Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Bush: Intelligence Showed Iraq Had Weapons Program

Aired June 09, 2003 - 15:01   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: More tough questions today for the Bush administration regarding its pre-war claims about the threat posed by Iraq. U.S. officials say the two captured al Qaeda figures have told interrogators they do not know if any connections between the terrorist group and Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.
The officials concern a "New York Times" report that one of those senior al Qaeda figures, Abu Zubaydah, says that Osama bin Laden rejected the idea of cooperating with Iraq. However, the officials are downplaying the significance of what the detainees are saying. When Bush administration officials made their case for the war against Iraq, they cited intelligence reports, showing links between the Iraqi regime and al Qaeda.

A key Democratic senator tells CNN he believes the CIA deliberately manipulated intelligence in order to win support for the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I do think there's evidence that the CIA did shade and embellish this information in a number of areas, and that it is significant enough because of the importance that was placed on weapons of mass destruction and on the alleged connection of Iraq to al Qaeda that Congress inquired into this in a very bipartisan but in a very thorough way. And both Democrats and Republicans have called for that kind of thorough investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: A 1300-member search team in Iraq has not yet produced any proof of weapons of mass destruction.

Well, let's bring in now our White House correspondent, Dana Bash, to find out what the President has to say about all this. Dana, a lot of talking and stories about this over the weekend.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There sure were. And of course we heard from the President earlier today. And first, Judy, on the issue of al Qaeda and Iraq, you know, over in the fall, before the war, there were some administration officials who floated the idea that there were some strong ties between 9/11, specifically al Qaeda, and Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, but they didn't really go that strong on it because there were a lot of people in the intelligence community who didn't think that the link was very strong. But, of course, you remember that on February 5, Colin Powell when he made his massive presentation to the U.N., did mention the fact that there was a man named Al Zarqawi who has ties, the U.S. believes, to al Qaeda. He was, they said, in Baghdad at some time, spent some time there. That was the link that he mentioned between the two issues. But President Bush unsolicited, when talking to reporters today, brought up the report that you referred to in "The New York Times," saying there wasn't, in fact, a link; he vehemently denied it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I read a report that somehow there is no al Qaeda presence in Baghdad. I guess the people who wrote that article forgot about Al Zarqawi's network inside of Baghdad that ordered the killing of a U.S. citizen named Foley. And history will show, history and time will prove that the United States made the absolute right decision in freeing the people of Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, for the record, U.S. officials do say the fact that detained al Qaeda officials are saying that there is no link. It's not a surprise, because they say they simply don't trust the information that they're getting from these officials. But, Judy, the broader issue here at the White House is the whole question of weapons of mass destruction, why they haven't been found, and what kind of intelligence actually went into looking for them.

Over the weekend, as you mentioned, there were some denials and really a full-court press by senior officials saying that they really believed in their information. Today it was the president's turn. He rebutted his critics, saying that he believed that Iraq did have a weapons program and that the intelligence leading him to that conclusion was no different than past presidents have seen, what Congress has seen.

It's just the administration is making clear that he chose to do -- use the information in a different way, and that, of course, is -- was to go to war with Saddam Hussein. But when asked a key question of whether or not the U.S.' credibility is at stake here because none of the weapons of mass destruction have been found, the President said what he believes is the key here isn't necessarily why the U.S. went to war, but the results of the war. And he said that is free Iraq, he believes, and freedom for that country. The White House is urging patience in this issue -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right. Dana Bash at the White House. Again, WMD and the links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, all those questions still very much out in the air to be debated. We're going to continue to hear much more about that. Dana, 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 June 9, 2003 - 15:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: More tough questions today for the Bush administration regarding its pre-war claims about the threat posed by Iraq. U.S. officials say the two captured al Qaeda figures have told interrogators they do not know if any connections between the terrorist group and Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.
The officials concern a "New York Times" report that one of those senior al Qaeda figures, Abu Zubaydah, says that Osama bin Laden rejected the idea of cooperating with Iraq. However, the officials are downplaying the significance of what the detainees are saying. When Bush administration officials made their case for the war against Iraq, they cited intelligence reports, showing links between the Iraqi regime and al Qaeda.

A key Democratic senator tells CNN he believes the CIA deliberately manipulated intelligence in order to win support for the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I do think there's evidence that the CIA did shade and embellish this information in a number of areas, and that it is significant enough because of the importance that was placed on weapons of mass destruction and on the alleged connection of Iraq to al Qaeda that Congress inquired into this in a very bipartisan but in a very thorough way. And both Democrats and Republicans have called for that kind of thorough investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: A 1300-member search team in Iraq has not yet produced any proof of weapons of mass destruction.

Well, let's bring in now our White House correspondent, Dana Bash, to find out what the President has to say about all this. Dana, a lot of talking and stories about this over the weekend.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There sure were. And of course we heard from the President earlier today. And first, Judy, on the issue of al Qaeda and Iraq, you know, over in the fall, before the war, there were some administration officials who floated the idea that there were some strong ties between 9/11, specifically al Qaeda, and Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, but they didn't really go that strong on it because there were a lot of people in the intelligence community who didn't think that the link was very strong. But, of course, you remember that on February 5, Colin Powell when he made his massive presentation to the U.N., did mention the fact that there was a man named Al Zarqawi who has ties, the U.S. believes, to al Qaeda. He was, they said, in Baghdad at some time, spent some time there. That was the link that he mentioned between the two issues. But President Bush unsolicited, when talking to reporters today, brought up the report that you referred to in "The New York Times," saying there wasn't, in fact, a link; he vehemently denied it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I read a report that somehow there is no al Qaeda presence in Baghdad. I guess the people who wrote that article forgot about Al Zarqawi's network inside of Baghdad that ordered the killing of a U.S. citizen named Foley. And history will show, history and time will prove that the United States made the absolute right decision in freeing the people of Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, for the record, U.S. officials do say the fact that detained al Qaeda officials are saying that there is no link. It's not a surprise, because they say they simply don't trust the information that they're getting from these officials. But, Judy, the broader issue here at the White House is the whole question of weapons of mass destruction, why they haven't been found, and what kind of intelligence actually went into looking for them.

Over the weekend, as you mentioned, there were some denials and really a full-court press by senior officials saying that they really believed in their information. Today it was the president's turn. He rebutted his critics, saying that he believed that Iraq did have a weapons program and that the intelligence leading him to that conclusion was no different than past presidents have seen, what Congress has seen.

It's just the administration is making clear that he chose to do -- use the information in a different way, and that, of course, is -- was to go to war with Saddam Hussein. But when asked a key question of whether or not the U.S.' credibility is at stake here because none of the weapons of mass destruction have been found, the President said what he believes is the key here isn't necessarily why the U.S. went to war, but the results of the war. And he said that is free Iraq, he believes, and freedom for that country. The White House is urging patience in this issue -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right. Dana Bash at the White House. Again, WMD and the links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, all those questions still very much out in the air to be debated. We're going to continue to hear much more about that. Dana, 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