Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

President Bush Encouraged About Economy

Aired April 26, 2002 - 14:11   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: To Crawford, Texas now. More talk from the president today. To Major Garrett on the Middle East situation now. Major, good afternoon again.

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill. The president weighed in on the economy. The Bush White House was very delicate about the recession, never officially declaring one, saying it was always up to economists to declare a recession. Well, they're going to be careful about declaring a recession over. They will leave that to economists as well.

But the president did want to weigh in on today's GDP numbers -- 5.8 percent growth in first quarter. He said they were a very encouraging sign, but there was still more to do. And he said after convening a teleconference with his top economic advisers, they concluded that there was something in the numbers that wasn't just exactly right. That there was some short-term growth but it wasn't long-term. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A major force contributing to the high growth figure is a short-term swing in inventories. This means that -- that the impetus behind growth won't last very long. That we must continue working to make sure the short- term recovery is a long-term recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT: The best way to do that, the president said, is to make his tax cut, passed last year and due to expire in 2010, permanent. Now, Democrats would argue what could that possibly have to do with the economy now -- that is, to say, making tax cuts permanent almost a decade from now.

The Bush administration argues investors, businesses and consumers need certainty in the tax code. The president also said trade promotion authority, an energy bill and other measures need to be undertaken. But he really wants that tax cut permanent. A very strong political push for his signature economic agenda item from last year.

The president also weighed in on the Middle East. He said that the United States has a very unique relationship with Israel and it wants all in the Arab world to know that it will not allow Israel, in the president's words, to be crushed. He said he communicated that message yesterday here in Crawford to Crown Prince Abdullah during his five-hour visit.

But the president also said it was time for the Israeli defense forces to wrap up their military incursions throughout the Palestinian territories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: The Israelis understand my position. I've been very clear on that. And there has been some progress, but it's now time to quit it all together. It's time to end this -- well, we'll see what happens. It's -- I know they've heard us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT: The Saudis would say that's part of the problem, Mr. President. They have heard you and yet, have not responded. The Saudis made it very clear to the president in their meeting here yesterday they want the United States to exert more pressure, not only publicly and privately, to get the Israelis out of not only Ramallah, but out of Bethlehem, out of all the Palestinian territories. And until that happens, the Saudis say, there's going to be scant progress towards security or any kind of peace negotiations -- Bill.

HEMMER: Major, quickly, do you have any indication as to whether or not these two men talked about Iraq in that meeting yesterday?

GARRETT: Yes, they did. It was not a dominant part of conversations at all. But it was a theme. Senior administration officials said the president expressed his ongoing concern about the Iraqi regime and Saddam Hussein. For their part, Saudi officials said they consider Saddam a problem in the region.

But they also consider arms control issues related to Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction exactly that -- an arms control issue, not a war on terrorism issue. And all grievances with the Iraqi regime must be resolved with the United Nations. And there has to be broad consultation between the United States and all Arab allies if there's any military confrontation with Iraq.

HEMMER: Major, thanks. Major Garrett, again in Crawford, Texas.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com