Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Analyzing President Bush's News Conference

Aired October 17, 2007 - 11:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So a pretty lengthy press conference today, covering almost every single topic in the news headlines over the past at least a year or so. The president speaking today. We have several correspondents lined up to talk more about these different issues. First and foremost, Elaine Quijano, she is in the briefing room right now, and momentarily will coming out to talk to us a little bit more. Jamie McIntyre, who is at the Pentagon, Jessica Yellin on Capitol Hill, and Candy Crowley is following the story from our Washington bureau.
First, right off the top -- oh, there's Elaine now -- Jamie, I want to get to you because during that press conference, there was alert that we had up on our screen regarding Turkey. We've been talking about it here for a couple days. The Turkish parliament did approve military incursion into Iraq, the northern Kurdish territories. Want to go ahead and play back some sound from the president for you and ask you a question at the end here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: And they have had troops stationed there for quite a while. We don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in. I appreciate very much the fact that the Iraqi government understands that this is a sensitive issue with the Turks, and that's why Vice President Hashemi is in Istanbul today, talking with the Turkish leaders to assure them that Iraq shares their concerns about terrorist activities, but that there's a better way to deal with the issue than having the Turks send massive troops into the country -- massive additional troops into the country.

What I'm telling you is that there's a lot of dialogue going on, and that's positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: But, Jamie, as we have stated here, that vote has happened. The Turkish parliament has approved the military incursion into northern Iraq. What does it all mean?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I'm scratching my head a little bit about the president's reference to Turkey already having troops in Iraq. They're not a part of the coalition in Iraq, and I'm not aware of substantial numbers of troops, unless he's talking about the troops that Turkey has massed along the border with Northern Iraq. But as you point out, the Turkish parliament has given the authorization, and now what the U.S. is trying to do is stop turkey from acting on that authorization.

You know, the U.S. is in a ticklish spot. Turkey is a NATO ally, and the U.S. is bound by treaty to protect Turkey from outside attack, and Turkey is being attacked by PKK guerrillas in Iraq. So the U.S. should be, in some ways, sympathizing with them. However, the U.S. is also the best ally of Iraq, and it is obligated to protect Iraqi sovereignty. So it really puts it in a situation where it has no good military option.

One military option would be to send more U.S. troops up to secure the borders, so those PKK guerrillas can't attack into Turkey, and diffuse the situation, but the U.S. simply doesn't have enough troops to do that. So all the eggs are in the diplomatic basket. The U.S. is trying to persuade both Turkey and Iraq to take whatever steps they can to prevent this incursion.

COLLINS: All right, very good. They will continue to talk, hopefully.

CNN's Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks.

HARRIS: And our White House correspondent Elaine Quijano was in the briefing room this morning for the press conference And, Elaine, a pretty -- well, the president launched into Congress right off the top there, and then, you know, all you wanted from the president was some kind of an update in your question on how reconciliation efforts are going in Iraq, and what's being done to combat al Qaeda, how's that going, and you didn't get much of an answer.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, not much of an answer, but at this point, obviously, the line we have heard from the White House is that General Petraeus is working to defeat al Qaeda in Iraq, to ensure that the security levels in Iraq are stable enough, and that he'll report back in March. So you're right, not much on that, but what's interesting to note on the domestic front, we heard the president place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Congress as to why there has not been more movement. We talked about SCHIP before. The president didn't go into a specific number on how far he'd be willing to go, how much money would be acceptable to him.

Heidi was talking earlier about how the Democrats are looking for $35 million. The president only willing to expand by about 5 billion. The president wouldn't give any specifics on that.

But turning to international issues very quickly, a fascinating storyline -- the relationship between the United States and Russia, specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin. Keep in mind, President Bush has gone to great length to woo the Russian leader. Even as we heard the news conference repeated, the president invited him to the family's Kennebunkport compound to really try and repair some of the tensions that have existed. It hasn't really made much of a difference. The president saying, look, I'm going to wait to hear what President Putin has to say about his meeting in Iran. I'm going to reserve judgment and listen to what he has to say himself before I make up my own mind.

