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Bush in Africa: Iraq Questions Intensify

Aired July 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: Presidents often try to carefully script their trips overseas. And perhaps just as often, they're still dogged by political controversies back home. Such was the case today for President Bush in South Africa, as questions about his prewar statements on Iraq intensified.
Our White House correspondent, Chris Burns, is traveling with Mr. Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a day aimed at touting President Bush's multibillion rescue package for Africa to combat AIDS and poverty. But at a news conference with South African President Thabo Mbeki, he couldn't escape questions about Iraq, questions about his January State of the Union message alleging Saddam Hussein was trying to buy nuclear materials from Africa, a charge that didn't hold water.

At a news conference, he dodged the question.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm confident that Saddam Hussein had a weapons of mass destruction program. In 1991, I will remind you, we underestimated how close he was to having a nuclear weapon. Imagine a world in which this tyrant had a nuclear weapon. In 1998, my predecessor raided Iraq based upon the very same intelligence.

BURNS: Another Iraq-related question: whether U.S. forces deployed there, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, would be stretched too thin if sent as peacekeepers to work-wracked Liberia.

BUSH: We won't overextend our troops, period.

BURNS: The president has yet to commit troops there, but there are calls for that to prevent a shaky cease-fire from descending into a bloodbath.

(on camera): Another African disaster in the making, Zimbabwe. It's on the verge of economic collapse and widespread famine under what Washington calls the violent misrule of President Robert Mugabe. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently criticized South Africa, a regional power, as not doing enough to bring about regime change there.

(voice-over): The two presidents insisted they both want a quick solution. THABO MBEKI, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: We did not fight about any of

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: We were smiling because we were certain a clever reporter would try to use the Zimbabwe issue as a way to maybe create tensions which don't exist.

BURNS: Some tension, though, at the Ford Motor Plant President Bush visited. He was promoting the African Growth and Opportunity Act that allows tariff-free African exports to the U.S., boosting the idea of trade replacing aid.

Union workers outside see that and other U.S. policies as benefiting mainly American companies, that U.S. subsidies to American farmers crowd African farmers out of the world market. And Iraq again rearing his head, lingering anti-war sentiment here as well, the reason for the biggest no-show to the president's visit, Nelson Mandela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Well, a senior military official is telling CNN that the Pentagon is working on a rotation policy to allow some U.S. troops who have served the longest in Iraq to return home. The rotations could begin within days.

Meantime, U.S. officials are claiming some successes in building a new Iraq despite continued violence.

CNN's Jane Arraf is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Saddam himself remains elusive, as do his sons.

But U.S. officials say they're making progress and going down that list of the top most-wanted suspects. They have captured No. 23 and No. 29. No. 23 is Mizban Khadr Al Hadi, who is a former member of the Revolutionary Command Council, the highest body in prewar Iraq, as well as a member of the regional Baath Party command. The second was a former interior minister named Mahmud Dhiyab Al-Ahmad. Now, he was interior minister up until two years ago. And the announcement of his arrest announced today, but it actually happened yesterday, was greeted with great joy by members of Iraq's new police force, many of them who had worked under him while he was interior minister.

To illustrate what those Iraqi police officers are facing out there in the streets, a gunfight in central Baghdad. Now, this broke out in a crowded, busy neighborhood. Iraqi police say gunmen inside a house started shooting at them. A gunfight erupted between people in the house, Iraqi police officers and U.S. military. Arrests were made, but it's not entirely clear who the gunmen were. This is not a rare occurrence, though, in Baghdad. And it's just one of the dangers that new police are facing.

They're getting training, though. At the main Baghdad police academy, 100 recruits, many of them former police officers, are being retrained in things like how to deal with people trying to take your gun away, human rights, and all sorts of other situations that they will find themselves in this chaotic capital these days. Iraqi police are now getting back up to strength. There are about 30,000 of them. But U.S. officials say they need at least 60,000 to try to keep the peace in this country.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Well, Iraq and Africa both are in the news, but are Americans paying attention?

Let's bring in Gallup poll editor in chief Frank Newport.

Frank, based on what you're seeing, are Americans -- we know the president is continuing his trip through the continent of Africa. Are Americans concerned about the people there?

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Judy, that is an excellent question. So we went back and scoured our polling archives to see, have we been asking about Africa and how much people have paid attention to the continent.

And what I want to say is that, really, we find, as pollsters, we haven't asked much about it. We have to go back to 2000, May of 2000, when we did put Africa in this sequence. And look what we found then. Africa was dead last in terms of Americans' perceptions of its importance to the U.S., way down there. Just 18 percent said it was vitally important. And that's a couple of years ago. We are going to re-ask this question after the president's trip. Presumably, it will come up.

