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CNN Live At Daybreak
Weapons Hunt in Iraq
Aired April 23, 2003 - 06:36 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: A question for you this morning: Just who is in charge of verifying Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction? Another disagreement looms between the United States and the United Nations. And that's the topic of this morning's White House briefing with our correspondent, Dana Bash.
Good morning -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, you know -- oh, go ahead.
COSTELLO: No, no, I didn't say anything. You take it away.
BASH: I'm sorry about that. Well, you know, on the issue of the weapons inspectors and the disagreement with the administration, the administration, many in the Bush administration, did not want them to go in, in the first place, way back a couple of months ago before the weapons inspections process began. A lot of people reluctantly let them go in.
And there had been a growing frustration as Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, came to the U.N., repeatedly giving reports, frustration by the Bush administration that perhaps he wasn't helping their cause enough in explaining that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Now, of course, the war is effectively over. No weapons of mass destruction have been found, and Hans Blix wants to go back in and continue his search to lead that effort. And the Bush administration is essentially saying, thanks, but no thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: We have a coalition that is working on the ground to dismantle Iraq's WMD programs, and we think that's going to be effective. We think it will get the job done, and the bottom line is the president wants to focus things on the most effective to get the job done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Ari Fleisher's diplomatic way of putting it is that the president wants to look forward, not backward. The White House is certainly saying that if the U.N. wants to help the coalition troops, the coalition effort, that's fine. But at this point, the U.S. and Great Britain want to take control of that search. And about 1,500 members of the U.S. and Great Britain, who are weapons specialists, are currently gathering in Baghdad to do just that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And they've found nothing as of yet, but they're still looking very hard. It's a big country.
Dana Bash reporting live from the White House -- many thanks to you.
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 April 23, 2003 - 06:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A question for you this morning: Just who is in charge of verifying Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction? Another disagreement looms between the United States and the United Nations. And that's the topic of this morning's White House briefing with our correspondent, Dana Bash.
Good morning -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, you know -- oh, go ahead.
COSTELLO: No, no, I didn't say anything. You take it away.
BASH: I'm sorry about that. Well, you know, on the issue of the weapons inspectors and the disagreement with the administration, the administration, many in the Bush administration, did not want them to go in, in the first place, way back a couple of months ago before the weapons inspections process began. A lot of people reluctantly let them go in.
And there had been a growing frustration as Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, came to the U.N., repeatedly giving reports, frustration by the Bush administration that perhaps he wasn't helping their cause enough in explaining that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Now, of course, the war is effectively over. No weapons of mass destruction have been found, and Hans Blix wants to go back in and continue his search to lead that effort. And the Bush administration is essentially saying, thanks, but no thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: We have a coalition that is working on the ground to dismantle Iraq's WMD programs, and we think that's going to be effective. We think it will get the job done, and the bottom line is the president wants to focus things on the most effective to get the job done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Ari Fleisher's diplomatic way of putting it is that the president wants to look forward, not backward. The White House is certainly saying that if the U.N. wants to help the coalition troops, the coalition effort, that's fine. But at this point, the U.S. and Great Britain want to take control of that search. And about 1,500 members of the U.S. and Great Britain, who are weapons specialists, are currently gathering in Baghdad to do just that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And they've found nothing as of yet, but they're still looking very hard. It's a big country.
Dana Bash reporting live from the White House -- many thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
