Skip to main content
CNN.com /TRANSCRIPTS

CNN TV
EDITIONS





CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Any Momentum Towards Peace Appears to Have Been Stopped Dead in Tracks

Aired May 8, 2002 - 05:05   ET

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


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now turning our attention back to the Middle East, where any momentum towards peace appears to have been stopped dead in its tracks. A bombing in the Israeli coastal town of Rishon Letzion has killed 16 people, including the bomber.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel is on the scene.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Death, destruction, devastation and no little despair, as Israelis begin to contemplate these grizzly scenes here in this third story of this industrial zone, where this gaming parlor was in existence and which was a very crowded place when the bomber struck. It was just about 10 minutes before 11 in the evening when the bomber, just around here, we're told, in this corner, blew himself up. The bloodstains on the roof perhaps evidence of that. And all around there are, indeed, still bloodstains on the carpet, or what remains of the carpet.

The ceiling, the acoustic ceiling and what above it came crashing down and clearly here is one of the billiard tables completely knocked asunder, the very heavy wooden feet of the table knocked apart. The table comes down and there you have the lights above it and all the debris from the roof, also some of the surgical gloves used by the rescue teams and then by the forensic experts.

Forensic experts were here taking away whatever they could find to help establish how the bomb was constructed, what was in it and any other evidence that might help them in the future. And then the personal effects, all those small personal effects, all the effects around, the billiard balls on the table itself left in place, the pink and the black sandwiches uneaten, a small purse, a plastic purse containing some personal belongings, a shoe, one shoe here, one shoe there. A pack of cigarettes only partially opened, a little sweet, a candy, pen, personal papers.

There's a pair of sunglasses with one of the lenses smashed out. And then something which many, which the forensic experts were picking up as we watched them work left behind, one of these, a screw, a nut and a bolt that they've been able, that they have been picking up all along and this is what suicide bombers and other attacks have been accustomed to use to increase the effect of their bomb.

And then down on the floor, of course, you get, well, more shoes, more bloodstained papers and personal papers, accounts, things that might have been unopened, some of them, in people's pockets as the bomber struck. And now, as the rescue work has been completed, as the devastation is assessed, now comes the time for political assessment and perhaps for political reassessment.

Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Rishon Letzion, Israel.

COSTELLO: Jerrold was certainly right about that. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is now on his way back to Israel, where he will convene a security cabinet meeting tonight to deal with the latest bombing. The Israeli prime minister was informed of the attack during talks with President Bush and there's some irony here. They were talking about ways to end Middle East violence.

In a news conference before leaving Washington, Mr. Sharon directly blamed the attack on the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIAL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Today, in the face of all our sincere efforts to move forward on the political path, we received another proof of the true intentions of the person leading the Palestinian Authority. Those who call for millions of materials are guilty. Those who constantly incite are guilty. Those who fund terrorism are guilty. Those who launch terrorism are guilty. Guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Anger, distrust, bitterness, the tangled Middle East. Get all the background on key players on our Web site. All you have to do is go to cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

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



Dead in Tracks>


 
 
 
 


 Search   

Back to the top