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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bush, Blair to Meet Later Today
Aired July 17, 2003 - 06:33 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: Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is on his way to Washington now. He'll meet with President Bush later this afternoon, and the conversation will take many interesting turns. The words, "uranium" and "Guantanamo prisoners" just may come up.
Live to Washington now and Dana Bash.
Dana -- will the conversation be friendly or tense?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, maybe a little bit of both. The two men do face a large challenge to the relationship because of the challenges that they each face at home over the questions of pre-war intelligence on Iraq. President Bush is now facing the same questions that have dogged Prime Minister Tony Blair for months about whether or not the intelligence saying that Saddam Hussein did have a weapons of mass destruction program were actually valid.
And while President Bush has had to admit a line in his State of the Union address was not based on credible evidence that his own intelligence agencies can back up, Prime Minister Blair is standing by that intelligence that Iraq did try to get some uranium from Africa. And it is likely, and the administration is hoping, that while here, Prime Minister Blair will discuss the fact that he does stand by that intelligence, and it is expected that the two men will talk about the fact that they still believe that the war was justified, they still believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat, no matter what, to the world.
Now, before Prime Minister Blair comes to the White House he will be addressing a joint session of Congress. While there, he is expected -- according to a source who is familiar with his speech, he will talk about a wide range of topics, broad themes, like the trans- Atlantic relationship that has seen some problems between the U.S. and some of the key European allies. In addition, he will plead with the United States and other countries around the world to stay the course in not only Iraq, but also Afghanistan -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Dana Bash live from the White House this morning.
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 July 17, 2003 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is on his way to Washington now. He'll meet with President Bush later this afternoon, and the conversation will take many interesting turns. The words, "uranium" and "Guantanamo prisoners" just may come up.
Live to Washington now and Dana Bash.
Dana -- will the conversation be friendly or tense?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, maybe a little bit of both. The two men do face a large challenge to the relationship because of the challenges that they each face at home over the questions of pre-war intelligence on Iraq. President Bush is now facing the same questions that have dogged Prime Minister Tony Blair for months about whether or not the intelligence saying that Saddam Hussein did have a weapons of mass destruction program were actually valid.
And while President Bush has had to admit a line in his State of the Union address was not based on credible evidence that his own intelligence agencies can back up, Prime Minister Blair is standing by that intelligence that Iraq did try to get some uranium from Africa. And it is likely, and the administration is hoping, that while here, Prime Minister Blair will discuss the fact that he does stand by that intelligence, and it is expected that the two men will talk about the fact that they still believe that the war was justified, they still believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat, no matter what, to the world.
Now, before Prime Minister Blair comes to the White House he will be addressing a joint session of Congress. While there, he is expected -- according to a source who is familiar with his speech, he will talk about a wide range of topics, broad themes, like the trans- Atlantic relationship that has seen some problems between the U.S. and some of the key European allies. In addition, he will plead with the United States and other countries around the world to stay the course in not only Iraq, but also Afghanistan -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Dana Bash live from the White House this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
