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CNN Live At Daybreak

Current President Bush Has Learned From Father's Mistakes

Aired January 29, 2002 - 05:07   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: Winning the war on terrorism is a major theme in the president's State of the Union address tonight. CNN coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern with a special report anchored by Judy Woodruff, Aaron Brown and Jeff Greenfield. A special edition of "Larry King Live" follows that speech.

A decade ago, another President Bush delivered a State of the Union address when the nation was at war.

And CNN's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider says the son has learned from his father's mistakes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) An acclaimed war leader delivers a widely anticipated State of the Union speech to a country mired in recession. It's 1992. The president is George Bush. Now the same spotlight is on his son.

But this President Bush is in a stronger position politically than that President Bush was 10 years ago. This President Bush has a sky high job approval rating. His father's job rating at the time of his 1992 State of the Union speech, 46. That President Bush spent the first half of his speech talking about world affairs.

GEORGE BUSH SR., FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The biggest thing that has happened in the world in my life, in our lives, is this, by the grace of God, America won the Cold War.

SCHNEIDER: But for most of his audience in 1992, the biggest thing that had happened in their lives was the threat of losing their jobs and their health care. That President Bush didn't get around to mentioning jobs until the middle of his speech. This President Bush does not intend to make that mistake.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My economic plan is summed up in one word -- jobs.

SCHNEIDER: It was hard for the first President Bush to ask the nation to stay the course in 1992 because the course he had set...

GEORGE BUSH, SR.: Read...

(AUDIO GAP) (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS: My lips.

COSTELLO: My lips. And you know what happened after that. He didn't get reelected.

Well, at President Bush, Jr.'s speech he'll have Hamid Karzai, the interim leader of Afghanistan.

MYERS: Oh, that's good.

COSTELLO: And he'll probably have somebody from the New York City Fire Department and Police Department, you know, because they always have those special guests now. Who started that, Ronald Reagan? I think so.

MYERS: Is he going to be up like in the balcony there? Remember when they had the Lisa Beamer. What was that...

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. You know, she'll probably be there with her new baby.

MYERS: Yes. Oh wow.

COSTELLO: There's so many people who could be there tonight.

MYERS: Yes, exactly.

COSTELLO: Or tomorrow night. Sorry, tomorrow night.

MYERS: Tuesday night.

COSTELLO: What is today?

MYERS: Today's Tuesday.

COSTELLO: Okay. It'll be on tonight.

MYERS: Tonight at eight o'clock.

COSTELLO: It's too early for me, Chad.

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