Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
White House Prepares Diplomacy Blitz
Aired March 08, 2003 - 18:08 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: A senior administration official tells CNN that President Bush's top aides are likely to be spending a lot of time on the phone with their international counterparts over these next few days. And even the boss may lend a hand. Here's CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: As anti-war demonstrators marched out side the gates to protest an increasingly likely war with Iraq, inside the White House war planning continued. The president's top national security advisers gathered in the situation room.
And Mr. Bush used his weekly radio address to remind the nation that military action could be imminent.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq. But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm peacefully, he will be disarmed by force.
BASH: The administration is intensely lobbying members of the U.N. Security Council, hoping to win enough vote to pass a new resolution early next that gives Iraq until March 17 to disarm.
Officials privately admit getting the nine votes necessary and averting a veto won't be easy. With only four commitments the White House hopes to pick up nods from Chile, Angola, Pakistan, Guinea, Mexico, and Cameroon.
In personal phone calls, expected to resume Monday, the president is telling leaders, according to a top aide, he already has the authority to send in U.S. troops and U.N. legitimacy is at stake.
UNIDENTIFIED WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: It's important for them to think that they're not just taking one for the team. They want to be part of a winning coalition. They don't want to be on the losing side of this. Because a lot of these governments are a lot of these governments are vulnerable.
BASH: A senior administration official said the president agreed to add the March 17 deadline, one last chance for Saddam Hussein, in the hopes of bringing on board key nations. But Chile's president, whom Mr. Bush called Friday, said a little more than a week is not enough time for Iraq to disarm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: A senior Bush aide did not close the door on pushing back the deadline, but said there is little room to maneuver, because it has been 12 years and it is time for diplomacy to come to an end -- Fredricka.
SAN MIGUEL: Actually, it will be Renay. And that's Dana Bash.
BASH: Oh, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: No problem -- Dana Bash at the White House. Thanks very much.
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 March 8, 2003 - 18:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: A senior administration official tells CNN that President Bush's top aides are likely to be spending a lot of time on the phone with their international counterparts over these next few days. And even the boss may lend a hand. Here's CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: As anti-war demonstrators marched out side the gates to protest an increasingly likely war with Iraq, inside the White House war planning continued. The president's top national security advisers gathered in the situation room.
And Mr. Bush used his weekly radio address to remind the nation that military action could be imminent.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq. But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm peacefully, he will be disarmed by force.
BASH: The administration is intensely lobbying members of the U.N. Security Council, hoping to win enough vote to pass a new resolution early next that gives Iraq until March 17 to disarm.
Officials privately admit getting the nine votes necessary and averting a veto won't be easy. With only four commitments the White House hopes to pick up nods from Chile, Angola, Pakistan, Guinea, Mexico, and Cameroon.
In personal phone calls, expected to resume Monday, the president is telling leaders, according to a top aide, he already has the authority to send in U.S. troops and U.N. legitimacy is at stake.
UNIDENTIFIED WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: It's important for them to think that they're not just taking one for the team. They want to be part of a winning coalition. They don't want to be on the losing side of this. Because a lot of these governments are a lot of these governments are vulnerable.
BASH: A senior administration official said the president agreed to add the March 17 deadline, one last chance for Saddam Hussein, in the hopes of bringing on board key nations. But Chile's president, whom Mr. Bush called Friday, said a little more than a week is not enough time for Iraq to disarm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: A senior Bush aide did not close the door on pushing back the deadline, but said there is little room to maneuver, because it has been 12 years and it is time for diplomacy to come to an end -- Fredricka.
SAN MIGUEL: Actually, it will be Renay. And that's Dana Bash.
BASH: Oh, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: No problem -- Dana Bash at the White House. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
