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President Bush, British Prime Minister Blair to Meet Today
Aired January 31, 2003 - 08:03 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: Now more on today's meeting between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
CNN's international correspondent Christiane Amanpour traveled to Washington with Mr. Blair. She will have an exclusive interview with him in our next hour.
She joins us now live from the British embassy in Washington in advance of that -- good morning, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, Prime Minister Blair still in the residence behind me, the residence of the British embassy, as he awaits his meeting with President Bush at Camp David later this afternoon.
Clearly, focusing these talks will be the issue of continuing the U.S.-British strategy, which is to continue to confront Saddam Hussein by both diplomatic pressure and to say if that does not work, then there will be and there will have to be a military solution. But what the British prime minister is very clear about is that he wants as big and as broad a coalition of international support as possible. And so they're going to be talking about how to get as many of the world leaders and world public opinion on their side as they proceed with this crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are insisting that Saddam Hussein abide by the United Nations resolution, that that resolution makes it very clear that his duty is to cooperate fully with the inspectors in that disarmament process, that we must support the U.N. inspectors in making sure that that disarmament process happens, but that if it cannot happen, through the United Nations weapons inspectors and obedience to the U.N. resolution, then it must happen by other means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: We're hearing that this phase of final diplomacy, as it's being put, is still several weeks of intense negotiations and discussions amongst allies as they continue to hammer out their strategy. Of course, there's France and Germany, which are the most vocal of the European allies against any kind of rush to military intervention.
And then there's Britain and Spain and six other European nations which have published a letter that was widely broadcast and published yesterday saying that the Europeans must stand close with the United States, maintain their historic alliance. It fell short of actually a declaration of war, but saying that they must be unified in order to keep the pressure on Iraq at this critical time. And that, we understand, is going to be part of what they're going to be talking about today between Blair and Bush. Also, the whole issue of evidence, what is Secretary of State Colin Powell going to present to the Security Council next week -- Paula.
ZAHN: Christiane, help us understand the context under which Mr. Blair talks with the president today at a time when the British public is overwhelmingly against any military action against Iraq?
AMANPOUR: Well, that's true, and, in fact, it's true around the world, as well. If you see any of the opinion polls, you'll see a large majority of people in most parts of the world against war. In the United States, of course, most of the people say they would favor military confrontation if it came to that. But the critical issue, Tony Blair told us yesterday, is when you introduce so-called international legitimacy, the U.N., perhaps even another Security Council resolution, the number of people against war drops. That's the same in the United States.
In other words, what most people around the world want to see is not the U.S. and Britain going it alone, but a wide coalition to make them slightly more comfortable about what may be an inevitable outcome, and that is a military showdown.
Certainly many of the traditional allies, whether it be in Europe or in the Arab world or elsewhere around the world, want to be able to have as broad a coalition, as broad a feeling of international legality and legitimacy before heading for a military confrontation. And that, I think, is part of the focus of what's going to be discussed today at Camp David -- Paula.
ZAHN: Christiane, thanks so much.
We look forward to hearing your interview with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in our next hour.
Thanks.
While President Bush conducts a final round of personal meetings concerning Iraq, he's making it clear that the diplomatic window is closing fast.
So, is this the beginning of the end game for Baghdad?
Joining us now from London, Michael Elliott, a traveling man this morning, "Time" magazine editor-at-large.
Good to see you, Michael.
MICHAEL ELLIOTT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: Good morning. You may have heard a little bit of what Christiane just reported.
ELLIOTT: Yes, I did.
ZAHN: I'm just curious, from your perspective, what it is you think Tony Blair needs to extract from President Bush to in any way try to change public opinion in Great Britain. Is there anything he can do that will make that shift?
ELLIOTT: I think he wants a little bit of time and I think that he would like to come home with a clearer indication from President Bush that the Americans are prepared to have a formal U.N. resolution, U.N. Security Council resolution before the war starts. So I think those are the two things that he wants.
How much time? Well, who knows? You know, maybe three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, perhaps, before the shooting starts. But I think what Blair would really like is a U.N. Security Council resolution because that way he thinks he can get the widest -- as Christiane was saying, the widest possible international support for this military action.
