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President Bush Announces Probe of Prewar Intelligence

Aired February 02, 2004 - 15:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, not a not so simple case of right versus wrong. The White House insists, "We got it right that Saddam Hussein was a grave and gathering threat." But in light of last week's banner quote from WMD sleuth David Kay, "We were all wrong." President Bush is announcing an outside commission to investigate prewar intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we don't know yet is what we thought and what the Iraqi Survey Group has found, and we want to look at that. But we also want to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction kind of in a broader context. And so I'm putting together an independent bipartisan commission to analyze where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the president's critics are questioning the word "independent." CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from the White House with the latest -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there is a lot of back and forth on this New independent commission, whose nine members, every single one of them, will be named by President Bush alone. That fact already has some Democratic critics crying foul.

Also, the president's spokesman, Scott McClellan, is insisting that President Bush this morning starting out this commission saying that he will be appointing them is indeed not tantamount to any sort of admission that the prewar U.S. intelligence on Iraq was wrong. McClellan says the commission's mandate, though, will be different from that of the other six panels investigating possible intelligence failures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: It is important that the commission's work is done in a way where it doesn't become embroiled in partisan politics. We want the commission to be able to take a broad look at our intelligence capabilities, particularly relating to the dangerous New threat we face from weapons of mass destruction and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. That's a very high priority for this administration in the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KOCH: To ensure that the panel's work remains non-political, administration sources tell CNN that its deadline will fall not this year but in 2005. It's what some call a shrewd move to take the findings out of this year's election cycle.

In another shrewd move, Mr. Bush had lunch today with former chief U.N. weapons inspector David Kay here at the White House. Mr. McClellan said that the President wanted to hear what Kay had learned and get his views. McClellan afterwards calling the meeting "constructive." But the president's spokesman would not comment, though, on whether or not Kay would be named a member of the commission.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thank you.

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 February 2, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, not a not so simple case of right versus wrong. The White House insists, "We got it right that Saddam Hussein was a grave and gathering threat." But in light of last week's banner quote from WMD sleuth David Kay, "We were all wrong." President Bush is announcing an outside commission to investigate prewar intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we don't know yet is what we thought and what the Iraqi Survey Group has found, and we want to look at that. But we also want to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction kind of in a broader context. And so I'm putting together an independent bipartisan commission to analyze where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the president's critics are questioning the word "independent." CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from the White House with the latest -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there is a lot of back and forth on this New independent commission, whose nine members, every single one of them, will be named by President Bush alone. That fact already has some Democratic critics crying foul.

Also, the president's spokesman, Scott McClellan, is insisting that President Bush this morning starting out this commission saying that he will be appointing them is indeed not tantamount to any sort of admission that the prewar U.S. intelligence on Iraq was wrong. McClellan says the commission's mandate, though, will be different from that of the other six panels investigating possible intelligence failures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: It is important that the commission's work is done in a way where it doesn't become embroiled in partisan politics. We want the commission to be able to take a broad look at our intelligence capabilities, particularly relating to the dangerous New threat we face from weapons of mass destruction and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. That's a very high priority for this administration in the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KOCH: To ensure that the panel's work remains non-political, administration sources tell CNN that its deadline will fall not this year but in 2005. It's what some call a shrewd move to take the findings out of this year's election cycle.

In another shrewd move, Mr. Bush had lunch today with former chief U.N. weapons inspector David Kay here at the White House. Mr. McClellan said that the President wanted to hear what Kay had learned and get his views. McClellan afterwards calling the meeting "constructive." But the president's spokesman would not comment, though, on whether or not Kay would be named a member of the commission.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thank you.

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