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CNN Live At Daybreak
State of Union Speech Analysis
Aired January 29, 2003 - 06:33 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: We head to our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, in Tel Aviv with a closer look at this speech.
Good morning. You know, it sounds cynical...
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good afternoon from Tel Aviv.
COSTELLO: Yes, that's right. It is afternoon there.
It sounds cynical to pose the question this way, but how did President Bush do as a salesman for war?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think he was very effective in one crucial respect. He supplied an important missing link for many Americans, the link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. He said there are links between Saddam Hussein and terrorist organizations. The weapons of mass destruction that we know that he possesses can be used to threaten every American man, woman and child. That's what Americans were wondering about. They wondered, if we go to war with him, will we be doing it to protect our interests? And the president made a very passionate, grim, but powerful case that Saddam Hussein threatens the United States.
COSTELLO: We just had a new Gallup Poll, and they showed us some numbers, and only 28 percent of those watching liked what the president had to say about the domestic agenda.
SCHNEIDER: Well, he spent the first part of his speech talking about it. I think that was by way of saying, I'm not my father, I'm going to give priority to domestic issues and particularly to the economy, I'm going to spend some time talking about it. But anyone who watched that speech I think was struck by the fact that the first part of his speech was all right, and there was a laundry list of a lot of programs, some of them like prescription drugs, that are very important, but the real passion, the real determination in the president's speech came in the second half when he talked about international policy. That part of the speech was clearly more effective, and the poll reflects that.
COSTELLO: OK, you're in Tel Aviv. We have to talk about Israel. The president maybe gave it, oh, eight seconds in his speech. How did it play in Israel, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Israelis are very supportive of war with Iraq. I think they understand why the president needs to do this, why the United States needs to do this.
You know, Bush is very popular here in Israel. Everyone I spoke to said that they didn't like him so much at first, because they loved Bill Clinton here and they still do, but they've come to respect and admire President Bush. In fact, a pollster told me that Bush's favorability ratings in Israel are 73 percent, which is higher than in the United States. This country stands behind Bush, they stand behind the United States if it has to make war in Iraq, even though Israel, even more than the United States, Israel will be on the front lines.
COSTELLO: All right, Bill Schneider reporting live from Tel Aviv -- thanks to 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 January 29, 2003 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We head to our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, in Tel Aviv with a closer look at this speech.
Good morning. You know, it sounds cynical...
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good afternoon from Tel Aviv.
COSTELLO: Yes, that's right. It is afternoon there.
It sounds cynical to pose the question this way, but how did President Bush do as a salesman for war?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think he was very effective in one crucial respect. He supplied an important missing link for many Americans, the link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. He said there are links between Saddam Hussein and terrorist organizations. The weapons of mass destruction that we know that he possesses can be used to threaten every American man, woman and child. That's what Americans were wondering about. They wondered, if we go to war with him, will we be doing it to protect our interests? And the president made a very passionate, grim, but powerful case that Saddam Hussein threatens the United States.
COSTELLO: We just had a new Gallup Poll, and they showed us some numbers, and only 28 percent of those watching liked what the president had to say about the domestic agenda.
SCHNEIDER: Well, he spent the first part of his speech talking about it. I think that was by way of saying, I'm not my father, I'm going to give priority to domestic issues and particularly to the economy, I'm going to spend some time talking about it. But anyone who watched that speech I think was struck by the fact that the first part of his speech was all right, and there was a laundry list of a lot of programs, some of them like prescription drugs, that are very important, but the real passion, the real determination in the president's speech came in the second half when he talked about international policy. That part of the speech was clearly more effective, and the poll reflects that.
COSTELLO: OK, you're in Tel Aviv. We have to talk about Israel. The president maybe gave it, oh, eight seconds in his speech. How did it play in Israel, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Israelis are very supportive of war with Iraq. I think they understand why the president needs to do this, why the United States needs to do this.
You know, Bush is very popular here in Israel. Everyone I spoke to said that they didn't like him so much at first, because they loved Bill Clinton here and they still do, but they've come to respect and admire President Bush. In fact, a pollster told me that Bush's favorability ratings in Israel are 73 percent, which is higher than in the United States. This country stands behind Bush, they stand behind the United States if it has to make war in Iraq, even though Israel, even more than the United States, Israel will be on the front lines.
COSTELLO: All right, Bill Schneider reporting live from Tel Aviv -- thanks to 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