ZAHN: So much has been made of the relationship Tony Blair shared with Bill Clinton during his presidency and some people were somewhat surprised by the close relationship, apparently, that has been formed between President Bush now and Tony Blair.
Any insights into that?
ELLIOTT: Well, I think Blair decided very early on that British interests were best served by not allowing any sort of daylight between his policy and the American administration's policy. But I think also that somewhat to the surprise of some officials on both sides of the Atlantic, the two men discovered that they had a lot in common. They're straight talkers. They're both rather skillful politicians, frankly. And they both have this highly moralistic sense of right and wrong that has made them natural partners.
I've spoken to officials who've been in meetings with the two of them and they just seem to be able to kind of talk to each other without pretending to be, you know, bosom friends or pals, but they have a natural and easy way of talking to each other, are skillful politicians who have a highly developed sense of what's right.
ZAHN: Let's also talk about what's ahead for the British prime minister after meeting with the president. He's expected to meet some time next week with French President Jacques Chirac.
Do you have any idea if perhaps Mr. Blair will be carrying a message from President Bush to him when the two of them sit down?
ELLIOTT: Well, boy, I'd like to be a fly on that wall after what's been happening in the last couple of weeks. Lots of hard words from both Paris and London about the way each other has behaved. I would hope that -- my sense right from the start has been that if there is a war in Iraq, the French actually would rather be part of it than not part of it, that the last thing that the French diplomacy wants in a situation like this is to be left on the sidelines.
But Blair has to bring something from Bush to convince President Chirac that there is a true American effort to bring a broad international coalition behind any military action. A lot will depend, I think, on what Secretary of State Powell does next week in providing the evidence that we've heard so much about that Iraq has been thwarting U.N. resolutions.
I think France can be brought on board. I don't think it's there yet. And it'll be interesting to see what Blair comes back from the States to Europe next week with something that he can then take to Paris.
ZAHN: Well, good to see you.
Lucky man, getting to travel this week.
ELLIOTT: I'll be back home next week, Paula.
See you then.
ZAHN: He's always working when he's on the road.
Michael Elliott, editor-at-large at "Time" magazine, always good to have your perspective.
ELLIOTT: Thank you.
ZAHN: Bill?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, oftentimes when we talk about military action regarding Iraq, the people we go to for information and answers are oftentimes the politicians, the officials in government. However, the future for this country of Kuwait clearly lies in the young people. It also lies, as we found out, in the future for the United States and its involvement here, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (voice-over): One of the biggest events in Kuwait this week had nothing to do with war. Virgin Records opened its largest store in the Middle East and several thousand teenagers pushed and shoved their way to be the very first inside. This scene says an awful lot about this tiny desert country.
Breeze through one of Kuwait's three shopping malls and the list of American companies line up one after the other. It's not just the U.S. military that's made its presence known here. America is critical, these teens say, to their future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are well protected by the Americans. And we feel that's enough for us. And I don't think the Iraq is going to do anything to us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're a country that loves peace, you know? And we like Americans. We like Arabs. We like everybody. HEMMER: Kuwait's young people have faced the threat of war most of their lives, yet optimism still runs high on this night. They're convinced Kuwait will only become stronger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the war finishes, all the businesses and oil, it's just going to be like really good because the people won't be scared about getting invaded again. So the business, really, is going to be like boomed up a lot.
HEMMER: And Kuwaitis know the power of business and capitalism. Oil made many families rich. But since the first Gulf War, the economy here has sputtered. Victory over Saddam Hussein this time, they say, will change that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Personally, my future in Kuwait, I think that it'll be good, like easy and if the war does manage to happen, I think that we will come out pretty victorious, because we have a lot of people on our side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And if you did not watch the television and read the newspapers, war and the war clouds looming would not be an apparent thing at all in this country, Paula. The streets are crowded day and night. We've seen that. The stores are crowded, as you can tell from there. And, by the way, the number one selling CD in this country, Jennifer Lopez, and the number one movie right now showing in Kuwait City, "Gangs of New York." Oftentimes it feels like Florida, somewhere out here in the desert -- Paula, back to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Today>
Aired January 31, 2003 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now more on today's meeting between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
CNN's international correspondent Christiane Amanpour traveled to Washington with Mr. Blair. She will have an exclusive interview with him in our next hour.
