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American Morning

Tony Blair, Portrait of Power

Aired July 18, 2003 - 07:02   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: Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has been even more harshly criticized than President Bush for his decision to go to war with Iraq. Yesterday, in a speech to Congress, Blair faced his critics telling them that history will prove him right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive. But if our critics are wrong, if we are right, as I believe with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that we are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Now, in the days leading up to the Iraq war a veteran British journalist was given unprecedented access to 10 Downing Street as Tony Blair worked on a war plan and a way of justifying it with the British people. The result is a new book called "Thirty Days: Tony Blair and the Test of History." The author, Peter Stothard, is with us now live in New York.

Nice to see you, Peter. Good morning.

PETER STOTHARD, AUTHOR, "THIRTY DAYS": Good morning.

HEMMER: Back up just a little bit. When did the bond truly form between President Bush and Tony Blair?

STOTHARD: It was after 9/11. Bush had instantly I think grasped the significance of 9/11. Tony Blair instantly grasped it. Ninety- nine percent of the people in Britain and Europe didn't. It was like a horror movie for us in London; for you, it was a real powerful, lasting thing. And that was the big difference.

HEMMER: Are you saying it was the minutes after 9/11, or was it the hours or the days and weeks that followed?

STOTHARD: Gradually building in the days and weeks that followed.

HEMMER: So, it wasn't instantaneous.

STOTHARD: But Tony Blair grasped the significant of 9/11 very, very quickly. That's the kind of guy he is. I mean, he may make mistakes, but he does get very quickly to the things that have changed. Change is what motivates him, changing generations, changing problems. He was up to understand this, and he grasped it really fast.

HEMMER: So, in the days leading up to the Iraq war, how then did the impact of 9/11 play into his decision-making at that time?

STOTHARD: Well, he knew that President Bush was going to attack Iraq, and he was frightened, very frightened. I spoke to him often about this in those 30 days about the dangers of America going it alone. He thought this was very, very damaging, as he said in Congress yesterday, to global security and to the shared values of the Western world. So, he was going to be with George Bush, but he also wanted to make sure that as many other people as possible were with George Bush.

So, what I watched him do day after day after day sitting in his office in Downing Street was trying to get this biggest possible constituency, because I've never seen a politician work the way he did to try and do that. It wasn't a total success, but it was amazing to watch.

HEMMER: How did he -- what did you observe? If we took all of this heat in the House of Commons that we watch almost on a daily basis, how did he deal with that?

STOTHARD: Well, he is trained to deal with that. I mean, that looks strange to Americans, because your politicians aren't trained to do that. So, you know, taking heat in the House of Commons is what -- if you can't do that, you can never become prime minister of Great Britain. But watching him prepare that speech was, again, one of the most extraordinary things I ever saw. And he had just finished it, and we got the call from the White House saying, you know, well, OK, you've done your speech, can we start the war now, please. I mean, I've never seen those guys so shocked. I mean, it was very dramatic stuff.

HEMMER: I'd like to talk to you about a whole lot of things because there is a lot in your book that you get to that we don't have time for. There is a breaking story out of London that may or may not have a connection in the end. David Kelly is a British scientist, disappeared yesterday afternoon. There has been a body found near his home in London. Police are not making a connection just yet that it's his body. But David Kelly, as a doctor back in Britain, do people know him? Is he a household name or not?

STOTHARD: He'll be a household name soon. I mean, this could totally transform this. I mean, Blair left America yesterday in great clouds of glory (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by America. He'll have got this news that this guy, who was almost certainly, we think -- I mean we're almost certain -- was the source of one of the most damaging accusations against him that he sexed up and exaggerated the WMD claims. Now, it looks as though Blair was right, you know, this guy probably did in some way with the journalists screw up. But God knows what pressure was put under him. And, I mean, once you have a dead body in this -- it's like Vince Foster and the Whitewater before Vince Foster and Whitewater after Vince Foster. I mean, really anything can happen now.

HEMMER: We just need to be a little cautious. We don't want to cross the line just yet, because we don't have confirmation.

But in a word or two, was he under a lot of heat in recent days and weeks, David Kelly?

STOTHARD: Oh, yes. This is a scientist, a guy who lived his life entirely in the shadows. He talked to a journalist. The journalist may have exaggerated what he said. That certainly is what seems to be the impression in London. But obviously you can imagine what would happen. I don't want to speculate too much either, but you can imagine the Ministry of Defense police and their internal inquiries, you know, could easily get pretty heavy on this guy. That could come out in the inquest.

I mean, Tony Blair has successfully resisted all calls for any kind of judicial investigation into how we got into what we said about WMD, and, of course, I think he would have got away with it, but he may still get away with it. But this is a dangerous moment for him.

HEMMER: Yes, we are awaiting word from London. Thanks. Good book, "Thirty Days," Peter Stothard. Nice to see you in person.

STOTHARD: Thank 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.







