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Colin Powell's Plans
Aired August 04, 2003 - 15:03 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: Meantime, here in Washington, public officials and political pundits are buzzing about Secretary of State Colin Powell's future plans. "The Washington Post" reports today that Powell recently reaffirmed his intention to serve in the Bush Cabinet for no more than one term. Now, that prompted all sorts of speculation and efforts to read between the lines.
We're joined by our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel and by our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.
Andrea, to you first. Where did all this come from?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, it was unnamed officials in this "The Washington Post" piece. And today, publicly, in an unusual move, the spokesman's office issued a written statement today calling the "Post" article a summer squall, saying it was baseless and full of rumor and speculation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILIP REEKER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There were no conversations between the deputy secretary and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice concerning any plans for stepping down. There is no basis for the story, as I said. And as Secretary Powell has always said, he and the deputy secretary of state serve at the pleasure of the president and will continue to do so.
So welcome to Washington in August, where some of these goofy stories tend to hit the front pages. But there is no basis to that story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Denials aside, a Powell aide tells CNN, to his knowledge, there was a joking exchange between Deputy Secretary Armitage and Condoleezza Rice recently, in which Armitage told Ms. Rice, if she does move to the State Department -- quote -- "Don't expect any of us to be here," to give Ms. Rice a heads-up. That is what the purpose of this conversation was, according to this aide, that she's going to need continuity if there is a second term.
Now, perhaps, one of the reasons, Judy, there was such a strong reaction is, Powell's aversion to getting stuck in a lame-duck status. There are a number of different issues that are on, as many people know, on the foreign policy docket, everything from resolving the situation in Iraq and in Afghanistan to the Israeli Palestinian peace process and, of course, North Korea. And Secretary Powell intends to spend the next 17 months working hard, as he has all along and, as Philip Reeker laid out there, serving the president to the best of his abilities -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So, Andrea, just to make sure I've got this straight, they're not denying that it has been Powell's intention all along to serve one term, but, on the other hand, they didn't necessarily want this statement out there right now.
KOPPEL: Well, publicly, the mantra is that Secretary Powell serves at the pleasure of the president. Privately, when you do talk to officials, of course they can't deny that Secretary Powell has been saying this for some time now, in fact, almost since the beginning of this administration, that he only ever intended to serve one term -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Let's bring Bill Schneider here, our senior political analysis.
Bill, why is this getting so much attention?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly isn't unusual for a Cabinet officer to serve only one term. In fact, it's typical. Very few serve more than one term.
I think the problem here is the timing. He's the first member of the Bush Cabinet to indicate, even if the story was leaked or wasn't pushed by anybody, but the indication is, he wont be there for a second term. No. 1, he is the only member of the Cabinet who is more popular than President Bush. And that is rare. No. 2, he's the leading voice of moderation in the Cabinet, particularly on international policy. A lot of moderates supported Bush because he indicated that Colin Powell would be in his government.
He was supposed to be, moderates expected, a break on the administration's Iraq policy. And, to some extent, he was, by insisting they follow the procedure in the U.N., until, at the last minute, they decided that they couldn't really -- they had to give up on that procedure. But he is still the leading voice of moderation. So, with him gone, a lot of moderates despair that there's any break in this administration.
WOODRUFF: So, is it a problem, Bill, for the president that Colin Powell is described as out there planning to leave in a year and a half?
SCHNEIDER: I think it's a little bit of a problem, because people will wonder, well, what would a second Bush administration look like? Would it be even further to the right? Colin Powell was the one voice in this Cabinet, the principal voice, that convinced a lot of Americans that George Bush wanted to govern, at least to some extent, from the center, that he balanced what a lot of moderates and Democrats see as zealots in the State Department, in the White House who are pushing a much more aggressive foreign policy.
With Powell gone, the administration looks more uniformly right- wing. WOODRUFF: And, Andrea, is that something that folks at the State Department are acutely aware of, shall we say?
KOPPEL: Well, I think that they are acutely aware of Secretary Powell's popularity, not just domestically, but also internationally. A lot of foreign governments are right now on pins and needles at the prospect that the lone voice of reason, that the one moderate voice, might not be there, if there is a second Bush term.
That said, Judy, I think that there's also the acknowledgment here at the State Department that this has been a very frustrating 2 1/2 years for them. There have been some modest successes. I think they point to the prospect of multilateral talks with North Korea as one. They point to the fact that President Bush brought the U.N. into the Iraq matter, even if he ended up going it alone or going with this coalition of the willing when push came to shove in March.
But this has been a really tough go for the State Department. A lot of the issues out there are ones that they feel their voice is not necessarily reflected.
WOODRUFF: And, Bill, who would the top names be for a second Bush term, if one were to happen, at the State Department?
SCHNEIDER: One hears two names mentioned very prominently. One is Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, who could follow the path set by Henry Kissinger, when he went from the White House national security adviser position to the secretary of state position. And that would be a breakthrough. She would not be the first woman. Madeleine Albright was the first woman. But she'd be the first African-American woman to hold that position. She'd be, I think, confirmed fairly easily.
The other name is Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense. And, believe me, if Bush is reelected and nominates Paul Wolfowitz, that would be a very controversial, contentious, even confrontational nomination, because he is seen as the epitome of the zealotry that drove the president into Iraq, to go it alone, to ignore the complaints from the rest of the world, the architect of the administration's Iraq policy.
And all those issues would come out if there were a confirmation hearing on Paul Wolfowitz.
WOODRUFF: So, to use a terrible weather analogy, this would turn from being a summer squall into a hurricane.
SCHNEIDER: If that's the case.
WOODRUFF: OK. We'll let that work itself out later.
