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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bush Faints After Eating Pretzel

Aired January 14, 2002 - 06:31   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: Let's talk more about the president's fainting incident right now. Shortly after the president fainted, CNN's senior White House correspondent John King phoned in this report about that -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president was told by his doctor and took the advice and went to bed early tonight. He is still planning to travel tomorrow, although he will be evaluated in the morning. They believe the president was eating pretzels at the time watching a football game and one possibility is that the pretzel, according to the White House doctor, put some pressure on a nerve and caused the president's pulse rate to dip even further. The president has a remarkably low pulse rate and blood pressure because of his running and exercise regimen.

And so the president fainted, he fell forward. As you noted, he cut his lower lip and he has what his press secretary described as an ugly scrape on his left cheekbone. The president believes he hit his face either on the floor or on a table next to a couch that he was sitting on in his bedroom in the White House residence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now the scrape on the president's cheek is the size of a half-dollar. If the president does leave on his Midwest trip as scheduled, and we believe he's still going, we will have live coverage of his speech on the economy beginning around 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

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