Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Bush Pushes for Assistance in Fight Against Terrorism

Aired November 10, 2001 - 16:07   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush at the United Nations today warned again, Osama bin Laden is trying to get his hands on nuclear weapons. Bin Laden in an interview published today in a Pakistani newspaper, claims that he already has them.

CNN senior White House correspondent John King is in New York with the president, and has the very latest.

Hello, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Catherine.

Aides traveling here with the president say they believe that claim is somewhat exaggerated. They do not believe, they say -- they cannot rule out flatly, but they do not believe that Osama bin Laden has nuclear weapons. But they do say they have credible information that in the past he has tried to buy them.

So the president himself, raising the specter of that, the terrorists getting ahold of nuclear weapons, in his first-ever speech today to the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Bush said such weapons of mass destruction, whether they be nuclear, chemical or biological, would allow the terrorists to, in the president's words, "turn their hatred into holocaust."

In that speech, Mr. Bush praised the overwhelming majority of the international community and the institution of the United Nations for its response and its solidarity with the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

But the president also signaled that he believed this campaign, the war and the other fronts of the campaign against terrorism, were moving into a new phase. And in that new phase, Mr. Bush said words of appreciation and -- were not enough; that he said he wanted action from all nations. And he had very tough words, suggesting some nations might not be prepared to make the difficult choices that lie just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're asking for a comprehensive commitment to this fight. We must unite in opposing all terrorists, not just some of them. In this world, there are good causes and bad causes; and we may disagree on where that line is drawn.

Yet there is no such thing as a good terrorist. No national aspiration, no remembered wrong can ever justify the deliberate murder of the innocent. Any government that rejects this principle, trying to pick and choose its terrorist friends, will know the consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Mr. Bush said he, as president, and the people of the United States would never forget the events of September 11. He vowed to prosecute the military campaign until it was successful, including removing the Taliban from power.

The president later this afternoon will meet with a key ally in that aspect of the campaign, the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. In that meeting, we are told, the president will promise a fresh infusion of U.S. economic assistance to Pakistan, a package, we are told, valued in the range of $300 million to $500 million -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: And John, this would be an incredibly important meeting for the president, with Musharraf under increasing pressure for supporting the coalition.

KING: Under increasing pressure back home. Many in his country support bin Laden, are very wary of the United States. President Musharraf has said that one way to try to quiet some of that criticism would be for him to return from this trip with more deliverables, if you will, more direct assistance from the United States.

One thing he did want: 28 F-16 fighters Pakistan bought back in the 1980s. Congress refused to release them in 1990 because of Pakistan's nuclear program.

We are told by senior Bush Administration officials, there will be new economic aid, perhaps some other assistance, but that any conversations about releasing those F-16 fighter jets will take perhaps years -- that it will not happen in the near future -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, CNN's John King; thanks John.

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