Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Analysis of President Bush's News Conference

Aired October 25, 2006 - 11:35   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President George Bush taking questions there in the east room from reporters, after his statement, which was about 15 minutes long or so regarding Iraq. There were some other questions asked, very briefly, on North Korea and immigration as well. But really just talking about the failures, the successes, some unexpected events, some progress, talking about the sovereign government, also pointing out that Prime Minister Maliki's unity government really only have been in power for five months. So all of that certainly part of the discussion today.
HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: We have several players standing by, want to get to them right now and show you that we have Wolf Blitzer, John King, John Roberts in Baghdad, Dana Bash and Barbara Starr at the Pentagon to talk with all of us about exactly what they heard from the president today. I want to go, first of all, though, to Elaine Quijano, who was there in the East Room.

Elaine, what was the substantial statement that we heard today from the president regarding Iraq?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Heidi, it's essentially what we expected to hear coming into this. This, of course, is a time when the U.S. casualty count continues to rise. President Bush acknowledging that things are going very -- it's a very difficult situation, essentially the president saying he wasn't satisfied. And he understands the concerns that Americans have.

Now, that message certainly not new. But the president, at the same time, as we noted before this press conference, also is trying to send a very clear message that his administration has not been inflexible. The president himself saying that he remains flexible when it comes to the actual tactics, that he listens to his commanders on the ground, and so you heard the president try to punctuate that in his statement today.

Also talking about the benchmarks, of course, that, in fact, Prime Minister Maliki's government has agreed to, the president said.

But interestingly, when I asked about the participation during that news conference yesterday with General Casey and U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, on why, in fact, Prime Minister Maliki, the leader of Iraq's sovereign government, did not take part in that, Mr. Bush didn't have an answer.

But again, at a time when all eyes are on Prime Minister Maliki, Washington, of course, applying pressure for Prime Minister Maliki to do something about the security situation there. The president reiterating his support for the prime minister, but also trying to send a very clear message that there is, in fact, though he would take exception to the use of that word "timetable," that there are benchmarks he expects the Iraqi government to meet -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Elaine right from the East Room, where the president spoke moments ago. Elaine, stick around for us if you wouldn't mind. We'll come back to you in just a moment.

HARRIS: And great to have Wolf Blitzer in the NEWSROOM with us. Wolf, of course, host of THE SITUATION ROOM right here on CNN.

Wolf, good morning to you.

And instead of coming up with some fancy question to get your thoughts on this, let me just ask you straight out, what did you think, what did you hear from the president?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have to see the context in which the president was talking, Tony. There's no doubt this is less than two weeks before an election. There's no doubt that, according to all of the latest public opinion polls, including our own, Iraq is becoming the -- is already the dominant issue going into this campaign. It's the No. 1 issue that voters are concerned about right now. And there's deep concern, according to all of the public opinion polls, that the president has not been doing a good job in dealing with Iraq. There's widespread opposition, the highest opposition to this war since it started three-and-a-half years ago.

So the president decided clearly he wanted to go out there and give some context to all of these statements that have been made lately and what's most important, happening on the ground.

I was struck by his phrase, "We're winning, and we will win unless we leave before the job is done." A lot of people are taking a look at the situation on the ground right now, Tony, and are not convinced the United States is winning right now. There's a lot of suspicion out there that no one is really winning, neither the United States nor the insurgents. There's a widespread suspicion that this is turning into a civil war.

HARRIS: Hey, Wolf, the president also said Americans will support the war effort as long as they see a path to a win, a path to victory. Did he -- did the president lay out that path to you?

BLITZER: He tried to. I think there's going to be a lot of people who are going to still scratch their head and say, you know, we've heard this before a year ago. Administration officials were saying the next six months will be critical; then six months later they said the next six months will be critical. Right now they're saying, we need more time. So there's going to be a lot of suspicion. The death toll, as everyone is now pointing out, is the highest in a year right now, more than 90 American troops killed this month alone, the month of October. It's the end of Ramadan. It's a period of intense violence right now in Iraq. But people want to see some light at the end of the tunnel. And for a lot of Americans right now, they don't see it.

