Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Bush's Iraq Speech Elicits Criticism, Support
Aired October 08, 2002 - 10:11 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get some political perspective on Mr. Bush's speech last night, and more importantly, how it was received. Let's check in with our CNN political analyst Bill Schneider.
Good morning, Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Leon.
HARRIS: I know going into last night, you had said that you believe President Bush's words were pretty much going to be aimed at one person in the audience, Tom Daschle. What do you make of what happened last night now?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the problem was that this speech was not carried by the broadcast networks, so that a lot of Americans may not have seen it. The White House was distressed by that, but they didn't ask for the broadcast networks to give them time, because they didn't want to alarm the American people. I think the pressure is building on Tom Daschle to get a resolution through the Senate, and he will, and it will get majority Democratic support.
But what we just heard the president say is he wants America to speak with one voice. Why? Why did he make this speech if the resolution, the passage of the resolution is assured? Because he has to make the case not just to the American people and to Congress, but also to the rest of the world. It's the opposite of the problem his father faced with the Gulf War. Then the U.N. passed 12 resolutions immediately after the invasion of Kuwait, but the former President Bush had trouble getting a vote of Congress.
This president is going to find it easier to get a vote through Congress, but much tougher to get the rest of the world to come with us on this. And it will be easier if the Democrats join the Republicans and speak with one voice.
HARRIS: Well, how convincing a case was made last night, and is there any polling information to bear that out?
SCHNEIDER: Well, we don't have any polls yet on the effectiveness of the president's remarks. Americans have been inclined to support the president, but they have a number of questions. Two in particular, one, are we going to do this alone, or is the rest of the world going to be with us? The president essentially said last night, we want to persuade the rest of the world to enforce what the United Nations has already passed. Second of all, is this going to interfere with the war on terrorism? What about Osama bin Laden? Isn't he a bigger villain than Saddam Hussein? The president says our military can do both of these tasks at the same time. We're perfectly capable of doing them both, and the threat of weapons of mass destruction is equivalent to the threat of terrorist activities. They're one in the same war.
HARRIS: All right. Very good. Bill Schneider, let me ask you, have you seen the numbers from this recent Gallup poll that actually came in quite a bit, and as a matter of fact, we've done some weighing in as well into some CNN.com quick polling that we've done as well. Some of the numbers that we've been seeing in some of the Gallup polls that have been running here don't match up with some of the polls that have been published -- I think the CBS "Times" poll that was published in the "New York Times" yesterday about how ambivalent the public is about Iraq but how much more concerned they are about the economy.
Now, last night, many people believe President Bush was trying to get people to stop thinking so much about the economy and more about Iraq. Do you think the case that was made is strong enough to do that?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it certainly was a frightening scenario that the president played. He essentially said Iraq is a clear and present danger to Americans right now. He was trying to compare to the Cuban Missile Crisis, a very frightening moment, when there were missiles offensively armed, poised right at the United States 90 miles off shore. Iraq is a lot further than that. He said they have unmanned aircraft that can deliver chemical weapons to the United States at any time. He did present that clear and present danger.
The polls you were pointing to depict a public in the United States that is growing more and more concerned about the economy. A majority of Americans say that we are in a recession again, after the recession of last winter. This is very scary as well. And all the polls, our own, the CBS/"New York Times" poll, all point to increasing economic anxiety. I would say we have competing anxieties out there. Anxiety over war and anxiety over the economy.
Democrats believe that if the economy takes precedence, they can win. That's not so clear. People are anxious about both of these issues.
HARRIS: That's very interesting. Let's put a graphic right now. It's got a list of some numbers that I'd like you to take a quick look at. You give me your expertise on this. Now, if there is anxiety about the economy and about Iraq, how do you figure that when people say when they're asked about what is the most important issue when they consider who they're going to vote for Congress that only 25 percent are saying economy, 24% are saying Iraq, and that's pretty much identical there, and then all the other issues are coming in?
SCHNEIDER: Well, terrorism, of course,Is right there. But the top two concerns, the economy and Iraq. One of the things that we're finding out is the economy is growing in importance, but people who cite the economy, those 25 percent, only favor the Democrats by a narrow margin. It's not 100 percent clear that that issue pays off for Democrats, because Democrats haven't had a chance to get their message on the economy out.
And as far as Iraq is concerned, this is a surprise, the 24 percent who say the top issue is Iraq, are inclined to vote for Democrats. What's happening is as the president talks more and more about the threat of war, so far at least, for the last month, he's been creating a lot of war anxiety.
Sure, he's been rallying some people to be ready to fight, to go to war in the Middle East, but to a number of Americans, their anxiety, their concern about war has grown and a lot of them are saying maybe we ought to vote for Democrats to try to slow this down.
HARRIS: All seems to be the same from maybe just two years ago, is that people are still seeming to be split right down the middle on that as well.
