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American Morning
Weapons Inspections on Hold
Aired October 04, 2002 - 07:03 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is meeting today with key members of the Bush administration. Bowing to pressure from the U.S. and Britain, Mr. Blix is now agreeing to delay the return of weapons inspectors until he gets new instructions from the Security Council.
With a preview of today's meetings in Washington, Kelly Wallace joins us now live from the White House.
Good morning -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, White House officials are very pleased with Blix's decision. It gives the administration more time to achieve something it has failed to get so far, and that is a tough, new U.N. resolution spelling out the consequences if Iraq does not comply with U.N. disarmament demands.
Now, the State Department invited Blix to come to Washington. The goals for this meeting are really two-fold: No. 1, hearing firsthand just what he learned from Iraqi officials when he met with them in Vienna earlier this week, and No. 2, telling him not to take "no" for an answer.
A senior State Department official telling CNN the administration will tell Blix that he and his inspectors need to go anywhere, anytime they want to go when and if they get inside Iraq, and that the U.S. will support them in that effort.
Now, Blix will be meeting at the State Department today with Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice. There are no plans for Blix to come here to the White House and to meet President Bush.
U.S. officials are hoping this meeting today, along with the meetings yesterday up at the U.N. between Blix and other Security Council members, will help get an agreement for a tough, new inspections regime, because it is the view of this administration that if the inspectors go in now, they will be nothing more than tourists who will get the runaround -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, give us a better idea of what the give-and-take might be later today. The administration wanting to know from Hans Blix what else he needs? WALLACE: Exactly. It wants to get a sense of exactly what he will need to do his job, what more the U.S. and the international community can do, what guidelines they can set out, so that this next round of inspections will be effective.
But clearly, Paula, there's a lot of diplomacy here. The administration hoping for more time, hoping that as Blix has chosen to delay going back inside Iraq, it gives them more time to get this new resolution. And as you know, it's a real uphill battle right now. Countries like France and Russia still not signing on to anything that would imply military action right now if Iraq does not comply -- Paula.
ZAHN: Kelly Wallace, thanks so much -- appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 4, 2002 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is meeting today with key members of the Bush administration. Bowing to pressure from the U.S. and Britain, Mr. Blix is now agreeing to delay the return of weapons inspectors until he gets new instructions from the Security Council.
With a preview of today's meetings in Washington, Kelly Wallace joins us now live from the White House.
Good morning -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, White House officials are very pleased with Blix's decision. It gives the administration more time to achieve something it has failed to get so far, and that is a tough, new U.N. resolution spelling out the consequences if Iraq does not comply with U.N. disarmament demands.
Now, the State Department invited Blix to come to Washington. The goals for this meeting are really two-fold: No. 1, hearing firsthand just what he learned from Iraqi officials when he met with them in Vienna earlier this week, and No. 2, telling him not to take "no" for an answer.
A senior State Department official telling CNN the administration will tell Blix that he and his inspectors need to go anywhere, anytime they want to go when and if they get inside Iraq, and that the U.S. will support them in that effort.
Now, Blix will be meeting at the State Department today with Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice. There are no plans for Blix to come here to the White House and to meet President Bush.
U.S. officials are hoping this meeting today, along with the meetings yesterday up at the U.N. between Blix and other Security Council members, will help get an agreement for a tough, new inspections regime, because it is the view of this administration that if the inspectors go in now, they will be nothing more than tourists who will get the runaround -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, give us a better idea of what the give-and-take might be later today. The administration wanting to know from Hans Blix what else he needs? WALLACE: Exactly. It wants to get a sense of exactly what he will need to do his job, what more the U.S. and the international community can do, what guidelines they can set out, so that this next round of inspections will be effective.
But clearly, Paula, there's a lot of diplomacy here. The administration hoping for more time, hoping that as Blix has chosen to delay going back inside Iraq, it gives them more time to get this new resolution. And as you know, it's a real uphill battle right now. Countries like France and Russia still not signing on to anything that would imply military action right now if Iraq does not comply -- Paula.
ZAHN: Kelly Wallace, thanks so much -- appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