Bill, thank you very much. Andrea, thank you, from the State Department. Thank you both.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
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 August 4, 2003 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, here in Washington, public officials and political pundits are buzzing about Secretary of State Colin Powell's future plans. "The Washington Post" reports today that Powell recently reaffirmed his intention to serve in the Bush Cabinet for no more than one term. Now, that prompted all sorts of speculation and efforts to read between the lines.
We're joined by our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel and by our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.
Andrea, to you first. Where did all this come from?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, it was unnamed officials in this "The Washington Post" piece. And today, publicly, in an unusual move, the spokesman's office issued a written statement today calling the "Post" article a summer squall, saying it was baseless and full of rumor and speculation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILIP REEKER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There were no conversations between the deputy secretary and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice concerning any plans for stepping down. There is no basis for the story, as I said. And as Secretary Powell has always said, he and the deputy secretary of state serve at the pleasure of the president and will continue to do so.
So welcome to Washington in August, where some of these goofy stories tend to hit the front pages. But there is no basis to that story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Denials aside, a Powell aide tells CNN, to his knowledge, there was a joking exchange between Deputy Secretary Armitage and Condoleezza Rice recently, in which Armitage told Ms. Rice, if she does move to the State Department -- quote -- "Don't expect any of us to be here," to give Ms. Rice a heads-up. That is what the purpose of this conversation was, according to this aide, that she's going to need continuity if there is a second term.
Now, perhaps, one of the reasons, Judy, there was such a strong reaction is, Powell's aversion to getting stuck in a lame-duck status. There are a number of different issues that are on, as many people know, on the foreign policy docket, everything from resolving the situation in Iraq and in Afghanistan to the Israeli Palestinian peace process and, of course, North Korea. And Secretary Powell intends to spend the next 17 months working hard, as he has all along and, as Philip Reeker laid out there, serving the president to the best of his abilities -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: So, Andrea, just to make sure I've got this straight, they're not denying that it has been Powell's intention all along to serve one term, but, on the other hand, they didn't necessarily want this statement out there right now.
KOPPEL: Well, publicly, the mantra is that Secretary Powell serves at the pleasure of the president. Privately, when you do talk to officials, of course they can't deny that Secretary Powell has been saying this for some time now, in fact, almost since the beginning of this administration, that he only ever intended to serve one term -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Let's bring Bill Schneider here, our senior political analysis.
Bill, why is this getting so much attention?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly isn't unusual for a Cabinet officer to serve only one term. In fact, it's typical. Very few serve more than one term.
I think the problem here is the timing. He's the first member of the Bush Cabinet to indicate, even if the story was leaked or wasn't pushed by anybody, but the indication is, he wont be there for a second term. No. 1, he is the only member of the Cabinet who is more popular than President Bush. And that is rare. No. 2, he's the leading voice of moderation in the Cabinet, particularly on international policy. A lot of moderates supported Bush because he indicated that Colin Powell would be in his government.
He was supposed to be, moderates expected, a break on the administration's Iraq policy. And, to some extent, he was, by insisting they follow the procedure in the U.N., until, at the last minute, they decided that they couldn't really -- they had to give up on that procedure. But he is still the leading voice of moderation. So, with him gone, a lot of moderates despair that there's any break in this administration.
WOODRUFF: So, is it a problem, Bill, for the president that Colin Powell is described as out there planning to leave in a year and a half?
SCHNEIDER: I think it's a little bit of a problem, because people will wonder, well, what would a second Bush administration look like? Would it be even further to the right? Colin Powell was the one voice in this Cabinet, the principal voice, that convinced a lot of Americans that George Bush wanted to govern, at least to some extent, from the center, that he balanced what a lot of moderates and Democrats see as zealots in the State Department, in the White House who are pushing a much more aggressive foreign policy.
With Powell gone, the administration looks more uniformly right- wing. WOODRUFF: And, Andrea, is that something that folks at the State Department are acutely aware of, shall we say?
KOPPEL: Well, I think that they are acutely aware of Secretary Powell's popularity, not just domestically, but also internationally. A lot of foreign governments are right now on pins and needles at the prospect that the lone voice of reason, that the one moderate voice, might not be there, if there is a second Bush term.
That said, Judy, I think that there's also the acknowledgment here at the State Department that this has been a very frustrating 2 1/2 years for them. There have been some modest successes. I think they point to the prospect of multilateral talks with North Korea as one. They point to the fact that President Bush brought the U.N. into the Iraq matter, even if he ended up going it alone or going with this coalition of the willing when push came to shove in March.
But this has been a really tough go for the State Department. A lot of the issues out there are ones that they feel their voice is not necessarily reflected.
WOODRUFF: And, Bill, who would the top names be for a second Bush term, if one were to happen, at the State Department?
SCHNEIDER: One hears two names mentioned very prominently. One is Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, who could follow the path set by Henry Kissinger, when he went from the White House national security adviser position to the secretary of state position. And that would be a breakthrough. She would not be the first woman. Madeleine Albright was the first woman. But she'd be the first African-American woman to hold that position. She'd be, I think, confirmed fairly easily.
The other name is Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense. And, believe me, if Bush is reelected and nominates Paul Wolfowitz, that would be a very controversial, contentious, even confrontational nomination, because he is seen as the epitome of the zealotry that drove the president into Iraq, to go it alone, to ignore the complaints from the rest of the world, the architect of the administration's Iraq policy.
And all those issues would come out if there were a confirmation hearing on Paul Wolfowitz.
WOODRUFF: So, to use a terrible weather analogy, this would turn from being a summer squall into a hurricane.
SCHNEIDER: If that's the case.
WOODRUFF: OK. We'll let that work itself out later.
Bill, thank you very much. Andrea, thank you, from the State Department. Thank you both.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
