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American Morning

Gasoline Prices Continue to Rise

Aired May 07, 2001 - 11:04   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: All right. Well, not only are we spending more time stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. We're also pouring a lot more money into our tanks to do it. Gasoline prices in the U.S. have soared to an all-time high. According to the latest Lundberg Survey, the national average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gas is $1.72. That's a per-gallon increase of nearly nine cents in just two weeks.

So does the White House have any plans to deal with these spiraling gas prices? Well, we check in now with CNN's senior White House correspondent John King to find out. John, are they saying anything?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They're saying a lot, Kyra, but nothing that will offer anybody who's lining up at the pumps right now or looking at that graphic you've just shown any short-term relief.

We asked about this this morning, this issue, at the morning meeting with the White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. Some retailers in California saying they're being told gas prices out on the West Coast might even hit $3 a gallon this summer.

What is the White House answer? Mr. Fleischer saying that quick fixes don't work and that the president won't answer the, quote, "siren song" of those who say you should either impose price caps or, say, release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or perhaps suspend federal gas taxes for a while. All those things were discussed last year in the presidential campaign. Mr. Bush opposed them all.

Instead, what he says this country needs is a long-term strategy, build more power plants for electricity purposes, build more refineries, drill more for oil domestically here in the United States so that there's more oil, not only more supply but more refineries to put more on the market. He says ultimately -- but it's five or 10 years away from now -- that will bring prices down.

The president very concerned, the White House says, calling rising gas prices tantamount to a tax increase on the American people. But what can the president do in the short term? This White House says very little, if anything at all -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, in addition to that topic, there are a number of other things the president is discussing. What's on his agenda for today and the rest of the week, John?

KING: Well, this afternoon, the president will give a speech here in Washington calling on the Congress to give trade promotion authority. It's a fancy title. What it does is it gives the president the authority to negotiate trade agreements overseas. The Congress would then have to vote yes or no, up or down, could not make amendments.

Mr. Bush says that is critical if he is to gain the authority and to be able to get trade agreements negotiated, especially the hemisphere-wide trade agreement he promised to negotiate when he went to Canada earlier in the month -- last month.

And Mr. Bush also watching closely as the Congress prepares to act tomorrow on his budget resolution. That includes the big tax cut President Bush wants, including a short-term retroactive tax cut that the White House says should help consumers a little bit as they feel the pain of those rising gas prices.

PHILLIPS: John King live at the White House. Thank you, sir.

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