She joins us now live from the British embassy in Washington in advance of that -- good morning, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, Prime Minister Blair still in the residence behind me, the residence of the British embassy, as he awaits his meeting with President Bush at Camp David later this afternoon.
Clearly, focusing these talks will be the issue of continuing the U.S.-British strategy, which is to continue to confront Saddam Hussein by both diplomatic pressure and to say if that does not work, then there will be and there will have to be a military solution. But what the British prime minister is very clear about is that he wants as big and as broad a coalition of international support as possible. And so they're going to be talking about how to get as many of the world leaders and world public opinion on their side as they proceed with this crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are insisting that Saddam Hussein abide by the United Nations resolution, that that resolution makes it very clear that his duty is to cooperate fully with the inspectors in that disarmament process, that we must support the U.N. inspectors in making sure that that disarmament process happens, but that if it cannot happen, through the United Nations weapons inspectors and obedience to the U.N. resolution, then it must happen by other means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: We're hearing that this phase of final diplomacy, as it's being put, is still several weeks of intense negotiations and discussions amongst allies as they continue to hammer out their strategy. Of course, there's France and Germany, which are the most vocal of the European allies against any kind of rush to military intervention.
And then there's Britain and Spain and six other European nations which have published a letter that was widely broadcast and published yesterday saying that the Europeans must stand close with the United States, maintain their historic alliance. It fell short of actually a declaration of war, but saying that they must be unified in order to keep the pressure on Iraq at this critical time. And that, we understand, is going to be part of what they're going to be talking about today between Blair and Bush. Also, the whole issue of evidence, what is Secretary of State Colin Powell going to present to the Security Council next week -- Paula.
ZAHN: Christiane, help us understand the context under which Mr. Blair talks with the president today at a time when the British public is overwhelmingly against any military action against Iraq?
AMANPOUR: Well, that's true, and, in fact, it's true around the world, as well. If you see any of the opinion polls, you'll see a large majority of people in most parts of the world against war. In the United States, of course, most of the people say they would favor military confrontation if it came to that. But the critical issue, Tony Blair told us yesterday, is when you introduce so-called international legitimacy, the U.N., perhaps even another Security Council resolution, the number of people against war drops. That's the same in the United States.
In other words, what most people around the world want to see is not the U.S. and Britain going it alone, but a wide coalition to make them slightly more comfortable about what may be an inevitable outcome, and that is a military showdown.
Certainly many of the traditional allies, whether it be in Europe or in the Arab world or elsewhere around the world, want to be able to have as broad a coalition, as broad a feeling of international legality and legitimacy before heading for a military confrontation. And that, I think, is part of the focus of what's going to be discussed today at Camp David -- Paula.
ZAHN: Christiane, thanks so much.
We look forward to hearing your interview with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in our next hour.
Thanks.
While President Bush conducts a final round of personal meetings concerning Iraq, he's making it clear that the diplomatic window is closing fast.
So, is this the beginning of the end game for Baghdad?
Joining us now from London, Michael Elliott, a traveling man this morning, "Time" magazine editor-at-large.
Good to see you, Michael.
MICHAEL ELLIOTT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: Good morning. You may have heard a little bit of what Christiane just reported.
ELLIOTT: Yes, I did.
ZAHN: I'm just curious, from your perspective, what it is you think Tony Blair needs to extract from President Bush to in any way try to change public opinion in Great Britain. Is there anything he can do that will make that shift?
ELLIOTT: I think he wants a little bit of time and I think that he would like to come home with a clearer indication from President Bush that the Americans are prepared to have a formal U.N. resolution, U.N. Security Council resolution before the war starts. So I think those are the two things that he wants.
How much time? Well, who knows? You know, maybe three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, perhaps, before the shooting starts. But I think what Blair would really like is a U.N. Security Council resolution because that way he thinks he can get the widest -- as Christiane was saying, the widest possible international support for this military action.
