Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Bush in Europe: National Security Adviser Rice Discusses Policy Abroad

Aired June 15, 2001 - 09:23   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is in Poland today, where he is to deliver a major speech on his European policy.

For what we might expect, let's go to Warsaw and CNN senior White House correspondent John King, who's traveling with the president.

Hi -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Donna.

Travelling with the president and joined at this hour by Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser to President Bush. She joins us here, in Poland.

President Putin tomorrow -- the first meeting between these two leaders. It comes at an interesting time in U.S.-Russia relations.

Let's start with missile defense. For the United States to continue the research the president insists is necessary, you would either have to get amendments to the ABM Treaty -- the 1972 Anti- Ballistic Missile Treaty -- or the United States would simply have to walk away from that treaty. The Russians have been very skeptical about amending the treaty.

Where do you think President Putin is now as the two leaders sit down? Is there an openness?

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president will talk with President Putin about a lot -- the broader relationship, his vision for U.S.-Russian relations. And as a part of that, he'll talk about the importance of having a new security framework for the relationship, that the ABM Treaty belongs to another era.

Now, we know that the Russians are concerned about the transition from that old treaty to a new security framework. But this is an opportunity for the two presidents to explore it. We're not asking for any agreement from the Russians tomorrow. I think you'll find that the two presidents are going to spend most of the time getting to know each other.

We do believe that there is common ground. President Putin himself has recognized that there are new threats. He's recognized that ballistic missile defense might be a part of a strategy for dealing with those threats. That gives us common ground. I think we can move from there.

KING: At the NATO meeting two days back, some allies said they had an open mind and wanted to hear more about this. Others, particularly the French and the Germans, were skeptical -- President Chirac of France saying the ABM Treaty was the pillar of arms control right now. Does the administration need a cue from Mr. Putin to convince the skeptical Europeans that this is a debate worth having?

RICE: Well, I would characterize the North Atlantic Council meeting a little bit differently. I think that, yes, there were those who said they had an open mind. They appreciated the consultations, but needed to hear more. There were also those who said they really thought this was not just an interesting idea, but a fundamentally important idea, given that the world has changed. And everyone agreed that there were new threats to be addressed.

I think we were surprised at the receptivity, frankly. I think that it has moved since we've encountered most of these leaders -- leaders like the Spanish president who in both his press conference and at the NAC said, "Why would you not want to think about a new framework for the new threats?"; the Polish president who today and in the NAC supported what President Bush is trying to do; and perhaps most interestingly, Vaclav Havel, the great moral leader of the Czech rebellion, who said, "It's a moral case; we are a defensive alliance; we ought to look to defensive systems."

So I think it was more than just an open mind. It really did move forward during the trip.

KING: One of the president's arguments for this missile defense system is the proliferation of ballistic missiles around the world. Russia, according to senior administration officials, is continuing to sell missiles and missile technology to Iran. How will the president address that in his meeting with President Putin tomorrow?

RICE: Well, the president has had a concern, as we all have, about the Russian-Iranian relationship and about the fact that we believe that some of the things that the Russians are doing with the Iranians may lead to an increased danger of a proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to Iran, but it's something we can talk about openly.

We believe that we have a chance to make a new argument about this. We believe that the Russians will begin to understand that if this does go this way in Iran that they, too, could be range of that ballistic missile technology from Iran, and so we have a lot to talk about. But, you're right, it is an impediment to full cooperation, and so we do have to talk about these two issues together.

KING: I want to read to you words the president spoke just a short time ago about his expectations down the road for U.S.-Russia relations: "The definition of the relationship will evolve over time, but first and foremost, it's got to start with the simple word, friend." This is a government that is selling dangerous technology, to use your words, to Iran. There's been a recent crackdown on press freedoms. Some in the administration and elsewhere in the West question Mr. Putin's commitment to open democracy. Is he ready to be a friend? Does the United States want to call him a friend at this moment in time?

RICE: Well, I think what the president is sketching out here is a vision of how we would like this to be, and everything begins with a vision of how you would like it to be.

It's very clear in the president's words also that Russia has to make some choices, has to make choices that we believe would be the right choices about freedom of the press, about democratic institutions in Russia. It has to make the right choices about market-based reform. It has to make the right choices about dealing with its neighbors in a way that is respectful and that focuses on trade, not in a kind of 19th century imperial way.

So, obviously, there is work to do, mostly for the Russians, if they're going to really be a part of this Europe, and he doesn't mean that geographically. He means it in terms of values and traditions, and I think he believes that Russia has every reason to want to be there and the potential to be there, but the president would be the first to say the choices are really up to Russia.

KING: Let's touch quickly on a couple of other issues. At the NATO meeting, there was discussion that perhaps down the line, many of NATO believe it will be necessary for a NATO force to go into Macedonia where there has been months of civil strife and help the Macedonian government, perhaps even in the words of some, disarming the rebels.

Would the United States participate in such an operation? And where are we in that process? And what specifically could you envision a NATO force, including the United States, doing in Macedonia?

RICE: I think that would be a little far down the road. We really shouldn't speculate about what might happen down the road.