Aired July 18, 2003 - 07:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has been even more harshly criticized than President Bush for his decision to go to war with Iraq. Yesterday, in a speech to Congress, Blair faced his critics telling them that history will prove him right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive. But if our critics are wrong, if we are right, as I believe with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that we are, and we do not act, then we will have hesitated in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Now, in the days leading up to the Iraq war a veteran British journalist was given unprecedented access to 10 Downing Street as Tony Blair worked on a war plan and a way of justifying it with the British people. The result is a new book called "Thirty Days: Tony Blair and the Test of History." The author, Peter Stothard, is with us now live in New York.

Nice to see you, Peter. Good morning.

PETER STOTHARD, AUTHOR, "THIRTY DAYS": Good morning.

HEMMER: Back up just a little bit. When did the bond truly form between President Bush and Tony Blair?

STOTHARD: It was after 9/11. Bush had instantly I think grasped the significance of 9/11. Tony Blair instantly grasped it. Ninety- nine percent of the people in Britain and Europe didn't. It was like a horror movie for us in London; for you, it was a real powerful, lasting thing. And that was the big difference.

HEMMER: Are you saying it was the minutes after 9/11, or was it the hours or the days and weeks that followed?

STOTHARD: Gradually building in the days and weeks that followed.

HEMMER: So, it wasn't instantaneous.

STOTHARD: But Tony Blair grasped the significant of 9/11 very, very quickly. That's the kind of guy he is. I mean, he may make mistakes, but he does get very quickly to the things that have changed. Change is what motivates him, changing generations, changing problems. He was up to understand this, and he grasped it really fast.

HEMMER: So, in the days leading up to the Iraq war, how then did the impact of 9/11 play into his decision-making at that time?

STOTHARD: Well, he knew that President Bush was going to attack Iraq, and he was frightened, very frightened. I spoke to him often about this in those 30 days about the dangers of America going it alone. He thought this was very, very damaging, as he said in Congress yesterday, to global security and to the shared values of the Western world. So, he was going to be with George Bush, but he also wanted to make sure that as many other people as possible were with George Bush.

So, what I watched him do day after day after day sitting in his office in Downing Street was trying to get this biggest possible constituency, because I've never seen a politician work the way he did to try and do that. It wasn't a total success, but it was amazing to watch.

HEMMER: How did he -- what did you observe? If we took all of this heat in the House of Commons that we watch almost on a daily basis, how did he deal with that?

STOTHARD: Well, he is trained to deal with that. I mean, that looks strange to Americans, because your politicians aren't trained to do that. So, you know, taking heat in the House of Commons is what -- if you can't do that, you can never become prime minister of Great Britain. But watching him prepare that speech was, again, one of the most extraordinary things I ever saw. And he had just finished it, and we got the call from the White House saying, you know, well, OK, you've done your speech, can we start the war now, please. I mean, I've never seen those guys so shocked. I mean, it was very dramatic stuff.

HEMMER: I'd like to talk to you about a whole lot of things because there is a lot in your book that you get to that we don't have time for. There is a breaking story out of London that may or may not have a connection in the end. David Kelly is a British scientist, disappeared yesterday afternoon. There has been a body found near his home in London. Police are not making a connection just yet that it's his body. But David Kelly, as a doctor back in Britain, do people know him? Is he a household name or not?

STOTHARD: He'll be a household name soon. I mean, this could totally transform this. I mean, Blair left America yesterday in great clouds of glory (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by America. He'll have got this news that this guy, who was almost certainly, we think -- I mean we're almost certain -- was the source of one of the most damaging accusations against him that he sexed up and exaggerated the WMD claims. Now, it looks as though Blair was right, you know, this guy probably did in some way with the journalists screw up. But God knows what pressure was put under him. And, I mean, once you have a dead body in this -- it's like Vince Foster and the Whitewater before Vince Foster and Whitewater after Vince Foster. I mean, really anything can happen now.

HEMMER: We just need to be a little cautious. We don't want to cross the line just yet, because we don't have confirmation.

But in a word or two, was he under a lot of heat in recent days and weeks, David Kelly?

STOTHARD: Oh, yes. This is a scientist, a guy who lived his life entirely in the shadows. He talked to a journalist. The journalist may have exaggerated what he said. That certainly is what seems to be the impression in London. But obviously you can imagine what would happen. I don't want to speculate too much either, but you can imagine the Ministry of Defense police and their internal inquiries, you know, could easily get pretty heavy on this guy. That could come out in the inquest.

I mean, Tony Blair has successfully resisted all calls for any kind of judicial investigation into how we got into what we said about WMD, and, of course, I think he would have got away with it, but he may still get away with it. But this is a dangerous moment for him.

HEMMER: Yes, we are awaiting word from London. Thanks. Good book, "Thirty Days," Peter Stothard. Nice to see you in person.

STOTHARD: Thank 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.