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CNN Live Sunday

Bush Goes on 'Meet the Press'

Aired February 08, 2004 - 11:01   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with President Bush's televised chat. It was his first appearance on a Sunday talk show as president. CNN's Dana Bash watched it from the White House and, Dana, is the White House certain that viewers were pleased with how the president conducted himself?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly hope so, I can imagine, Fredricka. But this hour-long interview on NBC ranged in topic from Iraq to Osama Bin Laden to the economy, and it comes at a time, as you mentioned, when Democrats have really been soaking up a lot of attention on the campaign trail. They've also been attacking the president relentlessly and there certainly has been a slippage in the polls for the president in his approval rating and a number of polls. CNN's polls and others, as well.

Bush aides acknowledge a main reason why he wanted to do this interview was to try to counter criticism that he misled the country in going to war in Iraq. The president did concede during this interview that it was correct that weapons of mass destruction are not actually in Iraq, despite the fact that two days before going to war he said that they were. But he said that what he decided to do, go to war in Iraq, was based on the best intelligence that was there, and he acknowledged that he was surprised that weapons haven't been found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, I expected to find the weapons. Sitting behind this desk, making a very difficult decision on war and peace, and I based my decision on the best intelligence possible, intelligence that had been gathered over the years, intelligence that not only our analysts thought was valid, but analysts from other countries thought was valid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And in what is becoming an evolving rationale for war, the president said that even if Saddam Hussein doesn't or didn't have actual weapons, he had the capacity to build a weapons program. That is something we've heard from the president over the past couple of days, we will continue to hear, much different from the words that we heard from the president and his top aides leading up to the war. They were much more firm about the possibility that there actually were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

But the president repeated over and over that Saddam Hussein was a threat no matter what and that he did what he thought was right in a post-9/11 world. And that, Fredricka, is something we're likely to hear time and time again from this president as he defends himself in going to war in Iraq. That he is somebody who lived through 9/11, led the country in 9/11, and that he made this decision based on what he knew he had to do, he thought at the time, to protect the country.

WHITFIELD: And on the ongoing surge for Osama Bin Laden, what did the president say?

BASH: Well, you know, you of course, remember that shortly after September 11, the president said that he was going to find Osama Bin Laden dead or alive. We haven't heard that in some time, but today when he was asked about whether or not he would find Osama Bin Laden he simply said, I have no idea if we will capture or bring him to justice. He said that is probably the best way to put it. But when asked if he thought he new where he was, the president wouldn't go there. He simply said that is something he can't answer. But certainly a lot more circumspect, a lot less definite about the prospects of finding Osama Bin Laden, trying to set expectations pretty low on that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash from the White House, thanks very much.

Well, some media analysis now. Some believe that the president's appearance on "Meet the Press" signals a new phase in his re-election campaign. With more on the Bush blitz, "Washington Post" media critic and "RELIABLE SOURCES" host Howard Kurtz.

Good to see you this Sunday, Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Same here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the president was asked the question, was the deaths of 530 American soldiers and the injuries of 3,000 soldiers worth it, in terms of the war in Iraq. Did he sell the point?

KURTZ: Well, you know, Sunday talk show, it turns out not to be a bad forum for the president. He did repeat again and again to the point where he himself sounded like a broken record, Saddam was a threat, Saddam was a madman. I made the best available decision at the time. And I think for those skeptical of the war in Iraq, they're not going to be persuaded. But he did get to give long, uninterrupted conversational answers in his sit-down with Tim Russert.

WHITFIELD: There are some analysts who are saying this was certainly the start of a new phase of his political campaign as he heads into this re-election process. Was this the thing he needed to do in which to try to reach as many American viewers as possible?

KURTZ: Well, if he wanted to reach the most Americans, he would have done a sit-down in prime time with Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer or gone on "Oprah" and so forth. But the White House made a calculation that in order to get out in front, particularly on the Iraq issue, particularly after the finding of no weapons of mass destruction, that he, to use a baseball analogy, had to hit major league pitching. Because of Russert's reputation as an aggressive questioner, they decided to go this route.

It also represents, as you suggest, the end of Bush looking above the fray, time for politics is later. This was the opening shot of his re-election campaign. He decided after being bashed for months now on the air by all the Democratic candidates, that he to get some air time for himself.

WHITFIELD: On the war in Iraq, that certainly dominated the interview. He also said he wanted to highlight a need for good intelligence. Was this his way of placing blame at the same time?

KURTZ: I think it was his way of sidestepping blame by saying that every president needs good intelligence, and we'll have a commission, which just so happens to report five months after the election to see how that is done.

Certainly the bulk of the interview devoted to Iraq, but Tim Russert, to his credit, also asked him about the charges by Democrats of having been AWOL, allegedly, from the National Guard, and about the economy and about the huge federal deficit so the president had to play defense on a lot of those topics, but there was no one moment where he badly stumbled. No piece of tape that we're all going to replay 50 times that made the president look bad, so I think probably each side is satisfied. Russert got his exclusive interview, and the White House got an hour of network television for the chance for the president to make his case.

