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President Bush, Prime Minister Brown Hold News Conference; Iraqi Tribal Leaders Rejection Of Al Qaeda; U.S. Arms Deal With Gulf States Raises Eyebrows; Iraqis Win Asia Cup

Aired July 30, 2007 - 12:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(PRESS AVAILABILITY WITH U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND UK PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN)
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The handshake. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown there, alongside U.S. President George W. Bush, a show of unity, as they say. A real show of unity on the special relationship, the joint inheritance of Britain and the United States.

I'm Jim Clancy.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Hala Gorani.

Welcome to our viewers around the world and in the United States this hour.

This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

You have just been watching a joint news conference at Camp David outside of Washington, D.C., between the two leaders. The first visit of Gordon Brown.

You see them walking away there from the podiums, the new U.K. prime minister, with George W. Bush in Maryland there.

CLANCY: And I think there were some people that were looking for, well, divergence. Not really any differences here. And there was only minor divergence.

You could see that Gordon Brown was pushing the idea of Darfur, trying to raise up some other issues in this first meeting. But Iraq clearly still dominated not only the discussions, but the questions afterward.

Let's get more now and go to White House Correspondent Ed Henry, who is falling this live. Our Robin Oakley is standing by in London. We'll get to Robin in just a moment.

Ed, it was, above all, the show of unity. That's what we saw. What are you hearing from the background, especially on their talks on Iraq?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, in the background here at the White House, interesting. As they were speaking, there was a small group of antiwar protesters shouting across the White House gates here, "Gordon Brown, don't let us down! British troops in Iraq, bring them back!"

That gives you a sense of the pressure on Gordon Brown. This was just a small group of protesters, but you realize back in Britain he also faces domestic pressures. And while both men were saying the right things about a partnership, the real question is going to be whether there will be action, whether they will follow through on this, whether they will keep this alliance together.

Mr. Bush went at it right away, saying a lot of people are wondering whether we can find common ground. I believe we can. He called it a productive, strategic relationship.

Mr. Brown, meanwhile, also talked about a generational struggle in dealing with international terrorism and said he would give no quarter (ph), and they would fight as one. Certainly what Mr. Bush wanted to hear.

But I would point to what Mr. Brown also said on Iraq. While he said we have responsibilities to keep, he also talked about how three of the four provinces where British troops have been have now been secured, and he talked about trying to get that fourth province secured. And obviously, the potential of eventually pulling British troops, the 5,500 or so that are still there, and turning responsibility over to Iraqis.

The big question -- how quickly will that come? Obviously, the U.S. doesn't want the British to pull out too soon. But clearly, in terms of the words, Mr. Bush got what he wanted to hear from Mr. Brown about we have responsibilities to keep in Iraq -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right.

Let's quickly go over to Robin Oakley in London.

And Robin, how much of what you heard there about, you know, we are -- let's see, how did he put it? He said we were in "over-watch mode" in three out of four provinces in southern Iraq, where the British troops are stationed.

What did he mean by that? And what is he really saying there to the British people that are listening?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: He's responding to the eagerness of the British people to have troops come back from Iraq. But he went there himself before he came prime minister and said, look, we're going to keep our promises to the Iraqi people, we're going to keep our promises to the United Nations.

He's still saying the decision will be made by commanders on the ground. But significantly, the chief of Britain's armed forces has said in the past 10 days that he expects British troops could be out of Basra by the end of the year.

What struck me was Gordon Brown saying something there about reporting to parliament if developments happen while parliament is not sitting. Reporting to parliament when parliament gets back together. That's six or eight weeks ahead of now. Whether he was suggesting there could be a pullback from Basra as early as that, I don't think that could be what he meant. But it was a significant straw in the wind there.

What was very striking was the number of compliments that President Bush paid to Gordon Brown, calling him a problem solver, thanking him constantly for his leadership on terrorism, for his ideas on the world trade talks, for his ideas on Darfur, and saying that he's a glass half full man, not the (INAUDIBLE) Scot that some had led him to believe, but a humorous Scot.

A lot of praise there. But he calls him "Gordon". Gordon Brown, keeping that little bit of difference, still, referring in these talks to "Mr. President" -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right.

Robin Oakley there in London, with Ed Henry at the White House.

Gentlemen, thank you both for giving us a bit of a recap there on what we have been listening to over the last 20 minutes or so, a little more than that, as Gordon Brown makes his historic trip, his first visit to Camp David. It's an important day for both leaders.

GORANI: An important day for both leaders. A very busy news day, Jim.

There is the possibility of a U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. One U.S. congressman is pledging to block that sale.

We'll talk to him.

And we're covering all of the angles with live reports from around the world.

CLANCY: Stay with us. Later here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we'll have much more news.

A prestigious football win unites Iraqis of every creed and background. A moment of happiness for a war-torn people.

