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CNN Live Saturday

Bush Meets With Berlusconi to Discuss Iraq

Aired September 14, 2002 - 12:17   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is meeting today at Camp David with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to talk about Iraq. That pressing situation was also the focus of Mr. Bush's weekly radio address. Our White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joins us from Washington with a wrap-up of exactly what's taking place at Camp David. Hi, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, more tough talk coming from President Bush. He says the United Nations needs to show it has a backbone. Otherwise, he says its entirely relevancy will be called into question.

Now, the president and the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi speaking to reporters before they were huddling behind closed doors at the president retreat at Camp David.

Before coming here, the prime minister had said that he believed Iraq had to be dealt with through the United Nations and that the U.S. should not go it alone. Well, the president, for his part, says he wants action by the U.N. very, very soon. He says now is the time to deal with the problem.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Saddam Hussein has defied the United Nations 16 times. Not once, not twice, 16 times. He has defied the U.N. The U.N. has told him after the Gulf War what to do, what the world expected. And 16 times, he's defied it. And enough is enough. The U.N. will either be able to function as a peacekeeping body as we head into the 21th century, or it will be irrelevant, and that's what we're about to find out.

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WALLACE: And the Italian prime minister, for his part, says he wants to seek common ground with the United States on what to do about Saddam Hussein. He also said that the president, he believes, is consulting with allies before making any decision. But the president saying today and Vice President Cheney saying as well, the United States will deal with Saddam Hussein if the international community chooses not to. The vice president getting that message across in an interview with Robert Novak for a very special program, the 20th anniversary edition of "NOVAK, HUNT & SHIELDS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it was pretty clear that we'd prefer to do this on an international basis, with the approval and cooperation and support of other nations, but that this is deemed to be such an important issue and such an important problem that we will address it by ourselves if we have to.

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WALLACE: Meantime, the war of words continues. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz speaking out on this day, responding to President Bush's speech to the United Nations on Thursday. He says there continue to be, quote, "accusations" coming from Washington and London about Iraq's ties to terrorism and about its potential weapons of mass destruction. He says these are all fabrications, put forward by Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush.

To that, U.S. officials have not commented directly on the deputy prime minister's comments on this day, but they have said in the past that Iraq's refusal to allow weapons inspectors back inside the country means Iraq has something to hide -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, I'm sure it won't be long before there is a response from the Bush administration. Thanks very much, Kelly.

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