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American Morning
White House on the Offensive
Aired October 08, 2003 - 08:16 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The setbacks in Iraq and the negative coverage they draw from the media put the White House on the offensive. In the last few days, top officials in the Bush administration have been busy touting what they see as the rebuilding effort's unsung accomplishments.
And CNN's Dana Bash is live for us at the White House with more on the administration's campaign to promote the positive -- Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And this strategy includes the president, the vice president and other senior officials' speeches and travels, all an attempt, as you say, to get out what the White House feels is progress in Iraq, progress that the president hinted earlier this week is not getting out because of what he called a filter. That is a euphemism for you and me, Soledad, the national media. And that is why a big part of this campaign or strategy is to work with local media.
The president will give some interviews, television interviews with local reporters early next week. And I'm told by a senior official that he intends, as he televisions, for example, to New Hampshire tomorrow, to talk about how the campaign in Iraq and the broader war on terror is relevant to the places where he's going. He will talk about National Guardsmen and active duty officers, all an attempt, as you said, to talk about what is going well, they believe, in Iraq -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, Dana, a quick question for you on a different topic, the deadline, as you well know, for these White House staffers to turn over any relevant documents in this investigation of the CIA operative whose name was leaked has passed.
So what's the next step now? Have any been targeted for further investigation?
BASH: Well, we understand from government sources that the -- some officials here at the White House have been contacted by the FBI and been told that they will be seeking interviews soon. We don't know exactly who those officials are. They're being very careful not to give that information out here at the White House.
But we do know that in terms of the deadline, it was an internal deadline and most staffers did meet that. Now, from here on out, the White House counsel's office are going to be going through all of the documents they received in order to meet their Justice Department deadline.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash for us at the White House.
Dana, thanks.
BASH: 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 October 8, 2003 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The setbacks in Iraq and the negative coverage they draw from the media put the White House on the offensive. In the last few days, top officials in the Bush administration have been busy touting what they see as the rebuilding effort's unsung accomplishments.
And CNN's Dana Bash is live for us at the White House with more on the administration's campaign to promote the positive -- Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And this strategy includes the president, the vice president and other senior officials' speeches and travels, all an attempt, as you say, to get out what the White House feels is progress in Iraq, progress that the president hinted earlier this week is not getting out because of what he called a filter. That is a euphemism for you and me, Soledad, the national media. And that is why a big part of this campaign or strategy is to work with local media.
The president will give some interviews, television interviews with local reporters early next week. And I'm told by a senior official that he intends, as he televisions, for example, to New Hampshire tomorrow, to talk about how the campaign in Iraq and the broader war on terror is relevant to the places where he's going. He will talk about National Guardsmen and active duty officers, all an attempt, as you said, to talk about what is going well, they believe, in Iraq -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, Dana, a quick question for you on a different topic, the deadline, as you well know, for these White House staffers to turn over any relevant documents in this investigation of the CIA operative whose name was leaked has passed.
So what's the next step now? Have any been targeted for further investigation?
BASH: Well, we understand from government sources that the -- some officials here at the White House have been contacted by the FBI and been told that they will be seeking interviews soon. We don't know exactly who those officials are. They're being very careful not to give that information out here at the White House.
But we do know that in terms of the deadline, it was an internal deadline and most staffers did meet that. Now, from here on out, the White House counsel's office are going to be going through all of the documents they received in order to meet their Justice Department deadline.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash for us at the White House.
Dana, thanks.
BASH: 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