HARRIS: Our White House correspondent Elaine Quijano. Elaine, thank you.

COLLINS: I want to get now to our congressional correspondent Jessica Yellin standing by for more on what the president has said regarding Congress. Boy, he came out pretty fast and furious, did he not, Jessica, saying that basically there is no legislation moving in Congress.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely right, it was an incredibly combative President Bush, who is clashing with the Congress on a number of issues, most predominantly, you heard Elaine talk about it there, SCHIP, this children's health insurance bill. And President Bush made it clear that he doesn't plan to back down in any way. Neither do the members of the Congress. They see this as a political winner for them. And in general what you're seeing shape up is a classic political fight, where the Democratic Congress really thinks they do better by holding their line in opposing the president on a number of these issues, both this SCHIP measure, and also on the wiretaps. And the president is saying he's trying to show that he's relevant, and he won't back down either.

So there doesn't look like there's a lot of room for compromise at this stage, but some of what you heard the president say, attacking Congress, for example, on not getting him spending bills, it's not quite so fair because neither did the Republican Congress when they were in power -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Jessica Yellin on the congressional side of things. Thank you, Jessica. And tomorrow, the House will try to override the presidential veto. The bill in question would have expanded, as we just heard Jessica talking about, a children's health care program.

Right now Americans are giving their opinion -- 61 percent of those responding to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll say Congress should override the veto; 35 percent say, no. The measure would have expanded the health care program for children in middle- income families at a cost of $35 billion. The president wanted a $5 billion increase.

And let's bring in our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She's in Washington.

And, Candy, ahead of the news conference we wondered aloud whether or not there would be any red meat from the president that the presidential contenders, the Republican contenders, might be able to use.

Boy, you throw that sign up that says, a do-nothing Congress, and SCHIP, and a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the budget, again, again and again, and nothing's being done, and if you elect me as president we will get a new Congress in there. Well, there's some red meat there.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POL. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And, listen, this is already showing up on the campaign trail, and showing up in the polling numbers. The only institution in Washington that scores lower than President Bush is the U.S. Congress. Who's the U.S. Congress run by at this point? The Democrats. So if you're a Republican now, you're looking at this moment, at a very tough 2008. All of the atmospherics are very much against Republicans. So what do you do? You take that number, and you go out and say they haven't done anything.

And I felt sort of the key political point that the president made was in one of the questions about, well, shouldn't you take some responsibility for not getting anything done? And he said, no, they're supposed to pass the bills. And if this doesn't get done, I look forward to telling people why it didn't get done. So that's where they're going with this conversation.

Now, whether or not it takes hold is another thing because here's what the Democrats are saying out on the stump. We would get a lot more done if there weren't so many Republicans on Capitol Hill. So those are the two sides of the argument that surely is playing out now and will next year.

HARRIS: Our Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, part of the best political team on television. Candy, appreciate it, thank you.

CROWLEY: Sure.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ted Rowlands in Las Vegas.

The man prosecutors alleged made that disturbing videotape, raping a 2-1/2-year-old girl was in court today. Coming up in the NEWSROOM, I'll have the very latest in the case against Chester Stiles.

COLLINS: The students are home today, but the cleaning staff is hard at work. A Virginia school system wants to make sure a killer super bug doesn't strike again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get you back to our severe weather center and CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano because Rob, we are understanding that a tornado has actually touched down, is that correct, in southeast Texas?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That is correct, it's southeast Texas, as a matter of fact. The storms prediction center has been mulling over whether or not to issue a tornado watch for this area. They haven't done so yet, but the local national weather service office has issued a tornado warning and a tornado has been spotted on the ground.

Southeast Texas -- here it is on the radar scope just to the west of the border of Louisiana there. That's the Sabine River that borders them. So, Hardin, Jasper, Newton, and Tyler counties, all of those counties, at least a portion of them, extreme northeastern Hardin in southeast Texas, central Jasper County, and some of the cities included here are Kirbyville and Buna. This is until 11:00 local time. The movement of the storm right now is actually to the north at 35 miles an hour. So, it's moving fairly quickly. Some of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and storm spotters have spotted this tornado near -- near Buna.

