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"Promises, Promises": Keeping America Safer; Bush Speaks in Derry, New Hampshire; Scott McClellan Responds to CBS News' Apology

Aired September 20, 2004 - 14:30   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: A black eye for CBS News: It admits it never should have put disputed documents regarding President Bush's military record on air.
Dan Rather issued an apology today, which reads, quote, "Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers."

Our Jeff Greenfield will have much more ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

A Senate committee wraps up a second hearing to consider President Bush's choice for CIA director. Porter Goss answered questions at the insistence of some Democrats who want to know how he would keep politics separate from his job.

President Bush is holding an "Ask Bush" event in Derry, New Hampshire. In addition to taking voter questions, Bush is expected to strike back at John Kerry's criticism of the president's war record in Iraq.

Earlier today, John Kerry accused Bush of misguiding Americans and creating a crisis of historic proportions in Iraq. Kerry made the comments in a speech at New York University. We'll have much more on the Bush and Kerry campaigns ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

One of the biggest complaints voters have during a presidential campaign is that they don't hear enough about the issues. And so, CNN begins a week-long series, "Promises, Promises, Five Days, Five Issues." We'll look at what the candidates promise to do and whether they can turn those promises into reality.

Our recent CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found that terrorism tied with the economy as the number one issue on voter's minds. Today's issue: Keeping America safe. CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two candidates, one message: I can keep the U.S. safer than the other guy. GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When it comes to making America safer -- we're moving forward, and we're not turning back.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we are going to make homeland security the kind of priority that it ought to be, not a political slogan.

WALLACE: Yet, despite the rhetoric, the two men have much in common. Both support the creation of a National Intelligence Director, overseeing the country's 15 intelligence agencies, and both promise to beef up border security, although neither explains exactly how he would pay for it with a budget deficit expected to reach more than $400 billion this year.

That said, there are differences. Senator Kerry promises to expand active duty forces by 40,000 troops, but he has not offered a detail plan on how he would accomplish that with U.S. forces already stretched thin. And Mr. Kerry says he, unlike Mr. Bush, would increase funding for first responders.

KERRY: I believe it's wrong to be opening firehouses in Baghdad and closing them down in the United States.

WALLACE: The president actually requested more than $3 billion last year for first responders, but the bill passed by Congress, which Mr. Bush chose not to veto, included just about $1 billion in new spending. Kerry did not vote on that measure; he was in the hospital recovering from surgery for prostate cancer.

BUSH: Today, because we're on the offensive for terrorist networks, the American people are safer.

WALLACE: What would President Bush do in a second term to keep America safe? He promises to restructure the military by bringing home some U.S. forces currently based in Europe and Asia.

BUSH: We'll deploy a more agile and more flexible force.

WALLACE: But his critics say such a move could frustrate U.S. allies needed in the fight against terrorism.

And the president promises to make permanent the Patriot Act, which strengthens the authority of law enforcement in the United States, but he faces opposition from some lawmakers, including his rival who voted for the measure but now says parts of it threaten individual rights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): So there you have two candidates, two approaches to homeland security -- an issue that every indication we have is it will likely be decisive in November. This, after all, the first presidential election since September 11th -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, speaking on issues, I got a couple questions for you, but I also want to let you know and our viewers know that President Bush is still speaking in Derry, New Hampshire.

As a matter of fact, he's talking about Iraq -- let's listen in -- and terrorism.

BUSH: We're safer because people now are free in Afghanistan, as well. Think about a society just three years ago in which these barbarians were -- they weren't allowing young girls to go to school. Amazing society, isn't it? Can you imagine growing up in a world -- you can't -- we can't possibly think that way in America.

I told you these people are just the opposite of us. We believe that every human being matters, that every soul counts. And yet, young girls were not allowed to go to school. Their mothers were executed in sports stadiums if they stepped out of line.

Today in Afghanistan, 10 million citizens, over 40 percent of whom are women, have registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election. What a fantastic -- and the world is better off for it. Nobody would have predicted that three years ago. Nobody could have envisioned after we went in that democracy would be on the march. Freedom is powerful.

I don't care what your religion is, I don't care where you live, freedom is a powerful concept. People long to be free in this world.

Another lesson of September the 11th -- another lesson is that we must take threats seriously before they fully materialize. Prior to September the 11th, if we saw a threat, we could deal with it if we felt like it or not, because we never dreamt it would come home to hurt us. So, we saw a gathering threat overseas, maybe it was something to pay attention to, maybe it wasn't.

Today that world changed. Today we got to take every threat seriously, because we saw the consequences of what can happen. We're still vulnerable.

So, I looked at the world and saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I tell you why I saw a threat. He was a sworn enemy of the United States of America. He had ties to terrorist networks. Do you remember Abu Nidal? He's the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. Leon Klinghoffer was murdered because of his religion. Abu Nidal was in Baghdad, as was his organization.

