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American Morning
Dodge Ball
Aired November 14, 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: What does Iraq mean exactly by its reluctant promise to deal with the U.N. resolution remains to be seen, but the first test of Baghdad's intentions will come soon.
On Monday, chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix is set to arrive in Baghdad, along with an advance team. And then by December 8, Iraq must turn in a complete list of its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons program. On December 23, Iraq must allow inspections to begin, but they could start as early as November 25. And then by February 21, weapons inspectors will report to the U.N. Security Council.
And of course, the Bush administration will be closely watching all of this to see if Iraq actually clears any of these hurdles.
Let's check in with our own John King, who joins us now live from the White House this morning.
Good morning -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
That Iraqi letter -- the reaction here at the White House to the Iraqi letter, a mix of scorn and dismissal. White House officials saying they simply do not care what Iraq says; that Iraq has no choice here but to accept the new terms of this United Nations resolution.
Mr. Bush here at the White House yesterday did not even directly respond to Iraq's agreement -- apparent agreement to let the inspectors back in. The White House is focusing not on the Iraqi letter, but on that key deadline in December when Iraq must document to the United Nations its programs of weapons of mass destruction -- U.S. officials say that will be the first key test. Then, of course, shortly after that deadline, the inspectors, as you noted, will be up and running in Iraq.
Mr. Bush says Saddam Hussein would be making a grave mistake to test his patience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Zero tolerance is about as plain as I can make it. We will not tolerate any deception, denial or deceit period.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Mr. Bush met here at the White House yesterday afternoon with the United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan. You see them there in the Oval Office. This was just hours after Mr. Annan received that letter from Iraq.
Mr. Bush saying simply that it was time to disarm Saddam Hussein. The White House not even commenting directly on the strong language, the bitter language in the Iraqi letter.
And as he left the White House, the U.N. secretary-general acknowledged there was a great deal of colorful language, "bombastic language" he called it, in the Iraqi response. Mr. Annan, just like officials here at the White House, saying it does not matter to him what Iraq says. What matters is what Iraq does and whether it accepts the terms of the resolution once those inspectors go back in -- Paula.
ZAHN: John, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld talked about a worst-case scenario where it would -- Iraq would appear to fully comply with these resolutions while actually failing to comply, leaving Washington with no basis for a military attack. How widespread is that concern?
KING: Well, that is a deep concern here at the White House. One of the reasons President Bush wanted to meet personally a little more than a week ago with Hans Blix, the chief inspector, the United States wants the inspections teams to push the envelope and to try to go to the most sensitive sites. U.S. intelligence reports to President Bush suggests a lot of these stockpiles are hidden deep underground near those so-called presidential palaces. In the past, Iraq has set those off-limits. That will be one of the tests: Can the inspectors get to those sites?
And of course, U.S. officials believe Iraq is already hiding and moving things. They are counting on satellite photos and other intelligence to catch Iraq if it tries to move things and hide things from the inspection teams.
ZAHN: Thanks, John -- 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 November 14, 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: What does Iraq mean exactly by its reluctant promise to deal with the U.N. resolution remains to be seen, but the first test of Baghdad's intentions will come soon.
On Monday, chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix is set to arrive in Baghdad, along with an advance team. And then by December 8, Iraq must turn in a complete list of its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons program. On December 23, Iraq must allow inspections to begin, but they could start as early as November 25. And then by February 21, weapons inspectors will report to the U.N. Security Council.
And of course, the Bush administration will be closely watching all of this to see if Iraq actually clears any of these hurdles.
Let's check in with our own John King, who joins us now live from the White House this morning.
Good morning -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
That Iraqi letter -- the reaction here at the White House to the Iraqi letter, a mix of scorn and dismissal. White House officials saying they simply do not care what Iraq says; that Iraq has no choice here but to accept the new terms of this United Nations resolution.
Mr. Bush here at the White House yesterday did not even directly respond to Iraq's agreement -- apparent agreement to let the inspectors back in. The White House is focusing not on the Iraqi letter, but on that key deadline in December when Iraq must document to the United Nations its programs of weapons of mass destruction -- U.S. officials say that will be the first key test. Then, of course, shortly after that deadline, the inspectors, as you noted, will be up and running in Iraq.
Mr. Bush says Saddam Hussein would be making a grave mistake to test his patience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Zero tolerance is about as plain as I can make it. We will not tolerate any deception, denial or deceit period.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Mr. Bush met here at the White House yesterday afternoon with the United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan. You see them there in the Oval Office. This was just hours after Mr. Annan received that letter from Iraq.
Mr. Bush saying simply that it was time to disarm Saddam Hussein. The White House not even commenting directly on the strong language, the bitter language in the Iraqi letter.
And as he left the White House, the U.N. secretary-general acknowledged there was a great deal of colorful language, "bombastic language" he called it, in the Iraqi response. Mr. Annan, just like officials here at the White House, saying it does not matter to him what Iraq says. What matters is what Iraq does and whether it accepts the terms of the resolution once those inspectors go back in -- Paula.
ZAHN: John, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld talked about a worst-case scenario where it would -- Iraq would appear to fully comply with these resolutions while actually failing to comply, leaving Washington with no basis for a military attack. How widespread is that concern?
KING: Well, that is a deep concern here at the White House. One of the reasons President Bush wanted to meet personally a little more than a week ago with Hans Blix, the chief inspector, the United States wants the inspections teams to push the envelope and to try to go to the most sensitive sites. U.S. intelligence reports to President Bush suggests a lot of these stockpiles are hidden deep underground near those so-called presidential palaces. In the past, Iraq has set those off-limits. That will be one of the tests: Can the inspectors get to those sites?
And of course, U.S. officials believe Iraq is already hiding and moving things. They are counting on satellite photos and other intelligence to catch Iraq if it tries to move things and hide things from the inspection teams.
ZAHN: Thanks, John -- 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.