HARRIS: OK, Wolf, if you could, got a couple of minutes, stay with us. We appreciate it. Thanks, Wolf.

COLLINS: Want to go to New York, where we have John King standing by to answer a few more questions about what the president had to say here. John, you know, something that really stood out to me, it was almost at the last minute or a bit of an afterthought when he said, you know, ultimately -- this was regarding Donald Rumsfeld, actually, a question on Rumsfeld -- the ultimate accountability rests with me. And he mentioned voters, meaning the success in Iraq. And it seemed to be pretty confident statement with the election, midterm elections, anyway, 13 days away. Your thoughts on that?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Heidi, that is a calculation. The president trying to say to voters if you are mad about the Iraq war, take it out on me. Of course, they can't take it out on him. He's not on the ballot in 13 days and he is worried, and the White House has every reason to be worried, that the voters will take it out on his party. Republicans are at risk of losing their majorities in both the House and the Senate.

This is a difficult challenge for the president. Some Republicans will not be happy he's out there trying to take this gamble, trying to try to turn public opinion around to a little degree just before the election.

Look, it is a simple fact. Look at any public opinion poll. The president has a giant trust and credibility problem when it comes to the Iraq war. The American people simply do not believe or do not have faith, anyway, that he has a plan, that the United States is winning the war right now. And that is affecting not only Democrats -- most Democrats long ago decided they were not going to support this war or support this president or support Republican candidates -- but more and more, he's losing Republicans and independents.

And it's a huge test for the president. I was struck by something he said in the first minute of his opening statement. This is a president who took the country to war, saying Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons, biological weapons, and was trying to rebuild his nuclear weapons program. And he was talking about how U.S. troops have found sniper scopes and explosives in Iraq.

The problem for the president -- and war is hard, and the president's trying to explain that to the American people -- but this is not the war he sold the American people three and a half years ago.

COLLINS: Also, John, quickly, when we talk about some of the other questions that were asked, someone asked about being able to pass legislation when you have both a Republican House and Senate that you're working with, as the president. Social Security, tax code overhaul, immigration. He said, well, we're going to win again, and I'm still working on those issues and will get them passed. KING: Well, if the president says we're going to lose, why would any Republican around the country who's thinking do I really want to vote, I'm a little mad at my local congressman, I'm not sure I want to vote in the midterm elections -- if the president says, well, we're going to lose and I'll work with the Democrats in January, guess what, he'll lose big.

COLLINS: He's not going to say that?

KING: So the president has to be a cheerleader. The president has to be a cheerleader for his party right now. But it's an interesting gamble again because there are some Republicans who say Mr. President, please stay quiet. He kept saying I love campaigning, I love campaigning. Dana Bash was on before the press conference, if he loves campaigning so much, why is he in the East Room today and not out on the campaign trail?

COLLINS: All right, John King, stick around, if you wouldn't mind. Thanks.

HARRIS: And right now let's get the view from Baghdad. Our John Roberts is there in Baghdad. And John, I know you had an opportunity to listen to the president's news conference. There was a point at which the president said that the U.S. military has no intention of standing in the middle of fighting factions. So I wonder, my question to you is, when the U.S. military responds to a firefight these days, more and more, are they standing in the middle of fighting factions?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, if they're not standing in the middle, they're facing one side at a time. One day they're facing the Sunni insurgents and the Sunni militias, the next day they're facing the Shiite militias. Just this morning out in Sadr City, the U.S. forces were on a joint operation with Iraqi special operations forces, trying to capture a commander of the Mehdi militia who's believed to be in charge of a lot of these death squads.

I've traveled with the 177 Striker Brigade, the battalion from that, throughout the neighborhoods of Baghdad in the last couple of days. They are definitely getting in the middle. Even though they may not be engaging in firefights with these militias, they are definitely putting themselves in between the militias and the people to say, we're going to be the big dog on the street, we're going to be the big -- the new sheriff in town. We're the ones who are going to provide security, not these militias.

