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World Contemplating Bush Speech
Aired October 08, 2002 - 13:05 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: Now, President Bush is campaigning in Tennessee for a Republican congressmen who wants to be governor. Meanwhile, the nation and the world are digesting Mr. Bush's latest speech on Iraq, the one delivered last night in Cincinnati.
White House correspondent Kelly Wallace is with the prison -- president, rather, in Tennessee. What's the response on the speech so far -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, White House officials are very pleased. They believe after the president's words, he will get overwhelming support in the Congress for a resolution authorizing the use of military force if necessary against Saddam Hussein.
U.S. officials also say they are seeing some pretty good progress when it comes to those tough negotiations for a new U.N. resolution. The key question will be how the American people respond, because in polls over the past few weeks, it appears that public support is waning a bit for any possible military action, and that is why the president is continuing to use the bully pulpit, as he did here in Knoxville, Tennessee to say that military action is really his last option, but he is saying Saddam Hussein must be dealt with, and dealt with now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This isn't an issue of committing our military one way or the other. This doesn't say the -- the resolution -- threat is imminent, nor does it say it is unavoidable, but it does send a clear signal to the world, and I mean, not only the United Nations but the whole world, that we take this threat very seriously in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And the president also went on to say that if the U.N. does not act, the U.S. will act, but in a message he is continuing to deliver, he says the U.S. won't have to act alone, that it will have the support of other countries -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Kelly, what continues to be the sticking point with the new U.N. resolution?
WALLACE: Well, the key sticking point really continues to be the consequences, how specifically the world community should spell out what consequences Saddam Hussein could face, and as you know, the French have really been pushing for two resolutions, one spelling out what Saddam Hussein must do, and then down the road, another resolution if he does not comply that would possibly include the threat of military force.
So the French appear to be one of the main holdouts, and we understand President Bush is likely to work the phones a bit today, possibly reaching out to the French president Jacques Chirac -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. So the strategy is continuing to put pressure on Congress and also international leaders.
WALLACE: Exactly. You know, this administration very pleased again with what it is seeing in the Congress, the president hoping for the widest margin of victory possible in the House and in the Senate, believing that will send a strong message to the United Nations.
And also, Kyra, again focusing on the American people, continuing to make the case that he believes Saddam Hussein must be dealt with now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our Kelly Wallace following the president in Tennessee. Thanks, Kelly.
One of the men who negotiated the return of weapons inspectors talked with CNN about an hour ago in an exclusive interview from Vienna, Austria. The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency talked about the need to immediately return to Iraq for inspections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, DIR. GENERAL, IAEA: When we left in 1998, we believed that we neutralized the nuclear program. However, we have been out for four years. A lot could happen in four years, and that's why I'm very keen to go back as soon as possible and do full and effective inspection, establish the facts, and report to the international community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, Iraq says President Bush failed to provide one piece of evidence backing what it calls his aggressive lies. More on the Baghdad reaction from our bureau chief there, Jane Arraf -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Kyra. That's -- absolutely -- absolutely right. Sorry, a little bit of audio problems here that I think we are getting sorted out. But, in fact, that official reaction was that President Bush's speech was a set of baseless accusations, without a shred of evidence. More than that, the official response says that this isn't about disarmament, it is punishing Iraq for its support for the Palestinians against the Israelis.
Now the unofficial response, a bit of a sigh of relief that President Bush said war is not imminent or unavoidable. People are taking a bit of comfort in that. Now, the government is trying to take people's minds off of all of this with a huge event that it's holding in about ten days to rally and demonstrate what it says is massive support for the Iraqi president. Now, we see rallies almost every day. This one was different. There is a chant that they usually do that goes, "with our blood and our souls, we sacrifice for you," directed at the president. This one, they actually took literally at this government-organized demonstration. People donated their blood. Now, that red stuff that you see in that pot, that's not ink, that is blood, and they're painting slogans with it saying, "yes, yes, Saddam." A demonstration of support, they're trying to send a message to the world that Iraqis do stand behind their president -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf from Iraq. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 8, 2002 - 13:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, President Bush is campaigning in Tennessee for a Republican congressmen who wants to be governor. Meanwhile, the nation and the world are digesting Mr. Bush's latest speech on Iraq, the one delivered last night in Cincinnati.