WHITFIELD: All right, Howard Kurtz, thanks very much.

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 February 8, 2004 - 11:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with President Bush's televised chat. It was his first appearance on a Sunday talk show as president. CNN's Dana Bash watched it from the White House and, Dana, is the White House certain that viewers were pleased with how the president conducted himself?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly hope so, I can imagine, Fredricka. But this hour-long interview on NBC ranged in topic from Iraq to Osama Bin Laden to the economy, and it comes at a time, as you mentioned, when Democrats have really been soaking up a lot of attention on the campaign trail. They've also been attacking the president relentlessly and there certainly has been a slippage in the polls for the president in his approval rating and a number of polls. CNN's polls and others, as well.

Bush aides acknowledge a main reason why he wanted to do this interview was to try to counter criticism that he misled the country in going to war in Iraq. The president did concede during this interview that it was correct that weapons of mass destruction are not actually in Iraq, despite the fact that two days before going to war he said that they were. But he said that what he decided to do, go to war in Iraq, was based on the best intelligence that was there, and he acknowledged that he was surprised that weapons haven't been found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, I expected to find the weapons. Sitting behind this desk, making a very difficult decision on war and peace, and I based my decision on the best intelligence possible, intelligence that had been gathered over the years, intelligence that not only our analysts thought was valid, but analysts from other countries thought was valid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And in what is becoming an evolving rationale for war, the president said that even if Saddam Hussein doesn't or didn't have actual weapons, he had the capacity to build a weapons program. That is something we've heard from the president over the past couple of days, we will continue to hear, much different from the words that we heard from the president and his top aides leading up to the war. They were much more firm about the possibility that there actually were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

But the president repeated over and over that Saddam Hussein was a threat no matter what and that he did what he thought was right in a post-9/11 world. And that, Fredricka, is something we're likely to hear time and time again from this president as he defends himself in going to war in Iraq. That he is somebody who lived through 9/11, led the country in 9/11, and that he made this decision based on what he knew he had to do, he thought at the time, to protect the country.

WHITFIELD: And on the ongoing surge for Osama Bin Laden, what did the president say?

BASH: Well, you know, you of course, remember that shortly after September 11, the president said that he was going to find Osama Bin Laden dead or alive. We haven't heard that in some time, but today when he was asked about whether or not he would find Osama Bin Laden he simply said, I have no idea if we will capture or bring him to justice. He said that is probably the best way to put it. But when asked if he thought he new where he was, the president wouldn't go there. He simply said that is something he can't answer. But certainly a lot more circumspect, a lot less definite about the prospects of finding Osama Bin Laden, trying to set expectations pretty low on that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash from the White House, thanks very much.

Well, some media analysis now. Some believe that the president's appearance on "Meet the Press" signals a new phase in his re-election campaign. With more on the Bush blitz, "Washington Post" media critic and "RELIABLE SOURCES" host Howard Kurtz.

Good to see you this Sunday, Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Same here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the president was asked the question, was the deaths of 530 American soldiers and the injuries of 3,000 soldiers worth it, in terms of the war in Iraq. Did he sell the point?

KURTZ: Well, you know, Sunday talk show, it turns out not to be a bad forum for the president. He did repeat again and again to the point where he himself sounded like a broken record, Saddam was a threat, Saddam was a madman. I made the best available decision at the time. And I think for those skeptical of the war in Iraq, they're not going to be persuaded. But he did get to give long, uninterrupted conversational answers in his sit-down with Tim Russert.

WHITFIELD: There are some analysts who are saying this was certainly the start of a new phase of his political campaign as he heads into this re-election process. Was this the thing he needed to do in which to try to reach as many American viewers as possible?

KURTZ: Well, if he wanted to reach the most Americans, he would have done a sit-down in prime time with Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer or gone on "Oprah" and so forth. But the White House made a calculation that in order to get out in front, particularly on the Iraq issue, particularly after the finding of no weapons of mass destruction, that he, to use a baseball analogy, had to hit major league pitching. Because of Russert's reputation as an aggressive questioner, they decided to go this route.

It also represents, as you suggest, the end of Bush looking above the fray, time for politics is later. This was the opening shot of his re-election campaign. He decided after being bashed for months now on the air by all the Democratic candidates, that he to get some air time for himself.

WHITFIELD: On the war in Iraq, that certainly dominated the interview. He also said he wanted to highlight a need for good intelligence. Was this his way of placing blame at the same time?

KURTZ: I think it was his way of sidestepping blame by saying that every president needs good intelligence, and we'll have a commission, which just so happens to report five months after the election to see how that is done.

Certainly the bulk of the interview devoted to Iraq, but Tim Russert, to his credit, also asked him about the charges by Democrats of having been AWOL, allegedly, from the National Guard, and about the economy and about the huge federal deficit so the president had to play defense on a lot of those topics, but there was no one moment where he badly stumbled. No piece of tape that we're all going to replay 50 times that made the president look bad, so I think probably each side is satisfied. Russert got his exclusive interview, and the White House got an hour of network television for the chance for the president to make his case.

WHITFIELD: All right, Howard Kurtz, thanks very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com