ARI SHAPIRO, Host:
This is Weekend Edition from NPR News. I'm Ari Shapiro. Scott Simon is away. This week, tensions rose in the Middle East as Israel continued its military offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes have left more than 400 Gazans dead and Hamas has continued its rocket fire into Israel. Also this week, President-elect Barack Obama returned home from a holiday vacation and prepared for his family's move to Washington. Meanwhile, his old Senate seat remains the center of controversy in Illinois. Joining us now is NPR senior news analyst Dan Schorr. Hello.
DAN SCHORR: Hi, Ari. Welcome aboard.
SHAPIRO: It's a pleasure be on your program.
SCHORR: My pleasure.
SHAPIRO: Well, first, let's start with Gaza. Israel is now in its 8th day of airstrikes in Gaza. They're trying to stop Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, but the offensive has not stopped the rockets. The secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, says the only way it will be possible to end the violence is if Hamas stops its attacks. So do you see a chance for a ceasefire here?
SCHORR: Not very soon. The only way you'll get a ceasefire will be if Hamas stops the rocket attacks on Israel. Israel says pending until then, Israel is going to continue and maybe expand its action against Hamas.
SHAPIRO: What do you see as being at the root of this conflict?
SCHORR: Oh, I think at the root of this conflict is the influence of Iran. Just as the Hezbollah represented Iran in Lebanon, so, I think, they are the ones who are sending these rockets to be used by the Hamas. It is a proxy war with Iran that's being fought through other countries.
SHAPIRO: Well, assuming the violence continues through Inauguration Day, how much of a problem will this be for the incoming Obama administration?
SCHORR: Well, it could be great one. It could be - if it does continue that long, I think that the president will have to reflect on it and what he's going to do about of it and that nothing easily suggests itself. It's a very dark and muddy view that you see from here.
SHAPIRO: And speaking of Obama, he arrives here in Washington on Sunday, just in time for his daughters to start school on Monday. Aside from that, what are his top concerns as he makes this move?
SCHORR: Well, his one major concern, as he has indicated himself, is to move very, very rapidly now on what's called a recovery package, used to be called a stimulus package, which could go up anywhere towards a trillion dollars. And because that needs a lot of works still, although they've been working on it very hard, he would, if he were left alone, really concentrate on that. But life doesn't leave you alone sometimes.
SHAPIRO: What do you see as the chances for that package passing, particularly with Republicans?
SCHORR: Well, pretty good. We don't yet know where the Republicans will stand, but given the nature of the threat of the economic downturn that we're facing now, the need to restore some confidence among the American people by showing that something is going on, I imagine they will end up agreeing with the Republicans.
SHAPIRO: And in the middle of all this, there is the inauguration, which people are expecting to draw a record crowd. What are you looking for there?
SCHORR: Well, I'm looking to see what the crowds are going to be like. I've heard estimates ranging all the way up to four million, some kind of enormous record for inaugurals. Other than that, I myself will be staying home watching it from there because it happens to be also my wife's birthday.
SHAPIRO: Oh, well, Happy Birthday to her.
SCHORR: Yeah.
SHAPIRO: As you look back on the inauguration's past, what are the moments that really stand out in your mind?
SCHORR: Well, everybody remembers 1961 with Senator Kennedy. They were eight inches of snow on the ground and they used army flame-throwers to try to clear a path through Pennsylvania Avenue. I remember that. There was President Reagan on his second inaugural that I remember where it was so cold that they had to cancel the parade and all outdoor events, and he actually delivered his inaugural address inside the Capitol. And I remember that. I remember - boy, there was President Truman, who was the first one to do his inaugural on television.
SHAPIRO: Mmm.
SCHORR: And then my old friend, Richard Nixon.
SHAPIRO: Everybody's favorite.
SCHORR: Everybody - who took - had his own way. He had to take the oath. He took them not on one but two bibles.
SHAPIRO: He swore on two bibles?
SCHORR: He swore on two bibles. I don't think it helped, though.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
SHAPIRO: Well, finally, onto Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. This week a number of things happened. He appointed former State Attorney General Roland Burris to Barack Obama's old Senate seat.
SCHORR: Right.
SHAPIRO: But then the Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said he would not certify the appointment. Senate Democrats said they won't accept anybody who is appointed by Blagojevich. But still, Burris says he's going to show up in Washington on Tuesday when the new senators are sworn in.
SCHORR: Yep.
SHAPIRO: He has the support of some African-American members of Congress, like Bobby Rush of Illinois, and he wants the Illinois Supreme Court to force the secretary of state to certify his appointment. So, how much of a distraction is this for the Obama administration?
SCHORR: And you can add to that that the Illinois legislature is preparing to vote impeachment...
SHAPIRO: Right, that just happened on Friday.
SCHORR: This is where you call it theater. Great circus, maybe theater of the absurd you can call it. But the fact of the matter is that Blagojevich has the law on his side. The secretary of state doesn't have any discretion. He has to certify. He's performing what's called a ministerial duty. It's a question of what happens if Burris shows up on Tuesday in the Senate.
SHAPIRO: Unwelcomed by Democrats.
SCHORR: Unwelcomed by almost anybody except the (unintelligible). Comes from Chicago and says he's a friend of his and may not bar him from walking into the Senate and sitting down. This is going to be one that will be going to the courts, maybe up to the Supreme Court, for years and years to come. Where Burris will be during all of this knows only God.
SHAPIRO: Well, how do you untangle this mess?
SHCORR: I don't know - in the end, I suspect that they start in the Senate by appointing a commission to investigate the thing, and they spin it out over a long a period time, and then eventually, what happens at the end of that long period of time, I don't know.
SHAPIRO: NPR's senior news analyst Daniel Schorr. Thank you, Dan.
SCHORR: Thanks, Ari.