Zarqawi -- still in Baghdad creating havoc, in Baghdad. Trying to stop the march to democracy is what he's trying to do right now, but he was there.

Saddam Hussein was paying the families of suicide bombers. That's support for terror. He was dangerous. He also used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and against the country and his neighborhood.

Saddam Hussein was a threat. We had been to war with him once. Many politicians prior to my arrival in Washington had said we better -- it'd be naive to the point of grave danger not to confront Saddam Hussein. That would be Senator John Kerry -- naive to the point of grave danger.

I went to the Congress and said I see a threat. They looked at the same intelligence I looked at, the very same intelligence, and they came to the same conclusions I came to that Saddam Hussein was a threat, and they authorized the use of force.

My opponent looked at that intelligence -- as he had for many years, since he had been in Washington for a long period of time -- and voted yes when it came to the authorization to use of force. Before the commander in chief ever commits a troop in harm's way, we must try all options.

The decision to go war is the toughest -- by far the toughest decision I'll ever have it make, and I knew that. And that's why I went to the United Nations, because I was hoping that diplomacy would work. I knew we had to deal with a threat, but my hope was is that finally Saddam Hussein would listen to the free world.

And I stood up there and I laid out the case, and they looked at the intelligence and they voted 15-0 to say to Saddam Hussein disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. I believe when an international body say something for the sake of peace, they must mean what they say.

Saddam Hussein ignored the demands of the free world. This wasn't a first resolution he ignored. I think it was 17 resolutions -- 17 times the free world spoke, and he wasn't paying attention, because he was hoping we would look the other direction. Because he was hoping we would forget.

As a matter of fact, it is documented that he systematically deceived the inspectors the United Nations sent in. Diplomacy wasn't working. The world had given Saddam Hussein a chance -- a last chance to listen to the demands of the free world. And he made the decision, and so did I. I had to either trust a madman or -- forget the lessons of September 11th or take the tough decision to defend our country. Given that choice, I will defend America every time.

PHILLIPS: The president of the United States live in Derry, New Hampshire, an "Ask President Bush" event. Responding to, I guess you could say, pretty strong comments, pretty much an attack on his administration with regard to the handling of Iraq earlier today by his rival John Kerry. Now, Bush talked about terrorism, Afghanistan, the threat of Saddam Hussein.

Kelly Wallace and I had been talking just prior to taking the president there. Kelly, you're doing a series all week, "Promises, Promises," what these candidates are going to do, the promises they're making to make Americans feel safer in a new world -- I guess you could say -- with regard to terrorism.

We talked a lot about the soccer moms in 2000. Now you're saying we're talking about the security moms in 2004. Who are they going to vote for?

WALLACE: Well, it is interesting, because there's been so much attention to these women voters, and a lot of people talked about them in 2000, the soccer moms, what issues they were focusing on.

And there is this talk that they are now the security moms. That their single, most important issue is who is going to keep them safer, who's going to keep them, their families, their community safer? And it does appear, at least right now if you look at some of the polling, that President Bush is the one getting higher marks.

In the weekend "New York Times"/CBS News poll, about half of the registered voters in that poll said they had a great deal of confidence in President Bush preventing another terrorist attack against the United States. Only about 26 percent had that same feeling about John Kerry. And if you look in that weekend poll as well, there is a real gender gap now, but it's now President Bush leading with women voters, not Democrat Senator John Kerry.

So, some sense is that part of this issue, the security issue, is what is putting President Bush right now ahead of John Kerry when it comes to some women voters, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kelly, what will you have for us tomorrow?

WALLACE: Tomorrow -- it seems very timely -- we're going to focus on Iraq. You had Democratic Senator John Kerry speaking today. President Bush going before the United Nations General Assembly, a big speech, a lot expected to focus on Iraq.

So, we talk about what each candidate is planning to do in the future to try and restore the peace, and we try and assess whether they can turn their promises into realities -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Our Kelly Wallace -- one of our favorites, of course. "Promises, Promises," she's working on it all week. She'll be with us all week -- in addition to AMERICAN MORNING, bright and early at 7:00 a.m. Kelly, thanks so much.

WALLACE: Always a pleasure, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Iraq is also our "E-Mail Question of the Day." We want to know: Is Iraq the top issue for you in this election? E-mail us now at livefrom@cnn.com. We're going to read your comments in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And we just found out Dan Rather, talking about, of course, what we've been talking about all day today. His story airing on "60 Minutes II" about the CBS memos and how he's come forward saying, knowing what he knows now, he would have never pursued that story. Well, we just found out our Larry King has secured an interview with Dan Rather. That is tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

Photojournalist Eddie Adams survived assignments in 13 different wars, but lost his battle over the weekend to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was 71 years old. Adams gained a measure of immortality with a certain photograph, you may remember, of the 1968 execution of a Viet Cong prisoner in Vietnam. It won him the Pulitzer Prize, one of more than 500 honors that he received in his career.

