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CNN Live At Daybreak

Wake-Up Call: Iraq's Missiles

Aired February 28, 2003 - 06:34   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: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has dismissed the whole thing. He says that Iraq agreeing to destroy those banned missiles is just a game. He said it during a news conference with his Spanish counterpart just a short time ago. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is not a time for games. He knows perfectly well what he has to do. He has to say what has happened, for example, to the 8,500 liters of anthrax, the 360 tons of chemical warfare agent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And as you know, Britain and Spain are two of Washington's staunchest allies on the U.N. Security Council.

And by the way, President Bush is also skeptical of Iraq's statement this morning on those banned missiles. He says he's heard it all before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The discussion about these rockets is part of his campaign of deception. See, he'll say I'm not going to destroy the rockets, and then he'll have a change of mind this weekend and destroy the rockets and say I've disarmed. The rockets are just the tip of the iceberg. The only question at hand is total, complete disarmament, which he is refusing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, as you heard, Washington isn't exactly applauding this latest move. It sounds like a good topic for a "Wake-Up Call," and we have placed one to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.

Good morning -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, President Bush, Tony Blair, they don't seem very excited about this latest announcement out of Iraq.

MALVEAUX: You know, they really don't take it very seriously. Today, President Bush is going to talk about the threat of terror, both at home and abroad. He's going to be addressing the new employees of the Homeland Security Department. And, of course, as you know, tomorrow is a key benchmark for the administration that Iraq would prove that it has at least started dismantling these weapons, these missiles.

But the administration really downplaying that, saying it doesn't really matter. We saw an interview with the president this morning in the "USA Today" paper that says, you know, if Saddam Hussein had any intention of disarming, he would have already disarmed. We heard from Secretary Powell, who said, look, this really should have been done a long time ago.

COSTELLO: Well, yes, you know, you heard Colin Powell say earlier that he suspected Iraq would wait until the last minute to make its decision on whether to destroy these missiles, and it did.

MALVEAUX: Well, absolutely. The administration says this is predictable, and really they say this is something that they expected from Saddam Hussein. And if you hear the comments of the president and his top advisors, it really does sound like the administration is quite determined to move forward, that the president has accepted the realities of going to war, and the price that is going to be paid for it. I mean, what we've seen in the last week or so, and particularly the address that he made recently, was that he is preparing the nation for the very real possibility that the United States is going to be at war with Iraq.

COSTELLO: Yes, and I suspect that Iraq's latest move will give France some more ammunition for its side of this issue.

Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for waking up early with 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.






Aired February 28, 2003 - 06:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has dismissed the whole thing. He says that Iraq agreeing to destroy those banned missiles is just a game. He said it during a news conference with his Spanish counterpart just a short time ago. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is not a time for games. He knows perfectly well what he has to do. He has to say what has happened, for example, to the 8,500 liters of anthrax, the 360 tons of chemical warfare agent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And as you know, Britain and Spain are two of Washington's staunchest allies on the U.N. Security Council.

And by the way, President Bush is also skeptical of Iraq's statement this morning on those banned missiles. He says he's heard it all before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The discussion about these rockets is part of his campaign of deception. See, he'll say I'm not going to destroy the rockets, and then he'll have a change of mind this weekend and destroy the rockets and say I've disarmed. The rockets are just the tip of the iceberg. The only question at hand is total, complete disarmament, which he is refusing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, as you heard, Washington isn't exactly applauding this latest move. It sounds like a good topic for a "Wake-Up Call," and we have placed one to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.

Good morning -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, President Bush, Tony Blair, they don't seem very excited about this latest announcement out of Iraq.

MALVEAUX: You know, they really don't take it very seriously. Today, President Bush is going to talk about the threat of terror, both at home and abroad. He's going to be addressing the new employees of the Homeland Security Department. And, of course, as you know, tomorrow is a key benchmark for the administration that Iraq would prove that it has at least started dismantling these weapons, these missiles.

But the administration really downplaying that, saying it doesn't really matter. We saw an interview with the president this morning in the "USA Today" paper that says, you know, if Saddam Hussein had any intention of disarming, he would have already disarmed. We heard from Secretary Powell, who said, look, this really should have been done a long time ago.

COSTELLO: Well, yes, you know, you heard Colin Powell say earlier that he suspected Iraq would wait until the last minute to make its decision on whether to destroy these missiles, and it did.

MALVEAUX: Well, absolutely. The administration says this is predictable, and really they say this is something that they expected from Saddam Hussein. And if you hear the comments of the president and his top advisors, it really does sound like the administration is quite determined to move forward, that the president has accepted the realities of going to war, and the price that is going to be paid for it. I mean, what we've seen in the last week or so, and particularly the address that he made recently, was that he is preparing the nation for the very real possibility that the United States is going to be at war with Iraq.

COSTELLO: Yes, and I suspect that Iraq's latest move will give France some more ammunition for its side of this issue.

Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for waking up early with 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.