Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Bush Will Have Breakfast With Commanders, Senior Officers Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln
Aired May 02, 2003 - 05:03 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.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Bush will have breakfast this morning with commanders and senior officers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The event caps an overnight stay on the Lincoln highlighted by a key address.
CNN's senior White House correspondent John King looks at the substance and the symbolism of the president's appearance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The day's every move was designed as a show of strength, from the F-18s in formation to this flyby, the commander-in-chief in the co-pilot's seat, making history as Navy 1 caught the wire and made Mr. Bush the first president to land on a carrier the hard way.
And then a prime time address to declare major combat operations in Iraq are over, from a stage meant to remind the world this president will not shy away from using force as an instrument of foreign policy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups and seeks or possesses weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the civilized world and will be confronted.
KING: Mr. Bush chose his words carefully for a reason. From a military standpoint, declaring the war over would require the Pentagon to release Iraqi prisoners of war and significantly restrict the military's rights to round up members of the former Iraqi regime. And despite this, some key missions have not been accomplished.
BUSH: We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sights that will be investigated.
KING: And from a political standpoint, Mr. Bush is walking a careful line, eager to salute the troops and claim progress in Iraq and the broader war on terrorism, but also mindful that he must make the case for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for perhaps two years or more, at an estimated cost of $2 billion a month.
BUSH: The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. KING: The former Air National Guard pilot took the stick for about a third of the flight and was all smiles as he shook hands and posed for pictures. Democrats back in Washington called it a stunt, but cringed at the power of the pictures, a commander-in-chief just months from a reelection campaign.
(on camera): The biggest applause came when the president reminded the sailors they were almost home. But the biggest message was that winning the peace in Iraq will take some time and that in Mr. Bush's view, the broader war on terrorism is far from over.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEVILLE: Now, the mostly Republican audience for President Bush's speech gave it, not surprisingly, favorable reviews. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found two thirds of the speech watchers had a very positive reaction. One note for you, though. The audience for presidential speeches is always more partisan and more favorable to the president than is the general public.
And in his speech, President Bush mentioned American troops who would not be returning to their families. The latest casualty figures show 171 U.S. and British service members died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. One hundred thirty-eight of them were American. One hundred thirteen troops were killed in combat. Twenty-four died in non-combat situations and the circumstances surrounding one U.S. deaths undetermined.
Now, the British lost 33 troops. Eleven of them died in combat, 21 in non-combat situations and one undetermined.
There are no reliable figures for the number of Iraqi civilians killed and wounded in the war. The U.S. military has reported thousands of Iraqi military deaths and U.S. Central Command says about 6,800 Iraqi troops are being held prisoners of war.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln>
Aired May 2, 2003 - 05:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Bush will have breakfast this morning with commanders and senior officers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The event caps an overnight stay on the Lincoln highlighted by a key address.
CNN's senior White House correspondent John King looks at the substance and the symbolism of the president's appearance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The day's every move was designed as a show of strength, from the F-18s in formation to this flyby, the commander-in-chief in the co-pilot's seat, making history as Navy 1 caught the wire and made Mr. Bush the first president to land on a carrier the hard way.
And then a prime time address to declare major combat operations in Iraq are over, from a stage meant to remind the world this president will not shy away from using force as an instrument of foreign policy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups and seeks or possesses weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the civilized world and will be confronted.
KING: Mr. Bush chose his words carefully for a reason. From a military standpoint, declaring the war over would require the Pentagon to release Iraqi prisoners of war and significantly restrict the military's rights to round up members of the former Iraqi regime. And despite this, some key missions have not been accomplished.
BUSH: We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sights that will be investigated.
KING: And from a political standpoint, Mr. Bush is walking a careful line, eager to salute the troops and claim progress in Iraq and the broader war on terrorism, but also mindful that he must make the case for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for perhaps two years or more, at an estimated cost of $2 billion a month.
BUSH: The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. KING: The former Air National Guard pilot took the stick for about a third of the flight and was all smiles as he shook hands and posed for pictures. Democrats back in Washington called it a stunt, but cringed at the power of the pictures, a commander-in-chief just months from a reelection campaign.
(on camera): The biggest applause came when the president reminded the sailors they were almost home. But the biggest message was that winning the peace in Iraq will take some time and that in Mr. Bush's view, the broader war on terrorism is far from over.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEVILLE: Now, the mostly Republican audience for President Bush's speech gave it, not surprisingly, favorable reviews. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found two thirds of the speech watchers had a very positive reaction. One note for you, though. The audience for presidential speeches is always more partisan and more favorable to the president than is the general public.
And in his speech, President Bush mentioned American troops who would not be returning to their families. The latest casualty figures show 171 U.S. and British service members died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. One hundred thirty-eight of them were American. One hundred thirteen troops were killed in combat. Twenty-four died in non-combat situations and the circumstances surrounding one U.S. deaths undetermined.
Now, the British lost 33 troops. Eleven of them died in combat, 21 in non-combat situations and one undetermined.
There are no reliable figures for the number of Iraqi civilians killed and wounded in the war. The U.S. military has reported thousands of Iraqi military deaths and U.S. Central Command says about 6,800 Iraqi troops are being held prisoners of war.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln>
