Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Daschle Blasts Bush

Aired September 25, 2002 - 13:16   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 still waging a battle for support on Capitol Hill. House and Senate leaders are negotiating with the White House on the final wording of an Iraq resolution. But now, the Senate majority leader is accusing the president of politicizing the possible attack on Iraq.
Joining us now with more is CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow on the Hill, and senior White House correspondent John King at the White House.

Kate, we're going to start with you.

First, these strong words from Tom Daschle -- let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: The president is quoted in "The Washington Post," this morning as saying, "The Democratic-controlled Senate is not interested in the security of the American people."

Not interested in the security of the American people? You tell Senator Inouye he is not interested in the security of the American people! You tell those who fought in Vietnam and in World War II they are not interested in the security of the American people. That is outrageous. Outrageous! The president ought to apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow! Strong words -- Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very strong words, Kyra.

A couple of points, and I'll speak to why the Democrats are saying this, why Daschle got on the floor today, and then, I'll let John King talk about the White House.

But Daschle -- this morning the Democrats had what they have every week. They have a weekly message meeting, where they sort of sit down and talk about, OK, what should our message be, where are we, you know, strategically where are we?

Apparently, this came up at the meeting this morning. They looked at "The Washington Post" headline insinuating that Democrats aren't being strong on national security, or quoting the president as saying that. And they were enraged. I'm told that in that meeting, there were several Senators and House members, who said, we've got to respond to this. We are losing ground. We are being seen as weak. So, that's where then you saw Daschle go to Senate floor.

Unusual, Kyra, that he goes to the Senate floor and makes such a pointed statement about the president. I mean, it's not often that you hear the Senate Democratic leader making such a straight reference to the president. I mean, at one point, he said, he needs to apologize, as you just heard. At another point, he said, the Founding Fathers would be embarrassed.

Clearly, he is not happy with the way the message is headed. They feel like the president and the White House, including Vice President Cheney, have been doing things to make political hay, to win political points off of the potential war in Iraq, and that is their opinion -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kate, stand by.

John, we're going to bring you in.

First, we're going to listen to what the president said, though, about when folks were accusing him of being very political about this war talk. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You may try to politicize it. I view it as my main obligation; that is to protect the American people. It's the most important job this president will have, and it's the most important job future presidents will have, because the nature of war has changed. We are vulnerable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: John, definitely there has been this battle with Democrats and President Bush.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is -- whether you call it coincidence, whether you call it calculated political strategy, we are having this debate about the homeland security bill, which is specifically where the president said in his view -- quote -- "The Democrats are not interested in the security of the American people."

This is all playing out with little more than a month to go before the November elections. So, is it a coincidence? Is it a calculated political strategy? We will leave that for the debate about it.

But the president is saying his job is to protect the American people, and so, he is going to talk about that every day, regardless of the season, the president said.

Here at the White House, they take offense, saying that the president's criticism was about the homeland security bill and what he believes is the Democrats being beholden to labor unions and special interests, and not giving him a homeland security bill with flexibility about labor rules. It is a very arcane issue.

That particular criticism of the Democrats has nothing to do with the war on terrorism or the war -- the debate about a possible war with Iraq. But again, a lot of rhetoric going back and forth in this very busy, very political period.

PHILLIPS: And, Kate Snow, another subject that's been talked about every day: a resolution.

SNOW: A resolution on Iraq. Last week, the White House sent up their proposed language for a resolution.

Kyra, I have in my hand another suggested form. It's very legalistic. It's very nitty-gritty language here. But we're getting down to what sentences need to be in this resolution, what exactly does it need to say? And I'm told, this is the working draft that's on the table now.

Three key points that I want to tell you about. One is, when the White House sent over their language, it said that in the very end, the president would be authorized to use force that he determines appropriate. He would be authorized to use whatever means he determines appropriate.

Some here on Capitol Hill thought that that was a little bit too broad, giving the president too much power. So, this version, which is proposed by a Republican in the House, Henry Hyde, would change that language to say "necessary and appropriate force," but not to place it on "he," the president.

No, 2, two they're talking about authorizing the president to do -- to use those means in two instances: One, to defend the national interests of the United States, or, two, to enforce United States -- excuse me -- United Nations Security Council resolutions to promote peace and security in the region.

