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CNN Live Saturday
Bush to Meet With Key Allies in Azores
Aired March 15, 2003 - 14:04 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: More tough words from President Bush in the showdown with Iraq, just one day before he meets his key allies in the Azores, and at the U.N., an ongoing bid for a peaceful outcome. CNN's Dana Bash is keeping track of the latest developments at the White House and our Richard Roth is with us from the U.N. Let's begin with Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this time tomorrow, the president will be with his chief allies in the situation with Iraq in the Azores, as you mentioned. He will be meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to talk about what they are calling here the final push for diplomacy in dealing with Saddam Hussein.
Now, the president is at Camp David today. He made some phone calls from there this morning. He spoke with Tony Blair, comparing notes in advance of tomorrow's summit. He also called Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. According to an aide, he said that he was going to go the last mile for diplomacy. He assured Berlusconi that he would do that, and he promised to stay in close touch with him. Berlusconi is another one of the president's key allies.
Now with the prospects for getting votes at the U.N. sort of bleak at this point, what they are going to talk about at this summit, we are told, is what to do next, but the president, in his weekly radio address, made it very clear that there are going to be some crucial decision ahead for countries around the world in the next few days, and he was clearly preparing the nation for war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Crucial days lie ahead for the free nations of the world. Governments are now showing whether their stated commitments to liberty and security are words alone or convictions they're prepared to act upon. And for the government of the United States and the coalition we lead, there is no doubt. We will confront a growing danger to protect ourselves, to remove a patron and protector of terror, and to keep the peace of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the White House says they will use this opportunity for some face to face, serious discussions with the president's key allies to figure out if they can get some kind of compromised language together to get a resolution passed at the U.N., or what we are told is more likely, that perhaps they can't do that, so they will discuss whether or not they should just drop the whole prospect of trying to get a vote at the U.N. And if that happens, they will discuss who will be a part of the so-called coalition of the willing to disarm Saddam Hussein, what it will look like and where to go from here -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Dana Bash, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 15, 2003 - 14:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: More tough words from President Bush in the showdown with Iraq, just one day before he meets his key allies in the Azores, and at the U.N., an ongoing bid for a peaceful outcome. CNN's Dana Bash is keeping track of the latest developments at the White House and our Richard Roth is with us from the U.N. Let's begin with Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this time tomorrow, the president will be with his chief allies in the situation with Iraq in the Azores, as you mentioned. He will be meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to talk about what they are calling here the final push for diplomacy in dealing with Saddam Hussein.
Now, the president is at Camp David today. He made some phone calls from there this morning. He spoke with Tony Blair, comparing notes in advance of tomorrow's summit. He also called Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. According to an aide, he said that he was going to go the last mile for diplomacy. He assured Berlusconi that he would do that, and he promised to stay in close touch with him. Berlusconi is another one of the president's key allies.
Now with the prospects for getting votes at the U.N. sort of bleak at this point, what they are going to talk about at this summit, we are told, is what to do next, but the president, in his weekly radio address, made it very clear that there are going to be some crucial decision ahead for countries around the world in the next few days, and he was clearly preparing the nation for war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Crucial days lie ahead for the free nations of the world. Governments are now showing whether their stated commitments to liberty and security are words alone or convictions they're prepared to act upon. And for the government of the United States and the coalition we lead, there is no doubt. We will confront a growing danger to protect ourselves, to remove a patron and protector of terror, and to keep the peace of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the White House says they will use this opportunity for some face to face, serious discussions with the president's key allies to figure out if they can get some kind of compromised language together to get a resolution passed at the U.N., or what we are told is more likely, that perhaps they can't do that, so they will discuss whether or not they should just drop the whole prospect of trying to get a vote at the U.N. And if that happens, they will discuss who will be a part of the so-called coalition of the willing to disarm Saddam Hussein, what it will look like and where to go from here -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Dana Bash, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
