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American Morning
Pressure on Baghdad, United Nations
Aired March 07, 2003 - 07:04 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: Back to our top story this morning, the showdown with Iraq. As we have reported, President Bush says the U.S. is ready to go to war whether the U.N. authorizes it or not. And weapons inspectors deliver a crucial report on Iraq this morning at the United Nations.
John King reports from the White House for us this morning, Richard Roth from the U.N. We're going to get started with John this morning.
Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
The president last night adding even more drama to this debate, committing, even though some aides had said he might pull the U.S. resolution off the table, the president says no; that he wants a vote and he wants it early next week.
The president in his primetime news conference saying there's only one question before the United Nations now: Is Saddam Hussein completely and fully disarming? The president says the answer is unequivocally no.
Mr. Bush and his team are trying to negotiate a compromise on that resolution. The president made clear, though, at his news conference last night that his patience for diplomacy is running very short.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's now time for this issue to come to a head at the Security Council, and it will. As far as ultimatums and all of the speculation about what may or may not happen after next week, we'll just wait and see.
Steve.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).
BUSH: Well, we're days away from resolving this issue at the Security Council.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Days away, meaning the president wants a vote early next week. Aides say by the end of next week, the president could be addressing the nation, laying out for them in more detail the risks of going to war.
Mr. Bush made clear last night that if U.S. troops go into Iraq, make no mistake about it, the goal will be not only disarmament, but regime change. He called the Iraqi leader and his -- quote -- "killers" a cancer that must be removed from Iraq.
And the president said if he loses the vote at the United Nations that does not mean he is not prepared to go to war. The president saying -- quote -- "When it comes to our security" -- meaning American security -- he doesn't need anybody's permission -- Paula.
ZAHN: John, part of the reason for the president having this news conference last night was to try to maybe perhaps preempt what Hans Blix might be saying later this morning. What is it the White House expects to hear from him?
KING: Well, the White House expects Dr. Blix to say Iraq is cooperating in destroying some of those Al Samoud missiles; Iraq is cooperating at least a bit more cooperatively in turning over some documents; that Iraq has said it will promise more cooperation down the road.
What the president is trying to say is, read Resolution 1441. It said Iraq must comply completely and fully and immediately. The president says that is the only test for the Security Council: Did you mean what you said when you passed that resolution? Others, of course, say piecemeal cooperation is OK with them as long as it continues.
So the president trying to define the debate before Dr. Blix goes in and gives a mixed report. The president trying to say a mixed report is not good enough.
ZAHN: John King, thanks so much.
Time to go back to Richard Roth now at the U.N.
Richard -- have you learned anything more about what specifics we might hear today?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hans Blix is likely to tell the Security Council much of what John King said.
He's also going to submit an additional 167-page report. This lays out the outstanding disarmament issues Baghdad has certainly not cooperated with since the Gulf War, and some countries want to use that list to tell Iraq what it needs to do, but with a strict timeline.
The United States, though, not interested in extending that for very long or telling Iraq what it has to do. It believes under U.N. Security Council resolution, it's up to Baghdad to come clean with everything. Secretary of State Colin Powell late yesterday meeting with sponsors of the U.S.-U.K. resolution for a huddle. A spokesman for the State Department saying that possible changes to the resolution were discussed. Later for Powell, key meetings with opponents of that resolution -- the foreign minister of France and also the foreign minister of Germany. Eleven foreign ministers in all will be here.
One diplomat told me last evening he expects Britain to introduce some possible changes to the resolution, some amendments later today. That follows the Blix briefing and the public debate between some of these ministers you see here. There is the French foreign minister departing the Secretary Powell meeting.
Also, the Russians are not really at the moment publicly in favor of much changes, because they don't even like this resolution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say we start the war tomorrow, and then you say OK, OK, as a compromise we'll start the war in three days. Is it a compromise, I mean, on the basis of common sense? I dont think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: President Bush said last night that he wants countries to show their cards. It's been a poker game, Paula, for months here. Now the only question is whether the United States can draw a straight flush and win this thing or fold them without United Nations reauthorization under the resolutions for war -- Paula.
ZAHN: Even the president using some card analogies last night.
Richard, let me ask you this. The president made it pretty clear last night how irrelevant he thinks the inspection process has become. How defensive might Hans Blix be today about the integrity of those ongoing inspections?
ROTH: Well, he's kind of like a Swedish battleship. I mean, he lets this just bounce off. He was asked how much pressure he's under the other day, and he, you know, just shrugged it off. He said he's not lonely. He calls his wife every week. He's heard worse. He denied that he had any heating meetings with Condoleezza Rice. He said everything was quite business-like and friendly, though they may disagree.