White House correspondent Kelly Wallace is with the prison -- president, rather, in Tennessee. What's the response on the speech so far -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, White House officials are very pleased. They believe after the president's words, he will get overwhelming support in the Congress for a resolution authorizing the use of military force if necessary against Saddam Hussein.
U.S. officials also say they are seeing some pretty good progress when it comes to those tough negotiations for a new U.N. resolution. The key question will be how the American people respond, because in polls over the past few weeks, it appears that public support is waning a bit for any possible military action, and that is why the president is continuing to use the bully pulpit, as he did here in Knoxville, Tennessee to say that military action is really his last option, but he is saying Saddam Hussein must be dealt with, and dealt with now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This isn't an issue of committing our military one way or the other. This doesn't say the -- the resolution -- threat is imminent, nor does it say it is unavoidable, but it does send a clear signal to the world, and I mean, not only the United Nations but the whole world, that we take this threat very seriously in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And the president also went on to say that if the U.N. does not act, the U.S. will act, but in a message he is continuing to deliver, he says the U.S. won't have to act alone, that it will have the support of other countries -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Kelly, what continues to be the sticking point with the new U.N. resolution?
WALLACE: Well, the key sticking point really continues to be the consequences, how specifically the world community should spell out what consequences Saddam Hussein could face, and as you know, the French have really been pushing for two resolutions, one spelling out what Saddam Hussein must do, and then down the road, another resolution if he does not comply that would possibly include the threat of military force.
So the French appear to be one of the main holdouts, and we understand President Bush is likely to work the phones a bit today, possibly reaching out to the French president Jacques Chirac -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. So the strategy is continuing to put pressure on Congress and also international leaders.
WALLACE: Exactly. You know, this administration very pleased again with what it is seeing in the Congress, the president hoping for the widest margin of victory possible in the House and in the Senate, believing that will send a strong message to the United Nations.
And also, Kyra, again focusing on the American people, continuing to make the case that he believes Saddam Hussein must be dealt with now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our Kelly Wallace following the president in Tennessee. Thanks, Kelly.
One of the men who negotiated the return of weapons inspectors talked with CNN about an hour ago in an exclusive interview from Vienna, Austria. The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency talked about the need to immediately return to Iraq for inspections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, DIR. GENERAL, IAEA: When we left in 1998, we believed that we neutralized the nuclear program. However, we have been out for four years. A lot could happen in four years, and that's why I'm very keen to go back as soon as possible and do full and effective inspection, establish the facts, and report to the international community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, Iraq says President Bush failed to provide one piece of evidence backing what it calls his aggressive lies. More on the Baghdad reaction from our bureau chief there, Jane Arraf -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Kyra. That's -- absolutely -- absolutely right. Sorry, a little bit of audio problems here that I think we are getting sorted out. But, in fact, that official reaction was that President Bush's speech was a set of baseless accusations, without a shred of evidence. More than that, the official response says that this isn't about disarmament, it is punishing Iraq for its support for the Palestinians against the Israelis.
Now the unofficial response, a bit of a sigh of relief that President Bush said war is not imminent or unavoidable. People are taking a bit of comfort in that. Now, the government is trying to take people's minds off of all of this with a huge event that it's holding in about ten days to rally and demonstrate what it says is massive support for the Iraqi president. Now, we see rallies almost every day. This one was different. There is a chant that they usually do that goes, "with our blood and our souls, we sacrifice for you," directed at the president. This one, they actually took literally at this government-organized demonstration. People donated their blood. Now, that red stuff that you see in that pot, that's not ink, that is blood, and they're painting slogans with it saying, "yes, yes, Saddam." A demonstration of support, they're trying to send a message to the world that Iraqis do stand behind their president -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf from Iraq. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