This is the big problem here with Iraq, Tony, as General William Caldwell said the other day. There are at least 23 militias operating in Baghdad alone, and U.S. forces are the ones who are predominantly on the front lines in trying to quell the violence in the neighborhoods. They're also trying to support the Iraqi army, also trying to support the Iraqi police. But there is a huge amount of distrust among Sunnis of the Iraqi police and the ministry of the interior troops. There is a huge amount of distrust among the Shiite population as to what the Sunnis are up to.

The only people really that they trust are the American military -- these are the rank and file Iraqis -- and to some degree, the Iraqi army. And, of course, the radicals, the extremists on both sides, hate everybody. So, Tony, there is just such a convoluted situation here to try to get a handle on security. It's something that is incredibly difficult and it's something many people here believe the current plan is not adequately addressing.

HARRIS: I want to talk to you about whatever frustration the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is feeling right now with this blowback to some comments that have been made, some actions and military actions in Baghdad and around Sadr City today. But I'm wondering if there is any evidence to suggest that Nouri al-Maliki might feel as though his country is sitting right there in the middle as the battleground for this proxy war between the United States, Syria and Iran.

ROBERTS: Yes. Well, I mean, he may feel like that, but I don't think you can say that this is a proxy war for Syria and Iran. Certainly, Syria appears to be trying to get involved by allowing terrorists and extremists to cross their borders. Iran is getting involved in the southeast of the country. But this is still very much Iraq and it's very much the different factions in Iraq.

There's no question that the United States wants to see a stable Iraq. It's widely believed that the reason why they went in here was they thought if they could establish a stable democracy in the heart of the Middle East, they may be able to prevent what happened in Afghanistan from happening again, which means that they could prevent more 9/11s. As to whether or not that plan is working, though, is what's in question.

And Tony, really, the big question in all of this is they may be these -- there may be these benchmarks out there, whether they were initially established by the Iraqi government or whether they were pushed by the United States. As the president said, I want to push al-Maliki, but I don't want to push him to the point where he can't achieve these goals. You have to wonder, where is Iraq going to be seven or eight months from now when these benchmarks are supposed to be in place, if you don't get a handle on the violence here? Security here is a key to everything. If there can't be security on the ground, you can't have the type of political progress that either side wants to see.

HARRIS: Well said. John Roberts for us in Baghdad. John, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: All right. We will have more on the President Bush news conference that we just had. We're going to go live to Capitol Hill, as well as the Pentagon, and find out thoughts from those areas.

Stick around, everybody. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On the heels of president's news conference just moments ago regarding mostly Iraq and strategies there, failures and successes, we want to get to Barbara Starr, who is standing by at the Pentagon.

Barbara, there was a question about Donald Rumsfeld and whether or not he should still be in the office of secretary of defense. And the president talked about, well, you know, I've asked a lot of him. I've asked him to wage war in two theaters and protect the homeland. Your thoughts on that?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was pretty interesting that still, after all this time, still getting us the question about Secretary Rumsfeld. The question actually was, should anyone be held accountable for the war not going well, and it was the president that, to some extent, made that question focus on Don Rumsfeld. You'll remember several months ago in the Rose Garden, the president was quite adamant, saying that he didn't appreciate the speculation about Secretary Rumsfeld's future, and that Secretary Rumsfeld was doing a fine job and that he supported him very strongly.

Today, the president said he is satisfied with Secretary Rumsfeld. So we'll see what there is to be made out of that, especially after the election, perhaps.

But I think, Heidi, one of the things the president and other top officials have been talking about for the last couple of days, simply from the military point of view is extremely interesting. They keep talking about changing tactics, that they're flexible, and tactics are being changed constantly. Tactics, of course, from a military point of view refers to what the troops are doing on the ground, how they're operating, how they're moving around, how they're conducting their missions, what their missions are, on the ground, on the front line. From the mentally, Heidi, that's still a question to be answered. Are those tactics really changing?

COLLINS: Sure.

