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CNN Live Today
President Bush Stunned Over Visa Approvals Delivered for Two of Hijackers From 9-11
Aired March 14, 2002 - 12:04 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush said he was stunned and plenty hot in his words over the visa approvals delivered this week for two of the hijackers from 9-11. He has now ordered the attorney general's office to investigate the rather embarrassing foul-up by the INS. This is the talk in D.C. today, among other things.
Kelly Wallace at the White House now to shake it down for us.
Kelly, after afternoon.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill.
Well, President Bush certainly made his unhappiness very known during that news conference yesterday. You will recall him telling reporters he could barely get his coffee down when he was reading about the story in the newspaper.
As you said, the president calling on the Justice Department to get back to him within 30 days to really address how this could have happened. The president is saying this is a wake-up call for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, but some members of the president's own party are going a step further. The Republican leader of the House Judiciary Committee said really the time has come to get rid of the INS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: The only thing I think we can do responsibly is to abolish the INS as we know it, and reconstitute it into separate agencies with line authority, so we know who's responsible and require people at the top who are qualified both in law enforcement for the enforcement end, and in management and helping out the public in terms of the service end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Now as for the president, we saw him going over to a meeting with staffers earlier on this morning. He is against abolishing the INS, but his proposal, which he unveiled last fall, pretty similar to what the congressman is talking about.
The president would like to split the INS into two parts, have one part of the ins focussing on welcoming and helping immigrants who come to the United States, and have the other part focused on enforcement. The president thinks this would be a good way, to have each part of the INS focus on various services, and another way really to prevent what happened.
Again, though, lots of concern about the INS, the president though maintaining his confidence in INS commissioner James Ziggler, saying he is confident that he is the man who could lead the agency, in what the president says, are much needed reforms -- Bill.
HEMMER: Kelly, on another topic, Judge Pickering, possibly a vote today in that Senate Judiciary Committee. The White House has been very public about its strong desire to get his approval, or at least get his vote to the full vote of the Senate. What is happening on that? Any optimism on that front?
WALLACE: Not a lot of optimism. We understand some last-minute lobbying, in the words of Ari Fleischer. The president and his staff have made a call or two over the past few days. We see there Judge Charles Pickering at his hearing. The president believes and used his news conference yesterday to say he is a man who has a good record on civil rights, and is calling on the democratically controlled Senate to approve his confirmation. You know, Bill, lots of concern here, the president saying he believes a few senators are really standing in the way. Aides say that Democrats are playing politics with all of this. Democrats say they simply just don't believe the man has the record for the job.
But you are already hearing talk over retaliation. Some Republican Hill aides say that if this nomination is killed, Republicans could retaliate. They could really hold up the work of the Senate to force Democrats to vote and move the president's judicial nominations -- Bill.
HEMMER: Possibly a lot more in 22 minutes time.
Ari Fleischer, the briefing will come under way. We'll have it for you live for you when that happens.
Kelly, thank you.
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