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Bush Speaks Against Hussein while Stumping in New Jersey
Aired September 23, 2002 - 12:10 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is restating his case against Iraq. The comments came this morning during a fund raiser in New Jersey.
CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is covering the president's trip. She joins us now live from Trenton -- hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi Kyra. The president, before schoolchildren and members of the National Guard, again using the bully pulpit to make his case against Saddam Hussein. Earlier today, he blasted the Iraqi leader again, making the administration's position very clear. The U.N. must not allow weapons inspectors back inside Iraq until they have a tough new United Nations resolution that will hold Saddam Hussein accountable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they wouldn't act, the United States will. We will not allow the world's worst leaders to threaten us with the world's worst weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, the president making that message through Secretary Rumsfeld, through members of NATO, as well as Secretary Powell to the United Nations, the president saying that the United States will take action with or without the U.N., perhaps even using a preemptive strike against Saddam Hussein. The president, in his own preemptive move as well, anticipating that Democrats in the next six weeks before mid-term elections will be pounding him on the state of the economy.
He took up that very issue earlier today, saying -- reminding voters that the administration inherited the recession, again making the argument that tax relief is really what turned the economy around, also stressing some domestic issues critical to the GOP, namely the need for defense spending as well as terrorism insurance, and again taking the opportunity to blast Democrats in the Senate for not passing his own version of homeland security -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Suzanne, let's talk about the politics behind this trip. It is not just about fund raising, is it?
MALVEAUX: Well, the politics, as you can imagine, right close up to the mid-term elections, some six weeks. The president here is expected to raise $1.5 million for a Republican candidate for the Senate race, Douglas Forrester is the candidate. This is really a very tight race.
It is very interesting to note that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is also here in New Jersey today. He is stumping incumbent Robert Torricelli, the embattled senator who had some problems with the Senate ethics committee recently. That has become a very hot issue in terms of the ad campaigns. But what is important to note is really, this race being so tight could determine the outcome of who controls the Senate. Not only that, but also just how much of the president's public domestic agenda will be passed through Congress -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 23, 2002 - 12:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is restating his case against Iraq. The comments came this morning during a fund raiser in New Jersey.
CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is covering the president's trip. She joins us now live from Trenton -- hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi Kyra. The president, before schoolchildren and members of the National Guard, again using the bully pulpit to make his case against Saddam Hussein. Earlier today, he blasted the Iraqi leader again, making the administration's position very clear. The U.N. must not allow weapons inspectors back inside Iraq until they have a tough new United Nations resolution that will hold Saddam Hussein accountable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they wouldn't act, the United States will. We will not allow the world's worst leaders to threaten us with the world's worst weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, the president making that message through Secretary Rumsfeld, through members of NATO, as well as Secretary Powell to the United Nations, the president saying that the United States will take action with or without the U.N., perhaps even using a preemptive strike against Saddam Hussein. The president, in his own preemptive move as well, anticipating that Democrats in the next six weeks before mid-term elections will be pounding him on the state of the economy.
He took up that very issue earlier today, saying -- reminding voters that the administration inherited the recession, again making the argument that tax relief is really what turned the economy around, also stressing some domestic issues critical to the GOP, namely the need for defense spending as well as terrorism insurance, and again taking the opportunity to blast Democrats in the Senate for not passing his own version of homeland security -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Suzanne, let's talk about the politics behind this trip. It is not just about fund raising, is it?
MALVEAUX: Well, the politics, as you can imagine, right close up to the mid-term elections, some six weeks. The president here is expected to raise $1.5 million for a Republican candidate for the Senate race, Douglas Forrester is the candidate. This is really a very tight race.
It is very interesting to note that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is also here in New Jersey today. He is stumping incumbent Robert Torricelli, the embattled senator who had some problems with the Senate ethics committee recently. That has become a very hot issue in terms of the ad campaigns. But what is important to note is really, this race being so tight could determine the outcome of who controls the Senate. Not only that, but also just how much of the president's public domestic agenda will be passed through Congress -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
