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White House Admits Information on African Uranium Should Not Have Been Used in State of the Union Speech

Aired July 08, 2003 - 14:26   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Political donnybrook is brewing over the president's State of the Union address. January 28 the president in addressing the American people and justifying ultimately what would be the envision of Iraq, mentioned specifically that Saddam Hussein's regime had attempted to purchase or was purchasing uranium from Africa.
And with that let's pick up the story from Dana Bash as the administration attempts to respond to all of this. Hello, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. Well, the White House said for some months that they understand now that that information was inaccurate. And the documents that led to the understanding that there was some uranium that was attempted to be purchased in Niger by Saddam Hussein, that those documents alleging that were forged.

But until now the White House has stood by the fact the president actually alluded to that in his State of the Union address. But, today, what the White House is saying that the president shouldn't have talked about that the State of the Union address and had they known that it was false then it wouldn't have been in the address.

And I'll read you some of a statement from White House Spokesman Michael Anton. He said, "We now know that documents alleging a transaction between Iraq and Niger had been forged. The other reporting that suggested Iraq had tried to obtain uranium from Africa is not detailed or specific enough for us to be certain that such attempts in fact were made. Because of this lack of specificity, this reporting alone did not rise to the level of inclusion in a presidential speech."

So they are saying that now they understand that this information was forged and they are admitting that it shouldn't have been part of the president's address.

However, what they are saying in a more broader context is officials acknowledge that in a classified national intelligence estimate, it does still remain the case that they believe that Iraq was trying to get some uranium and they were trying to reconstitute the nuclear program perhaps from other sources.

But they do stand by the claims that many senior administration officials made before the war that Iraq was trying to reconstitute its nuclear program. It's just this specific allegation the White House is acknowledging now was inaccurate and they are acknowledging now should not have been in the president's State of the Union address.

But as you say it is causing an uproar, to say the least. The Democratic National Committee put out a statement saying the president shouldn't have knowingly talked about what was in this State of the Union address if he knew it was false.

The White House simply says that the president didn't know it was false. He didn't have that information. And they say here at the White House that no one who was involved in the speech making process knew that the information was false and that's how it got into the speech -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: So the question is was it a mistake but I guess a somewhat related question might help us understand a little more is the origin of these forged documents. What do we know, if anything, about that, Dana?

BASH: Well, we know, as a matter of fact, former Ambassador Joe Wilson made quite a splash over at the weekend saying that there was sort of -- it was going around the intelligence rumor mill, there was a report coming from Great Britain that this had occurred, that perhaps Saddam Hussein had tried to buy some enriched uranium from Niger.

And Ambassador Wilson says that he was sent on a mission by the CIA in order to find that out. And that he reported back to the CIA that in fact it was false and that he was sure that the administration knew about it.

The administration officials here say that they did not know about it. That they were not informed at high enough levels to keep this out of the speech. But the origin seems to be a combination of something that was in a national intelligence estimate and also the fact that Great Britain, apparently, the report from Great Britain about this. And that is exactly what President Bush referred to in his State of the Union address, British reports -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. The plot continues to thicken on that. Just when you think we understand it, we get a little deeper into it.

BASH: It's not over, yes.

O'BRIEN: All right. Clancy could do no better. Dana Bash, thank you very much, 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




Not Have Been Used in State of the Union Speech>


Aired July 8, 2003 - 14:26   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Political donnybrook is brewing over the president's State of the Union address. January 28 the president in addressing the American people and justifying ultimately what would be the envision of Iraq, mentioned specifically that Saddam Hussein's regime had attempted to purchase or was purchasing uranium from Africa.
And with that let's pick up the story from Dana Bash as the administration attempts to respond to all of this. Hello, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. Well, the White House said for some months that they understand now that that information was inaccurate. And the documents that led to the understanding that there was some uranium that was attempted to be purchased in Niger by Saddam Hussein, that those documents alleging that were forged.

But until now the White House has stood by the fact the president actually alluded to that in his State of the Union address. But, today, what the White House is saying that the president shouldn't have talked about that the State of the Union address and had they known that it was false then it wouldn't have been in the address.

And I'll read you some of a statement from White House Spokesman Michael Anton. He said, "We now know that documents alleging a transaction between Iraq and Niger had been forged. The other reporting that suggested Iraq had tried to obtain uranium from Africa is not detailed or specific enough for us to be certain that such attempts in fact were made. Because of this lack of specificity, this reporting alone did not rise to the level of inclusion in a presidential speech."

So they are saying that now they understand that this information was forged and they are admitting that it shouldn't have been part of the president's address.

However, what they are saying in a more broader context is officials acknowledge that in a classified national intelligence estimate, it does still remain the case that they believe that Iraq was trying to get some uranium and they were trying to reconstitute the nuclear program perhaps from other sources.

But they do stand by the claims that many senior administration officials made before the war that Iraq was trying to reconstitute its nuclear program. It's just this specific allegation the White House is acknowledging now was inaccurate and they are acknowledging now should not have been in the president's State of the Union address.

But as you say it is causing an uproar, to say the least. The Democratic National Committee put out a statement saying the president shouldn't have knowingly talked about what was in this State of the Union address if he knew it was false.

The White House simply says that the president didn't know it was false. He didn't have that information. And they say here at the White House that no one who was involved in the speech making process knew that the information was false and that's how it got into the speech -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: So the question is was it a mistake but I guess a somewhat related question might help us understand a little more is the origin of these forged documents. What do we know, if anything, about that, Dana?

BASH: Well, we know, as a matter of fact, former Ambassador Joe Wilson made quite a splash over at the weekend saying that there was sort of -- it was going around the intelligence rumor mill, there was a report coming from Great Britain that this had occurred, that perhaps Saddam Hussein had tried to buy some enriched uranium from Niger.

And Ambassador Wilson says that he was sent on a mission by the CIA in order to find that out. And that he reported back to the CIA that in fact it was false and that he was sure that the administration knew about it.

The administration officials here say that they did not know about it. That they were not informed at high enough levels to keep this out of the speech. But the origin seems to be a combination of something that was in a national intelligence estimate and also the fact that Great Britain, apparently, the report from Great Britain about this. And that is exactly what President Bush referred to in his State of the Union address, British reports -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. The plot continues to thicken on that. Just when you think we understand it, we get a little deeper into it.

BASH: It's not over, yes.

O'BRIEN: All right. Clancy could do no better. Dana Bash, thank you very much, 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




Not Have Been Used in State of the Union Speech>