Now, we're just getting word that a second tornado watch has been issued. This -- that does not include this area. So, this area is still not under a tornado watch officially, but clearly there's a tornado on the ground. If you live in Kirbyville, be aware of that because in the next 10 minutes, you may be seeing this tornado in your backyard, Kirbyville, Texas, you're going to want to get to a safe place.

All right, this is all part of a severe weather event today that is happening. A second tornado watch has been issued now to the east of Tulsa, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, including parts of Springfield, Missouri. That is until 7:00 tonight, and this other tornado watch that is in effect for Oklahoma City and most of central Oklahoma, that is in effect until 4:00 local time and these, we'll continue to fill in.

What's a little bit alarming, Heidi, is that we haven't even hit a noon hour yet ...

COLLINS: Right.

MARCIANO: ...which would typically help with the heating of the day. So, I anticipate things getting even more active as we go through the afternoon, and this could very well be -- this system has showed dynamic. There's so much energy in the upper levels of the atmosphere that's being transferred to the lower levels, and then we've got Gulf moisture coming in.

But this thing could go right through the overnight period. So, folks who live in the Plains, definitely want to keep an eye to the sky and be ready to go into a safe place if things get threatening.

COLLINS: Yes, and you had warned us earlier that this is what you'd be watching today. Boy, it's certainly going to be a busy one.

MARCIANO: It happens (ph).

COLLINS: Thanks so much ...

MARCIANO: All right, see you.

COLLINS: ...yes, we'll be watching it. Thanks, Rob.

HARRIS: Well, just minutes ago, Chester Stiles appeared in court. He is accused of raping a young girl, small child, and videotaping it. There he is.

CNN's Ted Rowlands was at that court appearance, and Ted, we were watching and listening to the president when Chester Stiles walked into court. So, if you would, walk us through what happened this morning. ROWLANDS: Well, Tony, it was a very short proceeding. First court appearances usually are, this was no exception. Stiles came in, he was shackled, his hands and his feet, obviously in prison garb, and he looked down the entire time. Never made eye contact with the judge or anybody else in the courtroom. He was slumped over -- he was standing, but his shoulders were slumped. He looked down on the ground, he did answer a few questions with the judge.

Prosecutors have added a few charges against him. They're now up to 23 felony counts against Chester Stiles. You mentioned a young girl. Family says this young girl, who is the alleged victim in this alleged incident, was 2-1/2-years-old at the time of this. They say this took place about four years ago. This all stems from this videotape which was given to police about two weeks ago showing what police say was Chester Stiles raping and sexually abusing this young girl.

It has horrified people in law enforcement, horrified people around the country and the world that have followed this case. Just reading the criminal complaints is a horrifying -- it's disgusting, the things that he has alleged to have done.

After this court proceeding, his public defender, who has been assigned, talked a little bit about the fact that his client is up against a lot of public opinion that is steered directly against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF BANKS, CLARK COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER: Mr. Stiles I don't think is any exception to the rule that on these kinds of very difficult cases, very explosive types of accusations, I think he's a little out of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Now, the family of the little girl commented after Stiles was picked up -- he was picked up after a manhunt on Monday night near Las Vegas in the town of Henderson -- the family said they wished that Stiles would have killed himself. The mother, through a spokesperson, said she would be more than willing to help him out, saying that she dreads going to trial.

The little girl, they say though, doesn't remember the incident. They are very concerned about that little girl, as you can imagine, though, the trauma that she went through. They say at this point though, thankfully, she doesn't seem to remember anything.

Chester Stiles will be back in court November 19th, that's the date the judge set for the prelim -- Tony.

HARRIS: Ted, just a second here. So, we have been reporting, and you know we've been reporting, that this young alleged victim was 3-years-old, and now, you're telling us that she wasn't even 3?

ROWLANDS: Yes, according to the family through a spokesperson yesterday, they said that they estimate that the girl was about 2-1/2, and not yet 3, somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3. But let's face it ...

HARRIS: Oh, that's horrible. Horrible, horrible.

