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Bush Responds to Criticism Over 9/11 Intelligence

Aired May 17, 2002 - 12:02   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: And as we have been reporting, President Bush now responding to the flurry of questions and demands for more information about what the White House may have known prior to 9/11.

Back to the White House our senior correspondent there, John King with more today -- John, good afternoon.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill.

And those comments from the president, which we will bring you in their entirety in just a second, the first time Mr. Bush himself has addressed this controversy. We are told by top aides that the president in private is quite angry. He believes especially Democrats in Congress, also some in the news media, taking out of context what he was told before September 11, raising with the American people, and especially with the families of those killed, the prospect that perhaps the president knew something and should have done something before the September 11 attacks.

Mr. Bush did not respond directly yesterday, but in the last hour in the rose garden, with members of the Air Force standing behind him -- this was a ceremony to honor the Air Force Academy football team -- Mr. Bush, for the first time, spoke out directly to the American people about the controversy of what he knew before the September 11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On September 11, war came to our country. And I want to thank you, coach, for recruiting those who will help us win our nation's wars. Because unlike the last time we met, we're at war. We are in the midst of a war against a determined and fierce enemy.

I want the troops here to know that I take my job as the commander in chief very seriously. That my most important job is to protect America and to protect our homeland. I do whatever it takes, and I know you will join me in doing whatever it takes to prevent the enemy from attacking America again like they did and causing thousands to suffer and to mourn and to grieve.

You know what is interesting about Washington, it is a town -- unfortunately, it's the kind of place where second-guessing has become second nature. The American people know this about me, and my national security team and my administration. Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people.

We will use the might of America to protect the American people. We are in for a long struggle. It's a tough war. This is an enemy that's not going to quit. So therefore in order to protect innocent lives, this country must have the will and the determination to chase these killers down one by one and bring them to justice. And that's exactly what is going to happen so long as I am the president of the United States of America

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So you hear the president there, a bit of an edge in his voice, forcefully making the case that he knew nothing prior to September 11 that would have or could have helped the government do anything to stop the attacks. The president saying second-guessing now second nature. That part of a White House message that in the view of this White House, these questions being raised about what the president new and whether he could have done more are being raised in a political context by the Democrats.

Now at the same time, the White House says it will cooperate with congressional inquiries into the matter, and the today are saying this is not about politics, that they have legitimate questions about what the president knew, what the CIA knew, what the FBI knew, whether that information was shared among and between the agencies, and whether, when you put all that together, the administration should have known more. Whether the president himself or someone else in the administration should have known more about what was to come. This debate will unfold now, Bill, for weeks and months because of those ongoing inquiries.

HEMMER: That it will, John. Before we get to Ari Fleischer, who is anticipated in about seven minutes time, go back to yesterday and Condoleezza Rice. The White House position is this, regarding the FBI memo. It says that the president was never informed of that memo out of Phoenix in July. It also says the White House was given no information on the arrests of Zacarias Moussaoui in Minnesota back in August, about a month before 9/11.

Is that still the position, or is there a possibility based on the wording we got yesterday that indeed there might have been there something there last summer on these two fronts?

KING: We will listen if Ari Fleischer has any new information on that. We touched base with the National Security Council this morning because Dr. Rice did say she was going to have people go back and double check to make sure it did not come in any meetings she did not recall, or in any memo she did not recall. As of now, the administration has not changed that position. That review was still underway a few hours ago. So that will come up in the briefing as well. Again, all these congressional questions -- on the one hand, this administration for months had urged Congress not to have an investigation or at least not to have it in public. To leave it to the intelligence committee so that all this material would be kept private. The administration, though, now realizing there are mounting questions about what the government knew, including -- the president says it's unfair -- but including what the president knew. This is going to go on for months.

HEMMER: John, thank you. John King on the front lawn. We'll be back in touch throughout the afternoon.

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