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American Morning

Interview With Senator Richard Shelby

Aired July 17, 2003 - 07:07   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate Intelligence Committee may call other members of the Bush administration to testify about how discredited intelligence got into the president's State of the Union address. Five hours, closed-door testimony yesterday, CIA Director George Tenet reportedly told senators he never saw the final draft of that speech. Tenet has taken responsibility for that.
Some Democrats on the committee are not satisfied, including Senator John Edwards, who is running for the White House himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Ultimately, the president of the United States is responsible for what he says, not the CIA, not George Tenet. What I have learned thus far in the hearing reinforces that. It's enormously important for the president himself and the White House to take responsibility for what the president himself says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, is our guest back here on AMERICAN MORNING live in D.C.

Senator, good morning to you.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Good morning to you, Bill.

HEMMER: What do you make of what George Tenet is said to have said to the other senators that he never saw the final draft?

SHELBY: Well, I think he's saying, well, I'm accountable, but I really am not involved. In other words, I didn't do it; someone at the CIA did it. Well, that's not real accountability.

I believe, Bill, that the president of the United States, in this instance George W. Bush, should be able to rely with certainty on the intelligence that comes to him. And if there is something that might be doubtful about it, and especially if it's going into a big speech, the CIA director, when they had an opportunity, the CIA itself, holds some culpability here. I believe they are responsible, but responsibility and accountability come, I think you have to think, well, if I'm accountable, what am I going to do about it?

I think it's time for George Tenet to walk the plank. You know, ultimately, that is up to the president of the United States. That's who he works for. But there have been more -- I say more intelligence failures, more intelligence controversies on the watch of George Tenet than anybody I can remember as director of the CIA.

HEMMER: Back to Senator Edwards and his comments, though, that he believes the White House has to answer a number of more questions in addition of these five hours of testimony yesterday. One Democrat on the committee was quoted as saying late last night, "The real question is why someone was so insistent that they wanted this information in the speech," clearly pointing the finger back at the White House.

Should this administration...

SHELBY: Well, Bill, you have to...

HEMMER: ... should the president come forward with more clarity based on what Senator Edwards and others are saying?

SHELBY: Well, you've got to remember, Senator Edwards is running for president of the United States. This is political season, and you can see the Democrats line up. I believe the Bush policy was sound then. It's sound now. And I believe that the president should be able to rely on people who write speeches for him, who give him information. He can't do it all himself. This will go away because the president has no culpability here, but the CIA director does.

HEMMER: You have been quite critical of George Tenet. In fact, on Sunday this past week with Wolf Blitzer on our Sunday program, "LATE EDITION," again you called for the fact that George Tenet, in your estimation, should resign, although saying again that he works for the president and not you, of course, a senator. Given all of the criticism that you have offered toward George Tenet for some time, why is it then that you believe he still survives in that position?

SHELBY: Well, he's I guess what -- he's what we call a survivor. George Tenet is not without talent. Let's give him credit for having a lot of talent, and he's done a lot of good things. But I'm going to reiterate again. There have just been too, too many failures in his directorship at the CIA. I think he ought to go.

HEMMER: Senator, do you believe if the weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq that this whole issue of uranium in Africa, whether it was Niger or anywhere else on the continent, fades away?

SHELBY: Well, I believe it will fade. I don't believe it has got legs forever. It is political season, and we should never take that out of the context here. I don't know that you can, but I think this is a small part of what we're going through now in the political arena. But you've got to remember, the policy, I believe, that the Bush administration has espoused in Iraq is sound policy.

HEMMER: Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, thanks for talking, Senator.

SHELBY: Thank you, Bill. HEMMER: All right.

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 - 07:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate Intelligence Committee may call other members of the Bush administration to testify about how discredited intelligence got into the president's State of the Union address. Five hours, closed-door testimony yesterday, CIA Director George Tenet reportedly told senators he never saw the final draft of that speech. Tenet has taken responsibility for that.
Some Democrats on the committee are not satisfied, including Senator John Edwards, who is running for the White House himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Ultimately, the president of the United States is responsible for what he says, not the CIA, not George Tenet. What I have learned thus far in the hearing reinforces that. It's enormously important for the president himself and the White House to take responsibility for what the president himself says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, is our guest back here on AMERICAN MORNING live in D.C.

Senator, good morning to you.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Good morning to you, Bill.

HEMMER: What do you make of what George Tenet is said to have said to the other senators that he never saw the final draft?

SHELBY: Well, I think he's saying, well, I'm accountable, but I really am not involved. In other words, I didn't do it; someone at the CIA did it. Well, that's not real accountability.

I believe, Bill, that the president of the United States, in this instance George W. Bush, should be able to rely with certainty on the intelligence that comes to him. And if there is something that might be doubtful about it, and especially if it's going into a big speech, the CIA director, when they had an opportunity, the CIA itself, holds some culpability here. I believe they are responsible, but responsibility and accountability come, I think you have to think, well, if I'm accountable, what am I going to do about it?

I think it's time for George Tenet to walk the plank. You know, ultimately, that is up to the president of the United States. That's who he works for. But there have been more -- I say more intelligence failures, more intelligence controversies on the watch of George Tenet than anybody I can remember as director of the CIA.

HEMMER: Back to Senator Edwards and his comments, though, that he believes the White House has to answer a number of more questions in addition of these five hours of testimony yesterday. One Democrat on the committee was quoted as saying late last night, "The real question is why someone was so insistent that they wanted this information in the speech," clearly pointing the finger back at the White House.

Should this administration...

SHELBY: Well, Bill, you have to...

HEMMER: ... should the president come forward with more clarity based on what Senator Edwards and others are saying?

SHELBY: Well, you've got to remember, Senator Edwards is running for president of the United States. This is political season, and you can see the Democrats line up. I believe the Bush policy was sound then. It's sound now. And I believe that the president should be able to rely on people who write speeches for him, who give him information. He can't do it all himself. This will go away because the president has no culpability here, but the CIA director does.

HEMMER: You have been quite critical of George Tenet. In fact, on Sunday this past week with Wolf Blitzer on our Sunday program, "LATE EDITION," again you called for the fact that George Tenet, in your estimation, should resign, although saying again that he works for the president and not you, of course, a senator. Given all of the criticism that you have offered toward George Tenet for some time, why is it then that you believe he still survives in that position?

SHELBY: Well, he's I guess what -- he's what we call a survivor. George Tenet is not without talent. Let's give him credit for having a lot of talent, and he's done a lot of good things. But I'm going to reiterate again. There have just been too, too many failures in his directorship at the CIA. I think he ought to go.

HEMMER: Senator, do you believe if the weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq that this whole issue of uranium in Africa, whether it was Niger or anywhere else on the continent, fades away?

SHELBY: Well, I believe it will fade. I don't believe it has got legs forever. It is political season, and we should never take that out of the context here. I don't know that you can, but I think this is a small part of what we're going through now in the political arena. But you've got to remember, the policy, I believe, that the Bush administration has espoused in Iraq is sound policy.

HEMMER: Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, thanks for talking, Senator.

SHELBY: Thank you, Bill. HEMMER: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.