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CNN Live At Daybreak

President Bush Calls Hussein Killings 'Justice'

Aired July 25, 2003 - 06:35   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: President Bush used the word "justice" when he talked about the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein.
Let's go live to the White House and CNN's Chris Burns.

Do you think the president was in on this decision to now videotape the bodies?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, that's a very good question. If the pictures are any indication, the White House said yesterday that the White House left it up to the U.S. authorities on the ground in Iraq to decide whether to release those photos, whether it was the right thing to do, and perhaps in this case it was the same thing.

Now, the president, through his spokesman, said yesterday that what they wanted to do and what they hoped will be accomplished by showing these pictures is that it will reassure the Iraqis that they will not see the regime of Saddam Hussein resurrected, that it will encourage people to come forward and try to cooperate with American authorities in tracking down perhaps even Saddam Hussein himself, perhaps weapons of mass destruction.

President Bush saying in his speech yesterday that he believes that this is a message to those of the former regime that they will be tracked down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our military is still facing danger from elements of the fallen regime and other extremists. These folks hate the thought of Iraq being free. And we're finding those people, and we're bringing them to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: Now, President Bush meets this morning with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister. The president is probably going to get an earful from the prime minister, who has been talking about how the Israelis are not cooperating. He puts it in his words, the patter of hesitant implementation of the road map on the part of the Israelis. He wants the Israelis to release more prisoners, to freeze settlement building, and he does hope that the president will be responsive to that.

On the other hand, in four days, the president will also be getting an earful from Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, who will be obviously complaining that, as the Israeli government has been saying for quite some time, that the Palestinians are not cooperating in dismantling militant groups.

So, as the president's road map appears to be at a deadlock, it is a very key time to see how the president will react to at least the Palestinian argument today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Back to the videotape of Uday and Qusay Hussein's bodies. I would imagine, you know, it was such good news for the Bush administration that these two men were killed, and now there are so many skeptics in Iraq not believing it, it must be very frustrating for the administration.

WHITBECK: Well, obviously it must be for a lot of U.S. officials who were hoping that those pictures would do the trick, though perhaps we shall see with this videotape, and with even the family doctor saying that it does look like those men themselves, that perhaps that will be enough to do the trick. So, that is the hope on the part of the White House. Perhaps we'll get a bit more comment on that today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Chris Burns 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 25, 2003 - 06:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush used the word "justice" when he talked about the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein.
Let's go live to the White House and CNN's Chris Burns.

Do you think the president was in on this decision to now videotape the bodies?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, that's a very good question. If the pictures are any indication, the White House said yesterday that the White House left it up to the U.S. authorities on the ground in Iraq to decide whether to release those photos, whether it was the right thing to do, and perhaps in this case it was the same thing.

Now, the president, through his spokesman, said yesterday that what they wanted to do and what they hoped will be accomplished by showing these pictures is that it will reassure the Iraqis that they will not see the regime of Saddam Hussein resurrected, that it will encourage people to come forward and try to cooperate with American authorities in tracking down perhaps even Saddam Hussein himself, perhaps weapons of mass destruction.

President Bush saying in his speech yesterday that he believes that this is a message to those of the former regime that they will be tracked down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our military is still facing danger from elements of the fallen regime and other extremists. These folks hate the thought of Iraq being free. And we're finding those people, and we're bringing them to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: Now, President Bush meets this morning with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister. The president is probably going to get an earful from the prime minister, who has been talking about how the Israelis are not cooperating. He puts it in his words, the patter of hesitant implementation of the road map on the part of the Israelis. He wants the Israelis to release more prisoners, to freeze settlement building, and he does hope that the president will be responsive to that.

On the other hand, in four days, the president will also be getting an earful from Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, who will be obviously complaining that, as the Israeli government has been saying for quite some time, that the Palestinians are not cooperating in dismantling militant groups.

So, as the president's road map appears to be at a deadlock, it is a very key time to see how the president will react to at least the Palestinian argument today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Back to the videotape of Uday and Qusay Hussein's bodies. I would imagine, you know, it was such good news for the Bush administration that these two men were killed, and now there are so many skeptics in Iraq not believing it, it must be very frustrating for the administration.

WHITBECK: Well, obviously it must be for a lot of U.S. officials who were hoping that those pictures would do the trick, though perhaps we shall see with this videotape, and with even the family doctor saying that it does look like those men themselves, that perhaps that will be enough to do the trick. So, that is the hope on the part of the White House. Perhaps we'll get a bit more comment on that today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Chris Burns 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.