Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Palestinian Suicide Bomber Strikes at Israeli Shopping Mall; Bush and Putin Agree on Summit Date and Location

Aired May 18, 2001 - 20:00   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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight: A Palestinian suicide bomber strikes at an Israeli shopping mall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, the violence in the Middle East took on a new level of intensity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Israel retaliates, using fighter jets for the first time since the Palestinian uprising began last year.

It's a done deal. President Bush and Russian President Putin will hold their first summit next month.

A search is on for a young government intern with ties to a member of Congress. We'll get a live update.

Also, a 14-year-old convicted of murdering his teacher, a new report on the Columbine High School massacre. I'll talk guns, kids and crime with Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association.

Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Washington.

Just when you think it can't get much worse, it does. To say this was another bloody day of violence in the Middle East would be an understatement. Today, at least 16 people were killed and another 160 wounded in what increasingly is beginning to look like a war, a war with no end in sight.

CNN's Sheila MacVicar has our top story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reprisals came quickly. Israeli warplanes, never used before in this conflict, fired missiles into a Palestinian police post adjoining a prison in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Trapped under the rubble, at least eight dead, all of them Palestinian policemen, and 46 wounded. Minutes later, Israeli F-16 jets struck again at the headquarters of a Palestinian security organization in Ramallah. As darkness fell, there were more raids, missile strikes in Gaza, and helicopter attacks on the West Bank.

The Israelis are going after the Palestinian security forces, targeting the infrastructure of the Palestinian National Authority.

(on camera): This is meant to be a very tough message from Israel, a message to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to stop the violence, stop the suicide bombers, or risk an even greater escalation, and ultimately the destruction of his security forces.

(voice-over): Friday's violence began in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. In front of this mall, crowded with morning shoppers, a security guard noticed someone acting suspiciously, called police, and as the police arrived, the Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and killed at least five others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I saw a pregnant woman with her arm blown off. I saw one man without legs, and a baby covered in blood.

MACVICAR: Six bombs have been found in Netanya in five months, three exploded.

In Netanya, people are scared and angry and baying for blood.

"Revenge, revenge," they shouted. The Netanya bomber, a 21- year-old Palestinian, came from the West Bank town of Tulkarem. His family said he left home this morning, saying he had something important to do.

The bomber was a member of the extremist group Hamas. They paraded through the town streets today, celebrating, asking "Have you heard the news?"

Hamas says it has more suicide bombers ready to bring more death to Israelis: their bid, they say, to end the occupation. Israelis are telling Yasser Arafat that they hold him responsible. He has to end the violence, they say, in this conflict that now looks more and more like a war.

Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And speaking after the suicide bombing, President Bush said that the violence in the Middle East has taken on a new level of intensity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: It is essential that the leaders in the Middle East speak up clearly against violence. We must break the cycle of violence in order to begin meaningful discussions about any kind of political settlement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: After the Israeli air strikes, Secretary of State Colin Powell added that all parties need to commit to an unconditional cessation of violence before negotiations can resume. Powell also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and sources tell our John King, the secretary came away from that call frustrated. One senior U.S. official says, "We need to see different behavior, otherwise sitting down with either side is a waste of time."

Earlier, Secretary Powell and his Russian counterpart finalized plans for a U.S.-Russia summit. Joining me now from the State Department, our national security correspondent David Ensor.

David, tell us what happened.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the announcement of the summit came during a busy day of talks between the Russian foreign minister and Bush administration officials from the president on down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): It will be the first meeting for the two relatively untested leaders of the world's major nuclear powers, announced after the Russian foreign minister met with President Bush. How will the two men get along in Slovenia?

IGOR IVANOV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Knowing our president, the dialogue, I think, between the two of them is going to be lively, it's going to be full of content, and very directed at discussing very specific issues.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think they will enjoy each other's company, and I think they'll have a very frank and direct relationship with each other.

ENSOR: In diplomatic language, that means President Bush and President Putin could end up debating each other. There are plenty of differences: First and foremost, the Russians call the Bush missile defense plan a new arms race. They call the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty a cornerstone of arms control. The Bush administration calls it out of date.

