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Bush Turns Attention to African AIDS and Violence
Aired July 02, 2003 - 15:07 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 took another step today in the fight against AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean.
He nominated former pharmaceutical executive Randall Tobias to coordinate the $15 billion program. Mr. Bush plans to highlight his AIDS initiative during his trip to Africa next week.
The president also spoke today about the situation in the war- torn nation of Liberia. Pentagon sources say U.S. Marines are standing by for possible deployment to reinforce security there.
Let's go to the White House now and our correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, what are they saying at this point?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, over the last 24 to 48 hours, talks at the White House have intensified on whether or not to sound U.S. troops to Liberia. Those talks included Secretary Powell, Secretary Rumsfeld, as well as the president.
Earlier today President Bush said all options are on the table. They have not made any decisions. But he made it crystal clear that Liberia's president, Charles, Taylor, has to go.
Now a very senior administration official who I've been speaking to throughout the day, who is privy to these discussions, says that while they haven't made any hard and fast decisions on this, it is almost assured that the U.S. will send troops.
Now they are debating this at the White House and the goal, really, how to help the international community enforce this cease- fire in Liberia. They are talking about diplomacy. They are talking about providing resources to an international peacekeeping force and they are also talking about the possibility of U.S. troops being a part of that force.
President Bush earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We're looking at all options. I've asked the secretary of state to talk to Kofi Annan on how best to deal with Liberia. And we're concerned when we see suffering, people are suffering there. They've got the political instability is such that people are panicking.
But the good news is there's a cease-fire in place now. And one of things that Colin is going to do is to work closely with the United Nations to see how best to keep the cease-fire in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now Judy, it's a very political, sensitive situation here. The United States has been getting a lot of pressure by the United Nations, by France, Britain, as well as leaders of West African nations to get directly involved, more involved in this.
Sources are telling us that there will be an announcement regarding this before the president leaves for his Africa trip. That's on Monday. The administration does not want to deal with this question as he goes along on his trip.
Sources also telling us that if there was a force it would be anywhere from 500 to 600, and it would be really modeled after the mission that France intervened in Kosegar (ph). It would be go in there fast, try to stabilize the situation and then get out as quickly as possible -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Timing very tricky on this, Suzanne, as you say, coinciding with the president's trip to the cabinet. All right. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks.
So why all the emphasis on Liberia? Well, the West African country was founded by freed American slaves more than 150 years ago. The country has been ripped apart from civil war since 1989. The most recent round of fighting broke out three years ago.
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 July 2, 2003 - 15:07 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 took another step today in the fight against AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean.
He nominated former pharmaceutical executive Randall Tobias to coordinate the $15 billion program. Mr. Bush plans to highlight his AIDS initiative during his trip to Africa next week.
The president also spoke today about the situation in the war- torn nation of Liberia. Pentagon sources say U.S. Marines are standing by for possible deployment to reinforce security there.
Let's go to the White House now and our correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, what are they saying at this point?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, over the last 24 to 48 hours, talks at the White House have intensified on whether or not to sound U.S. troops to Liberia. Those talks included Secretary Powell, Secretary Rumsfeld, as well as the president.
Earlier today President Bush said all options are on the table. They have not made any decisions. But he made it crystal clear that Liberia's president, Charles, Taylor, has to go.
Now a very senior administration official who I've been speaking to throughout the day, who is privy to these discussions, says that while they haven't made any hard and fast decisions on this, it is almost assured that the U.S. will send troops.
Now they are debating this at the White House and the goal, really, how to help the international community enforce this cease- fire in Liberia. They are talking about diplomacy. They are talking about providing resources to an international peacekeeping force and they are also talking about the possibility of U.S. troops being a part of that force.
President Bush earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We're looking at all options. I've asked the secretary of state to talk to Kofi Annan on how best to deal with Liberia. And we're concerned when we see suffering, people are suffering there. They've got the political instability is such that people are panicking.
But the good news is there's a cease-fire in place now. And one of things that Colin is going to do is to work closely with the United Nations to see how best to keep the cease-fire in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now Judy, it's a very political, sensitive situation here. The United States has been getting a lot of pressure by the United Nations, by France, Britain, as well as leaders of West African nations to get directly involved, more involved in this.
Sources are telling us that there will be an announcement regarding this before the president leaves for his Africa trip. That's on Monday. The administration does not want to deal with this question as he goes along on his trip.
Sources also telling us that if there was a force it would be anywhere from 500 to 600, and it would be really modeled after the mission that France intervened in Kosegar (ph). It would be go in there fast, try to stabilize the situation and then get out as quickly as possible -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Timing very tricky on this, Suzanne, as you say, coinciding with the president's trip to the cabinet. All right. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks.
So why all the emphasis on Liberia? Well, the West African country was founded by freed American slaves more than 150 years ago. The country has been ripped apart from civil war since 1989. The most recent round of fighting broke out three years ago.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