Well, John Kerry is playing up the Iraq card in hopes of damaging President Bush's credibility in the final weeks before the election. But how important is foreign policy to American voters?

CNN's Jason Carroll took the question to the streets of New York. And just a note, this is not a scientific sample.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-Over): The morning commute into New York City from the suburbs: a cross-section of society sitting side by side, performing arts manager and attorney, Republicans, Democrat. Different views, but politically, there is agreement from the growing importance of U.S. foreign policy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, foreign policy is a little more important than the economy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It plays a role for me, because I'm looking at the war in Iraq and I'm looking at what hasn't been completed in Afghanistan.

CARROLL: Foreign policy is not only front-page news, it's on the forefront of how voters will be making decisions during the presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that we're taking a very bullying attitude. I think we need to work more diplomatically with other countries in the world. I think we're not going to win by force alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have lots of issue, but that's a great source of where our money's going right now and where our commitments are and our children are. I've got a son in the military, so...

CARROLL (on camera): So, this obviously means a great deal to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CARROLL (voice-over): A recent "New York Times"/CBS poll found 51 percent of voters have confidence in the president's ability to deal with an international crisis, versus 32 percent for Kerry. (INAUDIBLE) agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think George bush has come up with a plan. I don't know if it's a good one. He certainly seems to make a lot of mistakes.

CARROLL: But we found just as many who had not decided who has the better foreign policy plan. (on camera): Is there a particular candidate that you think is better equipped at handling a foreign policy crisis?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a good question. I'm not really sure if any of them really can handle what we need them to handle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm not seeing from Bush is just an accurate representation of the facts.

CARROLL: And from Kerry, what would you like to hear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just more of a structured plan.

CARROLL: You're a swing voter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a swing voter.

CARROLL: Haven't made a decision yet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

CARROLL: Not sure who's better at handling foreign policy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

CARROLL (voice-over): The days of foreign policy being a sleeper election issue, at least for now, long gone. But how it should be handled and who should be the one handling it still very much debatable.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan now addressing reporters, just moments ago, with regard to that CBS story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Those questions need to be looked into fully, and we hope that that is what will happen.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Scott, do you believe that the Kerry campaign had anything to do with releasing these documents? You had stated that before, but the president said he didn't know.

MCCLELLAN: Well, actually what I said, it's -- in terms of the questions here, those are questions that need to be answered in terms of who is responsible for being the source of these documents -- the original source of these documents.

The one thing that is not in question is the timing of these recent attacks on the president. It is clear that there's been an orchestrated effort by Democrats and the Kerry campaign to tear down the president and use old recycled attacks. And that's what this is. It's just an old, recycled attack. In terms of the actual source of the documents, CBS has said that that may be something that they will address later, that they're looking into the matter. They've got an independent committee that's going to look into this.

But Bill Burkett, the source who gave them the document, was previously claimed to be an unimpeachable source by CBS. And in fact, he is not an unimpeachable source. He is someone who has been discredited in the past for telling things that simply were not true and someone who has had a lot of contacts and involvement with Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But Scott, you don't dispute actually the contents of the documents themselves, the fact that when Lieutenant Bush was suspended from the Texas Air National Guard on August of 1972 that that did occur and it was connected to missing flight training?

MCCLELLAN: Actually, all those questions have been asked and answered in the previous campaign and in this campaign. It's been documented that the president fulfilled his obligations. That's why -- it's been documented that the president fulfilled his obligations, and that's why he was honorably discharged.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, it's not the contents of the documents that you're taking issue with. You're just saying the source of the documents...

MCCLELLAN: No, these -- all these questions -- I disagree with that. These questions have been asked and answered each and every campaign that the president has run. The president fulfilled his obligations. It's been documented, and that's why he was honorably discharged from the National Guard. And he's proud of his service in the Guard.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When it first came out, the CBS report first came out, the White House did not challenge the documents at that time and, in fact, e-mailed them out to the entire White House Press Corps. Does the white house bear any responsibility for kind of perpetuating the false documents?

MCCLELLAN: No, actually it was part of our spirit of being open about these documents. We've operated in a spirit of openness about all the documents that we've receive. We wanted the public to have them. We want the media to have them. And the media was able to go and look at these documents themselves.

And since that time, we have seen a number of serious questions have been raised by experts and by media organizations. And now, finally CBS is acknowledging that the crux of their story was based on information that was likely forged and came from a discredited source.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But the White House did not raise questions about the documents for days after the report, why...

MCCLELLAN: Actually, the questions started being raised pretty soon after the report aired -- within the next day. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But not by the White House.

