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CNN Sunday Morning

White House to Give Updates on War on Terrorism

Aired November 04, 2001 - 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.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is keeping up with the latest military action and the anthrax investigation from Camp David in Maryland.

Our Kelly Wallace is near Camp David this morning.

Good morning, Kelly.

President Bush is cutting a very high profile this week. He's got a number of speeches, he's meeting with a number of international leaders. What's the reason?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House says a couple of things. Number one, the president really taking advantage of some opportunities. There's a global conference on combating terrorism gathered in Warsaw, Poland. The president will address that conference via satellite. He also has his first speech to the United Nations this coming weekend. A number of world leaders coming in for that UN meeting, stopping through at the White House.

So the administration saying the president taking advantage to deliver a progress report on the campaign against terrorism. They say that the coalition remains strong, that this is not in response to any concerns about that.

But at the same time, Jeanne, the administration certainly knows that there have been some concerns, even in European countries, about the progress so far of the military campaign, about some civilian casualties in Afghanistan; also some concerns in Arab and Muslim nations about military action continuing during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

And some analysts, Jeanne, think the administration needs to do a better job not emphasizing the military campaign, but talking about what this is all about, why the U.S. is involved here, really emphasizing the September 11 attacks and how the administration and the U.S. is acting in self-defense -- Jeanne.

MESERVE: Kelly, yesterday Al-Jazeera aired another videotape from Osama bin Laden, and the administration reacted very quickly to that. Is that a change in strategy?

WALLACE: It is a change in strategy, because in the past, when there happened to be an al Qaeda statement appearing on the Al-Jazeera network, the administration chose not to respond, really dismissing it as propaganda. But the administration feeling that it needs to do a better job in this war of words with bin Laden and with the Taliban. So it was very interesting.

Almost immediately after bin Laden's statement appeared in full on Al-Jazeera, the U.S. was on the same airways. You had a retired American diplomat speaking in Arabic on Al-Jazeera, getting the administration's message out that this is not a campaign against Islam, not a campaign against Muslims, but a campaign against terrorism.

And that is Ambassador Chris Ross. He's a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, someone the administration has recruited to help in this campaign against terrorism. So a new strategy here, Jeanne. And the administration trying very much to get that message out throughout the world, trying to counter any statements coming from bin Laden and the Taliban.

MESERVE: Kelly, one of the speeches the president will give this week is about homeland security. He's going to give it outside of Washington. Is this an effort to counter some of the criticism the administration has received over its handling of the anthrax situation?

WALLACE: Well, Jeanne, senior administration officials say, no. But at the same time, they do concede that the entire White House can do a better job, they say, in communicating the message here. You heard the president, even in his radio address yesterday -- the first time he devoted his entire radio address to anthrax -- to talk about what the administration knows. He said the federal government is, learning as it goes along. So he has defended the administration from some of the criticism.

Administration officials also say, Jeanne, that they think it's very, very important for the president to continue to sort of emphasize the nature of the threat and the U.S. response. And obviously, there is some concern, of course. You look at some polls, just take a look at a poll -- a "Newsweek" poll yesterday. When asked if the administration has a well thought out plan to combat bioterrorism, 46 percent saying yes, 46 percent saying, no. So less than 50 percent thinking that the federal government is ready to deal with any bioterrorism and other terrorist threats.

So obviously a concern. The president will do this primetime speech outside Washington, trying to talk directly to the American people; talk about how the U.S. is dealing with the threat and its response -- Jeanne.

MESERVE: Kelly Wallace is near Camp David with the outlook for the next week. Thanks so much.

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