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White House Encouraged By Statements From Saudi Leadership

Aired May 14, 2003 - 15:02   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: It is just after 3:00 p.m. here in the nation's capital, noon on the West Coast. I'm Judy Woodruff live from Washington, where just two days after terror struck in Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials have information suggesting more attacks have been plotted in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The officials tell CNN they do not have any specific information about targets or timing.
The Saudi government now says that 15 Saudis carried out the simultaneous strikes on three compounds housing Americans and other Westerners. The death toll from the attacks rose today to 34, including eight Americans and nine attackers. The American ambassador to Saudi Arabia says the U.S. waged a futile effort to get Security tightened at those compounds before the attacks. Meantime, U.S. investigators are expected to arrive at the bombing site in Riyadh tomorrow after a "bureaucratic glitch" left the team grounded in Germany.

Well let's bring in now our senior White House correspondent, John King. John, what are they saying at the White House today?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, for the second consecutive day they say here at the White House that they are encouraged by public statements from members of the Saudi leadership. Today it was the foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, who publicly conceded that Saudi Arabia perhaps needs to learn a lesson from this bombing and rethink its approach to fighting terrorism within its borders. The Saudi foreign minister saying more has to be done to crack down on al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Yesterday, it was a strong condemnation of the attacks. The Crown Prince Abdullah called the bombers monsters and promised they would be brought to justice. All of this comes, of course, the White House compliments of the Saudi public statements, as many question whether the Saudi government will fully cooperate with U.S. investigators. There have been problems in the past, most notably in the late 1990s after the bombing at the Khobar towers which was being used as a military dormitory for U.S. troops.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, saying, yes, the administration will closely watch the Saudis to make sure there is full cooperation, but Ari Fleischer also suggesting that is not the number one issue on the president's mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We want to continue to work with Saudi Arabia on this. But make no mistake. Saudi Arabia continues to cooperate with us, and we will continue to push Saudi Arabia for additional cooperation as we work together. But the people who carried this attack out are the ones the president is focused on.

These are the terrorists who did this. These are the ones who look for places to carry out their attacks on innocents. And that's why this is a war against terror by the groups responsible for the attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The president was briefed this morning by the CIA director, George Tenet, on the latest in the very early stages of the investigation. He continues to receive updates throughout the day, Judy. White House officials say all the fingerprints suggest this was indeed an attack orchestrated by al Qaeda, but they say they cannot say that definitively just yet. They need more evidence.

WOODRUFF: And, John, to criticism that they should have done more. And we're going to be talking to Bob Graham in just a minute. He, among other things, is saying the war in Iraq distracted from the war on terror.

KING: Tough words back at Senator Graham today from this White House. "Nonsense," Ari Fleischer said, to Senator Graham suggesting that the war in Iraq was a distraction from the overall war on terrorism and that perhaps bombings like this wouldn't happen if the president's focus had been solely on al Qaeda and not on Iraq and Saddam Hussein.. The White House saying that Senator Graham's comments again are nonsense; Ari Fleischer saying that Senator Graham is running for president, perhaps trying to distinguish himself among the Democrats in the field.

WOODRUFF: All right. John King reporting from the White House. Thanks, John.

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




Leadership>


Aired May 14, 2003 - 15:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: It is just after 3:00 p.m. here in the nation's capital, noon on the West Coast. I'm Judy Woodruff live from Washington, where just two days after terror struck in Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials have information suggesting more attacks have been plotted in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The officials tell CNN they do not have any specific information about targets or timing.
The Saudi government now says that 15 Saudis carried out the simultaneous strikes on three compounds housing Americans and other Westerners. The death toll from the attacks rose today to 34, including eight Americans and nine attackers. The American ambassador to Saudi Arabia says the U.S. waged a futile effort to get Security tightened at those compounds before the attacks. Meantime, U.S. investigators are expected to arrive at the bombing site in Riyadh tomorrow after a "bureaucratic glitch" left the team grounded in Germany.

Well let's bring in now our senior White House correspondent, John King. John, what are they saying at the White House today?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, for the second consecutive day they say here at the White House that they are encouraged by public statements from members of the Saudi leadership. Today it was the foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, who publicly conceded that Saudi Arabia perhaps needs to learn a lesson from this bombing and rethink its approach to fighting terrorism within its borders. The Saudi foreign minister saying more has to be done to crack down on al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Yesterday, it was a strong condemnation of the attacks. The Crown Prince Abdullah called the bombers monsters and promised they would be brought to justice. All of this comes, of course, the White House compliments of the Saudi public statements, as many question whether the Saudi government will fully cooperate with U.S. investigators. There have been problems in the past, most notably in the late 1990s after the bombing at the Khobar towers which was being used as a military dormitory for U.S. troops.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, saying, yes, the administration will closely watch the Saudis to make sure there is full cooperation, but Ari Fleischer also suggesting that is not the number one issue on the president's mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We want to continue to work with Saudi Arabia on this. But make no mistake. Saudi Arabia continues to cooperate with us, and we will continue to push Saudi Arabia for additional cooperation as we work together. But the people who carried this attack out are the ones the president is focused on.

These are the terrorists who did this. These are the ones who look for places to carry out their attacks on innocents. And that's why this is a war against terror by the groups responsible for the attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The president was briefed this morning by the CIA director, George Tenet, on the latest in the very early stages of the investigation. He continues to receive updates throughout the day, Judy. White House officials say all the fingerprints suggest this was indeed an attack orchestrated by al Qaeda, but they say they cannot say that definitively just yet. They need more evidence.

WOODRUFF: And, John, to criticism that they should have done more. And we're going to be talking to Bob Graham in just a minute. He, among other things, is saying the war in Iraq distracted from the war on terror.

KING: Tough words back at Senator Graham today from this White House. "Nonsense," Ari Fleischer said, to Senator Graham suggesting that the war in Iraq was a distraction from the overall war on terrorism and that perhaps bombings like this wouldn't happen if the president's focus had been solely on al Qaeda and not on Iraq and Saddam Hussein.. The White House saying that Senator Graham's comments again are nonsense; Ari Fleischer saying that Senator Graham is running for president, perhaps trying to distinguish himself among the Democrats in the field.

WOODRUFF: All right. John King reporting from the White House. Thanks, John.

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




Leadership>