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War With Iraq: President Bush Rallies Troops

Aired March 26, 2003 - 13:35   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is out in public today, telling U.S. troops that -- quote -- "a day of reckoning" is near for Iraq. And he says that Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards are now under, in his words, "direct and intense attack." The president spoke at Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
Our senior White House correspondent John King is with us.

John, the president, really trying to rally the troops, literally, today.

JOHN KING, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Literally trying to rally the troops, Judy. Also trying to aggressively rebut the critics who one week into this campaign in Iraq are questioning U.S. military strategy. Central Command is the command post that is running this war. General Tommy Franks now in the region but CentCom is his home base.

You see the president and the first lady coming in here -- thunderous applause from the troops on hand and their family members as well. Mr. Bush's main goal today, we were told, was to simply take on those who are criticizing the U.S. strategy, who say that perhaps the United States underestimated Iraqi resistance, perhaps the United States overestimated the battlefield advantages it would have from its superior technology.

Mr. Bush in his remarks to the troops said nothing could be further from the case. In his view, the operation right on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Iraq today, our military is focused, and unwavering. We have an effective plan of battle and the flexibility to meet every challenge. Nothing, nothing will divert us from our clear mission. We will press on through every hardship. We will overcome every danger and we will prevail.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Applause for the president there. You see him here in CentCom's intelligence center, this is where Mr. Bush received his detailed briefing of the day on the war campaign underway. Mr. Bush getting the detailed briefing there. Also one goal of this trip, though, pep talk. Mr. Bush took time to have lunch with the troops, thanking those at the Central Command in Florida, obviously thanking their colleagues overseas as well.

Mr. Bush now making his way back to Camp David, summit talks tonight with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. You see the president greeting folks here at the Central Command post. We don't know what's on the plate, but it looks like a healthy lunch.

And, Judy, just one footnote, we were told in advance of the president's speech, he would say today that the war campaign was -- quote -- "ahead of schedule." We are now told by a senior aide that Mr. Bush crossed that line out, editing his speech on Air Force One on the trip down. Aides say the president was just being conservative in his public assessment, that by no means does he doubt the progress being made on the battlefield. A bit of an irony there, though, since the number one goal of the president today was to rebut those questioning the U.S. war strategy -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Yes, it is.

And, John, there are some polls, one already out, another one that we know CNN is working on today that -- polls that seem to show, or do show, that the American people -- fewer Americans now believe that the war is going very well.

How concerned are they at the White House about this day to day temperature if you will, taking of the American people, and the fact that the negative views are on the rise?

KING: Well, they're more concerned, they say, with the minute by minute arm chair analysis, they would call it, from members of the news media and retired members of the military who are serving as analysts for the news media.

The White House says that -- they insist that we're simply not being fair, that we're not taking a big-picture view of the war campaign. They acknowledge, as we see the pictures of the skirmishes we have had outside of Basra and elsewhere, that some U.S. troops are coming under some fierce resistance and facing some fierce skirmishes, but they also say, as the president noted today, that U.S. ground forces have moved more than 200 miles in three days, now have a ring just south of Baghdad and are prepared now for the decisive battles.

The White House would insist that if we look back on this perhaps 72 hours from now we'll have a different perspective than we might have right at this moment -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Well, that time-honored phrase "time will tell" probably applies here, John.

KING: Exactly.

WOODRUFF: Thanks very much, John King at the White House.

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 March 26, 2003 - 13:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is out in public today, telling U.S. troops that -- quote -- "a day of reckoning" is near for Iraq. And he says that Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards are now under, in his words, "direct and intense attack." The president spoke at Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
Our senior White House correspondent John King is with us.

John, the president, really trying to rally the troops, literally, today.

JOHN KING, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Literally trying to rally the troops, Judy. Also trying to aggressively rebut the critics who one week into this campaign in Iraq are questioning U.S. military strategy. Central Command is the command post that is running this war. General Tommy Franks now in the region but CentCom is his home base.

You see the president and the first lady coming in here -- thunderous applause from the troops on hand and their family members as well. Mr. Bush's main goal today, we were told, was to simply take on those who are criticizing the U.S. strategy, who say that perhaps the United States underestimated Iraqi resistance, perhaps the United States overestimated the battlefield advantages it would have from its superior technology.

Mr. Bush in his remarks to the troops said nothing could be further from the case. In his view, the operation right on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Iraq today, our military is focused, and unwavering. We have an effective plan of battle and the flexibility to meet every challenge. Nothing, nothing will divert us from our clear mission. We will press on through every hardship. We will overcome every danger and we will prevail.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Applause for the president there. You see him here in CentCom's intelligence center, this is where Mr. Bush received his detailed briefing of the day on the war campaign underway. Mr. Bush getting the detailed briefing there. Also one goal of this trip, though, pep talk. Mr. Bush took time to have lunch with the troops, thanking those at the Central Command in Florida, obviously thanking their colleagues overseas as well.

Mr. Bush now making his way back to Camp David, summit talks tonight with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. You see the president greeting folks here at the Central Command post. We don't know what's on the plate, but it looks like a healthy lunch.

And, Judy, just one footnote, we were told in advance of the president's speech, he would say today that the war campaign was -- quote -- "ahead of schedule." We are now told by a senior aide that Mr. Bush crossed that line out, editing his speech on Air Force One on the trip down. Aides say the president was just being conservative in his public assessment, that by no means does he doubt the progress being made on the battlefield. A bit of an irony there, though, since the number one goal of the president today was to rebut those questioning the U.S. war strategy -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Yes, it is.

And, John, there are some polls, one already out, another one that we know CNN is working on today that -- polls that seem to show, or do show, that the American people -- fewer Americans now believe that the war is going very well.

How concerned are they at the White House about this day to day temperature if you will, taking of the American people, and the fact that the negative views are on the rise?

KING: Well, they're more concerned, they say, with the minute by minute arm chair analysis, they would call it, from members of the news media and retired members of the military who are serving as analysts for the news media.

The White House says that -- they insist that we're simply not being fair, that we're not taking a big-picture view of the war campaign. They acknowledge, as we see the pictures of the skirmishes we have had outside of Basra and elsewhere, that some U.S. troops are coming under some fierce resistance and facing some fierce skirmishes, but they also say, as the president noted today, that U.S. ground forces have moved more than 200 miles in three days, now have a ring just south of Baghdad and are prepared now for the decisive battles.

The White House would insist that if we look back on this perhaps 72 hours from now we'll have a different perspective than we might have right at this moment -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Well, that time-honored phrase "time will tell" probably applies here, John.

KING: Exactly.

WOODRUFF: Thanks very much, John King at the White House.

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