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American Morning
Bush in Africa
Aired July 09, 2003 - 08:31 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: President Bush is in South Africa today, meeting with the president there, Thabo Mbeki, earlier this morning. It's the second stop on his five-nation tour. Next he'll go to Botswana, followed by Uganda, and finally, Nigeria. However the questions about WMD and Iraq came up again today.
Chris Burns traveling with the president live now in Pretoria.
Chris, hello there.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill.
Over my shoulder, the Union Building, that's the complex where President Bush and President Mbeki both met. President Bush getting a warm greeting from President Thabo Mbeki. This was supposed to be the first full day during which the president would be touting and promoting his multibillion dollar rescue package for Africa.
However he couldn't get far enough away from Washington D.C., where right now swirling is the debate over whether weapons of mass destruction -- were there was enough evidence of that to go to war with Iraq?
Now, President Bush for the first time was asked point blank about this state of the union message back in January when he said that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy weapons material, or nuclear materials, from Africa. That was a contention that was later struck down. President Bush was asked about that, and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That Saddam Hussein had a weapons of mass destruction program. In 1991, I will remind you, we underestimated how close he was to having a nuclear weapon. Imagine a world in which this tyrant had a nuclear weapon. In 1998, my predecessor raided Iraq, based upon the very same intelligence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Democrats in Washington, of course, are turning up the heat on this, saying where are those weapons, and where is that evidence? Now, a related question on Iraq is, are U.S. troops spread too thin around the world, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, too much to send any peacekeepers to Liberia. That is one of these human disasters in the making in Africa, where President Bush is being pressed to send peacekeepers for the first time to sub-Saharan Africa since Somalia. And you'll remember what happened over there. So, the president was pressed again on that. He said that he is still talking with African countries about the U.S. involvement, what it may be, called again for President Charles Taylor of that country to leave the country, to try to allow a transitional government to get set up.
Another human disaster in the making is in Zimbabwe, where the president pressed Thabo Mbeki, although gingerly, behind closed doors, perhaps a bit more strongly to try to wield his regional power. South Africa being a regional power here, to try to get the president of Zimbabwe to step down. That is a very difficult situation, and the economy there could collapse, there could be famine. So the president would like to see some results there. We'll have to see what comes in the coming days there -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, day two, Chris Burns, thanks, live in Pretoria.
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 July 9, 2003 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is in South Africa today, meeting with the president there, Thabo Mbeki, earlier this morning. It's the second stop on his five-nation tour. Next he'll go to Botswana, followed by Uganda, and finally, Nigeria. However the questions about WMD and Iraq came up again today.
Chris Burns traveling with the president live now in Pretoria.
Chris, hello there.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill.
Over my shoulder, the Union Building, that's the complex where President Bush and President Mbeki both met. President Bush getting a warm greeting from President Thabo Mbeki. This was supposed to be the first full day during which the president would be touting and promoting his multibillion dollar rescue package for Africa.
However he couldn't get far enough away from Washington D.C., where right now swirling is the debate over whether weapons of mass destruction -- were there was enough evidence of that to go to war with Iraq?
Now, President Bush for the first time was asked point blank about this state of the union message back in January when he said that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy weapons material, or nuclear materials, from Africa. That was a contention that was later struck down. President Bush was asked about that, and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That Saddam Hussein had a weapons of mass destruction program. In 1991, I will remind you, we underestimated how close he was to having a nuclear weapon. Imagine a world in which this tyrant had a nuclear weapon. In 1998, my predecessor raided Iraq, based upon the very same intelligence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Democrats in Washington, of course, are turning up the heat on this, saying where are those weapons, and where is that evidence? Now, a related question on Iraq is, are U.S. troops spread too thin around the world, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, too much to send any peacekeepers to Liberia. That is one of these human disasters in the making in Africa, where President Bush is being pressed to send peacekeepers for the first time to sub-Saharan Africa since Somalia. And you'll remember what happened over there. So, the president was pressed again on that. He said that he is still talking with African countries about the U.S. involvement, what it may be, called again for President Charles Taylor of that country to leave the country, to try to allow a transitional government to get set up.
Another human disaster in the making is in Zimbabwe, where the president pressed Thabo Mbeki, although gingerly, behind closed doors, perhaps a bit more strongly to try to wield his regional power. South Africa being a regional power here, to try to get the president of Zimbabwe to step down. That is a very difficult situation, and the economy there could collapse, there could be famine. So the president would like to see some results there. We'll have to see what comes in the coming days there -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, day two, Chris Burns, thanks, live in Pretoria.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
