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Bush Reacts to Terror Bombing in Indonesia

Aired October 14, 2002 - 14:01   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 LIN, ANCHOR: But we begin this hour at the White House where, just moments ago, President Bush spoke of "cold-blooded killers," in his words, who pose a threat to freedom-loving people around the world.
CNN's Kelly Wallace is live from the White House with that.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very angry president, Carol. And President Bush taking a great deal of questions, almost a mini news conference here at the White House, before he makes his way to Michigan for some fund raising for Republican candidates.

Two things that were coming up at this news conference and the president really wanting to address. Number one, you have the attacks over the weekend in Bali, you have had a string of other attacks, the French tanker explosion off the coast of Yemen, shootings at U.S. Marines in Kuwait.

The president saying these are all linked, in his mind, all terrorist attacks, and he also said he believes this weekend's attack possibly connected to Al Qaeda. The message from this president, the war on terror won't be easy, but he is not giving up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything we can to disrupt, deny, and bring to justice these people who have no soul, no conscience, people who hate freedom. I told the prime minister and I told Prime Minister Blair and the prime minister of Australia and I told Prime Minister Blair this morning that I'm absolutely determined to continue to lead the coalition.

They recognize the need for us to continue to work together and it's a sad day for a lot of people around the world and -- but it also is a day in which we've got to realize that we've got a long way to go to make the world more secure and more peaceful. I'll answer a couple of questions.

Ron?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The president also saying that these terrorists are trying to intimidate the United States and its allies. The president saying the U.S. and its friends, will not be intimidated.

Another question being raised here, after the series of terrorist attacks, is whether this will complicate or get in the way of the administration's efforts to try and build an international coalition to deal with Saddam Hussein. The president was asked, can you do both, will a potential military campaign against Iraq take needed resources away from the war on terror? The president made it clear, he thought the United States and its allies could do both.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: And someday, we don't want to step back and say, "Where was the United States government?" How come we didn't act? And we got plenty of capacity to fight the war against Al Qaeda, which us going to take a while. We just learned a lesson this weekend. It's going to take a while to succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The president saying disarming Saddam Hussein is part of the war on terror. He believes this administration, the world community, needs to do everything it possibly can to prevent Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists, but there are some members of Congress, there are also some U.S. allies who worry, who believe any possible military action in Iraq could really disrupt the international coalition against Al Qaeda -- Carol.

LIN: Kelly, how optimistic is the president that's he's going to get the resolution he needs out of the Security Council?

WALLACE: Well, you heard him. He said he wants a firm resolution. Behind the scenes, U.S. officials are saying they are cautiously optimistic they will get an agreement soon.

As you know, there are some skeptics, France, Russia, China, all countries with veto power, all countries who could kill any resolution. And it looks like a possible compromise that all sides could live with, would be a resolution spelling out what Iraq must do and saying there will be consequences for Iraqi non-compliance, but possibly not using the words "military force" in that resolution -- Carol.

LIN: Kelly, so if that is the wording, does the president then read that as an automatic trigger that he can exercise independently outside of the United Nations and attack Iraq?

WALLACE: Well, U.S. officials believe this is something that would possibly please all sides, that if you have a resolution that says there will be consequences for Iraqi noncompliance, that Iraq is in material breach of previous U.N. resolutions. Then if inspectors go in there, if Iraq does not comply, the administration believes it would have the authority, the international backing and, of course, it already has the backing of Congress, to go ahead and pursue military action, if necessary.

You will have other countries, though, who might see it differently. The French might say, no, we should have another resolution down the road, possibly addressing the use of force. So it still seems something that the United States and its allies would have to work out, Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Kelly Wallace, live, at the White House.

Well, in Indonesia, the FBI is helping investigate those catastrophic bombings, while the State Department urges other Americans, including non-essential diplomats, to leave the country.

CNN's Atika Shubert has the latest from Bali.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are leaving in droves. Tourists in Bali are rushing to take the first flight home, too frightened of another terrorist attack to stay any longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All we think is we're next. When?

SHUBERT: The U.S. government is also warning its citizens to stay away from Indonesia. The U.S. Embassy is pulling out non- essential staff and dependents, urging other U.S. citizens to leave.

This puts pressure on Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take decisive action and move against suspected terrorists. Of particular interest, Islamic cleric Abubakar Bashir, suspected leader of a regional terrorist ring that models itself after Al Qaeda. The U.S., among several other nations, has repeatedly demanded his arrest, but he remains free in Indonesia, preaching in praise of Osama bin Laden to his students.

ROHAN GUHARTNA, TERRORISM EXPERT: The only organization that could have conducted a proficient terrorist attack of the scale we have witnessed in Bali is Al Qaeda and its Southeast Asian network, Jemaah Islamiyah. There is no other group in Indonesia with the intention and the capability to conduct attack of this magnitude.

