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American Morning

President Holds Press Meeting About European Trip

Aired June 18, 2001 - 09:35   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to bring you videotape now that we just received from the White House. President Bush meeting just moments ago with Secretary of State Colin Powell, talking about Mr. Bush's recent trip to Europe. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: .. Europe, and I had some conversations today with the president from Spain, the prime minister of Britain and the president of Poland to brief them on my conversations with President Putin.

The conversation with President Putin was positive. It indicated to me that we can have a very frank and honest relationship but that there's areas where we can work together, and I shared with those three leaders the summary of my discussions with him.

They were most pleased that the conversation went well. They were pleased to hear that the United States welcomes Russia to look westward, and we hope Russia will do so, and they were pleased to hear that we're going to send some delegations over to Russia to have an economic dialogue.

And so the secretary is here today where we can follow up and to put an action plan in place to take advantage of the cooperation that I'm confident can exist.

QUESTION: Mr. President, I was wondering what your level of confidence is (OFF-MIKE) one of your political advisers, Mr. Rove. It seems some Republicans have voiced displeasure about some of the issues, the decisions he was involved in recently, Vieques among them, as well as the call for an investigation (OFF-MIKE). I just wonder what your level of confidence is?

BUSH: My level of confidence with Karl Rove has never been higher. He's a man who gives me sound advice. He adheres to the ethical rules of our government, and he's doing a great job on behalf of the American people.

QUESTION: Mr. President, President Putin is now warning that the situation in Macedonia shows signs of becoming another sort of Kosovo, in particular, he's called for closing the borders between Kosovo and Macedonia -- (OFF-MIKE) and Macedonia. Are those steps that you would support? And what do you think can be done to avoid having the sort of U.S.-Russian tensions that occurred during the Kosovo crisis?

BUSH: Well, we strongly believe we need to shut off the border between Kosovo and Macedonia. As a matter of fact, our troops who participate in KFOR are doing just that.

President Putin also believes that we ought to all work together to achieve a political solution. And the secretary of state -- he'll be glad to comment on that -- has worked very closely with Mr. Trajkovski as well as the legitimate Albanians, those who aren't extremists; those who want the government to work.

We are -- as you know, there was a meeting over the weekend, right before the weekend, where the democratically-elected officials in Macedonia met to determine how best to fashion a constitution that meets the minority needs. We strongly support that process.

I believe we can work with the Russians. We share the same interest, which is a stable Macedonia. Our governments understand that a Macedonia that is fractured and where extremists are able to make headway is -- it will create instability in the region.

QUESTION: Mr. President, can you comment, sir, on the reports out of (OFF-MIKE) that the FBI investigators there looking into the bomb of the USS Cole are leaving the area?

BUSH: I am not in the position to make comments on that right now. Once we finish our full investigation, our government will be willing to discuss that.

QUESTION: Are (OFF-MIKE)?

BUSH: I would rather not comment about ongoing investigations, particularly in regard to the security of the country.

QUESTION: With the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meeting on the California power crisis, price crisis today, are you still as firmly opposed, as you've said in the past, to mandatory, strict price controls?

BUSH: I am, because price controls do not create additional supply, nor do they reduce demand. I think price controls would not benefit the California consumer.

It wouldn't help solve the problem. I'm interested in seeing what the FERC comes up with. They're not talking about firm price controls. They're talking about a mechanism to, as I understand it, a mechanism to mitigate any severe price spike that may occur, which is completely different from price controls.

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: I want to see what they have to say. I haven't had a chance to fully look at what their proposal is. As you know, it's an independent organization. And although I've had the opportunity of naming two members, I believe, to the FERC, they are independent. They know full well my administration's belief that price controls will not solve the problem. And a lot of folks in California understand that as well. Again, I repeat: Price controls do not increase supply, nor reduce demand, and that's precisely what is needed in the state of California.

Thank you, all.

KAGAN: A moment there with President Bush, that tape turnaround from the White House. Final comments there on the energy situation in California, but the president, to his right sitting with Secretary of State Colin Powell. They're there today to talk about follow-up to the president's visit to Europe, particularly about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he described as frank and honest and trustworthy. Some of his critics on Capitol Hill, some of President Bush's critics on Capitol Hill saying trustworthy might be too generous of a word to use toward the Russian president.

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