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American Morning

President Arrives in St. Petersburg, Russia

Aired November 22, 2002 - 08:06   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to St. Petersburg right now. The president on the road again today, leaving Prague behind. A short time ago he did arrive in St. Petersburg, Russia, meeting there with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. He left Prague for Russia earlier today, after a summit described by some as a necessary gesture to Europe. And that meeting follows yesterday's historic expansion of NATO and its stated support of the U.N.'s resolution regarding Baghdad.
Jill Dougherty tracks the latest from Moscow. A bit of a reassurance meeting taking place in St. Petersburg.

There's Jill now -- good afternoon to you there.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It definitely is, yes. It's a short trip, you know, President Bush will be on the ground for only about two and a half hours. But it is important. It's his chance personally to say don't worry, NATO may be at your doorstep with these new members, but it is not a threat to you. And it is a chance for the two leaders to sit down.

You know, they were supposed to have met in Mexico back in October at the APEC summit, but they weren't able to do that because President Putin was here in Moscow dealing with the hostage crisis.

Another big subject on the agenda, of course, is Iraq, and President Bush will have a chance to thank President Putin for voting yes in the U.N. Security Council on the new resolution about the inspectors. He'll have a chance to get across the message that the U.S. still believes it has the right to unilaterally take action if those inspectors are interfered with. And then finally, President Bush has a chance to reassure Vladimir Putin that the interests, and they are primarily economic, the interests that Russia has in Iraq will be honored.

Other subjects quickly, one is energy. Russia wants to become an alternate energy supplier to the United States. Right now it has a minuscule amount of oil that it actually exports to the United States, but it sees big potential in that area. And then finally the subject that they have not agreed on in the past, and that is Chechnya. Mr. Putin has said that even though this is, in a sense, an internal issue because, after all, Chechnya is still legally part of Russia, that there is a component of international terrorism.

And Mr. Bush now, after that hostage crisis and after a statement by Osama bin Laden praising that Moscow hostage operation, Mr. Bush now says that there is obviously al Qaeda interests. But he does want a peaceful solution -- Bill.

HEMMER: It certainly is a lot to talk about in two hours. But Russia is always mentioned with France as being a member of the U.N. Security Council that has provided a lot of resistance to the U.S. regarding Baghdad. Is there any expectation that that position could be moved by this meeting today, Jill, or not?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they usually do. They see eye to eye on a lot of those things. But right now, it's really the question of what happens if those inspectors are interfered with and the United States says no, there's not going to be any automatic trigger. But, yes, we have the right, if needed, to take military action.

Russia still doesn't want to do that and it will be lobbying, as it always does, against it. But in the end, it's very clear that the United States, President Bush feels that he does have the right to do that.

HEMMER: Jill, thank you.

Jill Dougherty, again, from Moscow, reporting from there.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld now applauding NATO's expansion this week. Also weighing in about Baghdad, as well.

In an interview with CNN's Bob Novak, Rumsfeld says dealing with Iraq will be a very delicate matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Saddam Hussein's forces are considerably weaker today than they were then and our forces are considerably stronger. The fact remains that the existence of weapons of mass destruction changed the equation. And so the very reason why it's important for him to disarm also changes the circumstance quite substantially and one has to be sensitive to those risks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: You can hear more of what Donald Rumsfeld had to say in a segment here on CNN that's called In The Novak Zone. You can see it tomorrow morning 9:00 Eastern here on CNN, more with the defense secretary then.

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 22, 2002 - 08:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to St. Petersburg right now. The president on the road again today, leaving Prague behind. A short time ago he did arrive in St. Petersburg, Russia, meeting there with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. He left Prague for Russia earlier today, after a summit described by some as a necessary gesture to Europe. And that meeting follows yesterday's historic expansion of NATO and its stated support of the U.N.'s resolution regarding Baghdad.
Jill Dougherty tracks the latest from Moscow. A bit of a reassurance meeting taking place in St. Petersburg.

There's Jill now -- good afternoon to you there.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It definitely is, yes. It's a short trip, you know, President Bush will be on the ground for only about two and a half hours. But it is important. It's his chance personally to say don't worry, NATO may be at your doorstep with these new members, but it is not a threat to you. And it is a chance for the two leaders to sit down.

You know, they were supposed to have met in Mexico back in October at the APEC summit, but they weren't able to do that because President Putin was here in Moscow dealing with the hostage crisis.

Another big subject on the agenda, of course, is Iraq, and President Bush will have a chance to thank President Putin for voting yes in the U.N. Security Council on the new resolution about the inspectors. He'll have a chance to get across the message that the U.S. still believes it has the right to unilaterally take action if those inspectors are interfered with. And then finally, President Bush has a chance to reassure Vladimir Putin that the interests, and they are primarily economic, the interests that Russia has in Iraq will be honored.

Other subjects quickly, one is energy. Russia wants to become an alternate energy supplier to the United States. Right now it has a minuscule amount of oil that it actually exports to the United States, but it sees big potential in that area. And then finally the subject that they have not agreed on in the past, and that is Chechnya. Mr. Putin has said that even though this is, in a sense, an internal issue because, after all, Chechnya is still legally part of Russia, that there is a component of international terrorism.

And Mr. Bush now, after that hostage crisis and after a statement by Osama bin Laden praising that Moscow hostage operation, Mr. Bush now says that there is obviously al Qaeda interests. But he does want a peaceful solution -- Bill.

HEMMER: It certainly is a lot to talk about in two hours. But Russia is always mentioned with France as being a member of the U.N. Security Council that has provided a lot of resistance to the U.S. regarding Baghdad. Is there any expectation that that position could be moved by this meeting today, Jill, or not?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they usually do. They see eye to eye on a lot of those things. But right now, it's really the question of what happens if those inspectors are interfered with and the United States says no, there's not going to be any automatic trigger. But, yes, we have the right, if needed, to take military action.

Russia still doesn't want to do that and it will be lobbying, as it always does, against it. But in the end, it's very clear that the United States, President Bush feels that he does have the right to do that.

HEMMER: Jill, thank you.

Jill Dougherty, again, from Moscow, reporting from there.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld now applauding NATO's expansion this week. Also weighing in about Baghdad, as well.

In an interview with CNN's Bob Novak, Rumsfeld says dealing with Iraq will be a very delicate matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Saddam Hussein's forces are considerably weaker today than they were then and our forces are considerably stronger. The fact remains that the existence of weapons of mass destruction changed the equation. And so the very reason why it's important for him to disarm also changes the circumstance quite substantially and one has to be sensitive to those risks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: You can hear more of what Donald Rumsfeld had to say in a segment here on CNN that's called In The Novak Zone. You can see it tomorrow morning 9:00 Eastern here on CNN, more with the defense secretary then.

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