But at least we know going into the trip, Judy, that Americans simply did not attach much priority to Africa. It is kind of off the radar scope up to this point -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: What do you learn Americans are paying attention to?

NEWPORT: Well, that's excellent. We actually have the new Pew Research poll that just came out. And one of the things they do is, they track, month after month, years after year, what people are paying attention to.

Here is the top five list of what their latest poll says: Iraq, 78 percent paying close attention; Middle East below that, weapons of mass destruction below that. Now look. The Laci Peterson, some criticism sometimes of the news media paying attention to those kind of crime cases, but above average, 56 percent paying attention to that. Hillary Clinton's book, that's what Americans tell us they're not paying attention to, although it sold one million copies supposedly, Judy, what I heard today. WOODRUFF: Well, it's interesting how much those numbers track what's actually in the news.

Frank, what about Congress? It's back in session. How much do people pay attention to what is going on in Congress?

NEWPORT: Well, they pay attention. Approval of Congress is now at 50 percent. It had been up a little higher during the Iraq war earlier this year. This is our Gallup track on that: Congress approval 58. Now it's back down to 50, very partisan. Republicans like Congress. Not surprisingly, Democrats don't.

Two major things on the agenda right now: the prescription drug plan and also the Senate -- some of the Senate Republicans trying to push malpractice. It doesn't look like it is going to pass. But the public, Judy, wants both of those. In general, three-quarters say yes to the idea of prescription drug coverage. And in our recent polling, 72 percent say yes to idea of pain and suffering limits for malpractice. So the public is behind what Congress is trying to deal with at this point.

WOODRUFF: All right, a question about California, Frank. We know the supporters of this effort to recall Governor Gray Davis now say they have enough signatures to force a recall election. I'm curious about what people think about Arnold Schwarzenegger as a possible gubernatorial candidate, his name, of course, one of those out there who might think about running.

NEWPORT: Indeed.

We know from the last "Los Angeles Times" poll, he comes in second in a couple of different ways they look at it out there. We wanted to look at him nationally. Look at this, Judy: 72 percent favorable rating for the Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, no partisanship yet in his image nationally, only 14 percent unfavorable. That's from a few months ago.

However, Judy, as you know, like Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, even if he became governor of California, couldn't be president. He was not born in this country.

WOODRUFF: Very true. The California numbers are a little different from those, but we know those are national numbers.

OK, Frank Newport, thanks 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 July 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: Presidents often try to carefully script their trips overseas. And perhaps just as often, they're still dogged by political controversies back home. Such was the case today for President Bush in South Africa, as questions about his prewar statements on Iraq intensified.
Our White House correspondent, Chris Burns, is traveling with Mr. Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a day aimed at touting President Bush's multibillion rescue package for Africa to combat AIDS and poverty. But at a news conference with South African President Thabo Mbeki, he couldn't escape questions about Iraq, questions about his January State of the Union message alleging Saddam Hussein was trying to buy nuclear materials from Africa, a charge that didn't hold water.

At a news conference, he dodged the question.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm confident that Saddam Hussein had a weapons of mass destruction program. In 1991, I will remind you, we underestimated how close he was to having a nuclear weapon. Imagine a world in which this tyrant had a nuclear weapon. In 1998, my predecessor raided Iraq based upon the very same intelligence.

BURNS: Another Iraq-related question: whether U.S. forces deployed there, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, would be stretched too thin if sent as peacekeepers to work-wracked Liberia.

BUSH: We won't overextend our troops, period.

BURNS: The president has yet to commit troops there, but there are calls for that to prevent a shaky cease-fire from descending into a bloodbath.

(on camera): Another African disaster in the making, Zimbabwe. It's on the verge of economic collapse and widespread famine under what Washington calls the violent misrule of President Robert Mugabe. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently criticized South Africa, a regional power, as not doing enough to bring about regime change there.

(voice-over): The two presidents insisted they both want a quick solution. THABO MBEKI, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: We did not fight about any of

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: We were smiling because we were certain a clever reporter would try to use the Zimbabwe issue as a way to maybe create tensions which don't exist.

BURNS: Some tension, though, at the Ford Motor Plant President Bush visited. He was promoting the African Growth and Opportunity Act that allows tariff-free African exports to the U.S., boosting the idea of trade replacing aid.

Union workers outside see that and other U.S. policies as benefiting mainly American companies, that U.S. subsidies to American farmers crowd African farmers out of the world market. And Iraq again rearing his head, lingering anti-war sentiment here as well, the reason for the biggest no-show to the president's visit, Nelson Mandela.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Well, a senior military official is telling CNN that the Pentagon is working on a rotation policy to allow some U.S. troops who have served the longest in Iraq to return home. The rotations could begin within days.

