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CNN Live Saturday
Bush Administration Releases Declassified Intelligence Estimate
Aired July 19, 2003 - 12:07 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is home at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The controversy over a disputed claim in his State of the Union Address has followed him even there.
White House correspondent Chris Burns is with the president and now joins us live with an update -- Chris.
CHIRS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Sean, the Bush administration hoping that by releasing this portion -- this declassified this portion of a top-secret national intelligence estimate, that they could actually put to bed some of these -- this controversy over the president's 16 words in his State of the Union speech back in January that said that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium from Africa. It is included in that report, however, it also includes the caveat by the State Department saying that there -- it was highly dubious that president -- that the -- Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium at the time.
Now, the -- a senior administration official says that there was a member on the president's national security council who did go to the CIA, got the speech approved despite those reservations and that there was no further discussion further up the food chain, that actually there were lower-level officials who got it approved and there was no further discussion. That apparently has not put to bed the controversy, democrats are still demanding explanations. Today's radio address by the democrats by Senator Carl Levin, a ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, doesn't ignore that issue.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: This uranium issue is not just about 16 words in a speech. It is about whether administration officials made a conscious and a very troubling decision to create a false impression about the gravity and imminence of the threat that Iraq posed to America.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNS: Democrats, of course, demanding an independent public investigation and hearings on that. Despite all that, President Bush is pushing ahead with his fund-raising campaign for Bush-Cheney '04, yesterday and tonight. Yesterday in Dallas and in tonight, he will be in Houston, all together raising some $7 million, putting him over the $40 million mark, according to our calculations. That is well and beyond ahead of the nine democratic potential challengers combined. So, he's pulling out ahead, however, the democrats hoping they see an Achilles heel in this question over pre-war intelligence on WMDs.
Tomorrow, the president has over Prime Minister Berlusconi from Italy. He will be telling him thanks for his support as a member of the coalition of the willing that supported the attack on Iraq.
Back to you -- Sean.
CALLEBS: OK, Chris, you spent a great deal of time with the president as he travels across the country and granted, the people that show up for those fund raisers, you could call it a target-rich environment, but have you heard anything from the folks there -- is this starting to weigh on the constituents across the U.S.?
BURNS: Well, as far as these -- this fund-raising here, at $2,000 a plate, it's not dissuading anybody. They still expect to get $7 million. However, if you do look at the polls, there is support waning. There -- it's still strong among republicans of the president, but overall, he's fallen to pre-war levels in approval rating, our CNN-Time poll released yesterday, 54 percent, I believe it was. And, if you look at the independents, that's perhaps the most telling, only 50 percent support the president, it's 50/50. That's, perhaps, what he has most to worry about, and in the long run, perhaps in terms of fund-raising, as well.
CALLEBS: OK, Chris Burns with the president in Crawford, Texas.
Chris, thanks.
Well, despite the best efforts from the White House, the State of the Union controversy doesn't seem to be dieing down. More on this discussion -- on this political hot potato with Mark Mazzetti, he joins us from Washington. He's with "U.S. News and World Report."
Mark, thanks for coming in, appreciate it.
MARK MAZZETTI, REPORTER, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Thanks for having me.
CALLEBS: Now, just how much pressure do you think is on the Bush administration for troop in Iraq to find some evidence that there are either weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or that there were?
MAZZETTI: Well, the pressure is certainly increasing and the troops in Iraq and the intelligence teams in Iraq are certainly working double time to find the weapons. I think the problem for the president is that about a month ago, when a lot of these allegations came out, the polls show the people didn't care. They thought the war had done well, Saddam Hussein was gone. The question about the case for war was not on people's minds. I think polls are starting to show that people care more and more about this and the credibility of the president is being questioned.
CALLEBS: Now, the president -- the administration has done some items, the CIA director coming out taking responsibility for that comment making its way into the State of Union. And also, declassifying some CIA and FBI documents. Is that enough? MAZZETTI: Well, I guess -- I guess we'll see. One thing that's coming out of this whole story is -- is really just the somewhat disorganization in the Bush administration between the CIA, the White House, the Pentagon, about who was giving what information to the president. As our magazine's reporting this week, just 11 days before the State of the Union, the CIA sent a brief to the White House which contained the claim about Iraq seeking uranium in Africa. At the same time, the CIA was trying to knock down that report. So, the question was -- you know, how -- what kind of information was the president getting it (SIC), and when was he getting it and how were they using it? So, there's still a lot of question out there.
