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President Bush Trying to Rally Security Council Support
Aired February 25, 2003 - 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is trying today to rally U.N. Security Council support to force Iraq to disarm. He is talking tough, but he's also leaving Saddam Hussein an exit on the road to war.
Senior White House correspondent John King joins us now with details -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson.
The president says that exit would be full, immediate, complete and total Iraqi disarmament. But President Bush also saying today during a meeting with his economic team here at the White House that he sees absolutely no evidence that Saddam Hussein will choose that route. That's one of the reasons the president wants the new resolution out of the U.N. Security Council. The United States put it forward yesterday, along with Britain and Spain. It wants a vote on or around March 12th.
In the meantime, intense diplomacy with the president, who would acknowledge today he is short the votes. Mr. Bush said he would like the blessing of the United Nations, but it doesn't mean he will not move forward and confront Saddam Hussein if he loses at the Security Council.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, we'd like to have a positive vote. That's why we've submitted a Security Council resolution, along with Great Britain and Spain. But as I've said all along, it would be helpful and useful, but I don't believe we need a second resolution. Saddam Hussein hasn't disarmed. He may play like he's going to disarm. But he hasn't disarmed. And for the sake of peace and the security of the American people, he must disarm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You heard the president there say that he believed Saddam Hussein will play like he is disarmed. Well, just today, the chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq did say they found new documents, those documents allegedly detail the destruction of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq also told the inspectors it had found a large bomb that was filled with a liquid substance, presumably chemical or biological weapons. The chief inspector Hans Blix said perhaps this is a sign of more Iraqi cooperation. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says it's just the contrary, it's more proof of Iraqi defiance. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: They already gave to the United Nations, and swore to it, a full complete final declaration of all the weapons of mass destruction they produced, per Security Council resolution 1441. Lo and behold, as you the pressure grows, new documents are produced. Lo and behold as the pressure grows, they find weapons when they said they didn't have any. Lo and behold why Saddam Hussein cannot be trusted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: There is this intriguing twist. Today, Senator Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, a Republican said he recalls a conversation with President Bush some time ago, in which the president said, that if he had good U.S. intelligence on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, that he would lift the ban on assassinated foreign leaders and kill the Iraqi leader.
Here at the White House today, top White House aides say the president has no recollection of any such conversation, and they says that ban on assassinating an overseas head of state remains in place -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, John King, live from the White House, thanks very much.
In Iraq today, U.N. weapons inspectors continue their search for banned weapons. While the U.N.'s Hans Blix awaits Iraq's response to a demand to destroy Al Samoud II missiles, a missile team visited a weapons production facility south of Baghdad.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us from Baghdad with the latest.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, one of the sites visited by U.N. weapons inspectors today, a site they visited yesterday as well, a site Iraqi officials have just declared a site where they unilaterally destroyed some of their biological weapons in 1991.
Now, about five or six days ago, Iraqi officials began digging up this site. They presented some documents, U.N. officials here say, here to the U.N. The U.N. says that these documents explain when Iraq destroyed these munitions there, some bombs that were filled with biological agents and how they did it.
Now, Iraq, not so long ago, proposed this to the U.N., and Hans Blix, U.N. weapons chief, said that he thought that the method, and his experts said they thought that the method that they proposed to determine once you got to the site about all these parts of bomb fragments and residue of biological agents, Hans Blix said his experts thought that the analysis that Iraqi officials wanted to apply to this residue perhaps wouldn't reveal exactly what had happened there, exactly how much of these biological agents were disposed of. However, U.N. officials visiting that site for the first time. A U.N. spokesman here saying that more U.N. officials, experts in this field coming into Baghdad over the weekend, will likely take a look at this particular site -- Anderson.
COOPER: Nic Robertson live from Baghdad, thank you very much.
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 February 25, 2003 - 14:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is trying today to rally U.N. Security Council support to force Iraq to disarm. He is talking tough, but he's also leaving Saddam Hussein an exit on the road to war.
Senior White House correspondent John King joins us now with details -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson.
The president says that exit would be full, immediate, complete and total Iraqi disarmament. But President Bush also saying today during a meeting with his economic team here at the White House that he sees absolutely no evidence that Saddam Hussein will choose that route. That's one of the reasons the president wants the new resolution out of the U.N. Security Council. The United States put it forward yesterday, along with Britain and Spain. It wants a vote on or around March 12th.
In the meantime, intense diplomacy with the president, who would acknowledge today he is short the votes. Mr. Bush said he would like the blessing of the United Nations, but it doesn't mean he will not move forward and confront Saddam Hussein if he loses at the Security Council.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, we'd like to have a positive vote. That's why we've submitted a Security Council resolution, along with Great Britain and Spain. But as I've said all along, it would be helpful and useful, but I don't believe we need a second resolution. Saddam Hussein hasn't disarmed. He may play like he's going to disarm. But he hasn't disarmed. And for the sake of peace and the security of the American people, he must disarm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You heard the president there say that he believed Saddam Hussein will play like he is disarmed. Well, just today, the chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq did say they found new documents, those documents allegedly detail the destruction of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq also told the inspectors it had found a large bomb that was filled with a liquid substance, presumably chemical or biological weapons. The chief inspector Hans Blix said perhaps this is a sign of more Iraqi cooperation. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says it's just the contrary, it's more proof of Iraqi defiance. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: They already gave to the United Nations, and swore to it, a full complete final declaration of all the weapons of mass destruction they produced, per Security Council resolution 1441. Lo and behold, as you the pressure grows, new documents are produced. Lo and behold as the pressure grows, they find weapons when they said they didn't have any. Lo and behold why Saddam Hussein cannot be trusted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: There is this intriguing twist. Today, Senator Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, a Republican said he recalls a conversation with President Bush some time ago, in which the president said, that if he had good U.S. intelligence on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, that he would lift the ban on assassinated foreign leaders and kill the Iraqi leader.
Here at the White House today, top White House aides say the president has no recollection of any such conversation, and they says that ban on assassinating an overseas head of state remains in place -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, John King, live from the White House, thanks very much.
In Iraq today, U.N. weapons inspectors continue their search for banned weapons. While the U.N.'s Hans Blix awaits Iraq's response to a demand to destroy Al Samoud II missiles, a missile team visited a weapons production facility south of Baghdad.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us from Baghdad with the latest.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, one of the sites visited by U.N. weapons inspectors today, a site they visited yesterday as well, a site Iraqi officials have just declared a site where they unilaterally destroyed some of their biological weapons in 1991.
Now, about five or six days ago, Iraqi officials began digging up this site. They presented some documents, U.N. officials here say, here to the U.N. The U.N. says that these documents explain when Iraq destroyed these munitions there, some bombs that were filled with biological agents and how they did it.
Now, Iraq, not so long ago, proposed this to the U.N., and Hans Blix, U.N. weapons chief, said that he thought that the method, and his experts said they thought that the method that they proposed to determine once you got to the site about all these parts of bomb fragments and residue of biological agents, Hans Blix said his experts thought that the analysis that Iraqi officials wanted to apply to this residue perhaps wouldn't reveal exactly what had happened there, exactly how much of these biological agents were disposed of. However, U.N. officials visiting that site for the first time. A U.N. spokesman here saying that more U.N. officials, experts in this field coming into Baghdad over the weekend, will likely take a look at this particular site -- Anderson.
COOPER: Nic Robertson live from Baghdad, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