ZAHN: So much has been made of the relationship Tony Blair shared with Bill Clinton during his presidency and some people were somewhat surprised by the close relationship, apparently, that has been formed between President Bush now and Tony Blair.
Any insights into that?
ELLIOTT: Well, I think Blair decided very early on that British interests were best served by not allowing any sort of daylight between his policy and the American administration's policy. But I think also that somewhat to the surprise of some officials on both sides of the Atlantic, the two men discovered that they had a lot in common. They're straight talkers. They're both rather skillful politicians, frankly. And they both have this highly moralistic sense of right and wrong that has made them natural partners.
I've spoken to officials who've been in meetings with the two of them and they just seem to be able to kind of talk to each other without pretending to be, you know, bosom friends or pals, but they have a natural and easy way of talking to each other, are skillful politicians who have a highly developed sense of what's right.
ZAHN: Let's also talk about what's ahead for the British prime minister after meeting with the president. He's expected to meet some time next week with French President Jacques Chirac.
Do you have any idea if perhaps Mr. Blair will be carrying a message from President Bush to him when the two of them sit down?
ELLIOTT: Well, boy, I'd like to be a fly on that wall after what's been happening in the last couple of weeks. Lots of hard words from both Paris and London about the way each other has behaved. I would hope that -- my sense right from the start has been that if there is a war in Iraq, the French actually would rather be part of it than not part of it, that the last thing that the French diplomacy wants in a situation like this is to be left on the sidelines.
But Blair has to bring something from Bush to convince President Chirac that there is a true American effort to bring a broad international coalition behind any military action. A lot will depend, I think, on what Secretary of State Powell does next week in providing the evidence that we've heard so much about that Iraq has been thwarting U.N. resolutions.
I think France can be brought on board. I don't think it's there yet. And it'll be interesting to see what Blair comes back from the States to Europe next week with something that he can then take to Paris.
ZAHN: Well, good to see you.
Lucky man, getting to travel this week.
ELLIOTT: I'll be back home next week, Paula.
See you then.
ZAHN: He's always working when he's on the road.
Michael Elliott, editor-at-large at "Time" magazine, always good to have your perspective.
ELLIOTT: Thank you.
ZAHN: Bill?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, oftentimes when we talk about military action regarding Iraq, the people we go to for information and answers are oftentimes the politicians, the officials in government. However, the future for this country of Kuwait clearly lies in the young people. It also lies, as we found out, in the future for the United States and its involvement here, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (voice-over): One of the biggest events in Kuwait this week had nothing to do with war. Virgin Records opened its largest store in the Middle East and several thousand teenagers pushed and shoved their way to be the very first inside. This scene says an awful lot about this tiny desert country.
Breeze through one of Kuwait's three shopping malls and the list of American companies line up one after the other. It's not just the U.S. military that's made its presence known here. America is critical, these teens say, to their future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are well protected by the Americans. And we feel that's enough for us. And I don't think the Iraq is going to do anything to us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're a country that loves peace, you know? And we like Americans. We like Arabs. We like everybody. HEMMER: Kuwait's young people have faced the threat of war most of their lives, yet optimism still runs high on this night. They're convinced Kuwait will only become stronger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the war finishes, all the businesses and oil, it's just going to be like really good because the people won't be scared about getting invaded again. So the business, really, is going to be like boomed up a lot.
HEMMER: And Kuwaitis know the power of business and capitalism. Oil made many families rich. But since the first Gulf War, the economy here has sputtered. Victory over Saddam Hussein this time, they say, will change that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Personally, my future in Kuwait, I think that it'll be good, like easy and if the war does manage to happen, I think that we will come out pretty victorious, because we have a lot of people on our side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And if you did not watch the television and read the newspapers, war and the war clouds looming would not be an apparent thing at all in this country, Paula. The streets are crowded day and night. We've seen that. The stores are crowded, as you can tell from there. And, by the way, the number one selling CD in this country, Jennifer Lopez, and the number one movie right now showing in Kuwait City, "Gangs of New York." Oftentimes it feels like Florida, somewhere out here in the desert -- Paula, back to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Today>
