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CNN Live Saturday

President, Back on His Feet, Rails Against Corporate Corruption

Aired June 29, 2002 - 17:01   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: President Bush seems to be feeling just fine physically, but he says he's deeply troubled about this state of corporate scandals and their impact on the nation's security.

CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux tonight on Bush's health and that of corporate America.

Hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. It was a successful colonoscopy. We got a photo from the White House being released this afternoon, showing the president on a four-and-a- half mile walk with his family and with his aides. We are told that after this 20-minute procedure, he was playing with his dogs, eating waffles, even exercising.

There were two other occasions that he had a colonoscopy where they found benign polyps. Well this time, there were no abnormalities. The president's doctor from earlier this afternoon.

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DR. RICHARD TUBB, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: It was a completely normal exam showing absolutely no polyps, no recurrence of the previous polyps, and no mucosal abnormalities. That means no abnormalities in the lining of the colon. Our recommendation is that he does not need to repeat this for another five years.

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MALVEAUX: Now that is a routine exam but the rest of the day was far from routine, anything but. The president transferred his power to Vice President Dick Cheney, taking extraordinary measures of caution during wartime, he said.

The vice president arrived here at the White House just before 7:00 a.m. It was about 7:09 when the president invoked the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, formally turning over his power to the vice president before he was sedated. He did that by signing and faxing a letter that went to the speaker of the House as well as president pro tem of the Senate. The operation, or rather the procedure itself, took just about 20 minutes. He recuperated another hour and a half before he sent off a second letter to the congressional leaders resuming, officially resuming his power.

Now it was earlier today, Fredricka, that the president in his radio address addressed some of these scandals, corporate abuse of Exxon and Enron as well as WorldCom. He called for greater enforcement, tougher laws against these corporate abuses.

There are two different forms of legislation that are actually being bantered about by Democrats and Republicans; today the president calling for greater regulatory power for the Securities and Exchange Commission to crack down on this. Let's take a listen.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We must have rules and laws that restore faith in the integrity of American business. The government will fully investigate reports of corporate fraud and hold the guilty parties accountable for misleading shareholders and employees. Executives who commit fraud will face financial penalties and when they are guilty of criminal wrongdoing, they will face jail time.

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MALVEAUX: Both Democrats and Republicans are trying to distance themselves from these corporate scandals. They are both worried that it may affect the November mid-term elections. They don't want to have anything to do with these scandals at this time -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And, Suzanne, not only are Americans concerned about the corporate culture, but we're hearing that there's also concern from the international quarters as well. How is the president responding to that?

MALVEAUX: Well, you're right. The G8 Summit just this past week, the president had to talk about, react to WorldCom in front of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, as well as British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

There has been some criticism about the U.S. farm subsidies not being good for the free trade, not being fair free trade. That is some of the criticism the Unites States has been under and, of course, there is concern how this is going to affect the U.S. economy, whether or not people will have the same type of confidence in the market.

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux from the White House, thank you very much.

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