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CNN Live At Daybreak
Troops Elated by Bush Visit
Aired November 28, 2003 - 05:22 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, President Bush is back home after making a surprise visit to Iraq. And talk about shock and awe, the troops went wild when the commander in chief joined them for Thanksgiving dinner.
CNN's Dana Bash tells us how he pulled it off, and it was a coup.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVIL ADMINSTRATOR, IRAQ: The deal was it would be the most senior person. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, maybe we could get somebody from the back.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may as well have been dubbed "Operation Thanksgiving Surprise".
BREMER: Well, let's see if we have anybody more senior here who can read the president's Thanksgiving speech. Is there anybody back there who is more senior than us?
(APPLAUSE, CHEERS)
BASH: From behind the curtain, the commander in chief himself, telling 600 shocked U.S. troops:
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thanks for inviting me to dinner.
BASH: President Bush's two hour and 32 minute visit to Baghdad, the first ever for a U.S. president, a tightly held secret even for a White House known for keeping a lid on information. Only a handful of senior staff and Secret Service officials knew.
Shortly after a spokeswoman announced Wednesday Mr. Bush would have a quiet holiday at the ranch, approximately 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the president hiding under a baseball cap slipped out of Crawford and in an unmarked car and then was flown to Andrews Air Force base. At about 11 p.m. Eastern Time, the president left on a 13- hour journey to Baghdad.
Reporters on the plane were warned for security reasons if word leaked out the plane would be turned around.
At 5:30 p.m. Baghdad time, Air Force One, using a secret call sign, lands without lights with Mr. Bush in the cockpit.
The president's message, one of thanks, but also one of resolve.
BUSH: We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people, only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins.
(APPLAUSE, CHEERS)
BASH: At a mess hall name for Bob Hope he doled out sweet potatoes, smiled for the cameras, and shook hands with elated servicemen, telling reporters afterwards the reaction made the risk and the secrecy worthwhile.
The president's audience was not just U.S. troops, it was also the Iraqi people.
BUSH: You have the opportunity to seize the moment and rebuild your great country based on human dignity and freedom.
BASH (on camera): This may have been a stealth mission but it was far from spur of the moment. The president telling reporters it has been in the works since October. And for those who may call all the secrecy a PR stunt, the president insisted it had to be kept under wraps for his safety and the safety of others.
Dana Bash, CNN Crawford, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: So, what do the troops on the ground think of the president's surprise visit? Here's what some of them had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, COMMANDER, COALITION GROUND FORCES: The inspiration and the morale, it is already solid, but this is just -- reverberates throughout the command with an unbelievable amount of greatness for us.
TALITHA WILLIAMS, U.S. ARMY: It thought it was pretty nice that he came down and spent Thanksgiving with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it mean to you guys being here, to have the president show up?
WILLIAMS: He's sacrificing a little bit for us, too. It's nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel good about everything he said and about everything that's going on around here. We do a lot of different things that a lot of people don't really know that goes on back in the States.
And he just come out here and just kind a pointed us in the right direction. Let's us know that hey, we're doing good. Everybody was happy when he left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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 November 28, 2003 - 05:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, President Bush is back home after making a surprise visit to Iraq. And talk about shock and awe, the troops went wild when the commander in chief joined them for Thanksgiving dinner.
CNN's Dana Bash tells us how he pulled it off, and it was a coup.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVIL ADMINSTRATOR, IRAQ: The deal was it would be the most senior person. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, maybe we could get somebody from the back.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may as well have been dubbed "Operation Thanksgiving Surprise".
BREMER: Well, let's see if we have anybody more senior here who can read the president's Thanksgiving speech. Is there anybody back there who is more senior than us?
(APPLAUSE, CHEERS)
BASH: From behind the curtain, the commander in chief himself, telling 600 shocked U.S. troops:
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thanks for inviting me to dinner.
BASH: President Bush's two hour and 32 minute visit to Baghdad, the first ever for a U.S. president, a tightly held secret even for a White House known for keeping a lid on information. Only a handful of senior staff and Secret Service officials knew.
Shortly after a spokeswoman announced Wednesday Mr. Bush would have a quiet holiday at the ranch, approximately 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the president hiding under a baseball cap slipped out of Crawford and in an unmarked car and then was flown to Andrews Air Force base. At about 11 p.m. Eastern Time, the president left on a 13- hour journey to Baghdad.
Reporters on the plane were warned for security reasons if word leaked out the plane would be turned around.
At 5:30 p.m. Baghdad time, Air Force One, using a secret call sign, lands without lights with Mr. Bush in the cockpit.
The president's message, one of thanks, but also one of resolve.
BUSH: We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people, only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins.
(APPLAUSE, CHEERS)
BASH: At a mess hall name for Bob Hope he doled out sweet potatoes, smiled for the cameras, and shook hands with elated servicemen, telling reporters afterwards the reaction made the risk and the secrecy worthwhile.
The president's audience was not just U.S. troops, it was also the Iraqi people.
BUSH: You have the opportunity to seize the moment and rebuild your great country based on human dignity and freedom.
BASH (on camera): This may have been a stealth mission but it was far from spur of the moment. The president telling reporters it has been in the works since October. And for those who may call all the secrecy a PR stunt, the president insisted it had to be kept under wraps for his safety and the safety of others.
Dana Bash, CNN Crawford, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: So, what do the troops on the ground think of the president's surprise visit? Here's what some of them had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, COMMANDER, COALITION GROUND FORCES: The inspiration and the morale, it is already solid, but this is just -- reverberates throughout the command with an unbelievable amount of greatness for us.
TALITHA WILLIAMS, U.S. ARMY: It thought it was pretty nice that he came down and spent Thanksgiving with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it mean to you guys being here, to have the president show up?
WILLIAMS: He's sacrificing a little bit for us, too. It's nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel good about everything he said and about everything that's going on around here. We do a lot of different things that a lot of people don't really know that goes on back in the States.
And he just come out here and just kind a pointed us in the right direction. Let's us know that hey, we're doing good. Everybody was happy when he left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
