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American Morning
State of the Union
Aired January 21, 2004 - 09:03 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: President Bush is taking his show on the road today, hitting Ohio and Arizona to push his State of the Union agenda.
Senior White House correspondent John King covers the major talking points laid out in last night's speech.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (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.
KING: The speech ran 54 minutes in all from top to bottom, an effort by the president to both challenge and rebut his Democratic critics, to frame the early re-election campaign debate, and to make his case for four more years.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 - 09:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is taking his show on the road today, hitting Ohio and Arizona to push his State of the Union agenda.
Senior White House correspondent John King covers the major talking points laid out in last night's speech.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (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.
KING: The speech ran 54 minutes in all from top to bottom, an effort by the president to both challenge and rebut his Democratic critics, to frame the early re-election campaign debate, and to make his case for four more years.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