Bill Schneider, we got to go but now, but thank you very much. Appreciate it. 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
Aired October 8, 2002 - 10:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get some political perspective on Mr. Bush's speech last night, and more importantly, how it was received. Let's check in with our CNN political analyst Bill Schneider.
Good morning, Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Leon.
HARRIS: I know going into last night, you had said that you believe President Bush's words were pretty much going to be aimed at one person in the audience, Tom Daschle. What do you make of what happened last night now?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the problem was that this speech was not carried by the broadcast networks, so that a lot of Americans may not have seen it. The White House was distressed by that, but they didn't ask for the broadcast networks to give them time, because they didn't want to alarm the American people. I think the pressure is building on Tom Daschle to get a resolution through the Senate, and he will, and it will get majority Democratic support.
But what we just heard the president say is he wants America to speak with one voice. Why? Why did he make this speech if the resolution, the passage of the resolution is assured? Because he has to make the case not just to the American people and to Congress, but also to the rest of the world. It's the opposite of the problem his father faced with the Gulf War. Then the U.N. passed 12 resolutions immediately after the invasion of Kuwait, but the former President Bush had trouble getting a vote of Congress.
This president is going to find it easier to get a vote through Congress, but much tougher to get the rest of the world to come with us on this. And it will be easier if the Democrats join the Republicans and speak with one voice.
HARRIS: Well, how convincing a case was made last night, and is there any polling information to bear that out?
SCHNEIDER: Well, we don't have any polls yet on the effectiveness of the president's remarks. Americans have been inclined to support the president, but they have a number of questions. Two in particular, one, are we going to do this alone, or is the rest of the world going to be with us? The president essentially said last night, we want to persuade the rest of the world to enforce what the United Nations has already passed. Second of all, is this going to interfere with the war on terrorism? What about Osama bin Laden? Isn't he a bigger villain than Saddam Hussein? The president says our military can do both of these tasks at the same time. We're perfectly capable of doing them both, and the threat of weapons of mass destruction is equivalent to the threat of terrorist activities. They're one in the same war.
HARRIS: All right. Very good. Bill Schneider, let me ask you, have you seen the numbers from this recent Gallup poll that actually came in quite a bit, and as a matter of fact, we've done some weighing in as well into some CNN.com quick polling that we've done as well. Some of the numbers that we've been seeing in some of the Gallup polls that have been running here don't match up with some of the polls that have been published -- I think the CBS "Times" poll that was published in the "New York Times" yesterday about how ambivalent the public is about Iraq but how much more concerned they are about the economy.
Now, last night, many people believe President Bush was trying to get people to stop thinking so much about the economy and more about Iraq. Do you think the case that was made is strong enough to do that?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it certainly was a frightening scenario that the president played. He essentially said Iraq is a clear and present danger to Americans right now. He was trying to compare to the Cuban Missile Crisis, a very frightening moment, when there were missiles offensively armed, poised right at the United States 90 miles off shore. Iraq is a lot further than that. He said they have unmanned aircraft that can deliver chemical weapons to the United States at any time. He did present that clear and present danger.
The polls you were pointing to depict a public in the United States that is growing more and more concerned about the economy. A majority of Americans say that we are in a recession again, after the recession of last winter. This is very scary as well. And all the polls, our own, the CBS/"New York Times" poll, all point to increasing economic anxiety. I would say we have competing anxieties out there. Anxiety over war and anxiety over the economy.
Democrats believe that if the economy takes precedence, they can win. That's not so clear. People are anxious about both of these issues.
HARRIS: That's very interesting. Let's put a graphic right now. It's got a list of some numbers that I'd like you to take a quick look at. You give me your expertise on this. Now, if there is anxiety about the economy and about Iraq, how do you figure that when people say when they're asked about what is the most important issue when they consider who they're going to vote for Congress that only 25 percent are saying economy, 24% are saying Iraq, and that's pretty much identical there, and then all the other issues are coming in?
SCHNEIDER: Well, terrorism, of course,Is right there. But the top two concerns, the economy and Iraq. One of the things that we're finding out is the economy is growing in importance, but people who cite the economy, those 25 percent, only favor the Democrats by a narrow margin. It's not 100 percent clear that that issue pays off for Democrats, because Democrats haven't had a chance to get their message on the economy out.
And as far as Iraq is concerned, this is a surprise, the 24 percent who say the top issue is Iraq, are inclined to vote for Democrats. What's happening is as the president talks more and more about the threat of war, so far at least, for the last month, he's been creating a lot of war anxiety.
Sure, he's been rallying some people to be ready to fight, to go to war in the Middle East, but to a number of Americans, their anxiety, their concern about war has grown and a lot of them are saying maybe we ought to vote for Democrats to try to slow this down.
HARRIS: All seems to be the same from maybe just two years ago, is that people are still seeming to be split right down the middle on that as well.
Bill Schneider, we got to go but now, but thank you very much. Appreciate it. 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
