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American Morning
What Does President Need to Say Tonight?
Aired January 28, 2003 - 08:34 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: The president's State of the Union speech comes at a crucial time with uncertainty about Iraq, the flat economy and his approval rating declining. So what does the president need to say tonight?
Joining us with their takes from Washington, Cliff May, former RNC Communications director, and in New York, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of "The Nation" magazine.
Good morning, you two. Welcome.
Cliff, I know you've written for the "National Review" your own version of what the president should say in the State of the Union Address. We'll share a small part of that with our audience, where you say "Dig through the rocky soil of history. There you will find the ruins of the Nazis, the fascists, the communists, and those who hated Americans and other free people. There, soon, you will find the terrorist groups and the terrorist states that are in the league with them.
Now, no one is indicating the president is going to make a declaration of war tonight. Is that what you are suggesting here?
CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: I'm suggesting the president acknowledge the fact we are at war. The free world is at war. We didn't seek this war, but it's being declared against us, it's being waged against us. And we have no choice but to lead the free world in this war against terrorists and against the rogue dictators who enable the terrorists.
I think it's pretty clear in terms of Iraq that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. I think that's what you heard from Hans Blix yesterday, that Saddam Hussein has no intention to disarm, as he is obligated to do under the various U.N. resolutions, and we also know that Saddam Hussein is an ally of Osama bin Laden and other terrorists around the world. So we have no choice but to liberate the people of Iraq from this terribly oppressive regime. The president needs to make a case for that, and he also needs to reassure people on the economy, and I think that's the challenge he faces.
ZAHN: All right, Katrina, let's talk about the potential of war. How important do you think it is to the president to try to work in some of Hans Blix findings yesterday in his stinging rebuke of Iraq.
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, "THE NATION" MAGAZINE: You know, there was a great president, Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, who spoke about fear, and there is nothing to fear but fear itself. This president tonight will likely use fear to advance a war that the world and majorities of Americans do not want because they want inspections to continue. They believe they are working. And in defiance of American majority opinion, the president will try to rally a nation to a war that it doesn't want, and if I might add, a great president would say we are at a moment in history, in a fight against stateless terrorists when America needs global cooperation and legitimacy more than anything.
And if I might add, the great unmet needs of this country should be at the forefront of this president's agenda, instead of a massive tax break, which will predominantly be skewed toward the wealthy. The priorities of unmet needs such as education, of health insurance, of job creation, of homeland security, need to be addressed, as well as the enormous crisis in the states, which will hurt ordinary citizens who do not feel this president is in sync with them or on their side.
ZAHN: Katrina, come back with the point you were making where you are accusing the president of creating fear tonight. You listened to Hans Blix yesterday. Wasn't there anything in that report that scared you or concerned you?
VANDEN HEUVEL: There is no imminent threat from Iraq. We are the most powerful country in the world, in this century. There is no imminent threat for Iraq. There are other threat. There's the threat of Pakistan sharing its nuclear technology with Al Qaeda. There's North Korea. So, Paula, I do believe that this president has been fear-mongering and not talking to the American people honestly, and they see that. There's a credibility gap. They want information. They want evidence. And they want a president who will lead them into a better world, not into a world, where fear is hurting our economy and our moral spirit.
ZAHN: Cliff, even you'd have to admit the recent polls would show that the American public has increasing doubts about military action, particularly if the U.S. goes it alone. There was a poll that came out yesterday by CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll that basically showed the American public evenly split when it comes to who they trust most, the U.N. or the president.
So what is it the president has to do tonight, short of sharing what they are talking about, some of this intelligence information they are going to declassify later this week, that's going to convince them this is the right way to go.
MAY: Well, I think you're absolutely right, Paula. The polls show a little bit of shakiness. People haven't heard from the president lately. They've heard from Donald Rumsfeld. They've heard from certainly Colin Powell, who is speaking exactly as Donald Rumsfeld is.
The administration, I think, has come together on the need to do something about Saddam Hussein. Now that we know even from Hans Blix that Saddam Hussein has no willingness, he will not disarm no matter what. In that sense, the inspectors have done their job. Their job was to determine whether Saddam Hussein was willing to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction he's been building up over all this time, and it's clear that he has thousands of missiles. He has anthrax. He has VX gas. He's not getting rid of any of that, so we have to do something about it.
What's also important is that we liberate the people of Iraq. I've met with Iraqi opposition and exiled leaders in recent days, and all of them say the same thing, that if we can do this, people of Iraq will be celebrating and waving American flags in the streets. The Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunnis, they want an end to this 25-year nightmare.
ZAHN: Katrina, you've got the last 10 seconds. That's all I can give you.
VANDEN HEUVEL: All right, I would just say, Paula, extremism in defense of the have-mores, Bush's base, is not a compassionate agenda.
ZAHN: We've got to leave it there on this note, Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Cliff May, thanks for both of your perspectives.
