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CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: President Freezes Terrorists Assets

Aired September 24, 2001 - 08:04   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to head back to Washington, where my colleague, John, is standing by.

So, John, you said the president is going to come out to the Rose Garden at 9:30. Is it a formal news conference, or is there something else planned there today?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An announcement. The president not expected to take questions, although reporters always give it a shot out there in the Rose Garden. We want to know what the president is doing. We have the person best suited to tell us -- Kelly Wallace standing by at the White House -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we learned that last night, President Bush signed an executive order -- this really the financial part of this campaign against terrorism. An executive order naming specific terrorists and terrorist organizations -- naming Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network and freezing the network's assets in the United States.

Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security advisor, speaking on CNN yesterday saying the goal is to try to choke off the money supply going to the network -- choke off the network's bloodline.

Now, the president will talk about this. He will be joined by Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

John, we do have some questions, though, about just how effective this will be. Because back in 1998, then President Clinton signed a similar executive order naming Osama bin Laden, a couple of associates and the al Qaeda network and freezing their assets in the U.S., but no such assets were ever found.

So again, we will hear more. I am told that this executive order is broader in scope. Again, details to come in about 90 minutes -- John.

KING: And, Kelly, this executive order obviously deals with things that the federal government has authority over. Is the president expected to reach out around the world -- urge other governments to do the same?

WALLACE: Absolutely. You know, we had heard the administration continue to say this is not just a military campaign, not just a diplomatic, but also a financial campaign. So a big, big push on the part of the administration to allies, Arab allies, Muslim allies, other allies around the country (sic) to do what they can to take their steps to target the financial infrastructure of bin Laden, of the al Qaeda network, of other terrorists to do what they can.

Again, Condoleezza Rice saying it very clear: The networks can't do anything -- it can't really be up and running if the money is not going there. So a big focus urging allies around the world to do what they can to stop the money going to the terrorists -- John.

KING: And as the president faces this very difficult, very complicated challenge, Kelly, more evidence this morning that at least so far the American people rallying to his side?

WALLACE: Absolutely. Overwhelming evidence that the American people, united behind the president -- the latest CNN-USA Today Gallup Poll, in terms of the question: How is President Bush handling his job as president? Ninety percent saying they approve of the way he is handling it. Only 6 percent say they disapprove.

John, I believe this is the highest approval number ever recorded by the Gallup organization, and even higher than the 89 percent that his father witnessed during the Persian Gulf War. So the White House obviously very pleased.

As you know, John, the big challenge will be keeping the American people united behind the president. We understand the president may decide to travel outside Washington as early as this week to do two things: One to, again, urge Americans to be patient, to understand that this is going to be a long and a possibly costly campaign, but also, John, to talk about the economy -- big concern, of course, about the economy -- whether it could slip into a recession. The president will talk about concern about those who lost their jobs and to do what he can to try and boost consumer confidence along the way -- John.

KING: Kelly Wallace at the White House this morning -- thank you for that developing news.

As Kelly mentioned at the end, another challenge facing the president -- trying to revive the U.S. economy. Mr. Bush saying again over the weekend, the economy has been -- quote -- "shocked by these twin terrorist attacks." Obviously, the economy was struggling to begin with, but as the president's focus is increasingly on diplomacy, on this financial move today and on the military build-up, key members of Congress saying it is urgent now that they work closely with the administration on an emergency economic stimulus package.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The most important task in front of the Congress today is to create a stimulus package that will respond for those people who have been thrown out of work in the last days, and particularly to try to accelerate our way out of this downturn. And nothing is more important in sustaining our long-term efforts, and particularly restoring people's confidence. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: A mix of tax cuts and new government spending likely to be included in the discussions of what should be in that package. And, Paula, after a very difficult week on Wall Street last week, members of the Congress, senior administration officials, indeed the president himself, closely watching the markets again beginning today, hoping for some sign that after a tough week last week, the economy will begin to rebound this week -- Paula.

ZAHN: Boy, I'll tell you, John, people here are really feeling the sting. You probably heard the occupancy rates in hotels are way down, restaurants are complaining that their reservations are off by about 80 percent. So there's a tremendous amount of concern here in New York City, in particular about this economic picture. And that...

KING: And that's one of the debates here, Paula. One of the debates here in Washington, now that the president has bailed out the airline industry, there are people literally lining up -- unions saying what about the workers; other industries saying what about us. There's a great deal of bipartisanship right now, but there could be some disagreements in the days ahead for that very point you just made.

ZAHN: All right then. The mayor of New York City will be holding a news conference around 9:30, where he is expected to address some of those issues as well.

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