for Tom Watson. His prognosis is not good. They don't know how long they're going to be together, not just out on the golf course, but really how long Bruce Edwards is going to live because this is a disease that has no cure.

So this is another story. If Vijay Singh was the touchstone for controversy, well, then Tom Watson was the touchstone for feel-good stories this week.

COHEN: That is really incredible. Have the two men been together for a long time? Have they been working out there together far a long time?

KARP: They have been. It's been almost 30 years that these two have been together, and, if you consider that Bruce Edwards is 48, you know, he was a teenager when these two teamed up.

Another thing about Olympia Fields -- this is where Tom Watson played his first professional tournament. These two had so many great moments together, and it seemed like they were just grateful to have one more.

In fact, being out here, it was a public moment, but they really seemed to share something private and very personal and very special on Thursday. In fact, you don't see this a lot. There were tears in the eyes of both men for a couple of holes -- it wasn't just at the very end -- as they went through this, realizing that it was something very, very special.

ARENA: Well, talking about other mature athletes, Roger Clemens. Hello!

KARP: I know. He finally won his 300th game, and this was a situation that really looked like it might degenerate into something far from what you hoped it would be, which is, again, an inspirational moment.

It took him four tries, and then the watch became is he going to do it, is he going to do it, will he ever do it. But he finally did it last night on the same night that he got his 4,000th career strikeout. For the 40-year-old, really an incredible feat.

And it took a little pressure off the Yankees, too, because I don't know if you've noticed -- they've been in the headlines not the way they normally are because they're playing so well, but they got no hits this week.

ARENA: I know! I know!

KARP: It's been a bad week for the New York Yankees.

ARENA: This is the first time ever that they got a no hit. I'm a New Yorker. This cannot be!

(CROSSTALK)

KARP: ... a long time. Yes, it's the first time in a long time, Kelli. But, certainly, with Roger Clemens getting that victory last night, it was a moment in time for the New York Yankees, a moment in time for him, and it certainly took a little bit of the pressure off of Joe Torre, the manager of the Yankees, at least for a little while.

BASH: Josie, I want to ask you just quickly about another controversy brewing in the sports world, and that is with the coach -- I guess now former coach -- at the University of Washington. Some gambling issues there.

KARP: Yes, it seems like we can't escape this in the world of college athletics. We were talking about this on the show a couple of weeks ago. The two coaches, one at Iowa State and one at the University of Alabama, who got into trouble. That was sex and booze. These are some vices we're talking about.

Now it's gambling with the University of Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel. He has been fired because it's a public university. They have to go through a situation where he can appeal until June 26th, but he bet money in one of those NCAA college basketball pools, which everyone does, but the NCAA has ruled against these things.

When you're the head coach of a major university or any university, you're not allowed to gamble. There was a little bit of a discrepancy. Neuheisel thought it was OK to go out and spend a total of $6,000 in this pool over the last two years because there had been a memo that circulated via e-mail from the compliance officer at the university saying these types of pools were OK.

But the University of Washington says that, hey, even if this memo was in error, you have to know better than that, and -- it's not just the gambling, though. There's some other issues with Rick Neuheisel.

It seems like this is an opportunity for the university to get rid of a guy who hasn't necessarily been in compliance with other NCAA rules in the past and who, the athletic director suggests, lied earlier in the spring about whether or not he interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their head coaching vacancy.

So there's history here. It's not just this one thing.

BASH: Josie, thanks for joining us from the Open there in Chicago.

And we are going to turn to the other big spectator sport this week. That was watching the hoopla surrounding Hillary Clinton and her autobiography.

We're back with the check on the headlines of the hour and ON THE STORY in two minutes.

But, first, a check of the headlines from CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: The ON THE STORY question: Did Hillary launch her bestseller and her presidential hopes this week?

Welcome back.

It was a media and marketing and, some say, political campaign that was impossible to miss this week.

And, Kelli, my favorite slip of the tongue for the week was -- I think it was a Barnes and Noble manager saying that she sold all of these Hillary Potter books. Completely missed the tongue.

But let me tell you it was an amazing week. She broke all records for a non-fiction book, 200 million in -- excuse me, 200,000 -- 200 million would be a lot -- 200,000 in the first day. The -- there was a million printed at the beginning.

They kept sort of bouncing it up throughout the week, and I'm told that there could be a million and a half printed by this week. So it was really a tremendous boon for her, much more than really anybody had imagined.

KARP: Dana, you know, obviously, Clinton's been the object of a huge media crush before. I'm wondering how that compares to this crush that she felt as she went on the book signing tour. It just looked incredible, the turnout, not just the sales.

