Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Bush Wraps up Business Before Vacation

Aired August 06, 2002 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush made the most of his last day in Washington till Labor Day. Before heading West, he announced a conference on missing children, he got a physical, and he signed a trade bill that was years in the making.
And CNN's Kelly Wallace is live from the White House with all those details.

And we will cover them all, Kelly. Why don't we start with the missing children?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'm told by a senior official that the White House has really been planning this conference for months, that it will be held in September. But the president decided to announce it now because of all these high profile cases -- cases in California you were just mentioning: Danielle van Dam, Samantha Runnion. So the president trying to use the bully pulpit to get the message out to parents, the president in the Rose Garden announcing that there will be this conference next month, talking with policy experts on ways to help parents.

But also, that there was a booklet that is going to go out to schools across the country. Tips, what parents should tell the children.

Here is what the president said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You should teach your children how to say no and how to trust their instincts. For example, children should know that unfamiliar adults usually would not ask them for directions or help. Such a request might be a trick to get their attention and, of course, to lure them away from safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And again, this is the booklet here. It will be going to schools across the country. If you want to get your hands on one, you can go to the Web site www.missingkids.com. Lots of useful information in there, Kyra.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, the president has a clean bill of health. Seven-minute mile, doing well. WALLACE: Doing well. We're waiting for the official report on his physical, but Ari Fleischer, the president's spokesman, saying that the president feels great and that the doctors are giving him a clean bill of health. We should not be surprised. As you said, he exercises almost every day, runs under a seven-minute mile, goes to sleep early. Kyra, he does all the things we all should do.

PHILLIPS: Isn't that the truth?

And finally, the trade bill. Big victory for him.

WALLACE: Big victory indeed. The president had been pushing for this since he came to the White House last year. Pushed hard, vote in the House. Passed in the Senate as well. The president saying this will really help boost the economy, help workers in the United States. This is always a difficult issue for some Democrats, even some Republicans, concern about the impact trade agreements could have on American workers.

What this bill will do, the president will be allowed to negotiate trade deals without Congress being able to amend them down the road. But the way, Kyra, some lawmakers decided to support this $12 billion in aid going to workers whose jobs are lost due to trade agreements -- Kyra.

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

WALLACE: Sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com