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American Morning

Bush to Spell Out Vision for National Security Today

Aired May 01, 2001 - 10:12   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: National security is a key component of any country's international policy. Here in the U.S., it's an area where Mr. Bush was tested during his first 100 days in office. Our senior White House correspondent John King joins us now live from the White House with more details on that -- good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon.

And he will be tested even more significantly, perhaps, in the second 100 days in office. CNN is told that just this morning in advance of that speech this afternoon on missile defense and nuclear strategy that Jamie McIntyre talked about at the top of the show, President Bush reaching out and calling one of the biggest skeptics of the missile defense plan, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

We're told in the brief phone call Mr. Bush urged President Putin to be patient and give the United States plan a look. Mr. Putin, of course, has been very public in his criticism of the plan, believing it could lead to another international arms race.

Now this speech this afternoon and Mr. Bush -- in which Mr. Bush will make his case for the missile shield and for major reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal a reminder that for all the talk about tax cuts and education reform, in his first hundred, now hundred plus days in office, this president also looking to make his mark in international affairs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Wheels down Mexico, carefully choreographed first steps on the world stage. But just hours later, air strikes against Iraqi air defense facilities. This president, like so many before him, quickly tested in an arena in which he had little or no experience. This is one lasting image of the first 100 days, an introduction for Mr. Bush to the raw emotions of the global trade debate.

And once again, violent reminders from the Middle East that peace remains but a dream -- this the biggest international challenge so far, a U.S. surveillance plane on the ground in China after a midair collision, its crew held against its will, a new president and a new team caught off guard by China's hard line. CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We were very surprised, I think, because from our point of view, this was an emergency landing of an aircraft that had been rammed over international air space. And so what we really expected was that the Chinese would probably look at the plane and then return the crew.

KING: Instead, the stand-off lasted 11 days and not long after the crew came home, the president had a surprise of his own.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will do what it takes to help Taiwan defend herself and the Chinese must understand that.

KING: The Bush team called it no big deal, but it was a break from the deliberately vague language of U.S. presidents dating back more than 20 years.

LEE HAMILTON, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: The benign interpretation, the charitable interpretation is that it was a rookie mistake by a president responding to a question that he perhaps did not anticipate in a news interview and giving only a partial answer to a very complex policy question.

KING: The message here was continuity in a relationship both Washington and London term special. But European allies are skeptical of Bush plans for a new missile defense and upset he opposes the Kyoto treaty on global warming. South Korea's president walked away disappointed, told this White House was stepping back from the Clinton administration's approach to North Korea.

HAMILTON: I think you're seeing now in Europe and in Asia a certain unease with the president's foreign policy. It's not something that has gotten out of hand. It's not unmanageable, but I do think it's serious.

KING: The president's team says Mr. Bush should not be criticized for candor.

RICE: I think that our allies understand that. We are an administration that is realistic, that's straightforward and that really gives others the respect to tell them what we think and to listen to what they think. We're not always going to agree.

KING: There are more tests just ahead, selling missile defense to skeptical allies, trade with China to a skeptical Congress and two trips to Europe before his administration hits the 200 day mark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And by the time he makes those trips to Europe, the president hoping to have the details of the missile defense plan he will discuss in general today, details like a timetable, details like a budget. By then he also hopes to convince some of the skeptical allies and a very skeptical Russia as well that this is a good thing for the world, not a threat by the United States.

John King, CNN, reporting live from the White House.

HARRIS: All right, thank you, John.

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