MCCLELLAN: And we said that those are serious questions. They need to be looked into. We think they should be fully investigated, and there are a number of media organizations that already have been investigating this issue. It is a serious matter, and CBS itself said this raises serious and troubling questions. And we have been saying that for quite some time.

In terms of when we received the documents, they were given to us the very morning that a White House aide was going on the air, Dan Bartlett, to speak to CBS and respond to these question. Obviously in three hours' time, he doesn't have the ability to try and find out if the documents that supposedly came from a dead man were authentic.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you going to do your own investigation? Is the White House pursuing that?

MCCLELLAN: No, we are not. I don't think we have the ability to independently do that, but we appreciate the fact that a number of media organizations continue to look into this matter. We want the truth to come out. We want all these questions to be answered, because these are serious questions, and it's a serious matter that should be fully looked into.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you been contacted by anyone at CBS, Scott, and do they deserve -- does the president deserve an apology here by anyone?

MCCLELLAN: Well, I did see CBS's statement. They said that we deeply regret it. We appreciate the fact that CBS deeply regrets it. But there are still serious questions that we believe need to be answered, and we think they should be fully investigated.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But should they apologize to the president?

MCCLELLAN: Well, obviously, there are a number of questions that need to be answered. We look forward to seeing the results of the investigations that other media organizations have undertaken and CBS says that they're now undertaking. And we appreciate the fact that they have said they deeply regret it, but we still want to see those questions answered.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And Scott, just to be clear, the White House does not have any evidence linking the release of the forged documents to the Kerry campaign?

MCCLELLAN: Well, the timing is not in question, and the coordinated effort by the Democrats and the Kerry campaign to use these old, recycled attacks is not in question. That's been well documented by the media itself.

We've seen the Democratic National Committee create what they called Operation Fortunate Son. Operation Fortunate Son is initially an effort to use these old, recycled attacks to try to tear down the president.

The American people want to hear about the future. They would to know where the candidates stand on the critical issues, like the war on terrorism and the economy. The president is focused on how we lead going forward and the war on terrorism to make America safer. That's where this debate ought to be focus instead of these old, recycled attacks.

Operation Fortunate Son that the Democratic National Committee came up with for their orchestrated attack on the president is the name of a book, "Fortunate Son," that was written in the 2000 campaign by a convicted felon who was widely discredited after he came out with that book.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And do you expect the results of the CBS internal independent investigation will, in fact, lay the matter to rest?

MCCLELLAN: Well, there are others that are looking into this matter, as well. There are a number of media organizations that are investigating the matter and trying to answer these serious questions that have been raised. We hope CBS will be able to look into it fully and investigate it fully and get to the bottom of it, as well. Because it is a serious matter, and it raises a lot of questions.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There are some Republicans who suggest that CBS News, and Dan Rather in particular, had some sort of bent or a slant, that they were trying to slam the president. Do you believe that that is the case, or was it just simply a misjudgment?

MCCLELLAN: Well, look, today's announcement by CBS and their additional conversations with Mr. Burkett raise a number of serious questions. These are serious questions that are being raised. They need to be raised in terms of what contacts people had, what contacts did Mr. Burkett have with Democrats.

There are reports that he had senior-level contacts with members of the Kerry campaign. There are reports that he misled CBS on who the original source of the documents were. Those are serious questions.

Why did CBS rely on Bill Burkett, a previously discredited source, for this information? CBS said that he was an unimpeachable source. The fact is he is not an unimpeachable source. He is a discredited source from the past and someone who has been very involved with Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, Scott, it sounds like you're saying CBS wasn't -- they weren't misled. What would you call it?

MCCLELLAN: Again, these are serious questions that you are bringing up. They are questions that need to be looked into, and they need to be answered. We don't have the answers to those questions right now. We certainly hope that everybody that is looking into this will continue to pursue it and find out those answers. Because it is a troubling matter, as CBS said. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, you're not suggesting that CBS is complicit in this kind of fraud?

MCCLELLAN: I don't know the answers to all these serious questions that have been raised. I have no reason to believe that at this point, but there are a number of serious questions that have been raised, and they need to be answered.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any -- while we have you here, any other documents that know of?

MCCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any more documents you know of, of his Guard service...

MCCLELLAN: No, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, as you can see, responding for the first time to the CBS story on "60 Minutes II" regarding the fake documents criticizing President Bush's National Guard service.

Scott McClellan saying -- the question was asked if the Kerry campaign -- if he believes the Kerry campaign is the source of these documents. He says that is still in question. He went on to say but the timing is not in question of this story. He feels that this is an old, recycled attack on the president, it's coming up particularly during right before the election.

Also going on to say -- or asking about why CBS would rely on, what he says, a discredited source. Well, Dan Rather deciding to talk to our Larry King tomorrow, 9:00 Eastern. Probably a lot more -- number of those other questions will be answered tomorrow night.

