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Analysis of Presidential News Conference

Aired June 14, 2006 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You're looking at live pictures of the president as he departs from the Rose Garden, speaking for almost an hour to reporters assembled there. Giving them some perspective on his quick surprise trip to Baghdad yesterday. He came back early this morning.
Also a lot of his remarks focusing on the new prime minister al- Maliki, really as he just put together his cabinet. The president reiterated really what we heard from John King was that he made the trip in order to see in person, kind of eyeball to eyeball, with the new leadership and his cabinet as well. The president also said his goal was to thank the embassy staff because they have very difficult jobs and to thank the troops who are serving in Iraq as well.

Let's begin with Suzanne Malveaux. She is watching this morning from the White House. Let's talk a little about some of the key points you think the president made in what was a fairly long Q&A session for him.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, sure, Soledad.

Obviously you saw kind of a sleep-deprived president after his long travels, asking a couple times to repeat questions. But he did made it very clear, and this is what really stands out in all of this, three years after the war the president is still trying to convince the American people that the effort was worth it. We heard the president say, point blank, al Qaeda is real. That he gets it. That he understands the stakes. That he is trying to turn the tide here with public opinion, with members of Congress, of course, so that they're not -- the Republicans are not hurt in those mid-term elections.

And what is different about today is that really the administration's strategy is building on this momentum. They are turning the corner here, putting the burden of the Iraqi government clearly the responsibility of Iraqi people on the new leadership.

But you heard the president talking about new initiatives. This Operation Together Forward, building a way to secure Baghdad. We also heard a way of building international aid compact. Something very much like we see in Afghanistan, asking allies to contribute to this effort. And finally moving forward saying, look, I'm going to bring in and invest my own people -- secretaries of commerce, treasury, agriculture -- to go to Baghdad, to go to Iraq, to give them the kind of resources that they need.

Soledad. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Suzanne, thanks for the insight.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Chief National Correspondent John King in Washington, John Vause in Baghdad, Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley in Washington, Capitol Hill Correspondent Dana Bash all standing by right now for further analysis of what we just heard.

Let's begin with John King. He was on the plane with the president.

What was interesting to me was the president said at one point that -- well, he confessed to not being certain or having a certainly amount of doubt about the Iraqi prime minister and that fledgling government over there and he felt it was very important for him to have this face-to-face meeting with him. Did he talk about that much on the plane afterwards as well?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did, Miles.

This is a president who likes to engage in face-to-face, eyeball- to-eyeball diplomacy, number one. And consider the stakes here. This is the Iraqi government that is already out publicly saying it believes you'll be able to reduce U.S. troop levels from about 130,000 now to 100,000 by the end of the year and then perhaps cut them in half again in 2007.

The president says that's great that they want to set those benchmarks. But if he reduces troop levels, if the situation is not right, if the Iraqis are not capable of providing security, he would be putting the remaining U.S. troops at risk, let alone putting the Iraqi government at risk. So the president says as the government sets these goals, he hopes to listen to it, he wants to listen to them, but he needs to know that he can trust them. That is why he wanted to have this eyeball-to-eyeball discussion.

And you heard the president talking about it there in the news conference. He said, I sense something different in Iraq. He believes this is a government that does have a plan and, more importantly in this view, has a legitimacy with the Iraqi people. But he also said the American people want to know we can win and they want -- their answer when the president says I think it's getting better is show me. The show me is the burden on the new Iraqi government and that is the biggest challenge facing the government. His fate, if you will, politically is in the government of Iraq's hands in some ways.

MILES O'BRIEN: I suppose that show me goes in both directions.

John Vause in Baghdad.

The president talking about how the Iraqis really feel as if they need assurances that the United States is going to be there and be there consistently. As the president pointed out, the debate that is raging right now in this country about the war is heard loud and clear in Baghdad and that, obviously, creates a certain amount of uncertainty as this fledgling government tries to take root.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. To the average Iraqi, the presence of all the U.S. forces here and coalition forces in general is, obviously, of great comfort to them, especially in the midst of the violence. And also hearing from the president today talking about that security plan, saying that he senses something different. This new Iraqi government taking hold, addressing the issues, which is especially the most crucial issue for many Iraqis especially here in Baghdad, the ongoing violence. We heard the president taking up that security plan as an example of this government under the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, taking charge of one of the most vital issues for all the people in Iraq.

We heard the president also saying it upsets me when I see the loss of innocent life on television. Well, he would have been upset quite a bit in recent weeks, especially with the upswing in violence here in Baghdad and also across the country. One of the reasons why this new government has put this new security plan into place.

