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American Morning
Bush in Britain
Aired November 19, 2003 - 07:17 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: This morning in London: President Bush and Queen Elizabeth II. The president spending the night at Buckingham Palace after arriving in the British capital yesterday, met there by Prince Charles.
In about an hour from now, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the president will address a selected audience in London in a speech that will include a defense of the Iraq war.
Meanwhile, outside, thousands of protesters are expected to gather.
Two reports from London now. Christiane Amanpour is on the street covering the demonstrations, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux traveling with the president. Let's start in London with Suzanne.
Hello and good afternoon there.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello, Bill.
This is only the first day of a three-day visit, already plenty of protests, pomp and even a royal scandal. But this morning at the Buckingham Palace, President Bush and the first lady got nothing but the royal treatment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): At Buckingham Palace, President Bush and the first lady were formally welcomed to England by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillips, with a 41-gun salute, the playing of the American National Anthem, and reviewing of the troops.
President Bush is under unprecedented security to protect him from possible terrorist attacks and to shield him from protestors.
Inside the palace, the queen shares a reflective moment with Mr. Bush when she gives him a tour of her royal collection of American memorabilia.
Later, President Bush will deliver what is being billed as a major foreign policy speech. In it, he will defend the U.S.'s decision to invade Iraq and argue that British Prime Minister Tony Blair made the right decision to join the U.S. effort.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: Now, this morning the White House is downplaying a security breach at Buckingham Palace after a report from this newspaper saying that one of its reporters was able to infiltrate the British Guard there. The White House is saying that they are still confident in British security forces, that the president was notified by his deputy chief of staff on the trip about this incident. This reporter was at Buckingham Palace last night when the president and the first lady arrived, and he was due to even serve breakfast to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. But, again, a spokesperson saying that they believe the president wasn't in any danger -- Bill.
HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks. That's the view from the inside.
Down the road about a mile, Trafalgar Square, and the view outside, here's Christiane Amanpour on that.
Christiane -- good afternoon to you.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon from London, Bill.
Yes, today there are going to be some protests, but today the protests are billed as more comical, a little bit of light relief, sort of highlighting of what is not going to happen in the formal ceremonies. Today it's going to be called an "alternative state procession," and already there are about 1,000 or so people who are coming towards Trafalgar Square. One or two are dressed up as the president and queen. They're riding a fake carriage. And plastered around are placards that say "stop Bush."
Tomorrow is meant to be the big protest, and that also will culminate in Trafalgar Square. And, again, the Stop the War Coalition, which has been organizing these, thinks that it will be able to attract some tens of thousands of people. That is for tomorrow. They're calling that the big one.
But certainly, as Suzanne pointed out, there is an unprecedented security clampdown for this visit. There simply has never been this many police on the streets or this much of a security clampdown for any foreign visitor, including any previous U.S. president. There is, of course, since September 11, there has been a high alert for al Qaeda terrorist attacks here in Britain. But the police say they have had no specific threat directed at President Bush or his three-day visit here.
But, as I say, a lot of those police efforts are going to be to try to keep the president shielded from those protesters, which are expected to take to the streets in larger and more serious numbers tomorrow.
In such -- because of such concerns, the president is eschewing some of the more traditional activities of state visits. He will not be taking a horse-drawn carriage, which usually a visiting head of state does travel along the Mall with the queen. He will not be giving an address to parliament, which usually, whether it's a state visit or not, foreign leaders do, including previous American presidents. Instead, as Suzanne pointed out, there will be that foreign policy speech to a select audience at the Banqueting Hall, not far from where I'm standing now.
And it is, of course, American foreign policy -- Bush's foreign policy that is causing so much unease and discomfort amongst the British public. While poll after poll continues to confirm that the British believes America to be its most important, most vital strategic alliance, and continue to show great respect and affection for America, poll after poll also shows that the British -- remember, the staunchest of American allies -- the British people are still very uncomfortable about what's perceived as a unilateral foreign policy, and what's perceived as using war as a central platform of foreign policy.
So, that is sort of the conflict that the British have with this current administration. And, of course, many Britons are going to be asking: What do we get as payback for so staunchly supporting the American president during the Iraq war?
Just behind me on Trafalgar Square, some of the protesters, you can see, are behind Trafalgar Square, drawing a lot of police along with them and a replica of a missile. And that's just a taste of some of the things that should come later on today and tomorrow -- Bill, Soledad.
HEMMER: Christiane, thanks, in London. We won't be far.
