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Hundreds of Protesters Outside Hotel Where Mr. Bush Attended Fund-Raiser

Aired August 23, 2002 - 10:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we go back to the story taking place in Portland, Oregon and the not so welcoming committee for Mr. Bush's presidential visit. Hundreds of protesters squared off with black helmeted riot police outside the hotel where Mr. Bush attended a Republican candidate's fund-raiser. Protesters amassed against presidential policies, ranging from the economy to forest management to U.S. military action.
Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is at the executive mansion, and she joins us with the latest.

Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

President Bush is taking his domestic agenda on the road, but everybody is not happy with what they are hearing. It was yesterday that several hundred protesters gathered in Portland, Oregon outside the hotel where Mr. Bush was attending a Republican fund-raiser, most of them protesting the president's forest-protection initiative that was announced earlier in the day, that is to ease regulations for logging and national forests meant to thin out, clear those forests. Those areas are susceptible to wildfires. Some environmentalists are saying this goes too far.

Other protesters were actually taking at issue the administration's policy with Iraq, the possibility of a military attack in Iraq. Now the situation became tense. That is when riot police asked and ordered the protesters to move along, and then used pepper spray to disburse the crowd. There were five protesters that were arrested. It should also be noted, however, that there were dozens of Bush supporters who were aligned along the president's group.

Daryn, later on today, in a couple of hours actually, the president will be travelling to California, he is going to be making three stops. This is a key state for Republicans who are hoping to capture the Senate, maintain the house and also, possibly a Bush run in 2004.

His first stop is going to be Stockton, California. That's where we're told it's expected he'll raise close to $3 million for the embattled gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon.

Now it was just in July that Simon's company was fined nearly $80 million for fraudulent business practices. When President Bush was asked about this, whether or not this squared with his get tough on corporate corruption stance, the president said that the candidate -- assured him that he was innocent, and that that would be shown in court -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne, it sounds like the president's timing in this whole California's governor's race has been totally off. In the primary, he backed Dick Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles. He lost. And now he is jumping in with Bill Simon when he is so far behind, very few people believe he has a chance of winning in California.

MALVEAUX: This is something they really did not expect. It happened very recently. And the governor, Gray Davis, is not a particularly popular candidate himself, some people blaming him for the whole California energy crisis. But certainly this is something that has come up that -- a matter that has come up that is complicated, the matter for the Bush administration, to back Simon in light of what has happened over the last three weeks. But the president still raising those funds, not only for Simon, but also for the Republican Party.

Some measures, some people are looking at this, looking at perhaps the administration distancing itself just a little bit from the candidate himself and focussing more on the Republican's domestic agenda.

KAGAN: Got it. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you so much.

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