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CNN Sunday Morning

Bush's Second 100 Days Will be Critical

Aired April 29, 2001 - 06:59   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin at the White House and the first 100 days of the George W. Bush administration. The president calls it a success, but Democrats take another view, and say the second 100 days will be even more important.

CNN senior White House correspondent John King puts the early days of the Bush administration in perspective.

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JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Measure by results is this president's motto, and he sees substantial progress at the 100-day mark.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some of the agenda that I talked about in the campaign that people thought would be dead on arrival seems to be doing quite well -- one of which is tax relief, another is education reform.

KING: The debate over taxes and education isn't settled, but Mr. Bush can claim headway.

Congress is on track to pass a 10-year tax cut of at least $1.2 trillion, and the president's calls for more testing and accountability are reflected in the major education bills taking shape.

ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: This is the first budget process where the president's budget wasn't thrown in the waste basket. The budget that was passed by the House was based on the president's budget. The budget that was passed by the Senate was based on the president's budget.

KING: Mr. Bush has deliberately focused on just a few top priorities in the early days, trying to build a record of achievement, and some political capital.

KEN DUBERSTEIN, FORMER REAGAN CHIEF OF STAFF: One of the things we learn from Ronald Reagan is to rivet the public's attention, and then the Congress' attention on one or two priorities at a time. And the more you repeat it, the more you stay focused; the more you're straightforward with the American people, the more that message sinks in, and people tend to rally around you. KING: But the narrow focus means putting other agenda items on hold: Social Security and Medicare reform, a Medicare prescription drug benefit and a so-called HMO patients bill of rights.

Leading Democrats say the price of the early Bush agenda will become more clear in the second 100 days.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: Our country is not a one-note country. The people know that if a tax cut is too large, it crowds out our ability to deal with other issues that they care an awful lot about -- Medicare, Social Security, education.

KING: The environment was a frequent flashpoint.

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NARRATOR: President Bush has already acted to ignore global warming, pollution...

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KING: Mr. Bush calls the criticism unfair, and says his greatest disappointment in the first 100 days in the perception he is anti- environment.

PETER HART, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: He has alienated what I would call a whole progressive group of Americans, as well as worrying about the suburban group on the basis of the environment. It was something that didn't work against him in the election; it can work against him during his presidency.

KING: Major reviews of military spending and national energy policy remain works in progress, and almost certain topics of future controversy.

(on camera): So the president's view that he is off to a good start is not only challenged by his critics, but tempered by the realization that the second 100 days will be far more important than the first 100 in determining his success in selling and implementing his agenda.

John King, CNN, the White House.

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