Look forward to hearing what you have to say tomorrow at this time.
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 28, 2003 - 08:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The president's State of the Union speech comes at a crucial time with uncertainty about Iraq, the flat economy and his approval rating declining. So what does the president need to say tonight?
Joining us with their takes from Washington, Cliff May, former RNC Communications director, and in New York, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of "The Nation" magazine.
Good morning, you two. Welcome.
Cliff, I know you've written for the "National Review" your own version of what the president should say in the State of the Union Address. We'll share a small part of that with our audience, where you say "Dig through the rocky soil of history. There you will find the ruins of the Nazis, the fascists, the communists, and those who hated Americans and other free people. There, soon, you will find the terrorist groups and the terrorist states that are in the league with them.
Now, no one is indicating the president is going to make a declaration of war tonight. Is that what you are suggesting here?
CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: I'm suggesting the president acknowledge the fact we are at war. The free world is at war. We didn't seek this war, but it's being declared against us, it's being waged against us. And we have no choice but to lead the free world in this war against terrorists and against the rogue dictators who enable the terrorists.
I think it's pretty clear in terms of Iraq that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. I think that's what you heard from Hans Blix yesterday, that Saddam Hussein has no intention to disarm, as he is obligated to do under the various U.N. resolutions, and we also know that Saddam Hussein is an ally of Osama bin Laden and other terrorists around the world. So we have no choice but to liberate the people of Iraq from this terribly oppressive regime. The president needs to make a case for that, and he also needs to reassure people on the economy, and I think that's the challenge he faces.
ZAHN: All right, Katrina, let's talk about the potential of war. How important do you think it is to the president to try to work in some of Hans Blix findings yesterday in his stinging rebuke of Iraq.
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, "THE NATION" MAGAZINE: You know, there was a great president, Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, who spoke about fear, and there is nothing to fear but fear itself. This president tonight will likely use fear to advance a war that the world and majorities of Americans do not want because they want inspections to continue. They believe they are working. And in defiance of American majority opinion, the president will try to rally a nation to a war that it doesn't want, and if I might add, a great president would say we are at a moment in history, in a fight against stateless terrorists when America needs global cooperation and legitimacy more than anything.
And if I might add, the great unmet needs of this country should be at the forefront of this president's agenda, instead of a massive tax break, which will predominantly be skewed toward the wealthy. The priorities of unmet needs such as education, of health insurance, of job creation, of homeland security, need to be addressed, as well as the enormous crisis in the states, which will hurt ordinary citizens who do not feel this president is in sync with them or on their side.
ZAHN: Katrina, come back with the point you were making where you are accusing the president of creating fear tonight. You listened to Hans Blix yesterday. Wasn't there anything in that report that scared you or concerned you?
VANDEN HEUVEL: There is no imminent threat from Iraq. We are the most powerful country in the world, in this century. There is no imminent threat for Iraq. There are other threat. There's the threat of Pakistan sharing its nuclear technology with Al Qaeda. There's North Korea. So, Paula, I do believe that this president has been fear-mongering and not talking to the American people honestly, and they see that. There's a credibility gap. They want information. They want evidence. And they want a president who will lead them into a better world, not into a world, where fear is hurting our economy and our moral spirit.
ZAHN: Cliff, even you'd have to admit the recent polls would show that the American public has increasing doubts about military action, particularly if the U.S. goes it alone. There was a poll that came out yesterday by CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll that basically showed the American public evenly split when it comes to who they trust most, the U.N. or the president.
So what is it the president has to do tonight, short of sharing what they are talking about, some of this intelligence information they are going to declassify later this week, that's going to convince them this is the right way to go.
MAY: Well, I think you're absolutely right, Paula. The polls show a little bit of shakiness. People haven't heard from the president lately. They've heard from Donald Rumsfeld. They've heard from certainly Colin Powell, who is speaking exactly as Donald Rumsfeld is.
The administration, I think, has come together on the need to do something about Saddam Hussein. Now that we know even from Hans Blix that Saddam Hussein has no willingness, he will not disarm no matter what. In that sense, the inspectors have done their job. Their job was to determine whether Saddam Hussein was willing to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction he's been building up over all this time, and it's clear that he has thousands of missiles. He has anthrax. He has VX gas. He's not getting rid of any of that, so we have to do something about it.
What's also important is that we liberate the people of Iraq. I've met with Iraqi opposition and exiled leaders in recent days, and all of them say the same thing, that if we can do this, people of Iraq will be celebrating and waving American flags in the streets. The Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunnis, they want an end to this 25-year nightmare.
ZAHN: Katrina, you've got the last 10 seconds. That's all I can give you.
VANDEN HEUVEL: All right, I would just say, Paula, extremism in defense of the have-mores, Bush's base, is not a compassionate agenda.
ZAHN: We've got to leave it there on this note, Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Cliff May, thanks for both of your perspectives.
Look forward to hearing what you have to say tomorrow at this time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