"INSIDE POLITICS" up next. We'll see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 20, 2004 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A black eye for CBS News: It admits it never should have put disputed documents regarding President Bush's military record on air.
Dan Rather issued an apology today, which reads, quote, "Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers."

Our Jeff Greenfield will have much more ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

A Senate committee wraps up a second hearing to consider President Bush's choice for CIA director. Porter Goss answered questions at the insistence of some Democrats who want to know how he would keep politics separate from his job.

President Bush is holding an "Ask Bush" event in Derry, New Hampshire. In addition to taking voter questions, Bush is expected to strike back at John Kerry's criticism of the president's war record in Iraq.

Earlier today, John Kerry accused Bush of misguiding Americans and creating a crisis of historic proportions in Iraq. Kerry made the comments in a speech at New York University. We'll have much more on the Bush and Kerry campaigns ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

One of the biggest complaints voters have during a presidential campaign is that they don't hear enough about the issues. And so, CNN begins a week-long series, "Promises, Promises, Five Days, Five Issues." We'll look at what the candidates promise to do and whether they can turn those promises into reality.

Our recent CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found that terrorism tied with the economy as the number one issue on voter's minds. Today's issue: Keeping America safe. CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two candidates, one message: I can keep the U.S. safer than the other guy. GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When it comes to making America safer -- we're moving forward, and we're not turning back.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we are going to make homeland security the kind of priority that it ought to be, not a political slogan.

WALLACE: Yet, despite the rhetoric, the two men have much in common. Both support the creation of a National Intelligence Director, overseeing the country's 15 intelligence agencies, and both promise to beef up border security, although neither explains exactly how he would pay for it with a budget deficit expected to reach more than $400 billion this year.

That said, there are differences. Senator Kerry promises to expand active duty forces by 40,000 troops, but he has not offered a detail plan on how he would accomplish that with U.S. forces already stretched thin. And Mr. Kerry says he, unlike Mr. Bush, would increase funding for first responders.

KERRY: I believe it's wrong to be opening firehouses in Baghdad and closing them down in the United States.

WALLACE: The president actually requested more than $3 billion last year for first responders, but the bill passed by Congress, which Mr. Bush chose not to veto, included just about $1 billion in new spending. Kerry did not vote on that measure; he was in the hospital recovering from surgery for prostate cancer.

BUSH: Today, because we're on the offensive for terrorist networks, the American people are safer.

WALLACE: What would President Bush do in a second term to keep America safe? He promises to restructure the military by bringing home some U.S. forces currently based in Europe and Asia.

BUSH: We'll deploy a more agile and more flexible force.

WALLACE: But his critics say such a move could frustrate U.S. allies needed in the fight against terrorism.

And the president promises to make permanent the Patriot Act, which strengthens the authority of law enforcement in the United States, but he faces opposition from some lawmakers, including his rival who voted for the measure but now says parts of it threaten individual rights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): So there you have two candidates, two approaches to homeland security -- an issue that every indication we have is it will likely be decisive in November. This, after all, the first presidential election since September 11th -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, speaking on issues, I got a couple questions for you, but I also want to let you know and our viewers know that President Bush is still speaking in Derry, New Hampshire.

As a matter of fact, he's talking about Iraq -- let's listen in -- and terrorism.

BUSH: We're safer because people now are free in Afghanistan, as well. Think about a society just three years ago in which these barbarians were -- they weren't allowing young girls to go to school. Amazing society, isn't it? Can you imagine growing up in a world -- you can't -- we can't possibly think that way in America.

I told you these people are just the opposite of us. We believe that every human being matters, that every soul counts. And yet, young girls were not allowed to go to school. Their mothers were executed in sports stadiums if they stepped out of line.

Today in Afghanistan, 10 million citizens, over 40 percent of whom are women, have registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election. What a fantastic -- and the world is better off for it. Nobody would have predicted that three years ago. Nobody could have envisioned after we went in that democracy would be on the march. Freedom is powerful.

I don't care what your religion is, I don't care where you live, freedom is a powerful concept. People long to be free in this world.

Another lesson of September the 11th -- another lesson is that we must take threats seriously before they fully materialize. Prior to September the 11th, if we saw a threat, we could deal with it if we felt like it or not, because we never dreamt it would come home to hurt us. So, we saw a gathering threat overseas, maybe it was something to pay attention to, maybe it wasn't.

Today that world changed. Today we got to take every threat seriously, because we saw the consequences of what can happen. We're still vulnerable.

So, I looked at the world and saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I tell you why I saw a threat. He was a sworn enemy of the United States of America. He had ties to terrorist networks. Do you remember Abu Nidal? He's the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. Leon Klinghoffer was murdered because of his religion. Abu Nidal was in Baghdad, as was his organization.

