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CNN Live At Daybreak
What's on Tap for D.C. Today?
Aired August 22, 2002 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to talk a little more about the president's western White House and what he's doing there. So as always at this time, we want to go inside the Beltway and talk with our Washington bureau.
Producer Paul Courson joins us live by phone.
PAUL COURSON, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU MORNING PRODUCER: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning, Paul. How are you?
COURSON: I am well, thanks.
COSTELLO: So let's talk a little bit more about this meeting yesterday in Crawford.
COURSON: Well, even on...
COSTELLO: Did it go well?
COURSON: Even on vacation, the president has stirred up some controversy. First of all, the Iraq -- the meeting with his national security team, he accused the media of hyping the story with Iraq that he said wasn't even going to come up.
Well, we were told after the meeting yesterday, Iraq did not come up. But as you saw there, the president came out to the cameras afterward and told reporters that when it comes to resolving tension over Iraq, he doesn't have any immediate war plans.
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld was right alongside him. He said war with Iraq is not inevitable, despite speculation to the contrary. That would be us.
Nonetheless, you know, the head of the U.S. Central Command, General Tommy Franks, wasn't at the meeting. You can take that whichever you wish. But he was in Kazakhstan, where he told reporters yesterday he is drawing up contingency plans about Iraq for Bush to consider. Rumsfeld said, wait a minute, no, that was a routine order, and he suggested not to make too much of it.
COSTELLO: But wait a minute, Paul. Didn't Tom Delay come out and talk about Iraq, too? Aren't other Republicans kind of making a case for attacking Iraq?
COURSON: Well, that's the thing. The White House would have us believe that Iraq is a problem. Saddam Hussein needs to be dealt with, and they're going to do it their way. And the details of how that should happen are still murky or undecided or just not revealed one way or the other.
Other Republicans are saying, well, yes, the president is right, and here is what we should do. So that's their own advocacy, rather than anything the White House might endorse or dispute.
COSTELLO: Understand. Let's talk about the president going to Oregon today.
COURSON: Yes, that's the other controversy, even though he's on vacation. The president has released details that there could be a change in how logging regulations are handled. This would be a result of the wildfires, as he's going to see in Oregon first-hand today.
The idea would be a "forest safety measure," as the White House promotes it. It would allow swifter removal of timber as what they "proactive forest management," Carol. But environmentalist groups got wind of it yesterday, and said, wait a minute, this is a backdoor way to serve logging interests. Those opposed to relaxed regulations on logging say, cutting these roads through areas like this and cutting down trees can actually aggravate, not reduce, the risk of wildfires.
COSTELLO: Well, that's...
COURSON: Suzanne Malveaux, by the way, will be with us at the White House later this morning, as the president's trip gets under way from Texas to the Pacific Northwest.
COSTELLO: It should be interesting. Let's talk about the drought. Black farmers are marching on Washington. Why are they doing that?
COURSON: Well, when I first saw that coverage note about the rally today by black farmers in Washington, I thought, OK, this is drought-related. But it turns out there are some long-standing problems involving racial bias against black farmers, who have applied for government loans over the years and have been turned down on what they say are racial grounds. They say since then, there has been slow settlement of claims, slow handling of their documented complaints.
There was a 1997 class-action suit against the Agriculture Department, and there have been many, many settlements. But black farmers today come to town to protest outside the USDA's headquarters, to challenge the rejection of thousands of other claims.
And around 9:30 this morning, we'll have CNN national correspondent Bob Franken, who will be covering not only the farmers, the trucks around the Agriculture Department and their livestock that they're bringing to town.
COSTELLO: Thank you very much, Paul Courson. It sounds like you guys have a busy day, so we'll let you get back to your work.
COURSON: Thanks. Take care. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