BASH: Well, I'm told -- I, unfortunately, didn't get to go to any of the turnouts, but I was -- talked to somebody who has been with her a lot, and she -- he was telling me about the massive amount of people, particularly at the Wal-Mart, which was here in suburban D.C.

Apparently, the line went through 16 aisles at the Wal-Mart, and she was there signing books for so many hours that her hand like stopped -- it actually stopped working. She had to get a massage on her hand because she couldn't form the letters anymore. She told her aides that she almost felt like a child trying to figure out how to write again.

So it was really really tremendous. She -- I think she has her fifth book signing today, fifth in a week, so she's really rocking and rolling.

COHEN: Dana, as I've heard people talk about this this week, I've heard sort of the cynical and the not so cynical reviews of it. And the cynical reviews are sort of like, well, she just wants to be president in a couple of years and this is all about her political ambitions, and other people saying, no, she's writing her memories because she was first lady, and that's what first ladies. What do you think?

BASH: Well, I'll tell you the -- the line from her camp is that this is what first ladies do, that this is in keeping with what her predecessors have done. Barbara Bush wrote about a memoir just about this time when she had been out of office, and others have, too.

Of course, you can't compare Hillary Clinton to any of the former first ladies because she is a current political figure. She's a United States senator. And, of course, she is somebody who is saying for sure she will not run for president in 2004, and...

ARENA: But what does she say? What does she say?

BASH: ... her standard -- well, 2004 is out. She said when she ran for Senate, she's not going to do it. You know, there are...

ARENA: What about 2008?

BASH: Two thousand eight -- the line is -- listen to any interview -- is I have no intention of running in 2008. She will stick to it. She will say it over and over again, and that is really the standard response from any politician who doesn't really want to go there yet, and she doesn't want to go there yet.

She's -- you know, she's talking about the book. She is talking about the fact that, you know, she is the United States senator from New York, and it's -- it was interesting just covering her for a while in Congress. At the beginning, she really did a very good job. She got applause from all across the board, Republicans and Democrats, for being what they call a work horse and not a show horse.

But things are definitely changing. This book was in the makings for a while, since she left the White House, and it's something that she says -- she said in a number of interviews -- that she felt like she had to write, and...

But just the amount -- the number of people who want to know the story -- everybody lived it. Everybody lived impeachment. Everybody lived what happened with Monica and everything else. And there is still such an interest. It's amazing to know really what happened behind the scenes, what was really going on inside the White House.

KARP: Dana, she's getting so much publicity, and, whether she's a candidate or not, she's certainly getting the kind of publicity candidates can only dream of. What's been the reaction from those Democrats who do dream of running for president in 2004 who are already out there?

BASH: Well, there certainly has been a lot of talk of -- actually some grumbling about the fact that she's been sucking up all the air from all of the nine candidates who are running for president from the Democratic side, you know, and -- talked to a strategist who is certainly a Hillary supporter who said, look, you know, the fact that people are talking about the fact that she's sucking up their air is giving those candidates more air time than they would ever get if Hillary didn't even exist.

So that's their line, but it is an interesting dynamic to see the difference between her and all nine of the other candidates.

COHEN: Dana, Hillary was the big political story this week. The big medical story this week is smallpox. When we come back, we'll talk about where it came from and how serious will it be.

I'm back ON THE STORY in two minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Elizabeth Cohen is a CNN medical correspondent. She joined CNN in 1991. Earlier, she worked as a newspaper reporter in Washington and Albany. She has a master's degree in public health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID FLEMING, CDC DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We do need to be prepared for the fact that monkeypox can be a fatal disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Dr. David Fleming of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the potential danger of monkeypox. Now, earlier, I said we'd be talking about smallpox. I got my poxes mixed up. We're talking about monkeypox.

Welcome back to ON THE STORY.

We've -- I've been talking about monkeypox all week. Let's give the monkeypox number rundown here: 85 cases of monkeypox in human beings are under investigation in the United States; 13 of those have been laboratory confirmed. Now there are 16 possible cases among children at a day-care center in Indiana. I know when you hear that, your heart just drops. What happened -- this is a day-care center in a private home, and the owners decided to buy two prairie dogs for the kids to play with.

ARENA: What a...

COHEN: ... with, and now...

ARENA: OK. Elizabeth...

COHEN: ... 16 of them might have monkeypox.

Yes, Kelli?

ARENA: I am sorry. I am sorry. But does this open up the question to anyone but me as to whether or not people should actually have these exotic animals in their homes?

COHEN: Kelli, absolutely. You are not alone. Many people have been saying -- many public health experts have been saying for years why do we have these exotic animals, why do people have them? Exotic animals can carry diseases.

What happened in this case is that an exotic animal called a Gambian rat came from Africa to Texas, was in the same facility as some prairie dogs. The prairie dogs were then shipped to Illinois and were purchased there.