That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello and welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe, including the United States. I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani. CLANCY: And these are some of the stories we are following this hour. The U.S. announcing arms deals with Egypt and Israel. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying it is a way to strengthen the defensive capabilities of U.S. partners in the Gulf region.

Another unofficial arms deal may prove more controversial. The U.S. working on a $20 billion, 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia, and other moderate Arab states.

GORANI: The United States and Britain say they shared values and strategic partnership are stronger than ever. President George Bush and Prime Minister Gordon Brown met at Camp David for their first official talk since Mr. Brown took office.

They said they are in a common struggle against terrorism and share, quote, "duties and responsibilities" in Iraq. They also touched on issues from Sudan, to trade, to climate change.

CLANCY: While the British prime minister and U.S. president talked about Iraq and some of the pressures to draw down troops. A war skeptic who just returned from Baghdad said he's surprised by how much progress is being made under the new U.S. strategy.

Ken Pollack, a senior researcher Brookings Institution the surge in Iraq has clearly created a surge in U.S. troop morale because soldiers on the ground see real progress. He says the most dramatic evidence can be found in the volatile Anbar Province, where he says Al Qaeda and its allies, have overplayed their hands.

KEN POLLACK, SR. RESEARCHER, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Is that Al Qaeda, the Zawahiri groups, and even to some extent Jay Shal Machdi (ph), are overplaying their hands. Often times in war, you have to be lucky. You set yourself up to be lucky. I think in this case the U.S. was lucky.

Al Qaeda started taking actions in those areas, which it controlled -- which really alienated the Iraqis. Killing local sheiks, kidnapping their children, seizing their daughters and marrying them off to their loyalists, against their will and their parents' wills. All of this really turned Iraqis, and particularly the Sunni Arabs, against Al Qaeda.

And it was they who came to the Americans, and said, you know what, we are sick of these people. We want to get rid of them and we want your help. That's been a critical element in the success that the U.S. and new Iraqi army have been having over the last three or four months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, Pollack warned that political drive in Congress to force an early withdrawal poses security risks not only Iraq but the surrounding region. In his view the current strategy should be allowed to develop into early 2008 -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, Jim as we mentioned earlier, the U.S. is working on a multibillion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in that region around Saudi. A deal with Israel and Egypt has already been reached.

So, how is this story playing out in the region? Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon and Aneesh Ramen joins us live from Tehran with nation's harsh reaction. From there, Atika Shubert is in Gaza. Let's begin with Barbara Starr.

What are we talking about in this arms package to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States such as Oman and the UAE, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Hala, by the time it may all be done, it could be $75 billion, spread across the region to Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. But just in terms of Saudi Arabia alone, $20 billion over 10 years, it will include war ships, advanced missiles, precision guided bombs, everything the U.S. believes the Saudi military needs to provide a better defense against Iranian expansion in the Gulf region.

Criticism is mounting, not where you think it might come from. Not necessarily from Israel, but from experts who say these big high- ticket items are maybe not the best weapons against Iran, and the support for Hezbollah and Hamas -- Hala.

GORANI: All right, we'll try to get back to you in just a moment. Let's go to Aneesh who is in Tehran, with more reaction from Iran.

This is understood to provide a military counterweight, Aneesh, to Iran and potentially nuclear Iran. What is the reaction there from the Iranian capital?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Hala, the reaction was swift. It came from the country's foreign ministry, which said the potential deal with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is part of a broader American strategy to destabilize the Middle East so much so, that countries are so afraid they have to buy more weapons.

Essentially this is all about money. A bit dismissive from the foreign ministry. When you look at the map, though, you look at the countries the U.S. is talking to about arm sales, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, these are just across the Persian Gulf from Iran. There are some here afraid of an arms race in the Persian Gulf.

But analysts I have just spoken to say, look, Iran does not fear them. Iran only fears a direct attack from the United States. With the U.S. bogged down in Iraq, Iran doesn't feel that's in the offing. So for today in terms of the reaction it was dismissive and not at all any sense of pressure that Iran is feeling -- Hala.

GORANI: All right, Aneesh Raman, in Tehran. Let's got to Atika Shubert, she is in Gaza City, Gaza.

Now, Hamas is one of the groups the U.S. says Iran is helping, financially and militarily. So how does Gaza, for instance, and other regions in the southern Lebanon and Hezbollah fit into the strategy, and what is the reaction from there?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: It is precisely because, as you know here in Gaza, Hamas took over very violently the Gaza Strip last month. And Israel sees Hamas has a terrorist group that has Iranian backing, much as it sees Hezbollah. It is because it sees this threat from Iran -- not just from Iran directly but Hezbollah on it's northern border, from Hamas on its southern border, that Israel is accepting this deal.

