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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Ponders President Bush's Stem Cell Decision

Aired August 13, 2001 - 07:36   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.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: In Texas, President Bush plays golf this morning. His decision on embryonic stem cell research is drawing reaction days after it was announced.

And CNN's White House correspondent Kelly Wallace is in Crawford this morning with more on that.

And good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brian.

NELSON: I've got a question for you: How was the president selling his stem cell decision over the weekend?

WALLACE: Well, Brian, he used a number of different venues. He made this issue the entire focus of his weekly radio address. And then he had a byline in "The New York Times" yesterday, writing an op- ed in which he made clear he was not going to go any further and that he would only back federal funding of research on those stem cells already extracted from human embryos. And that was a message the president's top advisers were reiterating on the Sunday talk shows, including Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson who appeared on CNN's "LATE EDITION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY THOMPSON, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: He has indicated that no federal research dollars will be used for the derivation, the destruction of any future embryos. And I think that that is a moral decision that this president's made and he's not going to cross that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: But lawmakers from both parties think the president's plan may be too limited and think much more needs to be done to lead to cures to fight various diseases. And so Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is planning to push a bipartisan bill this fall that he says would allow federal funding on research using the 100,000 human embryos currently leftover at fertility clinics - Brian.

NELSON: Has the president indicated he might veto a bill with expanded research? WALLACE: You know it was interesting, Brian, because the president's advisers would not definitively say if the president would veto such a bill. Andy Card, the president's chief of staff, said he did not expect such a bill would ever make its way to the president's desk. Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, said he couldn't speak for Mr. Bush, but he did say that if such a bill did get to the president, he would expect the president to veto it. Again, Tommy Thompson saying this president is not going to support federal funding of research that involves the destruction of embryos - Brian.

NELSON: OK, thanks for the update, Kelly Wallace, in Crawford, Texas.

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