That's a change that they're talking about making, to lay it out that it would be either if it's in the interests of the U.S. national security, or in the interests of supporting U.N. Security Council resolutions.

And finally, this new draft resolution that's being discussed would ask the president to report back to Congress after 60 days from passage of this resolution.

So, kind of a way of checking in on the president and having him report back to Congress every 60 days -- 60 days, and then every 60 days after that on the progress of the war.

Kyra, these are the things that are being discussed up here. Some Democrats want it to go much further than this. They want it to be even clearer that the president has to wait for the U.N. before he can take any unilateral action. PHILLIPS: And, Kate, something else being discussed -- John, we're going to you with this -- the connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

President Bush did make a comment about this. Let's listen to his words, and I'll get you to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: They're both risks. They are both dangerous. Now, the difference, of course, is that is al Qaeda likes to hijack governments; Saddam Hussein is a dictator of a government. Al Qaeda hides, Saddam doesn't. But the danger is, is that they work in concert. The danger is, is that is al Qaeda becomes an extension of Saddam's madness and his hatred and his capacity to extend weapons of mass destruction around the world. Both of them need to be dealt with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And, John, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telling NATO ministers the same thing today: There is a link between al Qaeda and Saddam.

KING: Well, the defense secretary is saying there is a link between the two. The president was not saying there.

The defense secretary saying that despite what other officials have said repeatedly, that there is no evidence that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with the events of September 11 a year ago, and that if there had been any conversations between the Iraqi government and al Qaeda over the years, they are not -- it is not a major relationship. So, we would like to see exactly what the defense secretary is talking about.

What the president was talking about there, is he was asked to make a choice: Which is the greatest threat to U.S. national security right now, al Qaeda, or Saddam? In the debate over whether that war on terrorism should be expanded to Iraq, many are asking that question: What should be first if you have to choose? The president saying he does not see that as a fair choice; that both have to be dealt with at the same time.

PHILLIPS: John King at the White House, Kate Snow on the Hill, thanks to both of 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 25, 2002 - 13:16   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 still waging a battle for support on Capitol Hill. House and Senate leaders are negotiating with the White House on the final wording of an Iraq resolution. But now, the Senate majority leader is accusing the president of politicizing the possible attack on Iraq.
Joining us now with more is CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow on the Hill, and senior White House correspondent John King at the White House.

Kate, we're going to start with you.

First, these strong words from Tom Daschle -- let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: The president is quoted in "The Washington Post," this morning as saying, "The Democratic-controlled Senate is not interested in the security of the American people."

Not interested in the security of the American people? You tell Senator Inouye he is not interested in the security of the American people! You tell those who fought in Vietnam and in World War II they are not interested in the security of the American people. That is outrageous. Outrageous! The president ought to apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow! Strong words -- Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very strong words, Kyra.

A couple of points, and I'll speak to why the Democrats are saying this, why Daschle got on the floor today, and then, I'll let John King talk about the White House.

But Daschle -- this morning the Democrats had what they have every week. They have a weekly message meeting, where they sort of sit down and talk about, OK, what should our message be, where are we, you know, strategically where are we?

Apparently, this came up at the meeting this morning. They looked at "The Washington Post" headline insinuating that Democrats aren't being strong on national security, or quoting the president as saying that. And they were enraged. I'm told that in that meeting, there were several Senators and House members, who said, we've got to respond to this. We are losing ground. We are being seen as weak. So, that's where then you saw Daschle go to Senate floor.

Unusual, Kyra, that he goes to the Senate floor and makes such a pointed statement about the president. I mean, it's not often that you hear the Senate Democratic leader making such a straight reference to the president. I mean, at one point, he said, he needs to apologize, as you just heard. At another point, he said, the Founding Fathers would be embarrassed.

Clearly, he is not happy with the way the message is headed. They feel like the president and the White House, including Vice President Cheney, have been doing things to make political hay, to win political points off of the potential war in Iraq, and that is their opinion -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kate, stand by.

John, we're going to bring you in.