Even though, as you mentioned, much of that deal goes to countries that have not traditionally been seen as allies of Israel. The Gulf States, Saudi Arabia. But from Israel's point of view, those countries are moderate states compared to the threat it sees from Iran. And that's why Israel accepts this deal, particularly in light of what's happening here in Gaza and its northern border in Lebanon.

GORANI: All right, Atika Shubert in Gaza, Aneesh Raman in Tehran, Barbara Starr in Washington, D.C. Thanks to all, on this proposed arms deal to Saudi Arabia, other Gulf States, Egypt and Israel, for the next two years. Very interesting discussion -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. We, unfortunately, have wire services, multiple stories coming in from the Agence France-Presse, from the Reuters news agency, from Afghanistan, claims by the Taliban that because their hostage negotiations -- they are holding some 22 South Korean Christian aid workers -- they say those negotiations broke down. The Taliban is claiming, according to Reuters and the Agence France Press, they executed one male hostage.

Now, most of the hostages are women. Obviously all of this coming as very bad news to the South Koreans, who have been watching this moment by moment. The Afghan government had appealed for an additional 48 hours, to negotiate with the Taliban. It is known they are trying to look at the possibility of a rescue.

But at the same time we are getting word now through the wire services, Reuters specifically, saying that one male South Korean hostage, among more than 20 hostages being held, has been executed. That was quoting a Taliban spokesman.

We will bring you any updates to this story as soon as they come in. We are obviously working on getting some confirmation ourselves as to what the Taliban actually has said.

We have to take a short break here. Hala and I will be right back after this. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. That proposed arms deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is expected to help upgrade the Saudis air force, navy and missile defenses. But there's one particular part of the package that's being singled out by some. Rosemary Church joins us with some insight.

ROSMARY CHURCH, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Saudi Arabia had long been the United States top arms customer. And this newest proposed deal means that will likely remain the case. Its relationship with the U.S., together with its deep pockets, gives Saudi Arabia access to some of the most high-tech weapon systems. It's an arrangement that serves both Saudi Arabia's and the United States' interest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD HAASS, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Partially this is to give them confidence and capacity against Iran. Also, it's hopefully some sort of a bargain where the United States does things like this for Saudi Arabia.

In return the administration is hoping that Saudi Arabia becomes more supportive of the Iraqi government. It does more to stop the flow of arms and people to various militias on the Sunni side of the equation in Iraq. Maybe support the administration's Middle East policy more broadly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now, Saudi Arabia is a large country with a small population that can make it difficult to defend against neighbors with more people and less land. But Saudi Arabia is also flush with oil wealth. So, what it lacks in manpower, it can make up for in weapons.

From 1998 to 2005, the U.S. delivered $17.9 billion in articles to Saudi Arabia. This newest proposed arm sale is not necessarily out of the ordinary, $20 billion over 10 years, represents a similar amount of arms over a similar time period.

But there is a difference in this deal, the J-DAM, Joint Direct Attack Munition, is a low cost kit that converts existing dumb bombs into accurate, satellite-guided smart bombs. Now, the J-DAM has a high accuracy, all-weather conventional bombing capability. The United States used thousands of them in Kosovo, Afghanistan and in Iraq. And its first international sale of that weapon was to Israel seven years ago.

Some in Israel are now concerned about the Saudis having such a precision strike capability. So to ease those concerns the U.S. official tells CNN there are discussions about basing the weapons as far away from Israel as possible. But Israel is not the only one with reservations. There's also disagreement about the proposed deal from within the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAASS: There will be congressional opposition. There's concern about the long-term stability and political orientation of Saudi Arabia. Also, some military experts are going to stand up and say, look, this is irrelevant. Iranian threat is Hamas, Hezbollah militias. It's not the Iranian air force. There's a mismatch between what the United States is doing and Iranian threat to Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Now, it's difficult to know how the Bush administration plans to deal with congressional opposition to this sales plan, but it has offered a sweetener to Israel. U.S. military aid to Israel will sharply increase from $24 billion over 10 years to $30 billion. But those low-cost J-DAMS still represent Israel's main concern with their precision strike capability, Jim.

CLANCY: Rosemary, I mean, when you talk about the billions of dollars that are involved here, and you talk about the JDAMS as being low cost, in reality, are they?

CHURCH: It's quite interesting actually. Because the initial estimate for the JDAM kit was set at about $40,000; now, through competition that got down to $18,000 per kit. And you really get an idea of just how low that is in cost when you compare it to the new Tomahawk. They are at $730,000 each. You put those two figures together, $18,000 opposed to $730,000, you realize what a cost- efficient option this is. Especially when you consider its accuracy, Jim.

CLANCY: Still, for U.S. taxpayers, this is a huge amount of money that's going out there and U.S. arms manufacturers and the countries that are involved.

CHURCH: That's right.

