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CNN Sunday Morning

Bush Increases Pressure on Hussein

Aired August 11, 2002 - 10:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: For more on how the Bush administration is managing the war on terror, we go to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. She is in Crawford, Texas, where the president is spending time these days. Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, the president really is increasing the pressure against Saddam Hussein. It was just yesterday that he called Iraq "an enemy until proven otherwise." Between this kind of sharp rhetoric here at the Crawford ranch and also these high-level meetings between Bush administration officials and Iraqi opposition groups, it's clear what the administration's message is, and that is that Saddam Hussein's days are numbered.

It was yesterday that there were six leaders from Iraqi opposition groups. They met with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the Joint Chiefs of Staff's General Meyers. They also met with Vice President Dick Cheney via a video link to his Wyoming home. They emerged from those meetings saying that they were confident they shared the same goal as the Bush administration, that is regime change, the ousting of Saddam Hussein.

What is interesting, however, is that as we've ratcheted up -- the U.S. has ratcheted up this type of language against Saddam Hussein in terms of military action, there have also been opposing voices as well that have made their opinions known. We heard from House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the leading Republican there saying that he thought containment was best, and also this morning, we're hearing from Democratic Senator Carl Levin, who also agreed, let's take a wait and see approach.

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SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: I think his -- some of his rhetoric overcommits us to that war. We should look at the options, all the options. But we should not make a commitment to attack Iraq, because there are some very negative implications in doing that. Containment of Saddam is so far working. He will not, in my judgment, initiate an attack with a weapon of mass destruction, because it would lead to his own destruction if he did that.

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MALVEAUX: Now, the Bush administration, of course, is listening to all views. They're not saying that they've made up their minds about military action at all. It was just yesterday the president said that he's consulting with members of Congress, as well as U.S. allies, on all of the options that are being laid out on the table.

COOPER: And the week ahead for the president?

MALVEAUX: Well, actually, he's planning an economic summit, a huge summit that's going to occur here in Waco, Texas. About 250 participants, we're told, not only top Bush administration officials, but economists, academics, farmers, small-business owners, just a slew of people.

They say this is all about pushing for trying to improve the economy, to talk about the president's economic agenda and how to make the economy grow. Democrats, really, have been criticizing this quite a bit, saying, first of all, look at the invitation list. There are no members of Congress who have been invited. A lot of the members who are actually have been invited as speakers or participants are Bush contributors, campaign donors, and they say this is really just a big public relations show.

Well, the White House is dismissing that, saying that they believe that some good can come out of this -- at the very least, that the American people will be confident that the Bush administration is addressing these issues.

COOPER: All right, Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas, thanks.

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