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American Morning
Gen. Tommy Franks to Meet With Bush
Aired January 08, 2003 - 09:05 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: Word this morning at the White House, Paula, that General Tommy Franks, U.S. Central Command, is going to meet with the president today.
John King, Front Lawn of the White House now, to tell us what possibly is on the agenda there. I think we are guessing here -- Iraq.
John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Iraq is certainly on the agenda, Bill. A full meeting of the president's National Security Council getting under way as we speak this morning here at the White House.
General Tommy Franks, as you noted, the Central Command commander, the commanding general of the U.S. military buildup that would, if the president ordered one, lead a military assault on Iraq, is here to brief the president. We are told he will brief the president on the status of the deployment and the continuing deployment of U.S. military resources and personnel to the region, as well as for the plans for the U.S. military command to shift to a strategic base near Doha, Qatar in the coming days as well prepare for a possible military confrontation.
Tommy Franks is not the only one in on these discussions. The Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld is here, Secretary of State Colin Powell is here, his deputy Richard Armitage as well, key officials from the joint chiefs of staff here for a full meeting of the president's National Security Council. Vice President Cheney, national security adviser Condoleeza Rice actually sit in as well.
We are told that General Franks is here because of the critical moment we are at. Officials stress no decision has been made for a military confrontation, but there is an escalation of the military buildup in case two or three weeks down the road from now at the critical juncture, the president makes that decision. We are told, as in prior visits, that the president often has very detailed questions about the military planning, asking about options and the like, one thing we know that has come up in the past is underground bunkers that the president is concerned about, one of the places in Iraq where this administration believes Saddam Hussein is hiding his weapons program -- Bill.
HEMMER: John, thanks. John King at the White House.
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 January 8, 2003 - 09:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Word this morning at the White House, Paula, that General Tommy Franks, U.S. Central Command, is going to meet with the president today.
John King, Front Lawn of the White House now, to tell us what possibly is on the agenda there. I think we are guessing here -- Iraq.
John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Iraq is certainly on the agenda, Bill. A full meeting of the president's National Security Council getting under way as we speak this morning here at the White House.
General Tommy Franks, as you noted, the Central Command commander, the commanding general of the U.S. military buildup that would, if the president ordered one, lead a military assault on Iraq, is here to brief the president. We are told he will brief the president on the status of the deployment and the continuing deployment of U.S. military resources and personnel to the region, as well as for the plans for the U.S. military command to shift to a strategic base near Doha, Qatar in the coming days as well prepare for a possible military confrontation.
Tommy Franks is not the only one in on these discussions. The Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld is here, Secretary of State Colin Powell is here, his deputy Richard Armitage as well, key officials from the joint chiefs of staff here for a full meeting of the president's National Security Council. Vice President Cheney, national security adviser Condoleeza Rice actually sit in as well.
We are told that General Franks is here because of the critical moment we are at. Officials stress no decision has been made for a military confrontation, but there is an escalation of the military buildup in case two or three weeks down the road from now at the critical juncture, the president makes that decision. We are told, as in prior visits, that the president often has very detailed questions about the military planning, asking about options and the like, one thing we know that has come up in the past is underground bunkers that the president is concerned about, one of the places in Iraq where this administration believes Saddam Hussein is hiding his weapons program -- Bill.
HEMMER: John, thanks. John King at the White House.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
