FRANK SESNO, CNN ANCHOR: So what now from Washington, where the Clinton administration has invested so much time and attention on Mideast peace? Let's go now to CNN White House correspondent Major Garrett. Major, tie it back to the White House and the U.S. effort for us.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good day, Frank. Well, the White House is paying extra close attention to this evolving situation in the Middle East. Of course, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has been on the phone. National Security Adviser Samuel Berger and the president himself called Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat yesterday and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. But the administration right now is downplaying the exact leverage it has in the situation. One administration official telling CNN just a few moments ago, "This is not about what we can do, it is about what they have to do." They meaning, Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat. This administration official went on to say: "Absent of clear sign from both leaders that the violence should end, the violence does not shutdown, as a matter of fact, it sparks a wider conflict." That's the administration's point of view. What the administration is trying to do is put a proposal on the table for both sides to look out that would allow the United States to act as mediator in a security conference between Palestinian security officials and Israeli security officials to discuss how this violence started and most importantly how it can be stopped in the future. One of the untold stories of this entire peace process is there has been tremendous and cooperative conversation between these Palestinian and Israeli security officials throughout. One advantage of that has been a cessation of these terrorist types attacks in the region. No terrorist bombing of buses and other facilities. So what the U.S. hopes to do is, after the violence stops, convene this conference with professionals on both sides who have a good working relationship, stop the violence now, talk about how it started, and also talk about how to prevent it in future, which the administration believes is the essential first step to reestablishing confidence on both sides, and only then, the administration believes, can you restart the peace process. Major Garrett, CNN, reporting live from the White House.
White House Paying Extra Close Attention to Evolving Situation in the Middle East