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CNN Live At Daybreak
Rumsfeld's Star Rising
Aired April 30, 2003 - 05:25 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: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been applauding U.S. troops for ousting Saddam Hussein. In fact, he's in Baghdad this morning. But all through the lead up to the war and the war itself, Rumsfeld was quite often in the spotlight. You could say his star is rising.
Bruce Morton takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld may be in the Middle East, but he is also the dominant figure in Washington these days.
STEPHEN HESS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: And he's done it with a particularly skillful technique as a performer. The, his press conferences, particularly during the Afghanistan war, virtually made him an icon around the world.
MORTON: He likes the battle, the jokes with reporters.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Are you helping me? Do you think I need help?
MORTON: And he is a forceful advocate of the new U.S. policy -- the United States can attack first. Customary international law, he said last year, has long provided for the right of anticipatory self- defense, and the U.S. can act without traditional allies.
RUMSFELD: Now, you're thinking of Europe and Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.
MORTON: This Rumsfeld school of thought, the U.S. can impose its will by threat or force of arms, has other backers -- Vice President Cheney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, neo-conservatives or neo- Kants (ph) they're called here. The more traditional school headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell includes the first President Bush and his national adviser, Brent Scowcroft, among others.
Right now, Rumsfeld's side is up.
HESS: They've both had their victories. Rumsfeld at the moment, after the remarkable military victory in terms of quickness and modest casualties in Iraq, certainly has the momentary upper hand.
MORTON: Rumsfeld is a Washington veteran, elected to Congress at 29, the youngest defense secretary ever under President Gerald Ford, more lately the man who joined rescue workers after the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and who fought within the building to reshape the U.S. military.
HESS: This is a tremendously important turning point for the United States foreign policy and, indeed, potentially for the architecture of the world. And that's what we are watching right now between Rumsfeld, Powell and their supporters.
MORTON: Rumsfeld stands tall in Washington. And in the country as a whole, recent polls show Rumsfeld's approval rating is in the mid-60s, Powell's even higher, in the 80s.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 30, 2003 - 05:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been applauding U.S. troops for ousting Saddam Hussein. In fact, he's in Baghdad this morning. But all through the lead up to the war and the war itself, Rumsfeld was quite often in the spotlight. You could say his star is rising.
Bruce Morton takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld may be in the Middle East, but he is also the dominant figure in Washington these days.
STEPHEN HESS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: And he's done it with a particularly skillful technique as a performer. The, his press conferences, particularly during the Afghanistan war, virtually made him an icon around the world.
MORTON: He likes the battle, the jokes with reporters.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Are you helping me? Do you think I need help?
MORTON: And he is a forceful advocate of the new U.S. policy -- the United States can attack first. Customary international law, he said last year, has long provided for the right of anticipatory self- defense, and the U.S. can act without traditional allies.
RUMSFELD: Now, you're thinking of Europe and Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.
MORTON: This Rumsfeld school of thought, the U.S. can impose its will by threat or force of arms, has other backers -- Vice President Cheney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, neo-conservatives or neo- Kants (ph) they're called here. The more traditional school headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell includes the first President Bush and his national adviser, Brent Scowcroft, among others.
Right now, Rumsfeld's side is up.
HESS: They've both had their victories. Rumsfeld at the moment, after the remarkable military victory in terms of quickness and modest casualties in Iraq, certainly has the momentary upper hand.
MORTON: Rumsfeld is a Washington veteran, elected to Congress at 29, the youngest defense secretary ever under President Gerald Ford, more lately the man who joined rescue workers after the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and who fought within the building to reshape the U.S. military.
HESS: This is a tremendously important turning point for the United States foreign policy and, indeed, potentially for the architecture of the world. And that's what we are watching right now between Rumsfeld, Powell and their supporters.
MORTON: Rumsfeld stands tall in Washington. And in the country as a whole, recent polls show Rumsfeld's approval rating is in the mid-60s, Powell's even higher, in the 80s.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