CALLEBS: Chris talked about it just a number ago, that the poll numbers are going down and democrats are trying to play this up as much as possible. What is at stake here and, you talked about, perhaps, the disorganization in the administration. How can they circle the wagons, so to speak, and put the best spin on this?
MAZZETTI: Well, they certainly tried to start that process by releasing the NIE. The NIE is a -- is sort of the gold standard of the intelligence community, which is the, somewhat -- the consensus view about the Iraqi threat. And, it did contain many things that showed that Saddam -- at least the intelligence community thought Saddam was a -- an imminent threat. So, the question is whether there's more documents out there questioning the NIE or questioning the intelligence about Iraq. Again, the longer it takes for my weapons to be found, the longer the story stays around and I think the democrats are beginning to -- to get traction on this issue and realize that there's an opening to still support the troops in Iraq, but at the same time question the integrity of the president and the Bush administration.
CALLEBS: Well, Tony Blair who received a warm welcome on Capitol Hill, who has his own problems back home with this issue, he is standing by the claim that there is information out there that Iraq was trying to get uranium or others parts from Africa. How is that flying with the administration, right now?
MAZZETTI: Well, it's interesting, I mean, it's amazing to believe, but there are still sources that the British government are protecting that they claim that validate this idea that Saddam Hussein was buying uranium in Africa. They have not revealed these sources, apparently, to the Bush administration or the White House, so it is amazing that even our closest ally, still will have some things they keep from us. So, right now it's sort of a good cover for the White House, because they can still say the British believed this claim, and Tony Blair certainly backed this up when he spoke before Congress, so -- but it's not doing a lot to help Tony Blair back at home and his -- he seems to be in even more political trouble than the president is.
CALLEBS: Indeed.
Mark Mazetti, defense correspondent with "U.S. News and World Report."
Thanks a lot for joining us today, appreciate it. MAZZETTI: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Estimate>
Aired July 19, 2003 - 12:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is home at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The controversy over a disputed claim in his State of the Union Address has followed him even there.
White House correspondent Chris Burns is with the president and now joins us live with an update -- Chris.
CHIRS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Sean, the Bush administration hoping that by releasing this portion -- this declassified this portion of a top-secret national intelligence estimate, that they could actually put to bed some of these -- this controversy over the president's 16 words in his State of the Union speech back in January that said that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium from Africa. It is included in that report, however, it also includes the caveat by the State Department saying that there -- it was highly dubious that president -- that the -- Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium at the time.
Now, the -- a senior administration official says that there was a member on the president's national security council who did go to the CIA, got the speech approved despite those reservations and that there was no further discussion further up the food chain, that actually there were lower-level officials who got it approved and there was no further discussion. That apparently has not put to bed the controversy, democrats are still demanding explanations. Today's radio address by the democrats by Senator Carl Levin, a ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, doesn't ignore that issue.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: This uranium issue is not just about 16 words in a speech. It is about whether administration officials made a conscious and a very troubling decision to create a false impression about the gravity and imminence of the threat that Iraq posed to America.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNS: Democrats, of course, demanding an independent public investigation and hearings on that. Despite all that, President Bush is pushing ahead with his fund-raising campaign for Bush-Cheney '04, yesterday and tonight. Yesterday in Dallas and in tonight, he will be in Houston, all together raising some $7 million, putting him over the $40 million mark, according to our calculations. That is well and beyond ahead of the nine democratic potential challengers combined. So, he's pulling out ahead, however, the democrats hoping they see an Achilles heel in this question over pre-war intelligence on WMDs.
Tomorrow, the president has over Prime Minister Berlusconi from Italy. He will be telling him thanks for his support as a member of the coalition of the willing that supported the attack on Iraq.
Back to you -- Sean.
CALLEBS: OK, Chris, you spent a great deal of time with the president as he travels across the country and granted, the people that show up for those fund raisers, you could call it a target-rich environment, but have you heard anything from the folks there -- is this starting to weigh on the constituents across the U.S.?