It's just the first day of it. Not quite the crackdown that everyone had expected. It seems to be a slow approach with checkpoints and a visible presence. Not the all-out confrontation with the Sunni insurgency and the militia groups in Baghdad.

There's no reason not to expect that that will not happen sometime in the future. This is being described as a strategic plan by the prime minister. One which will take time, days and weeks. That will not take place in just simply hours.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: John, the way the president had to arrive there in Baghdad, under such tight security, the low chopper flight and all the things that went associated with it, the surprise factor, underscores how dangerous a place Iraq is. He conceded that point here. To what extent -- security crackdown, notwithstanding. To what extent was yesterday and today like any other day in Iraq?

VAUSE: Well, it was. I mean we had dead bodies piling up outside the green zone as we have on a daily basis. Not just in Baghdad, but throughout the entire country. And for people who live here, for people who want to go out shopping, who want to go to schools, who want to go to work, who simply want to take a walk outside, it really is a matter of taking your life into your own hands.

And coming into that airport, the president was lucky. He had security. But for many other people who arrive at that Baghdad airport, especially take that drive from Baghdad International Airport into the city, it is a terrifying trip and one which could ultimately cost you your life and it has happened on many occasions.

Now a lot has been done to sure that road. It was notorious, but that's just part of the everyday here for people who do live in Baghdad. And, of course, to says nothing of the outlying areas where the situation is just as bad, in some cases worse. Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: John Vause in Baghdad. Thank you.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Let's get to Dana Bash. She's on Capitol Hill this morning.

You know we heard a couple of times, Dana, the president sort of framed the debates that we're going to hear from Democrats. Which is essentially he'd say, well, you know, some people think we should cut and run. I mean you get the feeling that the GOP is coming off a very strong week and now they've got the upper hand, they're going to show everybody. Is that a fair assessment?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very fair. You're exactly dead on, on that, Soledad.

What was really interesting is when the president was asked about the mid-term election. The very first thing he said is, the big issue is going to be who's got the plan on Iraq. Well, that's what the president, what Karl Rove and what Republicans here in Congress want that issue to be when it comes to Iraq.

Look, they know Iraq is going to be on the ballot. It's a humongous issue in these mid-term election. So they are really trying hard, feverishly, to re-frame the debate exactly that way. Trying to say, look, who's got a plan? Essentially you think you don't like what we're doing? Well, what do the Democrats offer? And the reason they're doing that is because the Democrats, quite simply, are not unified on this and they'll be -- the leaders will be the first one to admit that.

And what we are seeing even as the president was speaking, Soledad, the House Democrats were having their weekly caucus meeting and they were discussing, wait a minute, how do we actually get a unified message on it? And it's very difficult. The Republicans are forcing votes on the House side and there will likely be votes on the Senate side this week essentially on that one issue that President Bush was talking about and that is whether or not it is a good thing or a bad thing to withdraw U.S. troops and when?

And the Democrats simply don't have it together on that. And it will be interesting to see whether or not they can come up with something. Certainly, Soledad, Republicans want that to be the issue.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: So the president exploiting that rift . . .

BASH: Absolutely.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Which I think it's fair to call it, in his remarks.

Let's turn to Candy Crowley now.

Candy, as we go, so goes the president. I mean is it fair to say that a strong week can reverse a slide in the polls?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not going to completely reverse it. It may, in fact, have stopped the hemorrhaging. We're seeing some signs in the polls, in fact, that the president has bottomed out. But, you know, they've said that several times and then it's gone down. So much of this depends on something the president's not in control of, and that is what happens on the ground in Iraq.

I think what the president tried to do in this news conference, he summed up for us very nicely in that final answer when he said, look, this war was necessary, it was worth it, and will succeed. So those were the three things. That's where the poll number, those low poll numbers, are coming from, is the American people thinking, was this worth it, it doesn't look like we're going to succeed and we can't win.

So everything in that press conference -- I've got a plan, the Iraqis have a plan, we're moving forward, steady progress is being made -- was designed to address those three questions which are the main questions that at least are not on the ballot specifically but certainly on all the voters' minds as they go to the polls this November.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It certainly felt as if that message was being hit again and again and again and again in the president's nearly one- hour long remarks.

Candy, thank you.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: That's about all the time we have for this extended edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We thank you for being with us. We're going to take a break. And when we return, Daryn Kagan will take it away with CNN LIVE TODAY. Thanks for being with us.

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DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Daryn Lagan.

