Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
First Lady's Trip, on to Moscow
Aired September 30, 2003 - 06:05 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: Overseas, the goal is to smooth ruffled feathers. The first lady, Laura Bush, is about to land in Russia. After charming the French, she'll chat with President Vladimir Putin, and, of course, Mrs. Putin as well.
Live to Moscow and our bureau chief there, Jill Dougherty.
Good morning -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Well, the focus really is on Lyudmila Putina, the wife of President Putin, because both of these first ladies share something in common, and that is an interest in education and books. And that is, at least ostensibly, what brings Mrs. Bush here for a children's book festival that Mrs. Putina organized, very similar to what Laura Bush has been doing in the United States.
She is scheduled to arrive any minute now here in Moscow, and she'll be heading down to the Kremlin. They're going to have a roundtable with the first ladies, in fact, of Armenia and Bulgaria. They'll have librarians there, scientists, all talking about children's books and libraries.
Then, on the schedule for tonight at dinner, and then tomorrow they get up and they have another festival event, and that is a school library festival that both first ladies will be attending.
Then, Mrs. Bush will sit down. She'll be interviewed by journalists from the United States, including CNN's Soledad O'Brien. And then in the evening to the famous Bolshoi Theater, a really elaborate setting, and they're going to see "Don Quixote" -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Are they going to see the ballerina who got ousted because she was too fat? She won't be back already, will she?
DOUGHERTY: I was thinking of that, although there is some progress. They found that illegal.
But I forgot to say also that she heads here from France, and that was another case, as you said, of some fence mending. She met with Jacques Chirac, the president of France, went to the Elysee Palace. And everywhere she could, she said positive things about the French.
Here, it's a little bit different. The relations didn't get as strained, although they weren't quite very good during the Iraq war. But now, the focus here is really on the book festival and the first lady...
COSTELLO: Yes.
DOUGHERTY: ... and progress in that area -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, just a question, because in some newspapers this morning, you know, Jacques Chirac kissed the hand of the first lady when she arrived and also when she departed. Reporters were teasing her about that, but that's a pretty common thing for the French, isn't it?
DOUGHERTY: Oh, absolutely. And, in fact, actually for the Russians. I wouldn't be surprised if some Russians kissed her hand as well, as they're Europeans, too.
But, you know, on the roles of the first ladies, you have to say it's always interesting to see the first ladies, because here in Russia we do from time to time see Lyudmila Putina, and she participates in some events. But the first ladies here have never had the same role as first ladies in the United States. Remember, Boris Yelstin's wife? You didn't see her too much, Naina.
And then, the one that probably you saw the most was Gorbachev's wife, Raisa. And she got into quite a bit of hot water among the Russian people at first, because she was so well-dressed and very active in getting out there. A lot of people didn't like it.
But Mrs. Putina seems to have been able to kind of have a middle course. She gets enough attention, but she's not out there a lot.
COSTELLO: Just like Laura Bush, it's amazing. Thank you, Jill Dougherty, reporting live from Moscow 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 September 30, 2003 - 06:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas, the goal is to smooth ruffled feathers. The first lady, Laura Bush, is about to land in Russia. After charming the French, she'll chat with President Vladimir Putin, and, of course, Mrs. Putin as well.
Live to Moscow and our bureau chief there, Jill Dougherty.
Good morning -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Well, the focus really is on Lyudmila Putina, the wife of President Putin, because both of these first ladies share something in common, and that is an interest in education and books. And that is, at least ostensibly, what brings Mrs. Bush here for a children's book festival that Mrs. Putina organized, very similar to what Laura Bush has been doing in the United States.
She is scheduled to arrive any minute now here in Moscow, and she'll be heading down to the Kremlin. They're going to have a roundtable with the first ladies, in fact, of Armenia and Bulgaria. They'll have librarians there, scientists, all talking about children's books and libraries.
Then, on the schedule for tonight at dinner, and then tomorrow they get up and they have another festival event, and that is a school library festival that both first ladies will be attending.
Then, Mrs. Bush will sit down. She'll be interviewed by journalists from the United States, including CNN's Soledad O'Brien. And then in the evening to the famous Bolshoi Theater, a really elaborate setting, and they're going to see "Don Quixote" -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Are they going to see the ballerina who got ousted because she was too fat? She won't be back already, will she?
DOUGHERTY: I was thinking of that, although there is some progress. They found that illegal.
But I forgot to say also that she heads here from France, and that was another case, as you said, of some fence mending. She met with Jacques Chirac, the president of France, went to the Elysee Palace. And everywhere she could, she said positive things about the French.
Here, it's a little bit different. The relations didn't get as strained, although they weren't quite very good during the Iraq war. But now, the focus here is really on the book festival and the first lady...
COSTELLO: Yes.
DOUGHERTY: ... and progress in that area -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, just a question, because in some newspapers this morning, you know, Jacques Chirac kissed the hand of the first lady when she arrived and also when she departed. Reporters were teasing her about that, but that's a pretty common thing for the French, isn't it?
DOUGHERTY: Oh, absolutely. And, in fact, actually for the Russians. I wouldn't be surprised if some Russians kissed her hand as well, as they're Europeans, too.
But, you know, on the roles of the first ladies, you have to say it's always interesting to see the first ladies, because here in Russia we do from time to time see Lyudmila Putina, and she participates in some events. But the first ladies here have never had the same role as first ladies in the United States. Remember, Boris Yelstin's wife? You didn't see her too much, Naina.
And then, the one that probably you saw the most was Gorbachev's wife, Raisa. And she got into quite a bit of hot water among the Russian people at first, because she was so well-dressed and very active in getting out there. A lot of people didn't like it.
But Mrs. Putina seems to have been able to kind of have a middle course. She gets enough attention, but she's not out there a lot.
COSTELLO: Just like Laura Bush, it's amazing. Thank you, Jill Dougherty, reporting live from Moscow 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.