Then there are the sanctions against Iraq: Next week at the U.N., the U.S. hopes for approval to tighten them against possible weapons technologies while loosening up controls on goods for the people of Iraq. The Russians want to ease sanctions still more. Then there are Russian sales to Iran of weapons technology and nuclear know-how that Washington would like to stop, and the ill feeling on both sides following the recent spy scandals.

But No. 1 for the Bush administration is moving ahead with a missile defense program, and analysts say the Russians understand that well.

MICHAEL MCFAUL, CARNEGIE FOUNDATION: The Russians believe that they have something we want, which is their acquiescence to missile defense. And so they are thinking about, "Well, what can we get for this?"

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Russian officials are highly skeptical about Washington's desire to scrap old treaties and build new defensive weapons, but U.S. officials say they do now appear willing to listen. But behind the handshakes and the smiles in Slovenia, there are likely to be some pretty blunt exchanges -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David, getting back to our top story, the violence in the Middle East. What are the prospects -- you have covered this region for a long time -- of the Bush administration backing away from what is seen effectively as a hands-off policy toward the Israelis and the Palestinians?

ENSOR: Well, Wolf, if you talk to Secretary State Powell and the people around him, they don't think they have a hands-off policy. They think they've been engaged, talking today to Mr. Sharon, among others. So they think they have been engaged. They do oppose the idea that the Clinton administration, in their view, followed a sort of hand-holding, having a special ambassador, and constantly kind of walking people through each day. So they basically want to get back to talking, and you saw that very passionate call by Secretary Powell for a cessation of hostilities without any preconditions by both sides. That was a message to Israel as well as to the Palestinians -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor at the State Department, thank you very much.

In other news, the disappearance of a young woman who has worked as a government intern here in Washington is capturing nationwide attention. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken joins us now live.

Tell us why that's the case.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because there are in the United States, according to FBI, 98,000 missing persons cases a year. At least that was the case last year. And more than 6,000 of them involved people who are over -- in the 20s. So the question is: Why has the case of 24-year-old Chandra Levy gained so much coverage?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Susan and Robert Levy have gone back to California from Washington, D.C.

SUSAN LEVY, CHANDRA LEVY'S MOTHER: And I want to again thank the law enforcement here in Washington, D.C.

FRANKEN: Although they have not been successful in locating their missing daughter, Chandra Levy, they have been successful in alerting the entire nation. Even though, the FBI says, that last year there were more than 98,000 missing persons in the United States, more than 6,000 in their 20s, 24-year-old Chandra Levy has gotten intense coverage from the nation's media, local and national.

Every event -- the TV appearances, the photo-opportunities with senators -- every appearance has been coordinated by Kim Petersen from an organization formed to help in such cases: the Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, based in Levy's hometown.

DAN AMUNDSON, MEDIA ANALYST: They can keep it out there in front of people. They can use the media effectively to make sure that people keep thinking about their missing child or spouse or whatever it is, and really manufacturer in a sense the type of ongoing tale that needs to happen.

FRANKEN: What has also fueled the intense coverage has been the intimations that Chandra Levy might have had a romantic relationship with Gary Condit, the congressman from her home town of Modesto. This picture shows her with Condit and her good friend, Jennifer Baker.

Baker was an intern for Condit. Levy was just finishing up an internship with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Some news organizations have used this picture, but shown only the congressman and Levy.

JENNIFER BAKER, CHANDRA LEVY'S FRIEND: The reason that she stopped by the congressman's office is because I interned for the office and she would come to meet me for lunch.

FRANKEN: Still, Washington, D.C. police sources tell CNN that investigators are checking out rumors that Chandra Levy was seen visiting Condit's Washington apartment. But officials say that news reports witnesses have been identified who spotted her there are misleading.

CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE: It sounds as if it was substantiated that the young lady had visited that apartment. We have nothing right now to substantiate that.

FRANKEN: Detectives have interviewed Condit. The congressman's spokesman has denied the two had a romantic relationship.

Another focus: reports that Chandra Levy has been spotted. Citings like that are common, say investigators, when a case gets this kind of nationwide coverage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: The coverage has been extraordinary, Wolf, by just about all accounts. However, Chandra Levy is still missing.

BLITZER: Bob Franken in Washington, thank you very much.

