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American Morning
President Bush Received Small Abrasion on Cheek and Fat Lip After Brief Fainting Spell
Aired January 14, 2002 - 07:04 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, President Bush received a small abrasion on his cheek and a fat lip after a brief fainting spell at the White House over the weekend. The president was actually eating a pretzel and watching an NFL playoff game alone last night when he collapsed.
CNN's senior White House correspondent John King joins us now from the White House lawn with more -- good morning, John. What have you learned?
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
Well, the president told one of his top aides, Karen Hughes, that he was sitting on the couch eating a pretzel. It went down the wrong way and the next thing he knew he was waking up on the floor, looking up at his two dogs. The president joked to Karen Hughes and other top aides the dogs seemed to be looking at him a little funny.
Not a laughing matter, of course, to have the president faint in the White House. He was checked out by the medical staff, first up in the bedroom in the White House residence, where all of this occurred at about 5:35 last night. Then he went down to the medical unit in the White House, had cardiopulmonary tests, his blood pressure checked, his blood sugar checked, some other checks. The doctors here say the president is fine.
They believe it is possible that the pretzel aggravated a nerve and that caused the president's heart rate to decrease. The president has a very low heart rate anyway because of his physical conditioning, his running and all that. They believe that is a possibility. The president, also, though, has told aides throughout the weekend that he wasn't feeling very well. He told Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, he had "a little bug."
Still, aides say the president more embarrassed by this than anything else. He went to bed last night early after having soup and salad with the first lady, said he felt a little under the weather but OK. He is, we are told, just to stop by the medical unit this morning just to make sure everything is all right. But I spoke to a senior administration official just a few moments ago who says the president is planning to leave the White House in an hour. He's hitting the road for two days to focus on the economy. As you noted, he does have what Ari Fleischer called "ugly scrape" on his left cheekbone and a bit of a scar on his lip, as well. The president thinks that when he fell, when he fainted, that he perhaps hit the floor or a table next to the couch in the White House bedroom where he was seated and that perhaps his glasses are responsible for that scrape.
Again, though, the president was said to be in good condition last night. The doctors say they see no reason for this to happen again and all indications are the president will leave here in just about an hour and keep to his schedule -- Paula.
ZAHN: Ari Fleischer, his spokesperson, mentioned yesterday that he had some dental work done on Saturday. Are they now saying that had nothing to do with what happened yesterday?
KING: They do not believe it had anything to do with what happened here at the White House on Saturday. The president had his teeth cleaned. He also had a crown replaced. He did get local Novocain at the time, but no large scale anesthesia of any kind. So the White House doctor, an Air Force colonel, Richard Tubb, said last night he did not believe there was any connection at all.
If it is not the pretzel responsible for this, White House aides believe the president could simply just have a bit more of a bug than he is letting on. He's telling aides he feels a little under the weather, he has a little bug. Others say perhaps he has more of a cold than he believes he has and he's just being a little stubborn -- Paula.
ZAHN: You're not saying it had anything to do with the score in the game, either, right, Baltimore winning 20-30?
KING: You know, Ari Fleischer is a big Dolphins fan. We don't know that the president had a favorite in this game. It wasn't the most exciting game in the world, but let's not blame the football.
ZAHN: All right, thanks so much, John King. Appreciate that report.
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