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American Morning
U.S. May Abandon New Resolution Vote
Aired March 14, 2003 - 09:04 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: President Bush will meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in the Azores this weekend, off the coast of Portugal.
Let's check in with John King, who's standing by at the White House, who has some more details for us this morning.
Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
The prime minister of Portugal is also on hand. He is the host of this emergency summit. We are told it will be Sunday, in the Atlantic island of the Azores, part of Portugal, and we are told that the subject of the discussion between the three leaders, President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and Prime Minister Aznar will be efforts to try to salvage a second resolution at the United Nations. Right now, support is in shambles at the United Nations for the resolution put forward by the United States, Great Britain, and Spain.
Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, saying the goal will be to see if there is any to come up with a new compromise, a new way to formulate that resolution to get a vote in the Security Council next week. Some indications from France this morning that it might be willing to offer compromises, although White House officials say their understanding is Paris still remains opposed to any resolution that would clear the way for war.
Here at the White House, they're saying, France is saying crime is bad, but will not approve any punishment at all. So continuing disagreements with Paris, but this emergency summit on Sunday to try to salvage the diplomacy, and as that takes place, preparations for that takes place, we will hear from the president, as Bill Hemmer noted, about an hour from now here in the Rose Garden. President Bush and Secretary of State Powell want to lay out the president's plan now to push more aggressively to implement his road map for peace in the Middle East. The president has been criticized by many around the world for putting that, as many see it, on the back burner during the military buildup around Iraq.
Mr. Bush will make the case next hour here in the Rose Garden, that no, he is now prepared to push the Israelis and the Palestinians to get back toward a peace process. There is no such process at the moment, even as he continues the urgent diplomacy about Iraq. A lot of moving parts this morning, and all very much connected, because all involve the very fragile Middle East -- Paula. ZAHN: John, give us some perspective now on some of the gyrations we've seen this week when it comes to how the administration views this second resolution. At one point, I think it was yesterday, we were led to believe maybe they wouldn't seek a vote in the second resolution if it was going to go down in flames, and now this summit.
KING: They certainly want a second resolution and Bush White House officials would tell us the second resolution is more important to the European in this alliance, especially Blair, than it is to President Bush. The calculations that they might actually withdraw the resolution and not seek a vote stems from this. If you will not get a majority on the council, never mind a French veto, if you cannot get majority support in the council and then you go to war, then it would be very easy for critics around the world to say it's not only Saddam Hussein, but it is President Bush and Prime Minister Blair who are in defiance of the United Nations.
So politically, the calculation is, what is best if you cannot get a second resolution through, that is one of the reasons these leaders who have been talking so much on the telephone in recent days will get together in the same room, Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Aznar and President Bush to decide if they can make further compromises, if then can get a resolution that they can at least get majority support in the council, and, of course, ultimately, they would like to be able to reach a resolution that would not be vetoed by France or Russia. White House officials say they're not optimistic about that prospect.
ZAHN: When we talk about, John, the importance of language in all this, we know people working around the clock looking for a compromise. I'm curious where you see a ray of hope and any resolution of this?
KING: It's hard to find a ray of hope when France has been adamant in saying it will not pass any resolution that it believes the United States will consider as a gateway to military action, even if the resolution itself does not mention any military action. The current proposal on the table does not mention military action, but White House officials have made no secret of the fact they believe it allows them to invoke the serious consequences in resolution 1441. The French have said they will not do that, and they say they will not do that, a, because they think the inspections are working and should be given more time.
And the French also say that Mr. Bush wants war to change regimes in Baghdad, and that the French are not signed on that; they only signed on to disarmament, not regime change, so how do you bridge that fundamental divide? No one here at the White House believes there is a way unless the French move, and that of course is one of the reasons they will have this emergency summit this weekend.
ZAHN: Thanks for those details, John King.
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 14, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in the Azores this weekend, off the coast of Portugal.
Let's check in with John King, who's standing by at the White House, who has some more details for us this morning.
Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
The prime minister of Portugal is also on hand. He is the host of this emergency summit. We are told it will be Sunday, in the Atlantic island of the Azores, part of Portugal, and we are told that the subject of the discussion between the three leaders, President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and Prime Minister Aznar will be efforts to try to salvage a second resolution at the United Nations. Right now, support is in shambles at the United Nations for the resolution put forward by the United States, Great Britain, and Spain.
Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, saying the goal will be to see if there is any to come up with a new compromise, a new way to formulate that resolution to get a vote in the Security Council next week. Some indications from France this morning that it might be willing to offer compromises, although White House officials say their understanding is Paris still remains opposed to any resolution that would clear the way for war.
Here at the White House, they're saying, France is saying crime is bad, but will not approve any punishment at all. So continuing disagreements with Paris, but this emergency summit on Sunday to try to salvage the diplomacy, and as that takes place, preparations for that takes place, we will hear from the president, as Bill Hemmer noted, about an hour from now here in the Rose Garden. President Bush and Secretary of State Powell want to lay out the president's plan now to push more aggressively to implement his road map for peace in the Middle East. The president has been criticized by many around the world for putting that, as many see it, on the back burner during the military buildup around Iraq.
Mr. Bush will make the case next hour here in the Rose Garden, that no, he is now prepared to push the Israelis and the Palestinians to get back toward a peace process. There is no such process at the moment, even as he continues the urgent diplomacy about Iraq. A lot of moving parts this morning, and all very much connected, because all involve the very fragile Middle East -- Paula. ZAHN: John, give us some perspective now on some of the gyrations we've seen this week when it comes to how the administration views this second resolution. At one point, I think it was yesterday, we were led to believe maybe they wouldn't seek a vote in the second resolution if it was going to go down in flames, and now this summit.
KING: They certainly want a second resolution and Bush White House officials would tell us the second resolution is more important to the European in this alliance, especially Blair, than it is to President Bush. The calculations that they might actually withdraw the resolution and not seek a vote stems from this. If you will not get a majority on the council, never mind a French veto, if you cannot get majority support in the council and then you go to war, then it would be very easy for critics around the world to say it's not only Saddam Hussein, but it is President Bush and Prime Minister Blair who are in defiance of the United Nations.
So politically, the calculation is, what is best if you cannot get a second resolution through, that is one of the reasons these leaders who have been talking so much on the telephone in recent days will get together in the same room, Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Aznar and President Bush to decide if they can make further compromises, if then can get a resolution that they can at least get majority support in the council, and, of course, ultimately, they would like to be able to reach a resolution that would not be vetoed by France or Russia. White House officials say they're not optimistic about that prospect.
ZAHN: When we talk about, John, the importance of language in all this, we know people working around the clock looking for a compromise. I'm curious where you see a ray of hope and any resolution of this?
KING: It's hard to find a ray of hope when France has been adamant in saying it will not pass any resolution that it believes the United States will consider as a gateway to military action, even if the resolution itself does not mention any military action. The current proposal on the table does not mention military action, but White House officials have made no secret of the fact they believe it allows them to invoke the serious consequences in resolution 1441. The French have said they will not do that, and they say they will not do that, a, because they think the inspections are working and should be given more time.
And the French also say that Mr. Bush wants war to change regimes in Baghdad, and that the French are not signed on that; they only signed on to disarmament, not regime change, so how do you bridge that fundamental divide? No one here at the White House believes there is a way unless the French move, and that of course is one of the reasons they will have this emergency summit this weekend.
ZAHN: Thanks for those details, John King.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