And so what the government's doing now is now they have banned the importation of rodents from Africa and banned the sale of prairie dogs and other similar kinds of rodents.

So, yes, many people are saying why -- why do we let them -- why do we let people do this. For example, I think a lot of people don't know that 70,000 people a year get salmonella from reptiles, not from eating them but from playing with them. So it's definitely a question on many people's minds.

BASH: No, but there are people who do have prairie dogs here in the United States. Are there telltale signs for those people to determine whether or not their prairie dogs do have monkeypox?

COHEN: Well, yes, there are telltale signs for the animals and also telltale signs for themselves, and that would be a fever and those sort of lesions that we just a picture of, those little sores, also a cough and muscle aches and headache.

Now, unfortunately, monkeypox can look like a whole bunch of other diseases, and so the numbers go up and down. They think someone has monkeypox, but it turns out they actually have chickenpox. But that's what you want to look for.

Anyone who has a prairie dog or knows someone, has been in contact with someone who has a prairie dog and gets that kind of flu- like illness -- they really need to call their doctor. ARENA: Elizabeth, you said that children, you know, at a day- care center may have it. I mean it -- we have not seen any fatalities here due to this, right?

COHEN: That's right. We haven't seen fatalities.

The people who know the most about this disease are Africans, and that's because that disease has been recognized there since 1970. There, up to about 10 percent of the people die.

Now public health experts here tell me they don't expect to see that mortality rate here because the medical care is better, and, also, they're offering the smallpox vaccine to people who might have been exposed to monkeypox.

Smallpox and monkeypox are closely related. So they're telling people if you think you've been exposed to an animal that has monkeypox, let us know and we'll offer you the smallpox vaccine.

BASH: Elizabeth, tell us about the smallpox vaccine exactly and how it's being distributed, who's getting it, and whether people should think about getting the smallpox vaccine, if they at all think that they might have been exposed to monkeypox.

COHEN: Right. It's only for people who truly, seriously believe that they might have been exposed. I mean just anyone should not run out and get -- ask for the smallpox vaccine. They couldn't get it anyhow. It is a potentially very dangerous vaccine, and you only want to get it if you really need it.

In other words, if you have a prairie dog and that prairie dog got monkeypox and died, then you definitely should be calling your local health department.

ARENA: Hello? Hello? Hello?

COHEN: Yes.

ARENA: But what about -- Elizabeth, I remember the horrible pictures of victims of smallpox and how they just were deformed afterwards. You know, their skin -- are we -- will we see the same result for people who are infected with monkeypox?

BASH: Or do they even know?

COHEN: Well, one thing to remember about monkeypox is that some of the patients have not had very many of these lesions. They don't necessarily cover their whole body. Public health experts tell me that sometimes the scars are permanent and sometimes they're not.

ARENA: Well, another scientific whodunit is playing out around Washington this week. The latest hunt for clues in the still unsolved anthrax killings.

I'm back in two minutes ON THE STORY.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Kelli Arena is CNN's justice correspondent. Earlier, she worked for CNN's Financial News. The New York Festivals awarded her a 2002 Best Correspondent Award.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF KIM DINE, FREDERICK, MARYLAND, POLICE: The information we've been provided has continually indicated that there's no problem with the water and there's no anthrax in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: That was Kim Don, Frederick, Maryland, police chief, talking earlier in the week to reassure nearby residents that draining a pond would not spread anthrax.

Welcome back. We're ON THE STORY.

So the FBI is out there in Frederick, Maryland, draining an acre pond.

BASH: What a scene.

ARENA: You know, it took them several days to empty the pond. They put the water into other nearby ponds.

Big environmental concerns, but they took care of that. They made sure that they safeguarded some exotic plants, including some orchids that exist around the pond.

And they are hunting now, going through mud knee deep, some of them needing to be pulled out by other agents because they're sinking in the slosh that is there. The rain here has not helped.

But they're looking for anything that may, you know, help them in the investigation of the anthrax killings, that this was a tip that dates back to the winter in December that led them to the ponds in Frederick, Maryland, which is not far from Fort Deitrich where there's an Army research lab that has the strain -- that works with the strain of anthrax that was used in the anthrax killings, you know, back in 2001.

So some agents are calling this a shot in the dark, others are saying it is a very logical next step in this investigation. But, so far, nothing.

COHEN: Kelli, we just heard that official say there's no problem with the water, there's no anthrax in the water. So then what are they doing in the water?

ARENA: They actually -- well, they've been there several times at this pond, and, back in the winter, they dredged up a box, a clear box with holes in one side, that investigators describe as being similar to those that are used in a laboratory to limit exposure to hazardous materials, and there's one theory that is out there.

