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CNN Live At Daybreak
First Lady Laura Bush Heading to Moscow
Aired September 30, 2003 - 05:08 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: On the road with the first lady now. First Lady Laura Bush is heading to Moscow after that goodwill visit to Paris yesterday.
So let's go live to Moscow for a preview of the first lady's visit.
Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is covering her trip -- Jill, what's on her agenda?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol.
Well, number one, she's going to have a beautiful day here in Moscow. The sun is shining. And she'll be arriving in about an hour or so. Basic theme, it's a theme that she shares in common with Mrs. Putin, and that is books, children, libraries. So one of the things that they will be participating in is a roundtable at the Kremlin specifically on that subject, children's books. It's a festival that Mrs. Putin has put together kind of modeled on what Laura Bush has previously done. And there will be educators there, librarians, also the first ladies of Armenia and Bulgaria.
There will be a dinner on tap and then also interviews with the U.S. television networks, including our Soledad O'Brien, who will be sitting down -- in fact, the only journalist who will be sitting down directly and talking with Mrs. Bush personally. And then a visit to the Bolshoi, as well.
So a lot on the agenda in this brief stay.
As you mentioned, Mrs. Bush came here from Paris, where she engaged in a bit of fence mending with Jacques Chirac, meeting with the president of France. Of course, fence mending after the Iraq war, which put relations between France and the U.S. on kind of a rocky plane. She was trying to get them back. Also made a visit to Elysse Palace -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just thinking of the "New York Post" headline today. You know, Jacques Chirac kissed Laura Bush on the hand and the "New York Post" is saying "A Kiss From A Weasel Suffered by the First Lady."
A question for you, though, about her trip to...
DOUGHERTY: Well, maybe her visit can -- maybe she can improve things there.
COSTELLO: I don't know, maybe so.
What do the Russians know about the American first lady?
DOUGHERTY: You know, they've seen her, Carol, a couple of times, because every time that President Bush has been here, of course, she has accompanied him and, you know, usually they're formal events, going off in a long gown to a ball or a dinner or something. But this is really the first time that Russians are going to see her a little bit more up close, a little bit more personal in the sense of what's really at her heart, and that's children's books.
There was a piece on TV -- I think we have some tape from that -- Russian TV, a really popular show that got a little bit into who Laura Bush is. They said, you know, she's an educator, she's a teacher, she's a librarian. And they quoted President Bush saying that he is so concerned about education and teachers that he married one.
So there, it'll be a light visit, but, you know, you really can't underestimate the power of some of these visits, because a lot of people here have been turned off about politics. But when you get into the personal relations and things that people are really interested in, and especially education, you get a lot of people who will be tuning in and wanting to see what they are doing -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and not to mention Mrs. Bush is mighty popular all over the world.
Jill Dougherty reporting live from Moscow this morning.
As Jill said, CNN's Soledad O'Brien is traveling with the first lady and will have a report on the trip on AMERICAN MORNING. That comes your way, of course, at 7:00 Eastern time.
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 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On the road with the first lady now. First Lady Laura Bush is heading to Moscow after that goodwill visit to Paris yesterday.
So let's go live to Moscow for a preview of the first lady's visit.
Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is covering her trip -- Jill, what's on her agenda?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol.
Well, number one, she's going to have a beautiful day here in Moscow. The sun is shining. And she'll be arriving in about an hour or so. Basic theme, it's a theme that she shares in common with Mrs. Putin, and that is books, children, libraries. So one of the things that they will be participating in is a roundtable at the Kremlin specifically on that subject, children's books. It's a festival that Mrs. Putin has put together kind of modeled on what Laura Bush has previously done. And there will be educators there, librarians, also the first ladies of Armenia and Bulgaria.
There will be a dinner on tap and then also interviews with the U.S. television networks, including our Soledad O'Brien, who will be sitting down -- in fact, the only journalist who will be sitting down directly and talking with Mrs. Bush personally. And then a visit to the Bolshoi, as well.
So a lot on the agenda in this brief stay.
As you mentioned, Mrs. Bush came here from Paris, where she engaged in a bit of fence mending with Jacques Chirac, meeting with the president of France. Of course, fence mending after the Iraq war, which put relations between France and the U.S. on kind of a rocky plane. She was trying to get them back. Also made a visit to Elysse Palace -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just thinking of the "New York Post" headline today. You know, Jacques Chirac kissed Laura Bush on the hand and the "New York Post" is saying "A Kiss From A Weasel Suffered by the First Lady."
A question for you, though, about her trip to...
DOUGHERTY: Well, maybe her visit can -- maybe she can improve things there.
COSTELLO: I don't know, maybe so.
What do the Russians know about the American first lady?
DOUGHERTY: You know, they've seen her, Carol, a couple of times, because every time that President Bush has been here, of course, she has accompanied him and, you know, usually they're formal events, going off in a long gown to a ball or a dinner or something. But this is really the first time that Russians are going to see her a little bit more up close, a little bit more personal in the sense of what's really at her heart, and that's children's books.
There was a piece on TV -- I think we have some tape from that -- Russian TV, a really popular show that got a little bit into who Laura Bush is. They said, you know, she's an educator, she's a teacher, she's a librarian. And they quoted President Bush saying that he is so concerned about education and teachers that he married one.
So there, it'll be a light visit, but, you know, you really can't underestimate the power of some of these visits, because a lot of people here have been turned off about politics. But when you get into the personal relations and things that people are really interested in, and especially education, you get a lot of people who will be tuning in and wanting to see what they are doing -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, and not to mention Mrs. Bush is mighty popular all over the world.
Jill Dougherty reporting live from Moscow this morning.
As Jill said, CNN's Soledad O'Brien is traveling with the first lady and will have a report on the trip on AMERICAN MORNING. That comes your way, of course, at 7:00 Eastern time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
