Jerusalem Bus Bombing Brings Bush Plan into Question
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Israeli government is deciding how to respond to a deadly bombing in Jerusalem. Palestinian militants are claiming responsibility for the suicide attack on a bus. At least 19 people are dead and 50 more are wounded in the deadliest such attack to strike the holy city in six years. CNN's Jerrold Kessel is in Jerusalem now with the latest -- Jerrold.</s>JERROLD KESSEL, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Kyra. It is now 7:00 in the evening, the beginning of the summer here. People are beginning to make their way home after a day's work. And as you probably see behind me, cars slowing down to look at the bus stop, that bus stop behind me, just where that suicide bomber struck as the bus pulled out from the bus stop. Blew himself up, killed 19 Israelis, wounded more than 50. Two of the dead have been identified: the driver himself, a 51- year-old man, a 22-year-old woman. But the people at the forensics institute saying they're having difficulty identifying all the dead, so severe was the blast. The bomb made out of reinforced explosives with nails and other pellets to add to the effect of the bomber's wreaking havoc on that bus. Israel's prime minister, as you reported, Ariel Sharon, was here this morning looking very grim, and making a point of the fact that he was here. Mr. Sharon does not normally go to the sites of the terror strikes. He was here this morning, made a political point, a very brief statement. He said this is the ongoing -- this ongoing Palestinian terror must be combated, must be fought. And he said, "We shall do so." And a very, very clear message from the Israeli prime minister. He then went and consulted with these top security chiefs. They are reported to have given a number of proposals of how Israel might respond. Mr. Sharon is due to meet with other political leaders this evening to brief them on those proposals perhaps to let it be known what Israel might do or might not do. Because there are also the political constraints in advance of that expected declaration by President bush of the U.S. position on how best to end -- or to map out the road to end this conflict. Well here on the site, the mood has been fluctuating from anger to sorrow through back to anger again. There are only about a hundred people coming and going. They've been laying wreaths here. There were some prayers recited earlier. It's also angry mood, and we spoke to some of the people on the site. Here are some of those reactions.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very angry, we are very upset. Nineteen of our people were murdered here today.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tell you, I want peace, but I can't. I am going to tell my work I'm sick (ph). This now proves it's no (ph)</s>KESSEL: Well, you hear some of the anguish. And a man to whom we spoke before, the first man, was saying when we asked him of what President Bush should do, what he should say. He said very emphatically, "Don't declare your support for a Palestinian state. That will be rewarding terror." Well, that was the message with Mr. Sharon also delivered here today, when he said -- and in a bleak reference to the reports that the president will express U.S. support for at least a provisional Palestinian state, saying, "What kind of Palestinian state are they talking about?" That, Mr. Sharon's message. Hamas, the militant Islamic group, has claimed responsibility for this latest terror outrage, killing 19 Israelis, wounding more than 50 -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Jerrold Kessel, thank you. Well even after this latest bombing, President Bush may send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now with more on that -- Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well reaction to the bombing from the White House was swift and resolute. White House spokesperson Scott McClellan saying this morning that the president condemns this latest terrorist attack in the strongest terms possible. Now publicly, the president was talking about the need to increase home ownership among minorities, but behind the scenes privately the administration is working on unveiling the U.S. peace plan. We are told that this is a broad road map to bring Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table. They say do not expect the president to announce this today, to deliver that perhaps, though, as early as tomorrow. Now we are getting some highlights of this proposal from administration sources. We are told that the president will call to establish a provisional Palestinian state. One which would divided into two areas; one which would have total Palestinian control; the other which would be governed by Palestinians, but security would be run by Israelis. Mr. Bush will also call for an international peace conference this summer. He will call on moderate Arab states, but there will be also surprisingly some other players: Lebanon and Syria. And finally, he is calling for the reorganization of the Palestinian Authority to modify its security forces, to open it up to various leaders besides Yasser Arafat. What we do not expect out of this plan are some of the more contentious issues. These issues that could take years to resolve. We are talking about borders, refugees and partitioning of Jerusalem. Now we know that this plan particularly is designed to basically widen the approach to get more people involved, and to downplay personalities and up play these kind of institutions and states on points they think that they can at least start at the negotiating table -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much. And, by the way, welcome aboard to CNN. It's nice to meet you via satellite.</s>MALVEAUX: Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com