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American Morning

CIA Director George Tenet Accepts Responsibility

Aired July 14, 2003 - 07:25   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.


JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How long do you think it's going to be before we see the 16 words from that State of the Union address in a campaign commercial for one of the Democratic candidates?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Three weeks.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Got a week?

CAFFERTY: Pretty soon.

That's what we're talking about this morning, that claim made by President Bush in the State of the Union address concerning Iraq's efforts to obtain uranium in Africa. CIA Director George Tenet has accepted responsibility for the discredited information getting into the speech about Iraq trying to buy that uranium. But that has not stopped the controversy. Oh, no. Not by a long shot.

Bob Franken has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Now that the CIA director volunteered to take the heat, that should be that, right?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: No, the case is not closed. I don't believe that George Tenet saying something about responsibility ends the question of ultimate responsibility, nor does it answer the question or questions about what really happened.

FRANKEN: The presidential campaign is under way and the Democrats, after all, are not running against the CIA director.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: This is not a problem of George Tenet. It's a problem of George Bush.

FRANKEN: Tenet was originally appointed by President Clinton and some Republicans point to other intelligence controversies and want him out.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), VICE CHAIRMAN, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: There have been more failures of intelligence on the watch of George Tenet than anybody in recent history as the director of the CIA.

FRANKEN: But here he was taking the fall for President Bush.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: George Tenet is a wonderful public servant and the Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence community does a good job.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: George Tenet is a fine director of Central Intelligence. He has fought the war on terrorism well.

FRANKEN: What about Condoleezza Rice then? Her staff negotiated the language in the president's speech with the CIA where the British became the source.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: She doesn't yet acknowledge what is so obvious, it seems to me, that you cannot make a statement which you believe is untrue by saying somebody else has learned that something has happened, creating an impression that it is true, a false impression.

FRANKEN (on camera): This is a town that thrives on finger pointing. But the point is much larger than politics, a question of what went into the decisions that led to the still precarious situation in Iraq and who is really responsible for them.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAFFERTY: So here's the question this morning, should George Tenet step down as director of the CIA? You can weigh in with your thoughts at am@cnn.com.

There's a bigger question, too. And that has to do with the British insisting that yes, they do have intelligence about Saddam Hussein trying to procure uranium in Africa, they just can't reveal where they got it.

Well, guess what? Until they do, this isn't going anywhere. At some point they're going to have to, you know, they're going to have to figure it out.

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 14, 2003 - 07:25   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How long do you think it's going to be before we see the 16 words from that State of the Union address in a campaign commercial for one of the Democratic candidates?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Three weeks.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Got a week?

CAFFERTY: Pretty soon.

That's what we're talking about this morning, that claim made by President Bush in the State of the Union address concerning Iraq's efforts to obtain uranium in Africa. CIA Director George Tenet has accepted responsibility for the discredited information getting into the speech about Iraq trying to buy that uranium. But that has not stopped the controversy. Oh, no. Not by a long shot.

Bob Franken has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Now that the CIA director volunteered to take the heat, that should be that, right?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: No, the case is not closed. I don't believe that George Tenet saying something about responsibility ends the question of ultimate responsibility, nor does it answer the question or questions about what really happened.

FRANKEN: The presidential campaign is under way and the Democrats, after all, are not running against the CIA director.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: This is not a problem of George Tenet. It's a problem of George Bush.

FRANKEN: Tenet was originally appointed by President Clinton and some Republicans point to other intelligence controversies and want him out.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), VICE CHAIRMAN, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: There have been more failures of intelligence on the watch of George Tenet than anybody in recent history as the director of the CIA.

FRANKEN: But here he was taking the fall for President Bush.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: George Tenet is a wonderful public servant and the Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence community does a good job.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: George Tenet is a fine director of Central Intelligence. He has fought the war on terrorism well.

FRANKEN: What about Condoleezza Rice then? Her staff negotiated the language in the president's speech with the CIA where the British became the source.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: She doesn't yet acknowledge what is so obvious, it seems to me, that you cannot make a statement which you believe is untrue by saying somebody else has learned that something has happened, creating an impression that it is true, a false impression.

FRANKEN (on camera): This is a town that thrives on finger pointing. But the point is much larger than politics, a question of what went into the decisions that led to the still precarious situation in Iraq and who is really responsible for them.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAFFERTY: So here's the question this morning, should George Tenet step down as director of the CIA? You can weigh in with your thoughts at am@cnn.com.

There's a bigger question, too. And that has to do with the British insisting that yes, they do have intelligence about Saddam Hussein trying to procure uranium in Africa, they just can't reveal where they got it.

Well, guess what? Until they do, this isn't going anywhere. At some point they're going to have to, you know, they're going to have to figure it out.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com