Zarqawi -- still in Baghdad creating havoc, in Baghdad. Trying to stop the march to democracy is what he's trying to do right now, but he was there.

Saddam Hussein was paying the families of suicide bombers. That's support for terror. He was dangerous. He also used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and against the country and his neighborhood.

Saddam Hussein was a threat. We had been to war with him once. Many politicians prior to my arrival in Washington had said we better -- it'd be naive to the point of grave danger not to confront Saddam Hussein. That would be Senator John Kerry -- naive to the point of grave danger.

I went to the Congress and said I see a threat. They looked at the same intelligence I looked at, the very same intelligence, and they came to the same conclusions I came to that Saddam Hussein was a threat, and they authorized the use of force.

My opponent looked at that intelligence -- as he had for many years, since he had been in Washington for a long period of time -- and voted yes when it came to the authorization to use of force. Before the commander in chief ever commits a troop in harm's way, we must try all options.

The decision to go war is the toughest -- by far the toughest decision I'll ever have it make, and I knew that. And that's why I went to the United Nations, because I was hoping that diplomacy would work. I knew we had to deal with a threat, but my hope was is that finally Saddam Hussein would listen to the free world.

And I stood up there and I laid out the case, and they looked at the intelligence and they voted 15-0 to say to Saddam Hussein disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. I believe when an international body say something for the sake of peace, they must mean what they say.

Saddam Hussein ignored the demands of the free world. This wasn't a first resolution he ignored. I think it was 17 resolutions -- 17 times the free world spoke, and he wasn't paying attention, because he was hoping we would look the other direction. Because he was hoping we would forget.

As a matter of fact, it is documented that he systematically deceived the inspectors the United Nations sent in. Diplomacy wasn't working. The world had given Saddam Hussein a chance -- a last chance to listen to the demands of the free world. And he made the decision, and so did I. I had to either trust a madman or -- forget the lessons of September 11th or take the tough decision to defend our country. Given that choice, I will defend America every time.

PHILLIPS: The president of the United States live in Derry, New Hampshire, an "Ask President Bush" event. Responding to, I guess you could say, pretty strong comments, pretty much an attack on his administration with regard to the handling of Iraq earlier today by his rival John Kerry. Now, Bush talked about terrorism, Afghanistan, the threat of Saddam Hussein.

Kelly Wallace and I had been talking just prior to taking the president there. Kelly, you're doing a series all week, "Promises, Promises," what these candidates are going to do, the promises they're making to make Americans feel safer in a new world -- I guess you could say -- with regard to terrorism.

We talked a lot about the soccer moms in 2000. Now you're saying we're talking about the security moms in 2004. Who are they going to vote for?

WALLACE: Well, it is interesting, because there's been so much attention to these women voters, and a lot of people talked about them in 2000, the soccer moms, what issues they were focusing on.

And there is this talk that they are now the security moms. That their single, most important issue is who is going to keep them safer, who's going to keep them, their families, their community safer? And it does appear, at least right now if you look at some of the polling, that President Bush is the one getting higher marks.

In the weekend "New York Times"/CBS News poll, about half of the registered voters in that poll said they had a great deal of confidence in President Bush preventing another terrorist attack against the United States. Only about 26 percent had that same feeling about John Kerry. And if you look in that weekend poll as well, there is a real gender gap now, but it's now President Bush leading with women voters, not Democrat Senator John Kerry.

So, some sense is that part of this issue, the security issue, is what is putting President Bush right now ahead of John Kerry when it comes to some women voters, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kelly, what will you have for us tomorrow?

WALLACE: Tomorrow -- it seems very timely -- we're going to focus on Iraq. You had Democratic Senator John Kerry speaking today. President Bush going before the United Nations General Assembly, a big speech, a lot expected to focus on Iraq.

So, we talk about what each candidate is planning to do in the future to try and restore the peace, and we try and assess whether they can turn their promises into realities -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Our Kelly Wallace -- one of our favorites, of course. "Promises, Promises," she's working on it all week. She'll be with us all week -- in addition to AMERICAN MORNING, bright and early at 7:00 a.m. Kelly, thanks so much.

WALLACE: Always a pleasure, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Iraq is also our "E-Mail Question of the Day." We want to know: Is Iraq the top issue for you in this election? E-mail us now at livefrom@cnn.com. We're going to read your comments in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And we just found out Dan Rather, talking about, of course, what we've been talking about all day today. His story airing on "60 Minutes II" about the CBS memos and how he's come forward saying, knowing what he knows now, he would have never pursued that story. Well, we just found out our Larry King has secured an interview with Dan Rather. That is tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

Photojournalist Eddie Adams survived assignments in 13 different wars, but lost his battle over the weekend to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was 71 years old. Adams gained a measure of immortality with a certain photograph, you may remember, of the 1968 execution of a Viet Cong prisoner in Vietnam. It won him the Pulitzer Prize, one of more than 500 honors that he received in his career.

