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Senior Leaders of Congress Meet With Cheney, Tenet on Iraq

Aired September 05, 2002 - 14:23   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The four most senior leaders of Congress are holed up in a secure meeting room with Vice President Dick Cheney and CIA Director George Tenet.
CNN's Kate Snow is live with the latest from there.

Actually, I am curious how much information you are gaining, Kate, since it is closed doors.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Hard to get information out of that room. I do know they are still in there. We're got a producer stationed down in the basement who tells me nobody has come out just yet. State Majority Leader Tom Daschle, before going into the meeting, this morning, said that he hoped it would provide them with some more additional information about the threat that Saddam Hussein and Iraq pose. Vice President Dick Cheney pulled in with his motorcade just over an hour ago, so I guess he has been here almost an hour and a half.

He and CIA Director George Tenet went up to the fourth floor of the United States Capitol to meet with the big four leaders, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Senate Majority Leader Daschle and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott.

Just the four leaders in that room. And that's a bit noteworthy. Senator Lott was asked about why they wanted to keep it to just the four, and he said, They have to be careful how big the circle gets.

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SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MINORITY LEADER: I am sure we'll get some additional information, some more up-to-date information. I presume there is still more that we'll get later. You know, we got a problem in the Congress: If you tell senators, it is going to be leaked. Unfortunately, we're not very trustworthy, apparently. And so you got to be careful about what you give out because it does tend to put in jeopardy how we get that intelligence. When you reveal what you know, you quite often how you got it.

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SNOW: Again, this is a classified meeting. It is being held not only in a room that is far away from the media, but also soundproof, a room they use for classified meetings. Democrats, and even some Republicans here, Kyra, have said they are concerned they are not getting enough intelligence information, enough evidence or proof that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. Senator Daschle said again today he has a lot of unanswered questions.

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SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Clearly, we have got to have more information. I think the biggest question, though, is what has changed over the course of the last 10 years that brings this country to the belief that it has to act in a preemptive fashion in invading Iraq, in circumstances that are certainly contrary to past practice and past policy.

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SNOW: A couple of other thing, Kyra, being talked about on the Hill, one of them a resolution. The president had told members yesterday that he would send up a resolution at some point that Congress could vote on to offer its support for military action in Iraq. Senator Lott says that they are starting to talk about the initial outlines for such a resolution.

Also, some talk, Kyra, about having a joint session, much like they did a year ago, after September 11, for the president to come here and address the Congress and the American people. But still very early on, they are just talking about that idea, perhaps sometime in the next coming weeks.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kate Snow, from the Hill. Thank you so much.

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