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CNN Live At Daybreak
Will 9/11 Change Rumsfeld?
Aired December 27, 2001 - 06:35 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has maintained a leading role throughout the entire terror war, but has the war changed him? CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken has this profile of the man nicknamed Rummy.
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DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There is no question that the events of September 11th have had a significant effect on the world.
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BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And no question that the attacks of September 11th have had a profound effect on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Moments after the commandeered jetliner crashed into his Pentagon, he showed up to make his presence known during the rescue and he's been making his presence known ever since as the civilian director of the U.S. military counter attack on terrorists.
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RUMSFELD: He will receive only honest direct answers from me.
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FRANKEN: Virtually all who know him agree that Donald Rumsfeld is direct.
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KENNETH DUBERSTEIN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: He says fine, I've signed up. I'm going to get that job done. Now whether it's breaking some bones; whether it's knocking some heads; the answer is I got a mission to do; I'm going to do it.
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FRANKEN: On September 10th, Rumsfeld was not only breaking bones, but shattering egos, and in the minds of many running rough- shod over the military and its congressional patrons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUMSFELD: I have no desire to attack the Pentagon. I want to liberate it. We need to save it from itself.
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FRANKEN: It's become a Washington cliche. A day later when the terrorists attacked, Rumsfeld switched from secretary of defense to secretary of war. The turf battles were set aside. The nation marched in lockstep, and Rumsfeld's blunt public style turned him into a virtual rock star, but that style at his news briefings can seem dismissive.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going back to the report on the U.S. military waging a war of extermination, General Meyers (ph) ...
RUMSFELD: A report by whom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In today's "Washington Post" mentioned a war of ...
RUMSFELD: Wow, that is an inflammatory language -- isn't it? Who said it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They quoted another military official as saying it.
RUMSFELD: In what country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S.A., and general, they also mentioned ...
RUMSFELD: Say again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extermination.
RUMSFELD: And make a full sentence for me.
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FRANKEN: Before September 11th, many in Washington were not amused with that approach.
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LAWRENCE KORB, FORMER ASSISTANT DEFENSE SECRETARY: He alienated the military chiefs. He alienated even strong supporters of defense in Congress and was not able really to get done what he needed to do. In peacetime, you need a different set of skills than you do in wartime.
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FRANKEN: But there are those who have gone toe-to-toe with Rumsfeld who believe that war time just might have mellowed him a bit, making him more interested in consultation.
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SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: That lesson which is very dramatically demonstrated by the way in which our armed forces have worked together in war time, I think would just have a natural carryover towards how he runs the department in peace time.
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FRANKEN: But that certainly will not be the only carryover.
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DUBERSTEIN: He has built up so many chips; so much clout; that people in fact accept Rummy's rules; his wisdom now; that he knows how to get a job done.
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FRANKEN: That's what his friends call him -- Rummy, but his adversaries call Donald Rumsfeld many other things, and his job may get even tougher. Rummy will have to sell the administration's idea that the U.S. military, which seems to have performed so well still needs to be fundamentally changed.
Bob Franken, CNN, the Pentagon.
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