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White House Takes on Democrats Over Iraq Controversy

Aired July 16, 2003 - 15:06   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: At the Capitol, while senators are grilling the director of Central Intelligence, the White House is taking aim at Democrats who are questioning the president's prewar claims about Iraq and his credibility.
Our correspondents Dana Bash and Jonathan Karl are keeping tabs on this ongoing controversy.

Dana, first to you.

The administration had been saying that this whole thing was over. Why are they now taking on their Democratic critics?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, it is a sign that they are taking some of this criticism more seriously. The White House today came at it and essentially attacked some of their critics, calling into question their credibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The last thing anyone should do is politicize this issue by rewriting history. There are some where the present rhetoric does not match their past record. So look back at past comments. Look back at past voting records.

Congress overwhelmingly, in a bipartisan way, passed a resolution supporting the steps that we are taking and approving the use of force, if it was necessary, after 12 years of Saddam Hussein's deception and denial, to confront that threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And that was Scott McClellan, the new White House spokesman. And he was armed with some quotes about -- specifically with some quotes about what some of the Democratic critics have said.

Let's look at John Kerry. He is somebody who voted for the Iraq resolution, but has been very critical of the White House of late. McClellan read a quote from 1998, where John Kerry, according to McClellan, argued that Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction before and would likely again use it and is a threat to the Middle East. McClellan also used a quote from Senator Carl Levin, another staunch critic of the White House.

He said that he wrote President Clinton in 1998, saying that he wanted him to take all necessary actions to respond to the threat that Saddam Hussein posed because of weapons of mass destruction. Now, these, of course, are quotes that are more than 5 years old, from 1998. So when asked about the fact that some of these Democrats and Republicans had been calling back on the White House back in the fall for specifics about the imminent threat of this nature, the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, made clear that he believes that it is 9/11 and the post-9/11 world makes the threat and made the threat from Iraq all the more important -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Dana at the White House, thank you very much.

And now let's go quickly to the Capitol, where we find Jon Karl.

Jon, as we mentioned, the director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet, before the Senate Intelligence Committee. What sort of reception is he getting? Do we know?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, the director of Central Intelligence arrived here on Capitol Hill just about a half-an-hour ago. The hearing is just under way.

It is a closed hearing. But I have spoken to many of the Democrats and Republicans on the committee that will be questioning Tenet. And it's an interesting dynamic here. The Republicans have the most pointed questions for Tenet, because they believe that he and his agency failed the president by allowing shoddy intelligence to get into the State of the Union address. But Democrats going into this emerge not quite defending Tenet, but attacking the Republicans for using, and the White House, for using Tenet as an scapegoat.

One Democrat on the committee who just happens to be a presidential candidate, John Kerry -- I'm sorry -- John Edwards, going into the hearing, had this to say about President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have some very serious questions about what I think are one of the most important issues there can be, which is the credibility of the president of the United States. When the president speaks, he speaks on behalf of the American people. George Tenet has accepted his responsibility, and that's good. But, at the end of the day, the president, when he speaks, has to take responsibility for what he says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: And John Kerry was up in New York finishing a speech just a short while ago, also attacking the president on this issue and generally on the issue of national security. John Kerry is asking the question: Are you safer now than you were on September 11, 2001? The suggestion is from John Kerry that we're not -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Interesting, Jon. You point out, the Democrats focusing on the president, the Republicans focusing on George Tenet.

KARL: Yes. WOODRUFF: We'll see what comes out of that. And I know we'll be coming back to you throughout the day on CNN.

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 16, 2003 - 15:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: At the Capitol, while senators are grilling the director of Central Intelligence, the White House is taking aim at Democrats who are questioning the president's prewar claims about Iraq and his credibility.
Our correspondents Dana Bash and Jonathan Karl are keeping tabs on this ongoing controversy.

Dana, first to you.

The administration had been saying that this whole thing was over. Why are they now taking on their Democratic critics?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, it is a sign that they are taking some of this criticism more seriously. The White House today came at it and essentially attacked some of their critics, calling into question their credibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The last thing anyone should do is politicize this issue by rewriting history. There are some where the present rhetoric does not match their past record. So look back at past comments. Look back at past voting records.

Congress overwhelmingly, in a bipartisan way, passed a resolution supporting the steps that we are taking and approving the use of force, if it was necessary, after 12 years of Saddam Hussein's deception and denial, to confront that threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And that was Scott McClellan, the new White House spokesman. And he was armed with some quotes about -- specifically with some quotes about what some of the Democratic critics have said.

Let's look at John Kerry. He is somebody who voted for the Iraq resolution, but has been very critical of the White House of late. McClellan read a quote from 1998, where John Kerry, according to McClellan, argued that Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction before and would likely again use it and is a threat to the Middle East. McClellan also used a quote from Senator Carl Levin, another staunch critic of the White House.

He said that he wrote President Clinton in 1998, saying that he wanted him to take all necessary actions to respond to the threat that Saddam Hussein posed because of weapons of mass destruction. Now, these, of course, are quotes that are more than 5 years old, from 1998. So when asked about the fact that some of these Democrats and Republicans had been calling back on the White House back in the fall for specifics about the imminent threat of this nature, the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, made clear that he believes that it is 9/11 and the post-9/11 world makes the threat and made the threat from Iraq all the more important -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Dana at the White House, thank you very much.

And now let's go quickly to the Capitol, where we find Jon Karl.

Jon, as we mentioned, the director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet, before the Senate Intelligence Committee. What sort of reception is he getting? Do we know?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, the director of Central Intelligence arrived here on Capitol Hill just about a half-an-hour ago. The hearing is just under way.

It is a closed hearing. But I have spoken to many of the Democrats and Republicans on the committee that will be questioning Tenet. And it's an interesting dynamic here. The Republicans have the most pointed questions for Tenet, because they believe that he and his agency failed the president by allowing shoddy intelligence to get into the State of the Union address. But Democrats going into this emerge not quite defending Tenet, but attacking the Republicans for using, and the White House, for using Tenet as an scapegoat.

One Democrat on the committee who just happens to be a presidential candidate, John Kerry -- I'm sorry -- John Edwards, going into the hearing, had this to say about President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have some very serious questions about what I think are one of the most important issues there can be, which is the credibility of the president of the United States. When the president speaks, he speaks on behalf of the American people. George Tenet has accepted his responsibility, and that's good. But, at the end of the day, the president, when he speaks, has to take responsibility for what he says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: And John Kerry was up in New York finishing a speech just a short while ago, also attacking the president on this issue and generally on the issue of national security. John Kerry is asking the question: Are you safer now than you were on September 11, 2001? The suggestion is from John Kerry that we're not -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Interesting, Jon. You point out, the Democrats focusing on the president, the Republicans focusing on George Tenet.

KARL: Yes. WOODRUFF: We'll see what comes out of that. And I know we'll be coming back to you throughout the day on CNN.

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