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American Morning
President Spreads Ideas of State of the Union in Visits Today
Aired January 21, 2004 - 08:05 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: Last night, President Bush proclaimed the state of the union as confident and strong. In his presidential address, Mr. Bush outlined an agenda and vision he hopes will lead to his reelection come November. And today he takes that message to the people, with stops in Ohio and in Arizona.
John King live for us at the White House this morning -- John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
The president left just moments ago, so he is about to travel the country to key November battlegrounds, as you noted, reprising his speech. A very interestingly crafted speech, 54 minutes in all from top to bottom, an effort by the president to rebut his Democratic critics and to frame the early campaign debate in this reelection year.
The president began with the war on terrorism. Remember last year he said with such certainty that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He was preparing the country for war. This year, a much more modest claim, the president saying that evidence had been found of weapons programs, not weapons themselves. But he still proudly defended his decision to go to war in Iraq. He said America would stay the course and the president trying to play to his strength as the leader of the United States in the broader war on terrorism, telling the American people last night this is a nation still at war and, in his view, still at risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Twenty-eight months have passed since September the 11th, 2001, over two years without an attack on American soil. And it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting and false.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the president well aware that domestic issues, especially the strength of the economy, will be defining themes in this reelection year. He sought very much in his speech to put the Democrats on the defensive. Mr. Bush crediting his 10 year tax cuts with bringing the economy out of the recession. Many Democrats say repeal most or all of those tax cuts. That is a major theme in the Democratic race for president, Mr. Bush trying to put pressure on all of those candidates and the entire Democratic Party, saying that he believes Congress should vote this year to make those tax cuts permanent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Unless you act, the unfair tax on marriage will go back up. Unless you act, millions of families will be charged $300 more in federal taxes for every child. Unless you act, small businesses will pay higher taxes. Unless you act, the death tax will eventually come back to life. Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A few modest new initiatives from the president, all of them, again, aimed at major campaign themes -- some new money for job training, some new efforts to make health insurance more affordable, more accessible, especially for low income Americans. The price tags on those new initiatives, though, Soledad, quite modest. This president well aware of $500 billion, a record deficit this year, not that much money to spend.
O'BRIEN: John, the president certainly seemed comfortable while he was delivering the speech. But give me a sense of how it felt inside the chamber, the atmosphere.
KING: Polarizing, polarizing, in one word. You saw Ted Kennedy, other Democrats, literally rolling their eyes at the president, sitting on their hands at some point when he was talking about successes on the economic front. On the other side, Republicans jumping to their feet, trying to goad the Democrats into more applause. Remember, this was a president who won a contested 50-50 election. Many believe this election will be equally close. The Congress is evenly divided. This was a very polarizing speech by a president who has polarized at least the political parties here in Washington. The question is will he again polarize the electorate?
O'BRIEN: We will see.
John King for us at the White House this morning.
John, 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
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Aired January 21, 2004 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Last night, President Bush proclaimed the state of the union as confident and strong. In his presidential address, Mr. Bush outlined an agenda and vision he hopes will lead to his reelection come November. And today he takes that message to the people, with stops in Ohio and in Arizona.
John King live for us at the White House this morning -- John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
The president left just moments ago, so he is about to travel the country to key November battlegrounds, as you noted, reprising his speech. A very interestingly crafted speech, 54 minutes in all from top to bottom, an effort by the president to rebut his Democratic critics and to frame the early campaign debate in this reelection year.
The president began with the war on terrorism. Remember last year he said with such certainty that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He was preparing the country for war. This year, a much more modest claim, the president saying that evidence had been found of weapons programs, not weapons themselves. But he still proudly defended his decision to go to war in Iraq. He said America would stay the course and the president trying to play to his strength as the leader of the United States in the broader war on terrorism, telling the American people last night this is a nation still at war and, in his view, still at risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Twenty-eight months have passed since September the 11th, 2001, over two years without an attack on American soil. And it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting and false.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the president well aware that domestic issues, especially the strength of the economy, will be defining themes in this reelection year. He sought very much in his speech to put the Democrats on the defensive. Mr. Bush crediting his 10 year tax cuts with bringing the economy out of the recession. Many Democrats say repeal most or all of those tax cuts. That is a major theme in the Democratic race for president, Mr. Bush trying to put pressure on all of those candidates and the entire Democratic Party, saying that he believes Congress should vote this year to make those tax cuts permanent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Unless you act, the unfair tax on marriage will go back up. Unless you act, millions of families will be charged $300 more in federal taxes for every child. Unless you act, small businesses will pay higher taxes. Unless you act, the death tax will eventually come back to life. Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A few modest new initiatives from the president, all of them, again, aimed at major campaign themes -- some new money for job training, some new efforts to make health insurance more affordable, more accessible, especially for low income Americans. The price tags on those new initiatives, though, Soledad, quite modest. This president well aware of $500 billion, a record deficit this year, not that much money to spend.
O'BRIEN: John, the president certainly seemed comfortable while he was delivering the speech. But give me a sense of how it felt inside the chamber, the atmosphere.
KING: Polarizing, polarizing, in one word. You saw Ted Kennedy, other Democrats, literally rolling their eyes at the president, sitting on their hands at some point when he was talking about successes on the economic front. On the other side, Republicans jumping to their feet, trying to goad the Democrats into more applause. Remember, this was a president who won a contested 50-50 election. Many believe this election will be equally close. The Congress is evenly divided. This was a very polarizing speech by a president who has polarized at least the political parties here in Washington. The question is will he again polarize the electorate?
O'BRIEN: We will see.
John King for us at the White House this morning.
John, 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
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