BURNS: Well, as far as these -- this fund-raising here, at $2,000 a plate, it's not dissuading anybody. They still expect to get $7 million. However, if you do look at the polls, there is support waning. There -- it's still strong among republicans of the president, but overall, he's fallen to pre-war levels in approval rating, our CNN-Time poll released yesterday, 54 percent, I believe it was. And, if you look at the independents, that's perhaps the most telling, only 50 percent support the president, it's 50/50. That's, perhaps, what he has most to worry about, and in the long run, perhaps in terms of fund-raising, as well.
CALLEBS: OK, Chris Burns with the president in Crawford, Texas.
Chris, thanks.
Well, despite the best efforts from the White House, the State of the Union controversy doesn't seem to be dieing down. More on this discussion -- on this political hot potato with Mark Mazzetti, he joins us from Washington. He's with "U.S. News and World Report."
Mark, thanks for coming in, appreciate it.
MARK MAZZETTI, REPORTER, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Thanks for having me.
CALLEBS: Now, just how much pressure do you think is on the Bush administration for troop in Iraq to find some evidence that there are either weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or that there were?
MAZZETTI: Well, the pressure is certainly increasing and the troops in Iraq and the intelligence teams in Iraq are certainly working double time to find the weapons. I think the problem for the president is that about a month ago, when a lot of these allegations came out, the polls show the people didn't care. They thought the war had done well, Saddam Hussein was gone. The question about the case for war was not on people's minds. I think polls are starting to show that people care more and more about this and the credibility of the president is being questioned.
CALLEBS: Now, the president -- the administration has done some items, the CIA director coming out taking responsibility for that comment making its way into the State of Union. And also, declassifying some CIA and FBI documents. Is that enough? MAZZETTI: Well, I guess -- I guess we'll see. One thing that's coming out of this whole story is -- is really just the somewhat disorganization in the Bush administration between the CIA, the White House, the Pentagon, about who was giving what information to the president. As our magazine's reporting this week, just 11 days before the State of the Union, the CIA sent a brief to the White House which contained the claim about Iraq seeking uranium in Africa. At the same time, the CIA was trying to knock down that report. So, the question was -- you know, how -- what kind of information was the president getting it (SIC), and when was he getting it and how were they using it? So, there's still a lot of question out there.
CALLEBS: Chris talked about it just a number ago, that the poll numbers are going down and democrats are trying to play this up as much as possible. What is at stake here and, you talked about, perhaps, the disorganization in the administration. How can they circle the wagons, so to speak, and put the best spin on this?
MAZZETTI: Well, they certainly tried to start that process by releasing the NIE. The NIE is a -- is sort of the gold standard of the intelligence community, which is the, somewhat -- the consensus view about the Iraqi threat. And, it did contain many things that showed that Saddam -- at least the intelligence community thought Saddam was a -- an imminent threat. So, the question is whether there's more documents out there questioning the NIE or questioning the intelligence about Iraq. Again, the longer it takes for my weapons to be found, the longer the story stays around and I think the democrats are beginning to -- to get traction on this issue and realize that there's an opening to still support the troops in Iraq, but at the same time question the integrity of the president and the Bush administration.
CALLEBS: Well, Tony Blair who received a warm welcome on Capitol Hill, who has his own problems back home with this issue, he is standing by the claim that there is information out there that Iraq was trying to get uranium or others parts from Africa. How is that flying with the administration, right now?
MAZZETTI: Well, it's interesting, I mean, it's amazing to believe, but there are still sources that the British government are protecting that they claim that validate this idea that Saddam Hussein was buying uranium in Africa. They have not revealed these sources, apparently, to the Bush administration or the White House, so it is amazing that even our closest ally, still will have some things they keep from us. So, right now it's sort of a good cover for the White House, because they can still say the British believed this claim, and Tony Blair certainly backed this up when he spoke before Congress, so -- but it's not doing a lot to help Tony Blair back at home and his -- he seems to be in even more political trouble than the president is.
CALLEBS: Indeed.
Mark Mazetti, defense correspondent with "U.S. News and World Report."
Thanks a lot for joining us today, appreciate it. MAZZETTI: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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