Meantime, U.S. officials are claiming some successes in building a new Iraq despite continued violence.

CNN's Jane Arraf is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Saddam himself remains elusive, as do his sons.

But U.S. officials say they're making progress and going down that list of the top most-wanted suspects. They have captured No. 23 and No. 29. No. 23 is Mizban Khadr Al Hadi, who is a former member of the Revolutionary Command Council, the highest body in prewar Iraq, as well as a member of the regional Baath Party command. The second was a former interior minister named Mahmud Dhiyab Al-Ahmad. Now, he was interior minister up until two years ago. And the announcement of his arrest announced today, but it actually happened yesterday, was greeted with great joy by members of Iraq's new police force, many of them who had worked under him while he was interior minister.

To illustrate what those Iraqi police officers are facing out there in the streets, a gunfight in central Baghdad. Now, this broke out in a crowded, busy neighborhood. Iraqi police say gunmen inside a house started shooting at them. A gunfight erupted between people in the house, Iraqi police officers and U.S. military. Arrests were made, but it's not entirely clear who the gunmen were. This is not a rare occurrence, though, in Baghdad. And it's just one of the dangers that new police are facing.

They're getting training, though. At the main Baghdad police academy, 100 recruits, many of them former police officers, are being retrained in things like how to deal with people trying to take your gun away, human rights, and all sorts of other situations that they will find themselves in this chaotic capital these days. Iraqi police are now getting back up to strength. There are about 30,000 of them. But U.S. officials say they need at least 60,000 to try to keep the peace in this country.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Well, Iraq and Africa both are in the news, but are Americans paying attention?

Let's bring in Gallup poll editor in chief Frank Newport.

Frank, based on what you're seeing, are Americans -- we know the president is continuing his trip through the continent of Africa. Are Americans concerned about the people there?

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Judy, that is an excellent question. So we went back and scoured our polling archives to see, have we been asking about Africa and how much people have paid attention to the continent.

And what I want to say is that, really, we find, as pollsters, we haven't asked much about it. We have to go back to 2000, May of 2000, when we did put Africa in this sequence. And look what we found then. Africa was dead last in terms of Americans' perceptions of its importance to the U.S., way down there. Just 18 percent said it was vitally important. And that's a couple of years ago. We are going to re-ask this question after the president's trip. Presumably, it will come up.

But at least we know going into the trip, Judy, that Americans simply did not attach much priority to Africa. It is kind of off the radar scope up to this point -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: What do you learn Americans are paying attention to?

NEWPORT: Well, that's excellent. We actually have the new Pew Research poll that just came out. And one of the things they do is, they track, month after month, years after year, what people are paying attention to.

Here is the top five list of what their latest poll says: Iraq, 78 percent paying close attention; Middle East below that, weapons of mass destruction below that. Now look. The Laci Peterson, some criticism sometimes of the news media paying attention to those kind of crime cases, but above average, 56 percent paying attention to that. Hillary Clinton's book, that's what Americans tell us they're not paying attention to, although it sold one million copies supposedly, Judy, what I heard today. WOODRUFF: Well, it's interesting how much those numbers track what's actually in the news.

Frank, what about Congress? It's back in session. How much do people pay attention to what is going on in Congress?

NEWPORT: Well, they pay attention. Approval of Congress is now at 50 percent. It had been up a little higher during the Iraq war earlier this year. This is our Gallup track on that: Congress approval 58. Now it's back down to 50, very partisan. Republicans like Congress. Not surprisingly, Democrats don't.

Two major things on the agenda right now: the prescription drug plan and also the Senate -- some of the Senate Republicans trying to push malpractice. It doesn't look like it is going to pass. But the public, Judy, wants both of those. In general, three-quarters say yes to the idea of prescription drug coverage. And in our recent polling, 72 percent say yes to idea of pain and suffering limits for malpractice. So the public is behind what Congress is trying to deal with at this point.

WOODRUFF: All right, a question about California, Frank. We know the supporters of this effort to recall Governor Gray Davis now say they have enough signatures to force a recall election. I'm curious about what people think about Arnold Schwarzenegger as a possible gubernatorial candidate, his name, of course, one of those out there who might think about running.

NEWPORT: Indeed.

We know from the last "Los Angeles Times" poll, he comes in second in a couple of different ways they look at it out there. We wanted to look at him nationally. Look at this, Judy: 72 percent favorable rating for the Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, no partisanship yet in his image nationally, only 14 percent unfavorable. That's from a few months ago.

However, Judy, as you know, like Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, even if he became governor of California, couldn't be president. He was not born in this country.

WOODRUFF: Very true. The California numbers are a little different from those, but we know those are national numbers.

OK, Frank Newport, thanks 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