First, we're going to listen to what the president said, though, about when folks were accusing him of being very political about this war talk. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You may try to politicize it. I view it as my main obligation; that is to protect the American people. It's the most important job this president will have, and it's the most important job future presidents will have, because the nature of war has changed. We are vulnerable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: John, definitely there has been this battle with Democrats and President Bush.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is -- whether you call it coincidence, whether you call it calculated political strategy, we are having this debate about the homeland security bill, which is specifically where the president said in his view -- quote -- "The Democrats are not interested in the security of the American people."

This is all playing out with little more than a month to go before the November elections. So, is it a coincidence? Is it a calculated political strategy? We will leave that for the debate about it.

But the president is saying his job is to protect the American people, and so, he is going to talk about that every day, regardless of the season, the president said.

Here at the White House, they take offense, saying that the president's criticism was about the homeland security bill and what he believes is the Democrats being beholden to labor unions and special interests, and not giving him a homeland security bill with flexibility about labor rules. It is a very arcane issue.

That particular criticism of the Democrats has nothing to do with the war on terrorism or the war -- the debate about a possible war with Iraq. But again, a lot of rhetoric going back and forth in this very busy, very political period.

PHILLIPS: And, Kate Snow, another subject that's been talked about every day: a resolution.

SNOW: A resolution on Iraq. Last week, the White House sent up their proposed language for a resolution.

Kyra, I have in my hand another suggested form. It's very legalistic. It's very nitty-gritty language here. But we're getting down to what sentences need to be in this resolution, what exactly does it need to say? And I'm told, this is the working draft that's on the table now.

Three key points that I want to tell you about. One is, when the White House sent over their language, it said that in the very end, the president would be authorized to use force that he determines appropriate. He would be authorized to use whatever means he determines appropriate.

Some here on Capitol Hill thought that that was a little bit too broad, giving the president too much power. So, this version, which is proposed by a Republican in the House, Henry Hyde, would change that language to say "necessary and appropriate force," but not to place it on "he," the president.

No, 2, two they're talking about authorizing the president to do -- to use those means in two instances: One, to defend the national interests of the United States, or, two, to enforce United States -- excuse me -- United Nations Security Council resolutions to promote peace and security in the region.

That's a change that they're talking about making, to lay it out that it would be either if it's in the interests of the U.S. national security, or in the interests of supporting U.N. Security Council resolutions.

And finally, this new draft resolution that's being discussed would ask the president to report back to Congress after 60 days from passage of this resolution.

So, kind of a way of checking in on the president and having him report back to Congress every 60 days -- 60 days, and then every 60 days after that on the progress of the war.

Kyra, these are the things that are being discussed up here. Some Democrats want it to go much further than this. They want it to be even clearer that the president has to wait for the U.N. before he can take any unilateral action. PHILLIPS: And, Kate, something else being discussed -- John, we're going to you with this -- the connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

President Bush did make a comment about this. Let's listen to his words, and I'll get you to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: They're both risks. They are both dangerous. Now, the difference, of course, is that is al Qaeda likes to hijack governments; Saddam Hussein is a dictator of a government. Al Qaeda hides, Saddam doesn't. But the danger is, is that they work in concert. The danger is, is that is al Qaeda becomes an extension of Saddam's madness and his hatred and his capacity to extend weapons of mass destruction around the world. Both of them need to be dealt with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And, John, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telling NATO ministers the same thing today: There is a link between al Qaeda and Saddam.

KING: Well, the defense secretary is saying there is a link between the two. The president was not saying there.

The defense secretary saying that despite what other officials have said repeatedly, that there is no evidence that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with the events of September 11 a year ago, and that if there had been any conversations between the Iraqi government and al Qaeda over the years, they are not -- it is not a major relationship. So, we would like to see exactly what the defense secretary is talking about.

What the president was talking about there, is he was asked to make a choice: Which is the greatest threat to U.S. national security right now, al Qaeda, or Saddam? In the debate over whether that war on terrorism should be expanded to Iraq, many are asking that question: What should be first if you have to choose? The president saying he does not see that as a fair choice; that both have to be dealt with at the same time.

PHILLIPS: John King at the White House, Kate Snow on the Hill, thanks to both of 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.