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CNN Live At Daybreak

Vote Endorsing Action Against Iraq Could Come Early as Next Month

Aired September 05, 2002 - 05:01   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Congressional leaders say a vote endorsing some kind of action against Iraq could come as early as next month.
CNN's Kelly Wallace reports on President Bush's lobbying law makers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing criticism he has not made the case for a U.S. attack on Iraq, President Bush mounts an offensive. He summons congressional leaders to the White House, telling them he will seek a congressional resolution backing possible military action to oust Saddam Hussein.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At the appropriate time, this administration will go to the Congress to seek approval for what's necessary to deal with the threat.

WALLACE: The president urges Congress to act before law makers recess for the November elections. Aides stress Mr. Bush has not decided military action is necessary, but one Republican leader left the White House session convinced otherwise.

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY WHIP: Oh, I think military action is inevitable, faced with Saddam Hussein, 11 years of history of his thumbing his nose at the world.

WALLACE: Democratic law makers applaud the president for seeking congressional approval, but stress the administration needs to answer several questions.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: How are we going to build a democracy? How, who is going to help with that? What is the strategy for dealing with all of that? And then there's the question of whether the military should be involved.

WALLACE: Democrats also want proof about the threat posed by the Iraqi leader.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CF), MINORITY WHIP: I have not seen the intelligence that would indicate that the threat is imminent.

WALLACE: In an effort to prove that, the president sends Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Capitol Hill for a closed door briefing with senators. The P.R. offensive also to include top administration officials terrifying before Congress, the president consulting with allies, meeting Saturday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and delivering a major address to the United Nations September 12.

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: I will first remind the United Nations that for 11 long years Saddam Hussein has sidestepped, craw fished, wheedled out of any agreement he had made.

WALLACE (on camera): Senior aides say the president is not ruling out diplomatic options such as seeking a U.N. inspections regime backed by force. They also say, though, he is convinced the clock is ticking down to prevent Iraq's weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And Saddam Hussein is the target of another U.S. initiative this morning. Two lawsuits filed in Manhattan federal court claim Iraq and its leader conspired with Osama bin Laden to attack the United States. The plaintiffs include 1,400 victims and family members of those who died in the September attacks. The lawsuits, which list a number of other defendants, seek damages of more than $1 trillion.

For those who feel President Bush may be rushing to war, his supporters have an answer. Mr. Bush, they say, is his father's son.

A history lesson now from our senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Persian Gulf crisis started with a clear provocation -- Iraq invaded Kuwait. President Bush was resolute.

PRES. GEORGE BUSH: This will not stand.

SCHNEIDER: The president proceeded cautiously, building support for military action step by step. First step, United Nations resolutions demanding Iraqi withdrawal.

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Let me be very, very clear, there will be no compromise on the stated objectives of the United Nations Security Council resolutions, none at all.

SCHNEIDER: Bush the son faces a bigger challenge. This time, Saddam Hussein's provocation is not as clear cut. But the international community still wants some kind of U.N. authorization. Polls taken this summer in six European countries show that without U.N. approval, people in those countries do not support military action against Iraq. With U.N. approval, they do, and only with U.N. approval.

The U.N. could give Saddam an ultimatum -- allow inspectors unfettered access or else.

President Bush's view?

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: The issue is not inspectors. The issue is disarmament.

SCHNEIDER: Saddam Hussein has failed to live up to his obligation to disarm under existing U.N. resolutions. Saddam's response today? The U.N. has not lived up to its obligation to lift the embargo against Iraq. What about congressional approval? The first President Bush did not exactly ask Congress for permission to act. In 1991, he wrote in a letter to the Speaker of the House, "I am determined to do whatever is necessary to protect America's security. I ask Congress to join with me in this task."

The second President Bush is taking a similar position. In due time, he, too, will go to Congress for support, not permission. To critics who say this President Bush is rushing to war, the president had this response.

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Today the process starts about how to open dialogue with the elected officials and therefore the American people about our future and how best to deal with it.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): In other words, we're just beginning to make our case. We're not rushing into anything. As his father would have said, we're being prudent.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Hours after the September 11 attacks, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld instructed his staff to look at whether Saddam Hussein, among others, may have been responsible. But Assistant Secretary of Defense Victoria Clark says no decision was made about attacking Iraq. Clark's comments were in response to a CBS report that says Rumsfeld was the key decision maker for an attack on Iraq.

Turn to our Web site for the latest on Iraq, including a Wolf Blitzer report and a look at what the U.S. military may or may not be doing. The address, cnn.com, AOL keyword, of course, CNN.

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