It is not a widely held theory, but it is a theory out there that the anthrax killer may have gone into the waters, submersed this in the water, and filled the envelopes with the anthrax under water, and that may be why there has been no trace of anthrax found anywhere on land. Just one theory.

Another theory is that the anthrax killer may have prepared the anthrax and then thrown the equipment into the pond. Again, nothing that has come up in this pond yet has tested positive for anthrax. Testing does continue, though, on some stuff that was dredged up several months ago because protocols have to be put in place and it does take a while.

BASH: It was a very scary arrest in Thailand this week.

ARENA: Yes, speaking of hazardous material...

BASH: Tell us about that, the...

ARENA: Hello.

BASH: ... potential to make a dirty bomb.

ARENA: Make a dirty bomb, right. The U.S. investigators -- Customs agents, actually -- had gotten a tip back in October about someone who was peddling at the time who was saying it was uranium to make a dirty bomb.

They set up a sting operation with Thai police. They go. They buy some of the product from this individual. They go back. They test it. It turns out to be cesium-137, which is also useful in the making of radiological dirty bombs. They continue the relationship, set up another sting operation, and arrest him.

But here's the thing. So far, this person through the investigation has not turned up any ties to any terrorist organization, so...

BASH: But it's -- OK. He's...

ARENA: This looks like pure profit. This looks like somebody who's out there trying to sell this stuff for a quarter of a million bucks, and it is available. It is out there on the black market.

BASH: But they don't know who he was trying to sell it to yet?

ARENA: Well, I mean -- well, allegedly to these -- to the individuals that were trying to buy it. So he was just making himself known and available. So that's -- that's what it was -- that's -- so very scary, but the investigation there continues. But no evidence that this was involved in any plot against the United States or anywhere else, for that matter. BASH: Kelli, thank you. And thanks to all my colleagues.

And thank you for watching ON THE STORY. We'll be back next week. But still ahead, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" and "The Quest for Peace: The Key Players in the Mideast." And at 12:00 noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, "CNN LIVE SATURDAY." And at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, CNN's "IN THE MONEY" with Jack Cafferty, looking at why our power bills are set to soar this summer.

And coming up at the top of the hour, a news alert, but first, the president's weekly radio address.

(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)

BUSH: Good morning.

June 14th is Flag Day, which commemorates the date in 1777 when the Continental Congress officially made the Stars and Stripes the symbol of America. The founders declared that the 13 stars gracing the original flag represented "a new constellation," just as America represented new hope and new light for mankind.

Over the past 226 years, our flag has been a symbol of freedom wherever it flies. It inspires hope in people suffering under tyranny or terror. It welcomes immigrants from every land searching for a better life. And it rallies our nation in times of conflict and crisis.

Whenever the flag is raised, Americans are reminded of our unity in the great cause of liberty and justice for all. Our nation's flag is hung proudly in homes and schools, honored in parades and stadiums, flown on the field of battle and folded at the graves of heroes.

When Francis Scott Key saw the Stars and Stripes flying over Fort McHenry in 1814, he knew that liberty would persevere. That same faith was affirmed by Marines who planted the flag at Iwo Jima, and by the heroes of 9/11, who raised and saluted the flag at Ground Zero.

By showing respect for our flag, we show reverence for the ideals that guide our nation. And we show appreciation for the men and women who have served and sacrificed in defense of those ideals -- from the early patriots of the Continental Congress to the members of our military defending freedom around the world today.

This weekend, in communities across the nation, Americans will have the opportunity to honor the flag and to thank the men and women who serve our country in uniform. As they continue to fight the war on terror in lands far from home, our troops rely on the support of their fellow citizens. I urge all Americans to participate in Flag Day celebrations honoring American armed forces and recognizing our veterans.

Our nation is strengthened every time a citizen steps forward to serve a cause greater than self-interest. And each of us can serve and strengthen America by reaching out to neighbors in need. There are so many ways to improve the lives of fellow Americans -- by answering the call to feed the hungry, or caring for the elderly, or teaching a child to read, or joining with neighbors to support the police, fire fighters and medics who respond to emergencies. Every action you take will strengthen the bonds of community that unite all Americans and extend the promise of American life to another citizen.

Between now and the 4th of July, Americans will reflect often on the foundations of our freedom. Our country's founding generation established liberty and justice on this continent more than two centuries ago, and every generation is expected to protect and defend those ideals.

Our duty as Americans is to serve our country, to defend the cause of liberty and to extend the realm of freedom across the earth. Our generation can proudly say that we are answering that call.

Thank you for listening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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U.S. Open Under Way; Mideast Diplomacy in Turmoil>