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CNN Live Saturday
White House Will Begin Sharing Intelligence With Inspectors
Aired December 21, 2002 - 17:07 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is expected to begin sharing intelligence on Iraq with U.N. weapons inspectors. The chief weapons inspector has asked for the U.S. and other countries to share information they may have on Iraq and any weapons of mass destruction. Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Renay. President Bush and the first family are off to Camp David to begin the holiday, but the prospect of a potential war is just weeks away. President Bush today received his smallpox vaccination, this is something that's required of some military on the frontlines just in the case of a biological attack. We are told the president did not experience any type of side effects.
Also today this weekend, the White House really pushing for much stronger, tougher inspections on the ground inside of Iraq. U.S. officials confirming to us that, yes, the administration is now providing intelligence to those international inspectors, that this is the type of intelligence that comes from spy satellite photos, sites where the United States believes that Saddam Hussein may be hiding biological or chemical agents.
It was just this past week that the chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix really put a challenge to the United States, saying that if you have the evidence, go ahead and show it to us, share it with us so that we can get the job done to show us that Saddam Hussein is still developing weapons of mass destruction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think the world will view this information sharing as an attempt by the United States to move away from what's being perceived as a unilateralist action, that the United States is sharing with the world the evidence, that it's persuading world opinion that indeed the United States has a case and it's a case on the merits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, the administration has been concerned about just how much information to share and how quickly. The concern is that it would get into the wrong hands, essentially tip off the Iraqis where the weapons inspectors would be going next. That is why administration officials are telling us they're giving this information to inspectors piece-meal. They want to make sure that all those inspectors first are in place, that they're organized, that they have secure phone lines to deal with this classified data before they release any type of really sensitive information to those inspectors. This initial test to see just whether or not that happens, whether or not they're able to contain that information, but also act on it immediately, act on it quickly before the Iraqis are able to get that information in their hands -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, live from the White House, 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
Inspectors>
Aired December 21, 2002 - 17:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is expected to begin sharing intelligence on Iraq with U.N. weapons inspectors. The chief weapons inspector has asked for the U.S. and other countries to share information they may have on Iraq and any weapons of mass destruction. Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Renay. President Bush and the first family are off to Camp David to begin the holiday, but the prospect of a potential war is just weeks away. President Bush today received his smallpox vaccination, this is something that's required of some military on the frontlines just in the case of a biological attack. We are told the president did not experience any type of side effects.
Also today this weekend, the White House really pushing for much stronger, tougher inspections on the ground inside of Iraq. U.S. officials confirming to us that, yes, the administration is now providing intelligence to those international inspectors, that this is the type of intelligence that comes from spy satellite photos, sites where the United States believes that Saddam Hussein may be hiding biological or chemical agents.
It was just this past week that the chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix really put a challenge to the United States, saying that if you have the evidence, go ahead and show it to us, share it with us so that we can get the job done to show us that Saddam Hussein is still developing weapons of mass destruction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think the world will view this information sharing as an attempt by the United States to move away from what's being perceived as a unilateralist action, that the United States is sharing with the world the evidence, that it's persuading world opinion that indeed the United States has a case and it's a case on the merits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, the administration has been concerned about just how much information to share and how quickly. The concern is that it would get into the wrong hands, essentially tip off the Iraqis where the weapons inspectors would be going next. That is why administration officials are telling us they're giving this information to inspectors piece-meal. They want to make sure that all those inspectors first are in place, that they're organized, that they have secure phone lines to deal with this classified data before they release any type of really sensitive information to those inspectors. This initial test to see just whether or not that happens, whether or not they're able to contain that information, but also act on it immediately, act on it quickly before the Iraqis are able to get that information in their hands -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, live from the White House, 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
Inspectors>