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 November 19, 2003 - 07:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning in London: President Bush and Queen Elizabeth II. The president spending the night at Buckingham Palace after arriving in the British capital yesterday, met there by Prince Charles.
In about an hour from now, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the president will address a selected audience in London in a speech that will include a defense of the Iraq war.
Meanwhile, outside, thousands of protesters are expected to gather.
Two reports from London now. Christiane Amanpour is on the street covering the demonstrations, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux traveling with the president. Let's start in London with Suzanne.
Hello and good afternoon there.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello, Bill.
This is only the first day of a three-day visit, already plenty of protests, pomp and even a royal scandal. But this morning at the Buckingham Palace, President Bush and the first lady got nothing but the royal treatment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): At Buckingham Palace, President Bush and the first lady were formally welcomed to England by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillips, with a 41-gun salute, the playing of the American National Anthem, and reviewing of the troops.
President Bush is under unprecedented security to protect him from possible terrorist attacks and to shield him from protestors.
Inside the palace, the queen shares a reflective moment with Mr. Bush when she gives him a tour of her royal collection of American memorabilia.
Later, President Bush will deliver what is being billed as a major foreign policy speech. In it, he will defend the U.S.'s decision to invade Iraq and argue that British Prime Minister Tony Blair made the right decision to join the U.S. effort.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: Now, this morning the White House is downplaying a security breach at Buckingham Palace after a report from this newspaper saying that one of its reporters was able to infiltrate the British Guard there. The White House is saying that they are still confident in British security forces, that the president was notified by his deputy chief of staff on the trip about this incident. This reporter was at Buckingham Palace last night when the president and the first lady arrived, and he was due to even serve breakfast to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. But, again, a spokesperson saying that they believe the president wasn't in any danger -- Bill.
HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks. That's the view from the inside.
Down the road about a mile, Trafalgar Square, and the view outside, here's Christiane Amanpour on that.
Christiane -- good afternoon to you.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon from London, Bill.
Yes, today there are going to be some protests, but today the protests are billed as more comical, a little bit of light relief, sort of highlighting of what is not going to happen in the formal ceremonies. Today it's going to be called an "alternative state procession," and already there are about 1,000 or so people who are coming towards Trafalgar Square. One or two are dressed up as the president and queen. They're riding a fake carriage. And plastered around are placards that say "stop Bush."
Tomorrow is meant to be the big protest, and that also will culminate in Trafalgar Square. And, again, the Stop the War Coalition, which has been organizing these, thinks that it will be able to attract some tens of thousands of people. That is for tomorrow. They're calling that the big one.
But certainly, as Suzanne pointed out, there is an unprecedented security clampdown for this visit. There simply has never been this many police on the streets or this much of a security clampdown for any foreign visitor, including any previous U.S. president. There is, of course, since September 11, there has been a high alert for al Qaeda terrorist attacks here in Britain. But the police say they have had no specific threat directed at President Bush or his three-day visit here.
But, as I say, a lot of those police efforts are going to be to try to keep the president shielded from those protesters, which are expected to take to the streets in larger and more serious numbers tomorrow.
In such -- because of such concerns, the president is eschewing some of the more traditional activities of state visits. He will not be taking a horse-drawn carriage, which usually a visiting head of state does travel along the Mall with the queen. He will not be giving an address to parliament, which usually, whether it's a state visit or not, foreign leaders do, including previous American presidents. Instead, as Suzanne pointed out, there will be that foreign policy speech to a select audience at the Banqueting Hall, not far from where I'm standing now.
And it is, of course, American foreign policy -- Bush's foreign policy that is causing so much unease and discomfort amongst the British public. While poll after poll continues to confirm that the British believes America to be its most important, most vital strategic alliance, and continue to show great respect and affection for America, poll after poll also shows that the British -- remember, the staunchest of American allies -- the British people are still very uncomfortable about what's perceived as a unilateral foreign policy, and what's perceived as using war as a central platform of foreign policy.
So, that is sort of the conflict that the British have with this current administration. And, of course, many Britons are going to be asking: What do we get as payback for so staunchly supporting the American president during the Iraq war?
Just behind me on Trafalgar Square, some of the protesters, you can see, are behind Trafalgar Square, drawing a lot of police along with them and a replica of a missile. And that's just a taste of some of the things that should come later on today and tomorrow -- Bill, Soledad.
HEMMER: Christiane, thanks, in London. We won't be far.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
