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CNN Live Today

More Americans Appear to be Rallying Behind President Bush

Aired March 11, 2003 - 11:22   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: More Americans appear to be rallying behind President Bush and possible war with Iraq. Polls also suggest that the American public is losing patience with the United Nations.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us now from Washington with more on the numbers and what they all mean.

Good morning, Bill. What are you seeing out there?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: What we're seeing is a real loss of confidence for the United Nations. The "New York Times"/CBS news poll a month ago in February showed that 48 percent said the United Nations was doing a poor job handling the Iraq crisis. Look at those figures now. It's jumped by 10 points. Now 58 percent of Americans say the U.N.'s doing a poor job. The U.N.'s delay, the U.N.'s refusal to consider this, all the scurrying about, has not created a loss of confidence for the Bush administration's Iraq policy, but it's causing a collapse of confidence in the United Nations.

HARRIS: All right. And what are you hearing then about what people are saying about whether or not the U.N. comes along with the U.S. in on this plan to take on Iraq? Is the American public really in support of president bush on Iraq, whether or not the U.N. is with them?

SCHNEIDER: At this point, the answer appears to be yes. That is clearly something new. Suppose the U.N. does not pass a second resolution authorizing war with Iraq. Are Americans prepared to go in anyway? That same CBS News/"New York Times" poll shows yes, they are. 55 percent of Americans say even if the United States does not pass a second resolution, authorizing military action in Iraq, 55 percent of Americans would still support going in.

Now, that appears to be a change which may have been precipitated by the president's press conference last week, which served to rally public opinion behind the president's policy, in which he said quite directly, the United States does not need permission from anyone to undertake this policy.

In our own polling, we found that number to be much smaller, because our poll gave people three choices. Should the United States go in only with U.N. approval, even if the U.N. does not approve, or not at all? Only 38 percent say we should not go in even if the U.N. does not approve. And 40 opinion said only with U.N. approval. But if you give people two choices, go in without a U.N. approval or not, a lot of those people who want U.N. approval say, if it's a choice against taking action and not taking action, they want to take action.

HARRIS: How do you make this big break then between the American public's thinking about the U.N. and the rest of the world? Because it seems as though, from what we're seeing in headlines around the world, even in polling we have seen in European countries they all think the U.N. is doing the right thing?

SCHNEIDER: They think the U.N. is doing the right thing because it is the only break in the entire world on the exercise of U.S. power. No other country is a superpower. No other country can check the United States. Only the U.N. has at least the moral and possibly you could argue in international law, the legal authority to stop the United States. What we know is that this war is unpopular everywhere across the world, with the possible exception of Israel.

So, therefore, if people all over the world are opposed to the war, the only way they're going to stop it is by supporting the U.N., saying if the U.N. says no, then the war should not take place. That is the only leverage the U.N., the only leverage other countries have against the United States in this war.

HARRIS: And it remains to be seen if that leverage is actually effective. Thanks, Bill. Sure appreciate it. Bill Schneider in Washington.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired March 11, 2003 - 11:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: More Americans appear to be rallying behind President Bush and possible war with Iraq. Polls also suggest that the American public is losing patience with the United Nations.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us now from Washington with more on the numbers and what they all mean.

Good morning, Bill. What are you seeing out there?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: What we're seeing is a real loss of confidence for the United Nations. The "New York Times"/CBS news poll a month ago in February showed that 48 percent said the United Nations was doing a poor job handling the Iraq crisis. Look at those figures now. It's jumped by 10 points. Now 58 percent of Americans say the U.N.'s doing a poor job. The U.N.'s delay, the U.N.'s refusal to consider this, all the scurrying about, has not created a loss of confidence for the Bush administration's Iraq policy, but it's causing a collapse of confidence in the United Nations.

HARRIS: All right. And what are you hearing then about what people are saying about whether or not the U.N. comes along with the U.S. in on this plan to take on Iraq? Is the American public really in support of president bush on Iraq, whether or not the U.N. is with them?

SCHNEIDER: At this point, the answer appears to be yes. That is clearly something new. Suppose the U.N. does not pass a second resolution authorizing war with Iraq. Are Americans prepared to go in anyway? That same CBS News/"New York Times" poll shows yes, they are. 55 percent of Americans say even if the United States does not pass a second resolution, authorizing military action in Iraq, 55 percent of Americans would still support going in.

Now, that appears to be a change which may have been precipitated by the president's press conference last week, which served to rally public opinion behind the president's policy, in which he said quite directly, the United States does not need permission from anyone to undertake this policy.

In our own polling, we found that number to be much smaller, because our poll gave people three choices. Should the United States go in only with U.N. approval, even if the U.N. does not approve, or not at all? Only 38 percent say we should not go in even if the U.N. does not approve. And 40 opinion said only with U.N. approval. But if you give people two choices, go in without a U.N. approval or not, a lot of those people who want U.N. approval say, if it's a choice against taking action and not taking action, they want to take action.

HARRIS: How do you make this big break then between the American public's thinking about the U.N. and the rest of the world? Because it seems as though, from what we're seeing in headlines around the world, even in polling we have seen in European countries they all think the U.N. is doing the right thing?

SCHNEIDER: They think the U.N. is doing the right thing because it is the only break in the entire world on the exercise of U.S. power. No other country is a superpower. No other country can check the United States. Only the U.N. has at least the moral and possibly you could argue in international law, the legal authority to stop the United States. What we know is that this war is unpopular everywhere across the world, with the possible exception of Israel.

So, therefore, if people all over the world are opposed to the war, the only way they're going to stop it is by supporting the U.N., saying if the U.N. says no, then the war should not take place. That is the only leverage the U.N., the only leverage other countries have against the United States in this war.

HARRIS: And it remains to be seen if that leverage is actually effective. Thanks, Bill. Sure appreciate it. Bill Schneider in Washington.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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