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Bush Unveils National Security Plan

Aired July 16, 2002 - 14:07   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We have a broad new offensive in the war on terrorism now. It was unveiled this morning. President Bush releasing a 71-page book on his national security strategy.

Here to tell us what it's all about, White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace -- and I won't test you, I promise, Kelly. All right. Page 70 -- page 62, paragraph four.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I will get back to you on that, as I said earlier. Well, Kyra, members of Congress are certainly studying this report. It went up to Capitol Hill today. And while it includes a number of new ideas, the centerpiece is really something the president unveiled last month, and that is creating this new cabinet-level federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, which would bring together some 22 different federal agencies.

So the president used an appearance in the Rose Garden today to highlight the idea. It has a lot of support on Capitol Hill, we should say, although some lawmakers, including Republicans, are raising questions, saying they don't believe the Coast Guard should be part of this new agency, or the Secret Service. The president, though, in his comments making it clear he believes his plan is the right way to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our unity is a great weapon in this fight, and by acting together to create a new and single Department of Homeland Security, we'll be sending this world a signal that the Congress and the administration will work together to protect the American people, and to win this war on terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And there are some new proposals. The federal government wants to improve the detection of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons by developing better sensors, also possibly reviewing the federal government's authority to call up the National Guard, and also increasing the stockpile of vaccines. And, Kyra, there's one other idea that is getting a lot of attention, and that is creating these teams of intelligence experts. They would basically act like terrorists, go around the country and plot attacks against targets in the United States. The goal, really, to kind of think like terrorists, and find the vulnerabilities in the country, and find a way, of course, to correct them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And I know critics are already talking about the cost, Kelly. What kind of numbers are we talking about? And it is hard to put a price tag when comes down to our safety nowadays.

WALLACE: It certainly is. What the White House will say is this new Department of Homeland Security should have a budget around $37 billion. They say that should not be additional money. They say it will taking the budgets of all these agencies and bringing it together, but some lawmakers disagree. They think that this agency will require a lot more money, and they think that's important. Also, Kyra, it will require more money of the state and local governments, and as we all know, a lot of governments around the country are seeing deficits, as opposed to surpluses, so finding this extra money is not going to be easy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kelly Wallace, live from the White House. Thanks, Kelly.

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