[Betty Nguyen, Cnn Anchor:] Well, good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen, here at the CNN Center in Atlanta. ON THE STORY begins in just 60 seconds. But first, here's what's happening "Now in the News." President Bush is now in the air and on his way to Europe. Mr. Bush's five-day trip is aimed at rebuilding the frayed Transatlantic Alliance. His three stops include Belgium, Germany and the Slovak Republic. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has a live report from Brussels. That is straight ahead. Also, in the Middle East today, Israel's pullback from Gaza and parts of the West Bank gets the go-ahead from the Israeli cabinet. Ministers approved the controversial plan about an hour ago. The evacuation of about 9,000 Jewish settlers begins in July. We'll have more news coming up in 30 minutes. ON THE STORY begins right now.
[Dana Bash, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Welcome to CNN's ON THE STORY, where our journalists have the inside word on the stories we covered this week. I'm Dana Bash, on the story of President Bush's latest step to overhaul the nation's 15 intelligence agencies.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn White House Correspondent:] I'm Suzanne Malveaux, on the story in Brussels, where President Bush kicks off his Europe trip, of course, to try to repair the damaged relations with European allies.
[Liz Neisloss, Cnn Correspondent:] I'm Liz Neisloss, in New York, on the story of a sexual harassment charge against a senior United Nations official.
[Kathleen Hays, Cnn Correspondent:] And I'm Kathleen Hays, in Detroit, on the story of how words about the economy and inflation in Washington this week hit home here in the Motor City. We will go to Iraq, where Jane Arraf is on the story of U.S. forces just arriving and getting a crash course in survival from those headed home. Later in the hour, CNN producer Alex Quade is on the story of U.S. medics who consider their time in Iraq their honeymoon. E-mail us at onthestory@cnn.com. Now straight to Suzanne Malveaux and President Bush in Europe.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] My first goal is to remind both Americans and Europeans that the transatlantic relationship is very important for our mutual security and for peace, and that we have differences sometimes, but we don't differ on values.
[Malveaux:] That, of course, President Bush, setting the stage for his Europe trip, talking about the differences between the United States and European allies. Perhaps an understatement. The president, of course, going to be arriving here in Brussels in about four hours to try to confront some of those differences, as well as talk about common values.
[Neisloss:] Suzanne, a lot of Europeans are still remembering the post-Iraq splits, and clearly you just mentioned Bush has his work cut out for him. But it's very hard, I think, for them to forget the "punish France and ignore Germany" days. So what is it that Bush is going to try to do in his meeting, for example, with Chirac?
[Malveaux:] Well, you know, that's really a very good point, because there was a top European Union official who said earlier this week he described Secretary Rice's trip to Europe as very successful, very positive, but he also described it in a way saying, you know, romance blossoms once two people decide that they are going to get married, that there's a marriage on the way. And the big question, of course, is just how long is this honeymoon going to last between the president and some of his European allies? You are absolutely right, do they expect a lot here? That same official, of course, saying, no, when it comes to substance and policy matters, they don't expect a lot. But they also say as well not to underestimate really the stage craft of all of this, and what his mere presence means. The fact that he is visiting the European Union headquarters, the fact that he is meeting with NATO, really is seen as legitimizing those international bodies. And you remember, so many times when it was just last year, that the president basically called those organizations irrelevant. So in some ways they see the trip alone as being something that is very significant.
[Hays:] And, of course, Suzanne, Condoleezza Rice didn't waste any time getting straight to Europe to start mending fences, paved the way for this trip. What role has she played, and what role has she played in convincing the president that this is an important part of his second term, to reestablish good ties with Europe?
[Malveaux:] Well, you know, one thing that was really important that she did, is she essentially set the stage for President Bush. She, as well as Secretary Rumsfeld, who was in Germany last week, and said, look, when it came to the comment about old Europe, he said, "Well, that was the old Rumsfeld," really trying to put those differences aside. I think what she has done essentially is said, look, these...