Well, John Kerry is playing up the Iraq card in hopes of damaging President Bush's credibility in the final weeks before the election. But how important is foreign policy to American voters?

CNN's Jason Carroll took the question to the streets of New York. And just a note, this is not a scientific sample.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-Over): The morning commute into New York City from the suburbs: a cross-section of society sitting side by side, performing arts manager and attorney, Republicans, Democrat. Different views, but politically, there is agreement from the growing importance of U.S. foreign policy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, foreign policy is a little more important than the economy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It plays a role for me, because I'm looking at the war in Iraq and I'm looking at what hasn't been completed in Afghanistan.

CARROLL: Foreign policy is not only front-page news, it's on the forefront of how voters will be making decisions during the presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that we're taking a very bullying attitude. I think we need to work more diplomatically with other countries in the world. I think we're not going to win by force alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have lots of issue, but that's a great source of where our money's going right now and where our commitments are and our children are. I've got a son in the military, so...

CARROLL (on camera): So, this obviously means a great deal to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CARROLL (voice-over): A recent "New York Times"/CBS poll found 51 percent of voters have confidence in the president's ability to deal with an international crisis, versus 32 percent for Kerry. (INAUDIBLE) agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think George bush has come up with a plan. I don't know if it's a good one. He certainly seems to make a lot of mistakes.

CARROLL: But we found just as many who had not decided who has the better foreign policy plan. (on camera): Is there a particular candidate that you think is better equipped at handling a foreign policy crisis?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a good question. I'm not really sure if any of them really can handle what we need them to handle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm not seeing from Bush is just an accurate representation of the facts.

CARROLL: And from Kerry, what would you like to hear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just more of a structured plan.

CARROLL: You're a swing voter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a swing voter.

CARROLL: Haven't made a decision yet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

CARROLL: Not sure who's better at handling foreign policy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

CARROLL (voice-over): The days of foreign policy being a sleeper election issue, at least for now, long gone. But how it should be handled and who should be the one handling it still very much debatable.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan now addressing reporters, just moments ago, with regard to that CBS story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Those questions need to be looked into fully, and we hope that that is what will happen.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Scott, do you believe that the Kerry campaign had anything to do with releasing these documents? You had stated that before, but the president said he didn't know.

MCCLELLAN: Well, actually what I said, it's -- in terms of the questions here, those are questions that need to be answered in terms of who is responsible for being the source of these documents -- the original source of these documents.

The one thing that is not in question is the timing of these recent attacks on the president. It is clear that there's been an orchestrated effort by Democrats and the Kerry campaign to tear down the president and use old recycled attacks. And that's what this is. It's just an old, recycled attack. In terms of the actual source of the documents, CBS has said that that may be something that they will address later, that they're looking into the matter. They've got an independent committee that's going to look into this.

But Bill Burkett, the source who gave them the document, was previously claimed to be an unimpeachable source by CBS. And in fact, he is not an unimpeachable source. He is someone who has been discredited in the past for telling things that simply were not true and someone who has had a lot of contacts and involvement with Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But Scott, you don't dispute actually the contents of the documents themselves, the fact that when Lieutenant Bush was suspended from the Texas Air National Guard on August of 1972 that that did occur and it was connected to missing flight training?

MCCLELLAN: Actually, all those questions have been asked and answered in the previous campaign and in this campaign. It's been documented that the president fulfilled his obligations. That's why -- it's been documented that the president fulfilled his obligations, and that's why he was honorably discharged.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, it's not the contents of the documents that you're taking issue with. You're just saying the source of the documents...

MCCLELLAN: No, these -- all these questions -- I disagree with that. These questions have been asked and answered each and every campaign that the president has run. The president fulfilled his obligations. It's been documented, and that's why he was honorably discharged from the National Guard. And he's proud of his service in the Guard.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When it first came out, the CBS report first came out, the White House did not challenge the documents at that time and, in fact, e-mailed them out to the entire White House Press Corps. Does the white house bear any responsibility for kind of perpetuating the false documents?

MCCLELLAN: No, actually it was part of our spirit of being open about these documents. We've operated in a spirit of openness about all the documents that we've receive. We wanted the public to have them. We want the media to have them. And the media was able to go and look at these documents themselves.

And since that time, we have seen a number of serious questions have been raised by experts and by media organizations. And now, finally CBS is acknowledging that the crux of their story was based on information that was likely forged and came from a discredited source.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But the White House did not raise questions about the documents for days after the report, why...

MCCLELLAN: Actually, the questions started being raised pretty soon after the report aired -- within the next day. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But not by the White House.