Let's spend a little bit more time talking about the president's news conference and his surprise trip to Baghdad. A surprise to most of the country. Not to our John King, however, who was along for the ride as the pool reporter. And John joining us now from Washington, D.C.

John, we've heard a lot about the news conference and the trip. I'd like to hear the behind-the-scenes story of how you found out about the trip, which, of course, was about a day before the rest of America did.

KING: I was having one of those thing we rarely get at CNN, a relaxing Sunday afternoon, enjoying the sunshine.

KAGAN: That's news alone. KING: It was a beautiful day here in Washington, D.C. And I got first an e-mail from Dan Bartlett, the senior aide to the president, asking me if I was reachable. I shot him my cell phone number.

He called me and asked if I could come see him. First he asked me if I'd come to the White House and he asked me if I would be noticed by my CNN colleagues and I said they probably would notice me, they would probably ask questions. So we agreed to meet off campus at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. at which point he told me, and his deputy, Nicole Wallace (ph), the communication director was with him.

And they said the president's going to Baghdad. We need to arrange a secret pool. We want you to be the TV reporter because you know our drill from having covered the White House for too long. And so that was the beginning of it from there.

The plan was that we would meet Monday night, flight overnight Monday and, of course, be on the ground for about six hours. It turned out to be a little under five hours in Baghdad.

KAGAN: And you've taken more presidential trips than you can count, I know. How would you compare this one?

KING: Well, this is, obviously, a very different kind of trip in that you're traveling -- my boss here, my bureau chief knew I was going. We had a crew with us. But that's about it.

And the idea being that you're not supposed to report back until they tell you. Originally we were supposed to be able to report back as soon as we landed in the green zone. Then they said General Casey on the ground was worried because once it was out to the world that the president was on the ground in Baghdad, anyone, it's the president, just said he's considered a high-value target. Anyone who wanted to take a shot at him literally would know exactly where he was.

So they asked us to wait a little while. But then news broke on Iraqi state television and Tony Snow, the press secretary, Dan Bartlett, the counselor, were actually with us at the temporary U.S. embassy at the moment word broke on Iraqi television and they told us, phone home, tell them you're here.

KAGAN: And then on the way home, what was that like when the president comes back and you have a chance to visit with him?

KING: Well, they were most worried about our departure because, of course, everyone would know that the president had been on the ground in Baghdad for some time. So the plan was designed, the schedule was designed to have him leave under the cover of darkness.

It was a little tense going out. We were worried a little bit. There was one radio report of gunfire in the area. Air Force One took off, not like the normal slope of a 747 but, whew, up we went in complete darkness. There were no lights on the plane. All the window shades were down. No lights as we taxied off the airport. They were told turn nothing on that could give off a signal that could be traced in any way.

And then the president did call us up once the lights were on. It was about 36 minutes of questions and answers and he was very much like he was today at that news conference. I think he's perhaps a little bit more tired now than he was then. He was energized, I think, with adrenaline.

And his point was, I wanted to look this man in the eye. He called the new prime minister a quiet fellow but a confident fellow. The president said his biggest question was, when you put the Shia, the Sunni, the Kurds all in one room with this unity government, can they truly put the bitterness of the past, the rivalries of the past, the violence of the past behind them and move forward? And the president said he's quite confident that they can.

It's a risk for the president to be so confident, Daryn, because he has been optimistic in the past only to be disappoint by what has happened in Iraq from a political standpoint, from a security standpoint. Obviously the rising U.S. death toll. But he's quite optimistic right now. He wouldn't say it's a turning point, but he said he thought we were at least approaching that turning point. And if this new government can deliver, the president believes that it will be viewed legitimately by the Iraqi people, support for the insurgency will go down and then he can start thinking seriously about significant troop reductions.

KAGAN: Well, the president challenging those reporters and they can't appreciate the jet lag. We know that's not true with you. That you really can. It's been a long day and a half. So we're going to let you go and get some sleep and maybe even a shave.

KING: Sleep is overrated. I did get a shave before the news conference.

KAGAN: Oh, you did.

KING: I thought out of respect for the president, I better work in a quick shave.

KAGAN: Very nice. You're a good American. Thank you, John King in Washington, D.C.

KING: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Our coverage continues. She has been to battle with the troops in Iraq. Now CNN's Arwa Damon is right here with me in Atlanta with her unique perspective. She'll visit with me in just a bit here on LIVE TODAY.

Also, fancy champaign, a tropical vacation, season football tickets? Sounds pretty good, right? But hold on, we're talking about aid to hurricane victims. It's FEMA at work again and you are paying the bill. Keep it here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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