[Bash:] I think we have lost Suzanne's audio for a moment. We are going to keep talking, of course, about the president's trip. You are looking at pictures now of Condoleezza Rice and Jacques Chirac. Of course, that was the precursor, if you will, to President Bush's trip to Europe. He is on his way there, as Suzanne was talking about, as we speak. And we are talking not only about that meeting, but the slew of meetings that President Bush is going to have with a number of leaders.
[Neisloss:] Dana, really you hear this as well in your coverage of the White House. One of the real challenges is going to be on the subject of Iran, where the U.S. and European allies have kind of a split. And this is a real issue that the U.S. isn't able to grapple with. They need Europe, and yet they have a difference over how to approach it.
[Bash:] Sounds familiar, doesn't it, Liz? But the interesting thing about Iran is that President Bush took pains in a number of pre- trip interviews that he did with some European television and print reporters in trying to make the point that he's not that you shouldn't worry. Even though there are polls that say like 70 percent of Germans, for example, think that he's absolutely going to invade Iran, he is not going to do that. He is really trying to focus right now on the diplomatic front. But how they get there, that is really the big key. Because they do have very difference different opinions in how they are going to do that. And I think that we have Suzanne back up in Brussels. Suzanne, are you there?
[Malveaux:] Yes, I'm here.
[Bash:] OK. One thing I was going to ask you, which I think which I'm probably most fascinated by, and I know that you are, too, is a meeting at the end of President Bush's trip, and that is with President Putin, the Russian president, whom he called his good friend. But over the past four years, you have seen, perhaps, a loosening of the of the democracy, if you will, in Russia at a time when President Bush is talking about democracy, making that really the staple of his presidency, pushing democracy around the world. So what are you going to be looking for in terms of what President Bush is going to say publicly with President Putin, criticizing him, if you will?
[Malveaux:] Well, that's right. I mean, here you have somebody who said when they first met that this is man that he saw into his soul. And, of course, what everybody is going to be looking at is, well, what do we see in terms of the results of these discussions? President Bush has been asked that question a couple of times this week leading up to the meetings. And he says, of course, that these are the kinds of things that he'll talk about privately. But people are looking for that indication, whether or not he's going to speak publicly about this to push this one step further. There are a lot of problems, tension between the United States and Russia, as you know, of course. And it's not really just dealing with the kind of slide-back of those democratic reforms, but also just with the case of Iran this week. We heard Putin say that he did not believe they were trying to actually establish nuclear weapons, that they were going to continue to support their nuclear energy program. There are a lot of things that the president is going to have to go ahead and address. We think he will. He says he will. But whether or not he's actually going to be standing face to face with Putin in front of the cameras and be critical is probably not the best approach, at least not now.
[Hays:] Suzanne, what about standing in front of the cameras? What about the show? What about the stage craft versus the substance? What do you expect to see there?
[Malveaux:] Well, one thing that this trip is going to do and the president has said it, but also a lot of his aides behind the scenes say that all they really want to do is try to set the tone for the second administration. There are officials from the European Union who also say as well, you know, we've got to work with him. We realize that three different things have changed since the last go- around. First, they say that he won the election, that he really it was a validation of his policies by the American people. They also talk about the fact that he has both parties in his control, the Republican party. And then third, they point to the Iranian elections, and they say rather, the Iraqi elections, and they say that it really was in some way a validation of his policy. So they have to deal with him. They realize that. I think both sides are looking at this as just an opportunity, perhaps, to set the stage and to change the tone. Whether there's going to be substantive changes in policy, that's much later down the road.
[Bash:] Thank you, Suzanne. We will certainly be watching you on the story in the next coming days. As you know, I can relate to what you are going through, very exciting. But a little bit of sleep deprivation. So hang in there and have a good time.
[Malveaux:] Thanks. Thanks a lot.
[Bash:] Thanks, Suzanne. And just ahead we're going to go to Iraq, where CNN's Jane Arraf is on the story. And at the end of the hour, our "What's Her Story?" segment looks at "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller, ordered by a federal appeals court this week to give up her sources or face jail. All coming up, all ON THE STORY.