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CNN Live Today
View From White House
Aired November 08, 2002 - 10:00 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: We're going to begin right now at the White House, the pivotal hub in the international call for Iraq's disarmament.
Our senior White House correspondent John King checks in this morning there.
Good morning -- John. It looks like the president is finally getting what he wants from the U.N.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Months, weeks of frustrating negotiations, Leon. But, yes, later today, the president expects a victory in the Security Council.
And look for either later this morning or very early this afternoon for Mr. Bush to come into the Rose Garden here at the White House. He will say this is proof the world is now standing up and confronting Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Bush will call for an aggressive inspections regime when the weapons inspectors go back into Baghdad, and he will once again make clear that, yes, diplomacy appears to be working now. Yes, he will say he would prefer to resolve this without military force. But the president will make clear again, if there is any interference with new inspections within Iraq, he would consider that the green light for military action.
The administration did make one key concession. It said the inspectors should come back to the Security Council first and report on Iraqi violations before the administration would launch any attacks. But Mr. Bush believes despite the compromises he had to make that this is a resolution that accomplishes the goals he set out when he went up to the United Nations two months ago and delivered his big speech on Iraq.
HARRIS: Well, John, it's expected that the vote is going to be an overwhelming one, although not a unanimous vote. What happens if any countries abstain?
KING: Well, the administration is expecting Syria to abstain. Some officials say it's possible that could change at the last minute, but they are expecting Syria to abstain. Syria, of course, a neighbor of Iraq in the Arab world, a country that has said the United States would not make enough concessions and rule out -- not only rule out the use of force, but promise to lift the sanctions against Iraq. That's why Syria will probably abstain, Leon. HARRIS: All right, John King at the White House -- thanks. John, we're going to let you go, because we're going to go live now to a press conference in Virginia, as we've been reporting here on CNN.
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 November 8, 2002 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to begin right now at the White House, the pivotal hub in the international call for Iraq's disarmament.
Our senior White House correspondent John King checks in this morning there.
Good morning -- John. It looks like the president is finally getting what he wants from the U.N.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Months, weeks of frustrating negotiations, Leon. But, yes, later today, the president expects a victory in the Security Council.
And look for either later this morning or very early this afternoon for Mr. Bush to come into the Rose Garden here at the White House. He will say this is proof the world is now standing up and confronting Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Bush will call for an aggressive inspections regime when the weapons inspectors go back into Baghdad, and he will once again make clear that, yes, diplomacy appears to be working now. Yes, he will say he would prefer to resolve this without military force. But the president will make clear again, if there is any interference with new inspections within Iraq, he would consider that the green light for military action.
The administration did make one key concession. It said the inspectors should come back to the Security Council first and report on Iraqi violations before the administration would launch any attacks. But Mr. Bush believes despite the compromises he had to make that this is a resolution that accomplishes the goals he set out when he went up to the United Nations two months ago and delivered his big speech on Iraq.
HARRIS: Well, John, it's expected that the vote is going to be an overwhelming one, although not a unanimous vote. What happens if any countries abstain?
KING: Well, the administration is expecting Syria to abstain. Some officials say it's possible that could change at the last minute, but they are expecting Syria to abstain. Syria, of course, a neighbor of Iraq in the Arab world, a country that has said the United States would not make enough concessions and rule out -- not only rule out the use of force, but promise to lift the sanctions against Iraq. That's why Syria will probably abstain, Leon. HARRIS: All right, John King at the White House -- thanks. John, we're going to let you go, because we're going to go live now to a press conference in Virginia, as we've been reporting here on CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
