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CNN Saturday Morning News

Reporter's Notebook: The Bush, Putin Meeting

Aired June 16, 2001 - 09:31   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.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: And it is time now for e-mail questions on the U.S.-Russian summit.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN White House correspondent John King and Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty are covering the summit. They join us now from Ljubljana, Slovenia, to answer your questions.

Hello to both of you.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BURERAU CHIEF: Hi, there.

NELSON: Good morning, or good afternoon to you guys, I should say.

PHILLIPS: John, let's start with you. We've got an e-mail here. Dale wants to know, "What kind of assurances can President Bush expect from Mr. Putin that future economic aid to Russia will not be wasted on corruption?

KING: Well, that's certainly one of the questions for this meeting. Well, let's be clear up front, this is a two-hour meeting. Neither side expecting any major breakthroughs. Most of the attention has been on the security issues, missile defense, the planned expansion of the NATO alliance. But certainly the Bush administration a much more skeptical view than the Clinton administration when it comes to Western economic aid from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund to Russia.

And this administration, before it agrees to support future aid or any increases in aid down the road, does want some direct assurances from the Putin government. The administration says much of the aid in the past, most of it during the Yeltsin years, but also during some of the Putin years, has been wasted, and the U.S. administration believes there's a great deal of corruption still.

NELSON: OK, let's take this next e-mail to Jill. The question is, "Will President Bush attempt to put at ease Putin's concerns over the planned missile defense shield?" That comes from Sirontos Fotopoulous. I believe that's right -- Jill.

DOUGHERTY: Well, definitely that is what Mr. Bush is here to do. He is going to try to assure Russia that this plan is not a threat ultimately to Russia. And from the Russian perspective, they want to hear a lot more details, because what they are afraid of is that this plan is so ultimately perhaps so massive that it could be a threat to Russia.

So what they really want to do, I think both sides, is to get down to some brass tacks, as much as you can on this plan, because it is still obviously a work in train, but a work in progress, but try to pin down as much as they can. The Russians said right off the bat, they want to get as much information from Mr. Bush as possible.

NELSON: All right, thanks, Jill.

We're going to take a phone call right now from Georgia, and Joe is on the line. Joe, go ahead.

CALLER: Ah, yes, thank you very much. John and Jill, specifically, how much taxpayer money is going to Russia each year? And why should American taxpayer money go to Russia if they don't support us on things like the missile defense system?

KING: Well, very little direct U.S. money...

DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, if I could answer that...

KING: Go ahead. Go ahead, Jill.

DOUGHERTY: Go on, John.

Yes, there -- exactly...

KING: No, you go, Jill.

DOUGHERTY: ... I think we're about to say the same thing. There is very little money now that is going from the United States directly to Russia. A lot of that money is going into programs for -- to stop proliferation, to stop chemical weapons, things like that. It's not aid any more. So that, I think, is one misconception.

And, of course, there was some IMF money, but much of that is directly given to various programs. The Russians would look at it, they say, We don't want your money right now, necessarily. They're trying to pay off debts. But they -- what they want is investment. And that's their job right now, to bring in the laws to attract that investment, otherwise they never will have any investment coming from the West, significant.

PHILLIPS: John, you want to add to that?

KING: Well, Mr. Putin said in his remarks before he came here, that one thing he did hope to speak to Mr. Bush about is opportunities for further investment in Russia. And Mr. Bush has said, all his remarks about what he believes to be an energy crisis or certainly an energy problem in the United States, says he's looking for new places for the United States to develop energy resources. That's one area where these two leaders could find common ground. And Jill is right, the direct aid to Russia, direct U.S. aid to most countries around the world, started drying up in the early Clinton administration if not even sooner. The focus in recent years has been on direct U.S. business investment. Most businesses in the United States would say they want to see more assurances from Russia about the court system, the legal system, the corporation system, before they feel more confident to go in with even more money.

PHILLIPS: Now, you both two -- both of you, rather, could probably comment on this one. It comes from Portland, Oregon. James wants to know, "What happens if Putin and Bush do not hit it off?" Jill, you want to start?

DOUGHERTY: If they don't hit it off, well, it looks as if they already have begun to hit it off. And obviously they're not going to be bosom buddies right from the beginning. But the idea is that they will at least try to, as they've been saying, look each other in the eye, try to get an idea of where the other man is coming from, and find some common language.

And that is why they're going to be taking this little walk in the park together and having a meeting trying to get a -- the measure of the other person. But it's not supposed to be necessarily the old, let's say, Bill Clinton-Boris Yeltsin show any more.

NELSON: All right...

KING: These leaders have no -- they...

NELSON: Go ahead, John.

KING: Go ahead, Brian.

NELSON: All right, the...

KING: I was going to say, these leaders have no choice but to develop a business relationship. The question is whether they develop a personal relationship.

NELSON: OK, well, the cause of all this confusion is the satellite delay for our viewers there...

PHILLIPS: We all have respect for each other, too.

NELSON: Right. We've got another e-mail question for both of you. Let's fire it off to you first, John. It comes from Larry Clark. It says, "President Bush has expressed an optimistic outlook for Europe and Russia, but the press focuses exclusively on areas where there's a difference of opinion. The press should emphasize those areas where a better future for the entire world is what is important."

So from a reporter's point of view, does this man have something concrete there? Has he got a...

KING: Well, this -- the viewer certainly has a point. He has a point that we should focus on areas where there are agreement. This was President Bush's first trip to Europe, so one of the reasons we have focused on the disagreements is because there have been obvious protests against the U.S. president, the European Union issuing a sharp statement, excuse me, criticizing his views on global warming. Other leaders, the president of France, the chancellor of Germany, raising direct criticism and skepticism of the missile defense plan.

So certainly they do get the headlines, just like the great tackles in a football game, you know, get shown on the television set.

But there are some areas of agreement. Mr. Bush, like his allies in Europe, wants more trade. Mr. Bush supports NATO expansion and European Union expansion. So there are some notable areas of agreement, and perhaps we should do a better job of talking about some of them as well.

PHILLIPS: This one comes from Mary in Maryland, and we kind of got a chuckle from this e-mail. "I've been wondering how translators handle President Bush and his poor grammar and misuse of words, et cetera. Do they translate what he says, or what they think he meant?"

Jill?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think that's a question for John.

PHILLIPS: John, respectfully, will you take over?

KING: Thank you so much.

The Bush -- Mr. Bush himself concedes that on occasion he is linguistically challenged. He did have a flub the other day. He referred to Africa as a nation. Of course, Africa is a continent of many nations. The White House would call this a slip of the tongue, not a voice of inexperience. Mr. Bush makes jokes about this himself. But from time to time, he gets himself in a little trouble. As he puts it, sometimes his tongue gets out ahead of his brain.

NELSON: All right. Want to thank you both for joining us this morning, and thank you to our viewers for sending in the calls and e- mails.

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