STARR: John Roberts is seeing it firsthand in Baghdad. The troops are still on patrol. And to some extent perhaps what is changing is they are getting stuck between the Sunni and the Shia elements. The president was very adamant today that he doesn't want to see that happen. He doesn't want to see U.S. troops caught in that ethnic or sectarian crossfire, if you will.

But how the tactics might be changing, perhaps a question still to be answered. And still, the president also saying yet again today, if General Casey asks for more troops, the president will send more troops -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Right. He said, as the enemy shifts, so does the United States. Won't get involved, as you said, in that sectarian confrontation. But he also, Barbara mentioned, and was honest about the fact that Iraqi security forces, some of them anyway, have performed under the level of expectation, looking for 325,000 troops to be ready to go over in Iraq.

Do you know, Barbara, what exactly tactically speaking it is that the Iraqi security forces are really not able to do, not perform well? STARR: One of the biggest problems with the Iraqi security forces, it sounds so, you know, simple, is the issue of mobility. They are not yet at the point where they can move rapidly around the country, get from one point to the other, go to different ethnic areas from their own. These are -- this is a nation where their security forces, especially their police forces, pretty much like to stay in their own regions. And because of some of the way the Iraqi security forces operate, they are continuing to have problems with them simply showing up.

What should be settled, though, Heidi, is many Iraqi security forces do perform heroically. Many, many have died in this conflict. But still, there's a very significant issue there.

COLLINS: Understood. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us today. Barbara, thank you.

HARRIS: Let's bring in our congressional correspondent now, Dana Bash.

And, Dana, the president said the upcoming election is a referendum on two major issues, the success of the economy and the protection of the American people. The president had an opportunity to close the deal on both this morning. Any music there for Republican ears?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, sure, there is music for Republican ears, because that is exactly what the Republican Party, both nationally and at the local level, want this election to be about. They want this to be about keeping Americans secure and safe. That's what their scripts are about in the phone calls that they're making to try to get out those Republican votes on the ground, and that is what the candidates are talking about, about Americans' taxes, about the fact that Republicans keep them low, and that Democrats, if they come into power, they'll raise them.

But the reality is, it's not necessarily what is going on out there on the campaign trail. For example, we were talking earlier about the fact that I just came back from Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Well, the Republican Congressman there is somebody who has been -- who knows the community, who is walking a parade route saying, look, I understand these people, and they want to talk about things like education and their property taxes, and what really matters here on the ground. Well, the headline in the local paper, Tony, wasn't about those things. The headline in the local paper in Bucks County was about a record number of deaths in Iraq. So that is what they're battling against.

HARRIS: Yes. Dana Bash for us on Capitol Hill. Dana, thank you.

COLLINS: And Don Lemon is joining us now. Here we are. Camera roulette To talk more about CNN NEWSROOM this afternoon coming up at 1:00.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, of courses we've been talking about it, the midterm elections, the war in Iraq, all coming to a head days before the midterm elections. Pressure is on Congress to get U.S. troops out of Iraq from an unlikely source.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I adamantly oppose the war in Iraq. I don't feel American people, Iraqi civilians or American service members benefit from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, some currently serving military members are asking for a big change. One of them will join us ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Boy, you guys saw this controversy. A stem cell stinger. Rush Limbaugh under fire for saying that actor Michael J. Fox might be faking his Parkinson's symptoms. We'll have the latest on that controversy ahead in the NEWSROOM.

Join Kyra Phillips and me, 1:00 p.m., CNN NEWSROOM, same channel that you're watching.

By the way, you're looking very Upper East Side today, very ladies who lunch.

HARRIS: That's the assessment every day with Don.

LEMON: It's fall. Check it out. It's a statement.

HARRIS: How do you feel about that, Heidi? I'm speechless.

COLLINS: I lived there for a little while, so that wasn't fair.

All right, Don Lemon, we'll be watching you and your tie coming up at 1:00.

LEMON: Back to your roots.

HARRIS: Nice.

LEMON: See you guys.

HARRIS: All right, CNN NEWSROOM coming up in another hour. But "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next.

Have a great afternoon. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great Wednesday, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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