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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Historian Reviews Bush Press Conference

Aired October 12, 2001 - 07:12   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: President Bush says the United States is prepared for a long and sustained war on terrorism. The president devoted much of his last night's news conference to an update on the campaign against the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are dismantling their military, disrupting their communications, severing their ability to defend themselves and slowly but surely we're smoking al Qaeda out of their caves so we can bring them to justice.

People often ask me how long will this last? This particular battlefront will last as long as it takes to bring al Qaeda to justice. It may happen tomorrow. It may happen a month from now. It may take a year or two. But we will prevail and what the American people need to know is what our allies know. I am determined to stay the course and we must do so. We must do so. We must rid the world of terror so our children and grandchildren can grow up in freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And presidential historian Douglas Brinkley joins us now from New Orleans with his analysis of the Bush news conference, what the president said and how he said it.

Good to see you. Welcome.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you.

ZAHN: So, Douglas, we know that the president is currently enjoying record high approval ratings. What was it that he had to accomplish last night?

BRINKLEY: He accomplished just what he needed to do. First off, it was the month anniversary of the World Trade Center-Pentagon bombing. He had to address the nation. He also had to tell us what's been going on, are we being successful in Afghanistan. And we see these images on our TV screens. We hear and read newspaper stories, but I think he articulated just what our mission is. Again, he pushed forward the patience issue and said that we've got to hang in there for perhaps as much as two years as the clip you just ran said. But I think most importantly, he had to reassure us. Homeland security. He did not get questions about the economy last night, but what he was really getting at in many of the questions -- which he answered very, very well, he did an excellent job -- was that go on, do your business, I'm finding a lot of different ways to protect you and your homes, your schools, your jobs and America will prevail.

I thought it was an excellent performance last night and he's going to have to do that periodically in order to keep the American people informed of what's happening.

ZAHN: But Douglas, let's talk about the delicate balancing act he's going to have to walk in the weeks to come. And by evidence of that, let's replay a small part of the news conference last night where he addressed the very direct question about any ongoing threats against U.S., the U.S. and U.S. interests. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We took strong and appropriate action and we will do so any time we receive a credible threat. Now, the American people have got to go about their business. We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don't, where we don't conduct business, where people don't shop. That's their intention.

Their intention was not only to kill and maim and destroy, their intention was to frighten to the point where our nation would not act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So obviously the president did not want to scare Americans and yet he made it abundantly clear that they're quite vulnerable.

BRINKLEY: Absolutely. It's a balance act. I mean here's the president of the United States talking into our homes and saying words like crop dusters or anthrax. It's scary. And all he can do is reassure somewhat that the government of the United States is on top of this. But the fear of terror is widespread and there are many people -- nobody's been right. I thought one of his great lines last night when he said that, you know, Americans have lost part of their soul. They gave up part of their souls after the World Trade Center- Pentagon bombings, and I thought he touched just the right notes last night.

But it's a balance act about getting us back to business as usual, on the other hand, protecting us in a way that we've never had to be protected before.

One other thing that hasn't been commented on, I thought he made a very staunch defense of his, you know, the anti-ballistic missile program and doing away with the ABM program and having, you know, what Reagan used to call the Star Wars program, the defensive shield. I was surprised he made that vigorous defense last night.

ZAHN: Other people were also quite surprised that he was as candid as he was about really not knowing the status of Osama bin Laden. Let's replay that small part of the news conference now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I don't know if he's dead or alive. I want him brought to justice, however. We are following every possible lead to make sure that any al Qaeda member that could be in the United States is brought to justice. The FBI has got thousands of agents who are following every hint of a possibility of an al Qaeda member in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: All right, essentially, Douglas, was the president preparing the American public once again for the prospect of never getting Osama bin Laden? Is that what he was telling us last night?

BRINKLEY: Yes. He was back pedaling. I thought it, the most famous quote that'll always be remembered is the wanted dead or alive and we all cheered when President Bush said that. Now you see the great back pedal. He said bin Laden is just one of 22 people on the FBI's most wanted list.

Well, the problem is he's the one who we're saying is responsible for the World Trade Center-Pentagon bombings. He's the one that we wanted to, as we're saying, brought justice to and he seemed to say we may not get him very soon. I'm not sure that's going to play well with the American people. We don't understand, most working people don't understand the complexities of the Middle East and Islam, of Syria and Jordan and on and on with the different countries. What they do know is bin Laden is a thug and a murderer and we want his head on a stick, and how can the United States of America, with all this military might and all these bombs being dropped over Afghanistan, not somehow smoke out of the cave this fellow?

And I thought the back pedal was a good public relations move, but his original wanted dead or alive may continue to politically haunt him.

ZAHN: Douglas, as the president closed out his remarks, he made a request to the nation's children to send money to the White House to help out children in Afghanistan. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I want to make a special request to the children of America. I ask you to join in a special effort to help the children of Afghanistan. Their country has been through a great deal of war and suffering. Many children there are starving and are severely malnourished. One in three Afghan children is an orphan. Almost half suffer chronic malnutrition and we can and must help them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: I think, Douglas, as we listen to that, there's no doubt about the president's sincerity about helping out the children of Afghanistan and yet there are people out there this morning saying that that was a brilliant P.R. move. Is that what that was about? BRINKLEY: I think it's a mixture of both. The thing that President Bush did last night, he's authentic. You really believe him when you listen to him talk and I think he is concerned, as we all are, what do you tell our kids in school? Everybody wants to do something. How do teachers explain terror? This gives them something proactive to do. They can say look, here we're bombing Afghanistan, but we're going to -- children in America will work with children of Afghanistan in the future.

He also, of course, mentioned the over $300 million of aid that's going to be given to Afghanistan to kind of help rebuild. So I think it was a very appropriate and smart gesture and a beautiful way to have ended last evening's conference.

ZAHN: You didn't write any of that stuff last night, did you, Douglas?

BRINKLEY: I didn't what?

ZAHN: You didn't write any of that stuff last night, did you?

BRINKLEY: No. No. But it was, you know, I'll tell you, it's amazing, isn't it, Paula, I mean we used to think of him as kind of a bit of a bumbler, somebody not fast on his feet. Time and again President Bush has proven to be pitch perfect and he really was last night. He very well may be a person that gets to be a great leader because he's showing by building this global coalition and by the way he's dealing with the American public that he has some aspects to him that we never really, at least I never saw when he was Texas governor or ran on the campaign trail. He's got grit.

ZAHN: Douglas Brinkley, as always, thank you for your perspective this morning.

BRINKLEY: Thank you.

ZAHN: Appreciate it.

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