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CNN Sunday Morning
Bush Administration Expected to Address National Security Concerns
Aired October 28, 2001 - 09:11 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.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is expected back in Washington later today after strategy sessions with his national security team at Camp David.
CNN White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace is covering the president. She's near Camp David in Hagerstown, Maryland -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Jeanne.
Well we do know President Bush is making a little bit of time for relaxation. We understand he watched the opening game of the World Series last night. Not a happy night for Yankee fans, we might add.
But on this day, as Kathleen noted, his Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as his Chief of Staff Andrew Card, making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows. Both men likely to get a number of questions about the administration's handling of homeland security, and also about the military campaign underway in Afghanistan, with the military now potentially facing a number of challenges, including the calendar, which could be putting more pressure on U.S. forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): One of the most immediate challenges: the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins in mid-November.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're sensitive to Ramadan, but we can't let that be the sole determinant of whether or not we continue our military activities.
WALLACE: Even though many Muslim nations are calling for an end or a lessening of the military action during Ramadan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made no guarantees.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: History is replete with instances where Muslim nations have fought with -- among themselves or with other countries during various important holy days for their religion.
WALLACE: Another short-term challenge: Winter is nearing, which will make military operations, especially the use of ground forces, much more difficult. And even though the U.S. military says it has dismantled the Taliban's air defenses, it has not had much success destroying the regime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Taliban has proved very difficult to dislodge. They're very good at hiding and covering themselves, blending in and making themselves difficult targets.
WALLACE: And they have done what they can to disrupt efforts to build a post-Taliban Afghanistan, executing Abdul Haq, viewed as one of the leading opposition voices who could have played a key role in building a broad-based coalition government.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Most polls show the majority of Americans very supportive of the military campaign. In fact, a "Newsweek" magazine poll on Saturday showed 88 percent of those polled supportive of the military action.
Jeanne, White House aides say most Americans know this will be a long war, that it won't be like the Gulf War, and that results might not always be so easy to see. But they also know that the longer this goes on, the more difficult it will be for the administration to keep the public solidly behind President Bush.
Jeanne, back to you.
MESERVE: Kelly, in the "Washington Post" this morning, a report that the CIA is considering targeted killings of terrorists. Any comment from the administration officials on that?
WALLACE: You won't be surprised to hear no comment just yet. It will be interesting to see if Andrew Card or Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld respond to this report during their interviews this morning. So no comment yet.
According to the "Post," the CIA is again considering such a move, believing it does have the authority, based on some classified memos from the Bush and the Clinton administrations.
Jeanne, as you know, sources did tell CNN a couple of weeks ago that President Bush issued what was called a finding, giving the agency the authority to engage in attacks of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
And what will be interesting is if the CIA did pursue this, according to the "Post," it would be the first time it would engage in such targeted killings of individuals since the 1970s.
Jeanne, back to you.
MESERVE: Kelly Wallace in Hagerstown, Maryland, thanks so much.
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