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CNN Sunday Morning

Bush to Address U.N. General Assembly Thursday

Aired September 08, 2002 - 10:02   ET

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

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush reaching out to world leaders, trying to drum up, of course, support for proposed military action against Iraq. In fact, this weekend, he received some expected support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair. But later this week, he faces a tougher audience at the United Nations. Joining us now with more, White House correspondent Kelly Wallace. Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine. Well, to bolster the administration's case that Saddam Hussein must go, you can say this administration is engaged in a full- scale offensive. All the president's top advisers appearing on the Sunday interview programs. And U.S. officials also saying privately that they have more evidence over the past 14 months that Saddam Hussein has been trying to get his hands on materials that could be used to develop an atomic bomb.

U.S. officials saying he has been trying to acquire these aluminum tubes, which they believe could be used for own one thing, again, to process uranium to develop an atomic weapon. They believe he is doing everything he can to get his hands on a nuclear weapon. That was a message from Vice President Cheney, who appeared on a Sunday morning program earlier on this day.

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DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we have seen recently that has raised our level of concern to the current state of unrest, if you will, if I can put it in those terms, is that he now is trying, through his illicit procurement network, to acquire the equipment he needs to be able to enrich uranium.

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WALLACE: And the vice president saying, the question is, Saddam Hussein, he believes is trying to get his hands on these weapons, trying to develop a nuclear weapon. He says this administration is not sure how far he has gotten.

Now, going before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, President Bush is expected to make the case that the United Nations must act, must deal with the threat posed by the Iraqi leader. He is expected, after facing a lot of international criticism, to push for one last challenge to Saddam Hussein to allow weapons inspectors back inside the country. That is something very much pushed by Secretary of State Colin Powell. The secretary would not reveal exactly what Mr. Bush will be saying on Thursday, but he revealed a little bit of the message earlier this morning.

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COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What the United States plans to do is to go to the United Nations this week. President Bush will make a strong statement at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Thursday, and he will point out to the United Nations and to the world that this regime, the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein is in violation of all the resolutions that were passed over the last 11 years for him to disarm himself of weapons of mass destruction.

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WALLACE: And that is a message that both British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush were putting forward yesterday, following their meeting at the presidential retreat at Camp David. The diplomacy to continue tomorrow. The president to meet in Detroit with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The Canadians, though, just another U.S. ally expressing a lot of skepticism about any military action. And the message from the president's top advisers, he has still not made a decision about what course of action to take -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, thanks, Kelly. CNN's Kelly Wallace at the White House.

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