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American Morning

State of the Union on the Road

Aired January 21, 2004 - 07:01   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 president takes his State of the Union message to the people today with stops in Ohio and Arizona. Mr. Bush last night outlined an agenda and vision he hopes will lead to his re-election come November.
John King joins us now from the White House.

Hey -- John. Good morning.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

The speech ran 54 minutes in all from top to bottom. The president rebutting and taking issue with the arguments made by his many Democratic critics and making the case to the American people for four more years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): Just three minutes in, an election year call to stay the course.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have faced serious challenges together, and now we face a choice.

KING: Still at risk and still at war were two major State of the Union themes. No time, this president says, for a change in command.

BUSH: It is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting and false.

KING: A year ago, he said with certainty Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; this year, a modest claim.

BUSH: Dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.

KING: Mr. Bush acknowledged Iraq's path to democracy was hard, but said toppling Saddam Hussein was right and, in his view, why Libya recently volunteered to end its weapons programs.

BUSH: For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible, and no one can now doubt the word of America.

KING: An evenly-divided Congress. On one side those who look at the economy and see more than two million jobs lost and a Bush weakness. On the other, those who agree the 10-year Bush tax cuts helped end the recession, and that an election year push to make them permanent presents Democrats a tough choice.

BUSH: Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase.

KING: The few new initiatives were aimed at major campaign debating points, their budgets modest because of record deficits -- $250 million in new job training grants to community colleges, 220 million in grants to boost reading and math performance, and tax incentives to help pay health care costs, including refundable tax credits of up to $3,000 to help low-income families buy health insurance.

BUSH: A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: The president repeatedly rebutted his Democratic critics. He also reached out to conservatives so critical in this election year, closing his speech with a section on values in which the president made clear his opposition to gay marriage and his willingness to seek a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage, if necessary -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: John, the White House said that this is not going to be a political speech, but you know what? It sure sounded like a guy who is running for re-election, from what I heard.

KING: It sure was, Soledad. The president is taking advantage of the power of incumbency here on the platform afforded by the State of the Union, out on the campaign trail. Most of the Democrats say repeal some, if not most, of the Bush tax cuts. The president is saying, do that and you are raising taxes on the American people.

Out on the campaign trail, the Democrats say, use the money from repealing those tax cuts to come up with a big, new health care program, much of it financed by the government. The president saying, don't do that, adopt more modest measures, tax credits, help businesses.

This speech was crafted very much in reaction, if you will, to what the Democrats have been saying on the campaign trail. The president making an early framing of what he thinks are his strengths in this election year -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: John King for us at the White House. Hey, John, thanks a lot for that.

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 January 21, 2004 - 07:01   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 president takes his State of the Union message to the people today with stops in Ohio and Arizona. Mr. Bush last night outlined an agenda and vision he hopes will lead to his re-election come November.
John King joins us now from the White House.

Hey -- John. Good morning.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

The speech ran 54 minutes in all from top to bottom. The president rebutting and taking issue with the arguments made by his many Democratic critics and making the case to the American people for four more years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): Just three minutes in, an election year call to stay the course.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have faced serious challenges together, and now we face a choice.

KING: Still at risk and still at war were two major State of the Union themes. No time, this president says, for a change in command.

BUSH: It is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting and false.

KING: A year ago, he said with certainty Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; this year, a modest claim.

BUSH: Dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.

KING: Mr. Bush acknowledged Iraq's path to democracy was hard, but said toppling Saddam Hussein was right and, in his view, why Libya recently volunteered to end its weapons programs.

BUSH: For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible, and no one can now doubt the word of America.

KING: An evenly-divided Congress. On one side those who look at the economy and see more than two million jobs lost and a Bush weakness. On the other, those who agree the 10-year Bush tax cuts helped end the recession, and that an election year push to make them permanent presents Democrats a tough choice.

BUSH: Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase.

KING: The few new initiatives were aimed at major campaign debating points, their budgets modest because of record deficits -- $250 million in new job training grants to community colleges, 220 million in grants to boost reading and math performance, and tax incentives to help pay health care costs, including refundable tax credits of up to $3,000 to help low-income families buy health insurance.

BUSH: A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: The president repeatedly rebutted his Democratic critics. He also reached out to conservatives so critical in this election year, closing his speech with a section on values in which the president made clear his opposition to gay marriage and his willingness to seek a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage, if necessary -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: John, the White House said that this is not going to be a political speech, but you know what? It sure sounded like a guy who is running for re-election, from what I heard.

KING: It sure was, Soledad. The president is taking advantage of the power of incumbency here on the platform afforded by the State of the Union, out on the campaign trail. Most of the Democrats say repeal some, if not most, of the Bush tax cuts. The president is saying, do that and you are raising taxes on the American people.

Out on the campaign trail, the Democrats say, use the money from repealing those tax cuts to come up with a big, new health care program, much of it financed by the government. The president saying, don't do that, adopt more modest measures, tax credits, help businesses.

This speech was crafted very much in reaction, if you will, to what the Democrats have been saying on the campaign trail. The president making an early framing of what he thinks are his strengths in this election year -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: John King for us at the White House. Hey, John, thanks a lot for that.

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