SHUBERT: Still, no details from the police, no word on the type of explosives. And despite the suspicion of Al Qaeda links, no suspects have been named.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Bali.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 14, 2002 - 14:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, ANCHOR: But we begin this hour at the White House where, just moments ago, President Bush spoke of "cold-blooded killers," in his words, who pose a threat to freedom-loving people around the world.
CNN's Kelly Wallace is live from the White House with that.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very angry president, Carol. And President Bush taking a great deal of questions, almost a mini news conference here at the White House, before he makes his way to Michigan for some fund raising for Republican candidates.

Two things that were coming up at this news conference and the president really wanting to address. Number one, you have the attacks over the weekend in Bali, you have had a string of other attacks, the French tanker explosion off the coast of Yemen, shootings at U.S. Marines in Kuwait.

The president saying these are all linked, in his mind, all terrorist attacks, and he also said he believes this weekend's attack possibly connected to Al Qaeda. The message from this president, the war on terror won't be easy, but he is not giving up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything we can to disrupt, deny, and bring to justice these people who have no soul, no conscience, people who hate freedom. I told the prime minister and I told Prime Minister Blair and the prime minister of Australia and I told Prime Minister Blair this morning that I'm absolutely determined to continue to lead the coalition.

They recognize the need for us to continue to work together and it's a sad day for a lot of people around the world and -- but it also is a day in which we've got to realize that we've got a long way to go to make the world more secure and more peaceful. I'll answer a couple of questions.

Ron?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The president also saying that these terrorists are trying to intimidate the United States and its allies. The president saying the U.S. and its friends, will not be intimidated.

Another question being raised here, after the series of terrorist attacks, is whether this will complicate or get in the way of the administration's efforts to try and build an international coalition to deal with Saddam Hussein. The president was asked, can you do both, will a potential military campaign against Iraq take needed resources away from the war on terror? The president made it clear, he thought the United States and its allies could do both.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: And someday, we don't want to step back and say, "Where was the United States government?" How come we didn't act? And we got plenty of capacity to fight the war against Al Qaeda, which us going to take a while. We just learned a lesson this weekend. It's going to take a while to succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The president saying disarming Saddam Hussein is part of the war on terror. He believes this administration, the world community, needs to do everything it possibly can to prevent Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists, but there are some members of Congress, there are also some U.S. allies who worry, who believe any possible military action in Iraq could really disrupt the international coalition against Al Qaeda -- Carol.

LIN: Kelly, how optimistic is the president that's he's going to get the resolution he needs out of the Security Council?

WALLACE: Well, you heard him. He said he wants a firm resolution. Behind the scenes, U.S. officials are saying they are cautiously optimistic they will get an agreement soon.

As you know, there are some skeptics, France, Russia, China, all countries with veto power, all countries who could kill any resolution. And it looks like a possible compromise that all sides could live with, would be a resolution spelling out what Iraq must do and saying there will be consequences for Iraqi non-compliance, but possibly not using the words "military force" in that resolution -- Carol.

LIN: Kelly, so if that is the wording, does the president then read that as an automatic trigger that he can exercise independently outside of the United Nations and attack Iraq?

WALLACE: Well, U.S. officials believe this is something that would possibly please all sides, that if you have a resolution that says there will be consequences for Iraqi noncompliance, that Iraq is in material breach of previous U.N. resolutions. Then if inspectors go in there, if Iraq does not comply, the administration believes it would have the authority, the international backing and, of course, it already has the backing of Congress, to go ahead and pursue military action, if necessary.

You will have other countries, though, who might see it differently. The French might say, no, we should have another resolution down the road, possibly addressing the use of force. So it still seems something that the United States and its allies would have to work out, Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Kelly Wallace, live, at the White House.

Well, in Indonesia, the FBI is helping investigate those catastrophic bombings, while the State Department urges other Americans, including non-essential diplomats, to leave the country.

CNN's Atika Shubert has the latest from Bali.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are leaving in droves. Tourists in Bali are rushing to take the first flight home, too frightened of another terrorist attack to stay any longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All we think is we're next. When?

SHUBERT: The U.S. government is also warning its citizens to stay away from Indonesia. The U.S. Embassy is pulling out non- essential staff and dependents, urging other U.S. citizens to leave.

This puts pressure on Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri to take decisive action and move against suspected terrorists. Of particular interest, Islamic cleric Abubakar Bashir, suspected leader of a regional terrorist ring that models itself after Al Qaeda. The U.S., among several other nations, has repeatedly demanded his arrest, but he remains free in Indonesia, preaching in praise of Osama bin Laden to his students.

ROHAN GUHARTNA, TERRORISM EXPERT: The only organization that could have conducted a proficient terrorist attack of the scale we have witnessed in Bali is Al Qaeda and its Southeast Asian network, Jemaah Islamiyah. There is no other group in Indonesia with the intention and the capability to conduct attack of this magnitude.

SHUBERT: Still, no details from the police, no word on the type of explosives. And despite the suspicion of Al Qaeda links, no suspects have been named.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Bali.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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