Up next: guns, kids and crime. A 14-year-old found guilty in the fatal shooting of his teacher. Is gun use out of control? I'll speak live with Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. President Bush this week pledged more than $500 million to boost prosecution of gun-related crimes. He noted that in America, a teenager is more likely to die from a gunshot than from all natural causes of death combined. The president's promise of a crackdown comes as a series of recent tragedies intensifies the debate over gun violence in America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Guns and kids, yet another tragic incident this week. A 7-year-old shoots and kills his 3-year-old cousin in this house in Cleveland after finding a handgun.

WILLIAM DENIHAN, CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES: We have a child that was killed by somebody leaving a loaded gun in the home.

BLITZER: Also this week, 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill is convicted of second-degree murder for shooting his middle school English teacher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHANIEL BRAZILL, DEFENDANT: I was holding the gun in my hands. My finger was on the trigger. I was holding it with both hands, holding it kind of tightly. And that's when the gun went off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who pulled the trigger?

BRAZILL: I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In Maryland, Governor Parris Glendening vetoed a bill requiring gun safety classes in public schools. Proponents insisted training would prevent accidents. But many educators opposed it, saying it would have brought students to shooting ranges to get hands- on gun experience.

SHARON BLAKE, PRESIDENT, BALTIMORE TEACHERS UNION: We have enough concerns already with school safety with young people without actually arming those young people.

BLITZER: And in an attempt to get guns out of the hands of criminals, Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman joined forces this week to propose a bill requiring background checks on sales at gun shows.

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: As citizens, we have the right to own guns, but we have the responsibility not to sell them to criminals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Forty-thousand people are gathered in Kansas City this weekend to discuss guns and gun control issues. They're among the millions who belong to the National Rifle Association, which a recent poll judged to be the lobby group with the most clout in Washington.

Joining me now from Kansas City is NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. Mr. LaPierre, thanks for joining us.

That combination of Joe Lieberman and John McCain on these background checks for gun show sales, that's a pretty tough combination to beat. Are you going to fight them on this issue?

WAYNE LAPIERRE, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: I don't know, Wolf. I mean, it's basically a rehash of the Lieberman bill that was defeated in Congress last year. I mean, they're billing it as a compromise measure, by saying that eventually it could go to an instant check. But the truth is it is set up to never do that. I mean, you are going to have a four- or five-day wait, which would in effect put gun shows out of business.

The definition of a firearm show is so broad it could be the living room of your house. There are registration provisions attached to it. There is unlimited fees attached to it. And I think that the sentiment in the House of Representatives where this issue is going to be decided is for the national instant check system, a check on all sales of gun shows, conducted instantaneously, with up to a 24-hour wait.

I think that's the bill that is likely to pass, not the McCain/Lieberman bill.

BLITZER: Just to nail it down on the McCain-Lieberman, you are not taking a position, a specific position on that right now?

LAPIERRE: No, we are opposed to it, very much opposed to it. I mean, the fact is they are billing it as something new and it's not. It is a rehash of the Lautenberg bill, which was voted down last year because it was too extreme. The only thing that's new about it is John McCain's name attached to it. But I don't know if that's really going to make a difference one way or the other. People are going to look in what's in this bill, and say: "Wait a minute. This is registration. This is unlimited fees. It's a definition so broad it could be living room of your house." It's really intended to shut down firearm shows. It's not about a check, really, to prevent criminals from buying a gun.

BLITZER: Senator McCain, as you know, got his McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill through the Senate. Together with Lieberman, as I said, that's a pretty formidable force. Is that campaign finance reform bill, if McCain-Feingold becomes the law of land -- and that is obviously still a big if -- is that is going to undermine the clout of the NRA, the ban on so-called "soft money"?

LAPIERRE: I hope there is a real discussion about that bill in the coming weeks, because it's also been talked about by the politicians up to this point, and what needs to be heard from are citizens groups around the country like ours and hundreds of others. That McCain-Feingold bill, more than any bill I have seen, is the politicians against the citizens. We don't put people in jail in the United States for free speech. And yet if McCain-Feingold passes, people all over this country are going to be investigated by the FBI and be put in federal prison for up to five years for simply criticizing a politician less than 60 days prior to an election. My gosh, that's not America.