ZAHN: Richard Roth, thanks for the update. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning.
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 March 7, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our top story this morning, the showdown with Iraq. As we have reported, President Bush says the U.S. is ready to go to war whether the U.N. authorizes it or not. And weapons inspectors deliver a crucial report on Iraq this morning at the United Nations.
John King reports from the White House for us this morning, Richard Roth from the U.N. We're going to get started with John this morning.
Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
The president last night adding even more drama to this debate, committing, even though some aides had said he might pull the U.S. resolution off the table, the president says no; that he wants a vote and he wants it early next week.
The president in his primetime news conference saying there's only one question before the United Nations now: Is Saddam Hussein completely and fully disarming? The president says the answer is unequivocally no.
Mr. Bush and his team are trying to negotiate a compromise on that resolution. The president made clear, though, at his news conference last night that his patience for diplomacy is running very short.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's now time for this issue to come to a head at the Security Council, and it will. As far as ultimatums and all of the speculation about what may or may not happen after next week, we'll just wait and see.
Steve.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).
BUSH: Well, we're days away from resolving this issue at the Security Council.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Days away, meaning the president wants a vote early next week. Aides say by the end of next week, the president could be addressing the nation, laying out for them in more detail the risks of going to war.
Mr. Bush made clear last night that if U.S. troops go into Iraq, make no mistake about it, the goal will be not only disarmament, but regime change. He called the Iraqi leader and his -- quote -- "killers" a cancer that must be removed from Iraq.
And the president said if he loses the vote at the United Nations that does not mean he is not prepared to go to war. The president saying -- quote -- "When it comes to our security" -- meaning American security -- he doesn't need anybody's permission -- Paula.
ZAHN: John, part of the reason for the president having this news conference last night was to try to maybe perhaps preempt what Hans Blix might be saying later this morning. What is it the White House expects to hear from him?
KING: Well, the White House expects Dr. Blix to say Iraq is cooperating in destroying some of those Al Samoud missiles; Iraq is cooperating at least a bit more cooperatively in turning over some documents; that Iraq has said it will promise more cooperation down the road.
What the president is trying to say is, read Resolution 1441. It said Iraq must comply completely and fully and immediately. The president says that is the only test for the Security Council: Did you mean what you said when you passed that resolution? Others, of course, say piecemeal cooperation is OK with them as long as it continues.
So the president trying to define the debate before Dr. Blix goes in and gives a mixed report. The president trying to say a mixed report is not good enough.
ZAHN: John King, thanks so much.
Time to go back to Richard Roth now at the U.N.
Richard -- have you learned anything more about what specifics we might hear today?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hans Blix is likely to tell the Security Council much of what John King said.
He's also going to submit an additional 167-page report. This lays out the outstanding disarmament issues Baghdad has certainly not cooperated with since the Gulf War, and some countries want to use that list to tell Iraq what it needs to do, but with a strict timeline.
The United States, though, not interested in extending that for very long or telling Iraq what it has to do. It believes under U.N. Security Council resolution, it's up to Baghdad to come clean with everything. Secretary of State Colin Powell late yesterday meeting with sponsors of the U.S.-U.K. resolution for a huddle. A spokesman for the State Department saying that possible changes to the resolution were discussed. Later for Powell, key meetings with opponents of that resolution -- the foreign minister of France and also the foreign minister of Germany. Eleven foreign ministers in all will be here.
One diplomat told me last evening he expects Britain to introduce some possible changes to the resolution, some amendments later today. That follows the Blix briefing and the public debate between some of these ministers you see here. There is the French foreign minister departing the Secretary Powell meeting.
Also, the Russians are not really at the moment publicly in favor of much changes, because they don't even like this resolution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say we start the war tomorrow, and then you say OK, OK, as a compromise we'll start the war in three days. Is it a compromise, I mean, on the basis of common sense? I dont think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: President Bush said last night that he wants countries to show their cards. It's been a poker game, Paula, for months here. Now the only question is whether the United States can draw a straight flush and win this thing or fold them without United Nations reauthorization under the resolutions for war -- Paula.
ZAHN: Even the president using some card analogies last night.
Richard, let me ask you this. The president made it pretty clear last night how irrelevant he thinks the inspection process has become. How defensive might Hans Blix be today about the integrity of those ongoing inspections?
ROTH: Well, he's kind of like a Swedish battleship. I mean, he lets this just bounce off. He was asked how much pressure he's under the other day, and he, you know, just shrugged it off. He said he's not lonely. He calls his wife every week. He's heard worse. He denied that he had any heating meetings with Condoleezza Rice. He said everything was quite business-like and friendly, though they may disagree.
ZAHN: Richard Roth, thanks for the update. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
