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CNN Live At Daybreak
British Prime Minister to Answer Questions in Parliament
Aired March 12, 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's head on over to London, and let's talk to Christiane Amanpour, because I understand a little bit later on today the prime minister may be taking questions at the House of Commons.
Is that still the plan -- Christiane?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is. It's his weekly question time at the House of Commons, and of course, it comes on a very, very tricky day for him.
First of all, we understand that he is going to outline his so- called benchmarks and specific tasks that the British have been talking about for Saddam Hussein to comply with in a period of days. This is part of what they want to introduce in a second U.N. resolution.
But also for Prime Minister Blair, no doubt, he will be taking questions and having to answer his reaction to what Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. secretary of defense, said last night. Basically, Rumsfeld said that if the British couldn't go to war because of the domestic problems on Tony Blair, then the U.S. would go it alone. That was the gist of what he said.
Well, that caused a huge problem here at Downing Street and in the British government. It seemed to undermine the prime minister, and Downing Street went into full damage control mode. And as you know, Donald Rumsfeld backtracked, if you like, clarified his statement. And basically the British say nothing has changed, and if there is a war, then they are still fully committed to joining it.
But this couldn't have come, this comment from Donald Rumsfeld, at a more politically sensitive time for Tony Blair, and the papers here are full of it. Some people saying, "With friends like Rumsfeld...," so you can imagine how it's being commented here.
And of course, the anti-war movement here are saying, well, Rumsfeld has said it, we don't need the British, so Tony, here's your chance, back out, don't go to war.
So, if it's possible for Tony Blair to have even more political troubles than he did yesterday or the day before yesterday, well, he has today.
Of course, Downing Street is saying that they went into full sort of, as I say, damage control mode, said we've got to clear this up, it's going to cause confusion, according to British officials that I've been talking to today. And they say they are now gratified that -- quote -- "Rumsfeld was speaking about potential hypothetical contingencies."
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, Christiane, potentially for the long term Tony Blair may have to try to mend fences with the U.S. if indeed Great Britain were to pull out if they weren't to get those U.N. votes. But at the same time, it seems as though Tony Blair might be trying to mend fences with Germany by having a meeting or at least a discussion with Gerhard Schroeder later on, right?
AMANPOUR: Well, Fredricka, there's no question here that Britain needs to mend any fences with the United States; quite the reverse, by the analysts here. That there's a sense here that Britain has gone out on such a limb and at such political cost to Tony Blair that any kind of unhelpful comments on the administration does a lot of damage to him, and that in fact it is, you know, the U.S. will need to mend fences.
Of course, that has happened, according to officials here, and they say -- quote -- "They are gratified that the comments are being clarified."
Now, as for meeting with Gerhard Schroeder, this is part of the ongoing diplomatic attempt to get everybody on board, or as many people as they can, onto a second Security Council resolution, although, of course, Germany is one of the countries which has said consistently that under no circumstance would it back a war.
So, these consultations are continuing, and this is part of its process. But the British very clear that they're doing everything they can to try to secure this second resolution, and they fully expect a vote by the end of this week.
WHITFIELD: All right, at least that's the hope. Thanks very much, Christiane.
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 12, 2003 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's head on over to London, and let's talk to Christiane Amanpour, because I understand a little bit later on today the prime minister may be taking questions at the House of Commons.
Is that still the plan -- Christiane?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is. It's his weekly question time at the House of Commons, and of course, it comes on a very, very tricky day for him.
First of all, we understand that he is going to outline his so- called benchmarks and specific tasks that the British have been talking about for Saddam Hussein to comply with in a period of days. This is part of what they want to introduce in a second U.N. resolution.
But also for Prime Minister Blair, no doubt, he will be taking questions and having to answer his reaction to what Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. secretary of defense, said last night. Basically, Rumsfeld said that if the British couldn't go to war because of the domestic problems on Tony Blair, then the U.S. would go it alone. That was the gist of what he said.
Well, that caused a huge problem here at Downing Street and in the British government. It seemed to undermine the prime minister, and Downing Street went into full damage control mode. And as you know, Donald Rumsfeld backtracked, if you like, clarified his statement. And basically the British say nothing has changed, and if there is a war, then they are still fully committed to joining it.
But this couldn't have come, this comment from Donald Rumsfeld, at a more politically sensitive time for Tony Blair, and the papers here are full of it. Some people saying, "With friends like Rumsfeld...," so you can imagine how it's being commented here.
And of course, the anti-war movement here are saying, well, Rumsfeld has said it, we don't need the British, so Tony, here's your chance, back out, don't go to war.
So, if it's possible for Tony Blair to have even more political troubles than he did yesterday or the day before yesterday, well, he has today.
Of course, Downing Street is saying that they went into full sort of, as I say, damage control mode, said we've got to clear this up, it's going to cause confusion, according to British officials that I've been talking to today. And they say they are now gratified that -- quote -- "Rumsfeld was speaking about potential hypothetical contingencies."
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, Christiane, potentially for the long term Tony Blair may have to try to mend fences with the U.S. if indeed Great Britain were to pull out if they weren't to get those U.N. votes. But at the same time, it seems as though Tony Blair might be trying to mend fences with Germany by having a meeting or at least a discussion with Gerhard Schroeder later on, right?
AMANPOUR: Well, Fredricka, there's no question here that Britain needs to mend any fences with the United States; quite the reverse, by the analysts here. That there's a sense here that Britain has gone out on such a limb and at such political cost to Tony Blair that any kind of unhelpful comments on the administration does a lot of damage to him, and that in fact it is, you know, the U.S. will need to mend fences.
Of course, that has happened, according to officials here, and they say -- quote -- "They are gratified that the comments are being clarified."
Now, as for meeting with Gerhard Schroeder, this is part of the ongoing diplomatic attempt to get everybody on board, or as many people as they can, onto a second Security Council resolution, although, of course, Germany is one of the countries which has said consistently that under no circumstance would it back a war.
So, these consultations are continuing, and this is part of its process. But the British very clear that they're doing everything they can to try to secure this second resolution, and they fully expect a vote by the end of this week.
WHITFIELD: All right, at least that's the hope. Thanks very much, Christiane.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