I mean, I would hate to see a student textbook five years from now where they talk about free speech and residents say, "Look up the Bill of Rights," it says look up McCain-Feingold. We need a real national hearing on what's in this bill. And I -- I could go on, I mean what the McCain...

BLITZER: Well, let me just interrupt, because we don't have a lot of time. I want to get to another issue that seems to be gaining some momentum up on Capitol Hill: tightening up the ban on assault weapons,

How hard is the NRA going to oppose that, if, in fact, you are going oppose that effort?

LAPIERRE: I have heard very little sentiment for adding additional firearms to that list. I mean, the fact is that none of those firearms are machine guns. The media has tried to convince people they are for years. But they aren't.

The guns that President Clinton banned shoot no different than the ones he didn't ban. And I think people have understood that -- that was more of a cosmetic manipulation of the truth by President Clinton than it had any bearing in reality. And I just think that we have come to the end of a line on that issue pretty much.

BLITZER: Unfortunately, Mr. LaPierre, we have to end it right there. But we will continue this discussion, obviously, another time. Thanks for joining us as you begin your convention in Kansas City.

LAPIERRE: Thanks.

BLITZER: And up next, is there a new reason tonight to be concerned about the tires on your vehicle? New reports link a major tire-maker to possible problems. And Janet Reno says she's considering a new job. We'll tell you why the Bush family probably isn't cheering her choice. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. In other news tonight, Ford Motor Company is refusing to comment on a report it has identified safety problems with several Firestone brand tires. Today's "New York Times" reports Ford statisticians uncovered problems with a variety of tires and may demand Bridgestone/Firestone expand its recall. Ford and Firestone have been named in a series of lawsuits over fatal rollover crashes.

We may not have seen the end of Janet Reno. The former U.S. attorney general says she's considering running for governor of Florida in 2002. Reno told CNN she was initially reluctant to return to public life, but has decided to give it some consideration because she loves the state so much. The Republican governor, Jeb Bush, says he will shortly decide whether he will seek re-election.

The 24 U.S. crewmembers at the center of last month's standoff with China were awarded medals today. In a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, outside of Washington, the pilot, Lieutenant Shane Osborn, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the Navy's highest awards for heroism. The others received air medals.

Tonight, on "The Leading Edge," NASA is awarding more than $700 million to contractors to design the replacement for the space shuttle. Using state-of-the-art equipment, NASA is hoping to develop a re-usable rocket launcher that is cheaper and 10 times safer than current shuttles.

It's official. A Dutch company will head up Russia's efforts to raise the sunken Kursk submarine from the floor of the Barents Sea. The two-part salvage operation set to begin in mid-July will use hydraulic lifts on large barges to raise the 18,000 ton vessel. Russian officials say the recovery mission estimated at $70 million should be completed by mid-September.

Up next, I'll open our mailbag. One of our viewers has a very simple proposal, saying it potentially could solve the energy crisis. I'll share that with you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Time now to open our mailbag. Many of you reacted to President Bush's energy proposals. Lois from Missouri writes this: "I think the Bush administration is going to be seen by historians as the administration bought and paid for by big oil."

But Fred from Virginia supports the president's plans: "All these people who want us to explore alternative forms of energy do not quite realize that it takes years to develop the technology and that is even a conservative estimate. Drill now."

Chris from Texas says: "The Democrats in the West and Northeast malign the president during the election and now they think he owes them something. He owes them nothing."

Andre from Saint Croix in the Caribbean has this proposal: "I bet if everybody turned off one unnecessary light, it would make a big difference."

Andre, you may be on to something. Remember, I want to hear from you. Please e-mail me at wolf@cnn.com. And you can read my daily online column and sign up for my e-mail previewing our nightly programs by going to our WOLF BLITZER REPORTS Web site, cnn.com/wolf.

Please stay with CNN throughout the night. Members of the cast of the HBO's -- of HBO's "The Sopranos" are Larry King's guests at the top of the hour. Up next, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by in New York to tell us what she has -- Greta. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, CNN'S "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN": Wolf, we are going to talk about talk with the biggest names in talk radio because their convention is this weekend in New York. Three of those people join me tonight to talk about the issues -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Sounds good, Greta, I will watching. And I'll see you Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. Among my guests: Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. That's Sunday at noon Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.

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