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CNN Live At Daybreak
Tragedy Not Affecting Washington's Timetable for Dealing with WMDs
Aired February 04, 2003 - 05:09 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: Now to the stand-off with Iraq. The shuttle tragedy is not affecting Washington's timetable for dealing with the issues of weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with international leaders in a bid for support against Baghdad. Here you see him greeting the king of Bahrain. Powell is set to meet with members of the U.N. Security Council later today and tomorrow, of course, is the big day, when he presents the Security Council with satellite photos and intercepted conversations among Iraqi leaders to make his case that Iraq possesses banned weapons.
But Powell admits there's still no smoking gun.
Also this morning, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will try to convince French President Jacques Chirac to join him and the United States in dealing with Iraq. The two open a summit today at a northern seaside resort.
Our Robin Oakley is in the northern seaside resort of Le Touquet with a preview -- good morning.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, morning, Carol, from a very freezing Le Touquet and relations between Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair haven't been much warmer than the bitter cold wind here, because they had a big spat over foreign subsidies at a European summit recently.
But Tony Blair has got a big persuasion job to do with Jacques Chirac, trying to get him aboard for possible military action against Saddam Hussein. Jacques Chirac has insisted all along that France would only go for action that was authorized by the international community. If the U.S. and the U.K. try to go it alone, Chirac has been making it clear that France won't get involved.
But it's interesting that the French have dispatched their one aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean today and Jacques Chirac did tell his troops in a new year message to be ready for anything this year.
So although when he met Germany's Chancellor Schroeder, who's been totally opposed to any war against Iraq, at a recent meeting, Jacques Chirac said his views were identical with Schroeder's, nobody really believes that they are identical, because the French have never ruled out possible involvement in military action provided it is authorized by the United Nations. So Tony Blair's task today is to try and persuade Jacques Chirac to go along with a second U.N. Security Council resolution which would authorize that action -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's interesting, Robin, that Tony Blair is negotiating with the French, so to speak.
OAKLEY: Well, indeed, and Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac, of course, do meet regularly at European Union summits. And Tony Blair has tried to smooth the way. After this summit was initially canceled because of their original spat, Tony Blair sent Jacques Chirac a Churchill pen for his 70th birthday and himself wrote an article for a French magazine saying that Jacques Chirac was a great man in every sense of the word.
So he's certainly tried some smooth words to help along the diplomacy here. And I think his argument with Jacques Chirac will be that the whole of the United Nations would be demeaned if Saddam Hussein is allowed to go on behaving the way he is in terms of concealing weapons of mass destruction and obstructing the work of the U.N. inspectors -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Robin Oakley reporting live for us from Le Touquet, France this morning.
We'll ask White House correspondent Dana Bash about the growing anxieties over Iraq when we give her a wake up call. That will happen in the next hour of CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
with WMDs>
Aired February 4, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the stand-off with Iraq. The shuttle tragedy is not affecting Washington's timetable for dealing with the issues of weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with international leaders in a bid for support against Baghdad. Here you see him greeting the king of Bahrain. Powell is set to meet with members of the U.N. Security Council later today and tomorrow, of course, is the big day, when he presents the Security Council with satellite photos and intercepted conversations among Iraqi leaders to make his case that Iraq possesses banned weapons.
But Powell admits there's still no smoking gun.
Also this morning, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will try to convince French President Jacques Chirac to join him and the United States in dealing with Iraq. The two open a summit today at a northern seaside resort.
Our Robin Oakley is in the northern seaside resort of Le Touquet with a preview -- good morning.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, morning, Carol, from a very freezing Le Touquet and relations between Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair haven't been much warmer than the bitter cold wind here, because they had a big spat over foreign subsidies at a European summit recently.
But Tony Blair has got a big persuasion job to do with Jacques Chirac, trying to get him aboard for possible military action against Saddam Hussein. Jacques Chirac has insisted all along that France would only go for action that was authorized by the international community. If the U.S. and the U.K. try to go it alone, Chirac has been making it clear that France won't get involved.
But it's interesting that the French have dispatched their one aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean today and Jacques Chirac did tell his troops in a new year message to be ready for anything this year.
So although when he met Germany's Chancellor Schroeder, who's been totally opposed to any war against Iraq, at a recent meeting, Jacques Chirac said his views were identical with Schroeder's, nobody really believes that they are identical, because the French have never ruled out possible involvement in military action provided it is authorized by the United Nations. So Tony Blair's task today is to try and persuade Jacques Chirac to go along with a second U.N. Security Council resolution which would authorize that action -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's interesting, Robin, that Tony Blair is negotiating with the French, so to speak.
OAKLEY: Well, indeed, and Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac, of course, do meet regularly at European Union summits. And Tony Blair has tried to smooth the way. After this summit was initially canceled because of their original spat, Tony Blair sent Jacques Chirac a Churchill pen for his 70th birthday and himself wrote an article for a French magazine saying that Jacques Chirac was a great man in every sense of the word.
So he's certainly tried some smooth words to help along the diplomacy here. And I think his argument with Jacques Chirac will be that the whole of the United Nations would be demeaned if Saddam Hussein is allowed to go on behaving the way he is in terms of concealing weapons of mass destruction and obstructing the work of the U.N. inspectors -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Robin Oakley reporting live for us from Le Touquet, France this morning.
We'll ask White House correspondent Dana Bash about the growing anxieties over Iraq when we give her a wake up call. That will happen in the next hour of CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
with WMDs>