CLANCY: Rosemary, with insight, thank you very much.

CHURCH: Thanks, Jim.

GORANI: All right, indicted NFL star, Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Michael Vick is speaking publicly for the first time since he was indicted on dog fighting charges. Vick told listeners on a local Atlanta radio show he plans on one day returning to the field in a Falcons uniform.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will we see No. 7, Atlanta Falcon quarterback Mike Vick back on the field?

MICHAEL VICK, INDICTED NFL QUARTERBACK: Hopefully so. Under the right circumstances, I think, it can work. I know I have put the city through a lot. The owner, Arthur Blake (ph), who I love, sincerely, I have put him through a lot. And you know its hurt me to put him through these situations and for him to have to deal with that because he shouldn't have to.

Like I said under the right circumstances, there are a lot of things that would need to be worked out, you know, for them to put that trust and faith back within me. If I had the opportunity, without a doubt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Michael Vick, there. He was ordered not to report to training camp by the NFL commissioner. His trial on those dog fighting charges, illegal in the U.S., start on November 26. CLANCY: All right, Hala, time for us to take a very short break.

GORANI: Coming up, a moment of happiness for a war-torn people.

CLANCY: A prestigious football win unites not only the Iraqis but anyone who's ever been to Iraq, everyone, proud of a great victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, it was a rare moment of unity and joy for Iraq, the country's the national football team scored a highly symbolic victory over Saudi Arabia in the Asia Cup. In fact, I think we can call it more than symbolic, it was an actual tangible win. And gave war-torn Iraq a chance to set aside their worries at least for a few hours, and their differences perhaps as well. Arwa Damon was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The U.S. military took us into the streets of Kadamia (ph), where it felt much more like a Mardi Gras celebration than a war zone.

The elation, utterly palpable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very happy today, because my team Iraq has victory in Asia! Goal! Goal!

DAMON: Some of the Iraqis in strange costumes. Others grabbing anything just to make more noise. Uninhibited jubilation; and some bizarre sights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am man, and my wife having baby!

DAMON: Euphoria everyone wishes Iraq could have forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right, Arwa Damon joins us now live from Baghdad.

Having come back from Iraq just a few weeks ago, Arwa, seeing these scenes of jubilation and celebration on the streets of the Iraqi capital, is just something else. Tell us what it was like.

DAMON: Hala, it was honestly utterly mind boggling. It was so intoxicating out there. You could really feel sort of all of this suppressed desire amongst the Iraqi people to just shout, and have fun and let go of all of the pain and agony they have been going through for the last four years. It just seemed to explode out of just about everybody.

To give you an example, when we were walking through the streets, we kept trying to interview people, to ask them what they thought about their country's win. And most of them couldn't even form a coherent sentence before they would fully erupt into just cheers. It was absolutely amazing.

You know what it was like. You were just here. I have never seen Iraqis like this in the last four and a half years. It was such a spectacular, unique moment.

GORANI: I understand, Arwa, you have some newspapers. Of course, newspapers from all -- representing all sects, all political parties, Sunnis, Shias, the Kurds, all leading, understandably so with this great win.

DAMON: That's right. And this is what's interesting. Pretty much every single newspaper here in Iraq is affiliated with one political party, sect or another. But what we are seeing is something very rare. Just about every single paper is leading with Iraq's victory at that Asia Cup. This was such a moment of national unity.

Many Iraqis were even saying their football team has now accomplished something their government couldn't. Their government had been trying for quite some time now to accomplish national unity. It has not been able to. And all of the Iraqis have been saying, what they saw following the Asia Cup was something the politicians in Iraq's current government was not able to bring the people.

Of course, how long the sentiment of national unity will last, how long Iraqis will really be able to hold on -- harness the happiness and joy they felt, that really all remains to be seen.

In fact, there was tragically another car bomb this afternoon in the capital. And that really drove the reality of war back home for many people, Hala.

GORANI: Of course, you would have to be extraordinarily naive to believe a football game could help solve long-standing sectarian tension. But at the same time it does provide a glimmer of hope. I mean, it's not something to be discounted, is it?

DAMON: No, Hala, it's not. And amongst those that were celebrating and prior to heading out on the street, at the military base where we were at where there were also Iraqi contractors and translators, a lot of them were looking at the celebration as the interaction amongst themselves, and saying this is the Iraq that we want. This is the Iraq that we want back.

And even though it might seem naive to think that you could take advantage of that certain sense of unity, there is this still engrained desire amongst Iraqis to really come together, at least on the average person's level.

GORANI: All right. And it was a well-deserved win and just a spectacular sight, whether you were there, or from the outside. Thank you, Arwa Damon in Baghdad.

CLANCY: All right, that's it for our hour. I'm Jim Clancy. We will have an update on the Taliban's claim of executing a South Korean hostage coming up.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN.

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