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CNN Live At Daybreak
What's on Tap for Washington, D.C. Today?
Aired October 11, 2002 - 06:11 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's capital has certainly gotten its share of headlines this week. We want to find out what else is on tap inside the beltway as we check in with our D.C. bureau morning producer Paul Courson.
Good morning -- Paul.
PAUL COURSON, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU MORNING PRODUCER: Hi -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Hi. Well the Senate worked late into the night.
COURSON: Yes, they did. The Senate has followed the House in passing a joint resolution to give the president authorization, if he chooses to, to intervene in Iraq, if he does choose to do so militarily. The actual wording of the resolution is from Congress authorizing the President Bush to commit U.S. troops to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions requiring that Iraq give up weapons of mass destruction.
Excuse me.
Those U.N. resolutions still have to be determined, so you can see it's a few steps away from being final.
COSTELLO: Wanted to ask you, too, if the president made any public comments to encourage Congress along its path in passing this resolution?
COURSON: Well he did deploy Secretary of State Powell up to the Hill while the debate was still going on, and of course it was somewhat contentious, too. There was quite a lot of opposition from West Virginia Republican Senator Robert Byrd. As a matter of fact, yesterday the Senate had to vote to close off debate from opposition from Senator Byrd in order that they could move ahead on the final vote which took place overnight. So it clearly was not that supportive -- unanimously supported in Congress in either the House or the Senate.
You've mentioned the vote. In the Senate it was 77 to 23 and earlier in the House it was 296 to 133, so it's certainly not a unified statement.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
We understand, too, that some world leaders are in Washington, D.C. today. What are they there for? COURSON: We do have a diplomat in town today, it's Israel's mayor of Jerusalem. He returns to the United States. Ehud Olmert takes part in a forum on the Middle East during an event at the American Enterprise Institute today. He later takes part in a pro- Israel rally on the ellipse in front of the White House. The rally is sponsored, get this, Carol, by the Christian Coalition, and it's scheduled for this afternoon around 2:00 p.m.
COSTELLO: OK. And of course you'll be following that, too. Thank you, Paul Courson, for joining us, and we'll catch you ...
COURSON: Happy birthday, by the way.
COSTELLO: Oh thank you. You know...
COURSON: Didn't you get the memo?
COSTELLO: What memo?
COURSON: You're supposed to be off for your birthday.
COSTELLO: You know, it would be nice to have my birthday off, but no.
COURSON: Well treat yourself to a spa this weekend.
COSTELLO: Oh believe me, I'm going to.
Thank you, Paul. We'll catch you next week.
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 11, 2002 - 06:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's capital has certainly gotten its share of headlines this week. We want to find out what else is on tap inside the beltway as we check in with our D.C. bureau morning producer Paul Courson.
Good morning -- Paul.
PAUL COURSON, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU MORNING PRODUCER: Hi -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Hi. Well the Senate worked late into the night.
COURSON: Yes, they did. The Senate has followed the House in passing a joint resolution to give the president authorization, if he chooses to, to intervene in Iraq, if he does choose to do so militarily. The actual wording of the resolution is from Congress authorizing the President Bush to commit U.S. troops to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions requiring that Iraq give up weapons of mass destruction.
Excuse me.
Those U.N. resolutions still have to be determined, so you can see it's a few steps away from being final.
COSTELLO: Wanted to ask you, too, if the president made any public comments to encourage Congress along its path in passing this resolution?
COURSON: Well he did deploy Secretary of State Powell up to the Hill while the debate was still going on, and of course it was somewhat contentious, too. There was quite a lot of opposition from West Virginia Republican Senator Robert Byrd. As a matter of fact, yesterday the Senate had to vote to close off debate from opposition from Senator Byrd in order that they could move ahead on the final vote which took place overnight. So it clearly was not that supportive -- unanimously supported in Congress in either the House or the Senate.
You've mentioned the vote. In the Senate it was 77 to 23 and earlier in the House it was 296 to 133, so it's certainly not a unified statement.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
We understand, too, that some world leaders are in Washington, D.C. today. What are they there for? COURSON: We do have a diplomat in town today, it's Israel's mayor of Jerusalem. He returns to the United States. Ehud Olmert takes part in a forum on the Middle East during an event at the American Enterprise Institute today. He later takes part in a pro- Israel rally on the ellipse in front of the White House. The rally is sponsored, get this, Carol, by the Christian Coalition, and it's scheduled for this afternoon around 2:00 p.m.
COSTELLO: OK. And of course you'll be following that, too. Thank you, Paul Courson, for joining us, and we'll catch you ...
COURSON: Happy birthday, by the way.
COSTELLO: Oh thank you. You know...
COURSON: Didn't you get the memo?
COSTELLO: What memo?
COURSON: You're supposed to be off for your birthday.
COSTELLO: You know, it would be nice to have my birthday off, but no.
COURSON: Well treat yourself to a spa this weekend.
COSTELLO: Oh believe me, I'm going to.
Thank you, Paul. We'll catch you next week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