MCCLELLAN: And we said that those are serious questions. They need to be looked into. We think they should be fully investigated, and there are a number of media organizations that already have been investigating this issue. It is a serious matter, and CBS itself said this raises serious and troubling questions. And we have been saying that for quite some time.

In terms of when we received the documents, they were given to us the very morning that a White House aide was going on the air, Dan Bartlett, to speak to CBS and respond to these question. Obviously in three hours' time, he doesn't have the ability to try and find out if the documents that supposedly came from a dead man were authentic.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you going to do your own investigation? Is the White House pursuing that?

MCCLELLAN: No, we are not. I don't think we have the ability to independently do that, but we appreciate the fact that a number of media organizations continue to look into this matter. We want the truth to come out. We want all these questions to be answered, because these are serious questions, and it's a serious matter that should be fully looked into.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you been contacted by anyone at CBS, Scott, and do they deserve -- does the president deserve an apology here by anyone?

MCCLELLAN: Well, I did see CBS's statement. They said that we deeply regret it. We appreciate the fact that CBS deeply regrets it. But there are still serious questions that we believe need to be answered, and we think they should be fully investigated.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But should they apologize to the president?

MCCLELLAN: Well, obviously, there are a number of questions that need to be answered. We look forward to seeing the results of the investigations that other media organizations have undertaken and CBS says that they're now undertaking. And we appreciate the fact that they have said they deeply regret it, but we still want to see those questions answered.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And Scott, just to be clear, the White House does not have any evidence linking the release of the forged documents to the Kerry campaign?

MCCLELLAN: Well, the timing is not in question, and the coordinated effort by the Democrats and the Kerry campaign to use these old, recycled attacks is not in question. That's been well documented by the media itself.

We've seen the Democratic National Committee create what they called Operation Fortunate Son. Operation Fortunate Son is initially an effort to use these old, recycled attacks to try to tear down the president.

The American people want to hear about the future. They would to know where the candidates stand on the critical issues, like the war on terrorism and the economy. The president is focused on how we lead going forward and the war on terrorism to make America safer. That's where this debate ought to be focus instead of these old, recycled attacks.

Operation Fortunate Son that the Democratic National Committee came up with for their orchestrated attack on the president is the name of a book, "Fortunate Son," that was written in the 2000 campaign by a convicted felon who was widely discredited after he came out with that book.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And do you expect the results of the CBS internal independent investigation will, in fact, lay the matter to rest?

MCCLELLAN: Well, there are others that are looking into this matter, as well. There are a number of media organizations that are investigating the matter and trying to answer these serious questions that have been raised. We hope CBS will be able to look into it fully and investigate it fully and get to the bottom of it, as well. Because it is a serious matter, and it raises a lot of questions.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There are some Republicans who suggest that CBS News, and Dan Rather in particular, had some sort of bent or a slant, that they were trying to slam the president. Do you believe that that is the case, or was it just simply a misjudgment?

MCCLELLAN: Well, look, today's announcement by CBS and their additional conversations with Mr. Burkett raise a number of serious questions. These are serious questions that are being raised. They need to be raised in terms of what contacts people had, what contacts did Mr. Burkett have with Democrats.

There are reports that he had senior-level contacts with members of the Kerry campaign. There are reports that he misled CBS on who the original source of the documents were. Those are serious questions.

Why did CBS rely on Bill Burkett, a previously discredited source, for this information? CBS said that he was an unimpeachable source. The fact is he is not an unimpeachable source. He is a discredited source from the past and someone who has been very involved with Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, Scott, it sounds like you're saying CBS wasn't -- they weren't misled. What would you call it?

MCCLELLAN: Again, these are serious questions that you are bringing up. They are questions that need to be looked into, and they need to be answered. We don't have the answers to those questions right now. We certainly hope that everybody that is looking into this will continue to pursue it and find out those answers. Because it is a troubling matter, as CBS said. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, you're not suggesting that CBS is complicit in this kind of fraud?

MCCLELLAN: I don't know the answers to all these serious questions that have been raised. I have no reason to believe that at this point, but there are a number of serious questions that have been raised, and they need to be answered.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any -- while we have you here, any other documents that know of?

MCCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any more documents you know of, of his Guard service...

MCCLELLAN: No, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, as you can see, responding for the first time to the CBS story on "60 Minutes II" regarding the fake documents criticizing President Bush's National Guard service.

Scott McClellan saying -- the question was asked if the Kerry campaign -- if he believes the Kerry campaign is the source of these documents. He says that is still in question. He went on to say but the timing is not in question of this story. He feels that this is an old, recycled attack on the president, it's coming up particularly during right before the election.

Also going on to say -- or asking about why CBS would rely on, what he says, a discredited source. Well, Dan Rather deciding to talk to our Larry King tomorrow, 9:00 Eastern. Probably a lot more -- number of those other questions will be answered tomorrow night.

"INSIDE POLITICS" up next. We'll see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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