ROWLANDS: ...when you look at these charges, she was a very, very little girl, yes.

HARRIS: Ted Rowlands, appreciate it, thank you.

COLLINS: The other developing story we've been following for you this morning, a decision to close a Virginia school system because of a staph outbreak and a student's death. We'll talk with the principal of that school the student attended, coming up in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: An entire Virginia school system shut down today. The reason: a dangerous drug-resistant infection. It's blamed for one student's death. The mother of 17-year-old Ashton Bonds says he died Monday after he was diagnosed with MRSA, that's an antibiotic resistant staph infection. The Bedford County superintendent says all 21 schools in the district are closed today for a thorough cleaning. It's an attempt to keep the infection from spreading. That decision followed a protest by concerned students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just trying to find answers. We want to know what's going to be done about cleaning up the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't feel safe at all going back in there.

DANIEL ORANGE, STUDENT: Not only to remember Ashton, but get it through to the administration and all that we don't want another one of our friends, another one of our classmates gone, because of them not doing anything, and we want something done about this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Officials do hope to reopen the schools in Bedford County, Virginia, tomorrow. And on the phone with us right now is Michael Kelly. He is the principal of Staunton River High School, that's where the 17-year-old who died of staph infection was a student.

Principal Kelly, thanks for being with us. When you hear students react as we just heard on that tape there at the protest, how does it make you feel that they are very concerned for their safety?

VOICE OF MICHAEL KELLY, PRINCIPAL, STAUNTON RIVER H.S.: Yes, well, certainly it makes me feel very sorry, but at the same time unfortunately, there's some misinformation from those students.

Those students and the entire community at Staunton River High School have been informed of the MRSA virus or bacteria back in early October when we had a couple of verified cases. We had sent messages home to the parents by way of the students as well as reading those messages on the P.A. system at our school. During that time ...

COLLINS: So -- pardon me, Principal Kelly, we are -- have ...

KELLY: Sure.

COLLINS: ...such a short amount of time. Did they then have the option to not go to school?

KELLY: Well, no, they never had the option not to go to school. We had disinfected the building on a couple of occasions, and we have wiped down all of the surfaces where students and faculty come in contact with daily, such as door knobs, door jams, panic bars, light switches, things like that. We've been doing that nightly for the past two to three weeks in order to reduce the risk of this bacteria infecting other students.

COLLINS: So, I guess I'm not quite sure what you're saying. You're saying that the students and the parents knew that there was a possible risk of infection, but they weren't allowed to stay home from school because of it if they were concerned. What should they have done?

KELLY: Well, in the message and in the letters that we sent home in which we sent two of them home, we spelled out clearly how Bedford County School nurse coordinator, Patricia Knox, prepared what they needed to do to protect themselves, things such as keeping their hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using the alcohol- based hand sanitizer. Keeping cuts and scrapes clean and under -- covered with a bandage until they're healed, avoiding contact with people with open wounds or bandages.

COLLINS: Right, right.

KELLY: Those sorts of things are the precautions that all of us have to take in order to protect ourselves from bacterias that are present in all areas of our school (ph).

COLLINS: Yes, understood. And we've been talking a lot about those precautions to take, and still, there was a death at your school, which I'm sure you are feeling very upset about. I want to ...

KELLY: Oh, absolutely.

COLLINS: ...ask you quickly, very quickly about the cleaning process. I know that 21 schools are closed for cleaning, but there are only professionals being used at three of those schools. Are you confident, sir, that your school will be clean enough and ready to open tomorrow?

KELLY: Oh, I'm absolutely confident of that. And quite frankly, I was confident that it was clean enough even before professional cleaning, but the professional cleaning just adds a nice extra layer of confidence for all of us. Those folks will be in and they'll do an anti-bacterial fog in all of the campus and all of the rooms and wipe down all the surfaces. And yes, that really adds a nice extra benefit or a nice extra level of confidence.

COLLINS: All right, Principal Michael Kelly. He is the principal of Staunton River High School where there was a death because of this terrible contagious disease that we have been talking to you about, MRSA today.

Thanks so much, Principal Kelly.

HARRIS: Well, CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody.

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