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CNN Live At Daybreak
New Sign Bush Administration Wants to Push Ahead With Search for WMDs
Aired October 02, 2003 - 05:07 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There is a new sign this morning the Bush administration wants to push ahead with its search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Today's "New York Times" is reporting that the administration is asking Congress for more than $600 million to continue the hunt. Officials say at least $300 million has already been spent in the weapons search. The new request is part of the $87 billion the White House wants for Iraq and Afghanistan.
The money reportedly would pay for the work of the Iraq Survey Group. The head of that group, David Kay, is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill today.
CNN's David Ensor has a preview for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The testimony will be behind closed doors, but the stakes will be high for the man the CIA hired to find Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, whose team has yet to find any.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Here we are five months after the fact, after thousands of our inspectors have combed all of those sites and others and have come up empty.
ENSOR: The question is why, given evidence chemical weapons at a minimum were there after the 1991 war. Are they still hidden or were they destroyed secretly by Saddam so as to keep the world guessing?
CHARLES DUELFER, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think to a certain extent he may have been bluffing.
ENSOR: But David Kay won't argue Saddam was bluffing, U.S. officials say. He will report finding dual use facilities that could be converted to weapons production on short notice and a massive program to conceal them from arms inspectors. The U.S. military's heavy-handed approach to Iraqi scientists like Mahdi Obeidi may have made Kay's work harder, some experts argue. Obeidi was arrested by troops in front of his family, even after offering to tell the CIA what he knew.
DUELFER: Many of the potential people who could cooperate, I think, probably have been scared off.
ENSOR (on camera): U.S. officials say they recognize that congressmen, especially those opposed to the war, will likely put out their versions of Kay's closed door testimony even if he does not. They're considering putting out a summary of his main points to make sure they get out their version, as well.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Search for WMDs>
Aired October 2, 2003 - 05:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There is a new sign this morning the Bush administration wants to push ahead with its search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Today's "New York Times" is reporting that the administration is asking Congress for more than $600 million to continue the hunt. Officials say at least $300 million has already been spent in the weapons search. The new request is part of the $87 billion the White House wants for Iraq and Afghanistan.
The money reportedly would pay for the work of the Iraq Survey Group. The head of that group, David Kay, is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill today.
CNN's David Ensor has a preview for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The testimony will be behind closed doors, but the stakes will be high for the man the CIA hired to find Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, whose team has yet to find any.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Here we are five months after the fact, after thousands of our inspectors have combed all of those sites and others and have come up empty.
ENSOR: The question is why, given evidence chemical weapons at a minimum were there after the 1991 war. Are they still hidden or were they destroyed secretly by Saddam so as to keep the world guessing?
CHARLES DUELFER, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think to a certain extent he may have been bluffing.
ENSOR: But David Kay won't argue Saddam was bluffing, U.S. officials say. He will report finding dual use facilities that could be converted to weapons production on short notice and a massive program to conceal them from arms inspectors. The U.S. military's heavy-handed approach to Iraqi scientists like Mahdi Obeidi may have made Kay's work harder, some experts argue. Obeidi was arrested by troops in front of his family, even after offering to tell the CIA what he knew.
DUELFER: Many of the potential people who could cooperate, I think, probably have been scared off.
ENSOR (on camera): U.S. officials say they recognize that congressmen, especially those opposed to the war, will likely put out their versions of Kay's closed door testimony even if he does not. They're considering putting out a summary of his main points to make sure they get out their version, as well.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Search for WMDs>