What I heard yesterday, or day before yesterday, at NATO was a commitment to the political process that is underway. The Unity government under President Trajkovski is trying to make some of the changes. We really would like to see the political process accelerated so that the legitimate concerns of the Albanian minority can be taken care of and so that the extremes can be further isolated. And that really is the game right now, is to try to get that to work.

We also have to remember that KFOR is along the Kosovo-Macedonia border and has in fact been interdicting arms that we think were feeding the Albanian extremists insurgency. And so, KFOR is doing its part. Right now, though, we all have to unite behind this plan to try and bring a political solution to what is a very difficult problem.

KING: OK, and the Middle East. The Israelis and the Palestinians have a very tentative cease-fire right now brokered by the CIA Director George Tenet after months of the president saying, "The parties first had to bring calm themselves, and then there would be a political dialogue."

First and foremost, what is your sense of the status of that cease-fire? Is it holding and are they doing enough to make it hold? And have we reached a point now since this was directly brokered by the Bush administration that if things go wrong, that you will have no choice but to stay involved at such a high level now, which is something the president initially didn't seem to want to do, at least not in such a public way?

RICE: Well, first to the status. I think we are all hoping that the cease-fire will continue. But the way that the cease-fire is going to continue is if the parties match the words with actions. There are some realistic things that need to be done to make the security situation better. And that's really what Tenet's mission was about. It was about concrete steps that the two security services could take together, concrete steps to make it a safer place. And then, you can move on to other phases.

And in that context, when the president said, "The parties have to be ready to engage." We really did believe that the Mitchell Commission report, when it was published, gave us an opportunity to now really engage the parties in something in which they were both committed, because they both found favor with the Mitchell Commission report. So this was very much in the line with the way that we've always been thinking. That you had to have some vehicle in which the parties themselves were invested. You could not impose something from the outside.

And so, this Mitchell Commission report if the cease-fire can hold, there are several stages moving on to a cooling off period. And then, ultimately, to confidence building measures and finally to talks about the peace again. We do believe that this is the way to go.

KING: Global warming, European Union leaders came out with a very blunt statement critical of the administration saying more research money like the president has promised and the administration review, as the president has ordered in place is not enough. That they say, it delays action too long on an issue they believe is very dangerous, global climate change.

How does the president react to that? Has it significantly strained relations with the Europeans? And what specifically will the administration do to try to curb those emissions?

RICE: On the contrary, it has not strained relations with the European leaders here. The president has had I think very constructive discussions with his European counterparts.

He's made very clear that he did not believe that the Kyoto treaty served America's interest because it really did not allow the American economy to grow. It did not bring developing countries into the system. The targets were not really based on real science. He made that clear. But he also made clear that we absolutely take seriously the issue of global climate change. We absolutely take seriously our responsibility.

Yes, we are 20 percent of the emissions. We're also 25 percent of the world's gross national product. So growth and environment have to go together. The president is committed to new answers to the question of how we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and he shared that with his colleagues.

I found it also a circumstance in which even though we did not agree, there was an understanding that he takes it seriously. And they talked last night at dinner about ways that we might move forward even if the United States is, as it continues to be, opposed to the Kyoto treaty.

KING: I want to close with a personal reflection. You were here in 1989 -- very different days in Poland, very different days in this part of the world -- with former President Bush, when you were on his staff.

Back here now with current President Bush, Poland is not only an open democracy, thriving in the streets here, but you were mentioning earlier something you saw as you were looking around the government buildings -- the NATO flag.

RICE: It was a little bit overwhelming to stand there for the opening ceremony, because I was here in 1989 when the future of this country was hanging in the balance, when the communists were still in power, but Solidarity was rising, and nobody knew what the future of Poland was going to be. We knew that the Poles wanted to make a choice to be a part of the West. No one was certain that they could make it. We knew that they wanted to make a choice for democracy, for markets. No one was certain they could make it. They've made it. And it's such a wonderful lesson and such a wonderful example to other countries.

And yes, as I stood there -- having been myself, by the way, a specialist on the old Warsaw Pact -- and to see the NATO flag flying side by side with the Polish flag, a flag that I understand flies 365 days a year because of Polish pride in being reintegrated into Europe. It really does speak to the art of the possible.

KING: Now, Russia is already objecting to having more countries so close joint NATO. Will that be a problem tomorrow in the meeting with Mr. Putin?

RICE: I think the president will say, as he will say in his speech, Russia should not fear Europe coming toward it. NATO is a defensive alliance. NATO is an alliance of democracies. And it is an alliance in which democratic states who have met the criteria really do belong.

And the president will make clear that he doesn't believe there should be any geographic or historical red lines against states, that he does believe it is the responsibility of states to make themselves ready for membership, but that enlargement is a good thing for Europe. It's a good thing for the world because NATO is the most successful peace-time alliance in modern history because it is an alliance of democracies.

KING: All right. Dr. Condoleezza Rice, we know you're busy. We appreciate your taking a few extra minutes with us. Thank you very much.

RICE: Thank you. Good to be with you.

KELLEY: John King, thanks very much.

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