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CNN Sunday Morning
Bush to Meet With Kenya's President This Week
Aired December 01, 2002 - 11:09 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration is closely following the investigation into the Kenya attacks. President Bush is to meet with a top Kenyan official this week. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House with more on that. Who is the official, and what is on the table for discussion, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the official is no less than the president himself, Daniel Arap Moi, the president of Kenya.
I want to tell you, I spoke with State Department officials this morning about that American couple, that American woman and her husband. They say they are relieved that she has been released. They're also pleased, they say, that Kenyan officials acted so quickly to resolve the matter. State Department officials are saying that they do not know at this time who was responsible for those twin attacks, whether or not it's al Qaeda or a Somali terrorist organization, or some other group, but the United States has offered some assistance and intelligence and resources to Kenyan officials.
And as you mentioned before, President Bush will be meeting with the president of Kenya later this week. We know that some of the items that the two leaders have discussed before is economic reform, AIDS and you can bet that this terrorism incident and al Qaeda and some ways of actually combating terrorism is going to be on the top of the list.
Now, also at the top of the list for the administration is the 9/11 commission. This was a commission that was officially formed last week to investigate the events leading up to the September 11 attacks. They have 18 months to do their job, and President Bush formally appointing former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as the chair of that commission. Also, the co-chair being former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.
Now, both of them talked to our own Wolf Blitzer earlier today. There is already a debate on the table, just about what is going to be the focus and the scope of this commission. A debate whether or not the president will be required to testify himself, whether or not it will focus more on al Qaeda's operations or the intelligence failures, but this morning Mr. Kissinger really expressing a great deal of confidence in the president's direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: He said to me that he is committed to -- as he also said in a public statement -- that he is committed to getting the facts and circumstances, that we should make recommendations, which he is then going to be very eager to look at, and my impression is to implement within -- of course, he has to make his own judgment, but our mission as far as he is concerned is to get the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Carol, they will also have subpoena power as well. It will be very interesting to see how this commission operates. But already, some points of controversy -- just how they're going to focus on this and who is going to be the focus of this investigation of this commission, but it will be under way shortly -- Carol.
LIN: And they only have 18 months, don't they?
MALVEAUX: Exactly.
LIN: Thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House. Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 1, 2002 - 11:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration is closely following the investigation into the Kenya attacks. President Bush is to meet with a top Kenyan official this week. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House with more on that. Who is the official, and what is on the table for discussion, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the official is no less than the president himself, Daniel Arap Moi, the president of Kenya.
I want to tell you, I spoke with State Department officials this morning about that American couple, that American woman and her husband. They say they are relieved that she has been released. They're also pleased, they say, that Kenyan officials acted so quickly to resolve the matter. State Department officials are saying that they do not know at this time who was responsible for those twin attacks, whether or not it's al Qaeda or a Somali terrorist organization, or some other group, but the United States has offered some assistance and intelligence and resources to Kenyan officials.
And as you mentioned before, President Bush will be meeting with the president of Kenya later this week. We know that some of the items that the two leaders have discussed before is economic reform, AIDS and you can bet that this terrorism incident and al Qaeda and some ways of actually combating terrorism is going to be on the top of the list.
Now, also at the top of the list for the administration is the 9/11 commission. This was a commission that was officially formed last week to investigate the events leading up to the September 11 attacks. They have 18 months to do their job, and President Bush formally appointing former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as the chair of that commission. Also, the co-chair being former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.
Now, both of them talked to our own Wolf Blitzer earlier today. There is already a debate on the table, just about what is going to be the focus and the scope of this commission. A debate whether or not the president will be required to testify himself, whether or not it will focus more on al Qaeda's operations or the intelligence failures, but this morning Mr. Kissinger really expressing a great deal of confidence in the president's direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: He said to me that he is committed to -- as he also said in a public statement -- that he is committed to getting the facts and circumstances, that we should make recommendations, which he is then going to be very eager to look at, and my impression is to implement within -- of course, he has to make his own judgment, but our mission as far as he is concerned is to get the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Carol, they will also have subpoena power as well. It will be very interesting to see how this commission operates. But already, some points of controversy -- just how they're going to focus on this and who is going to be the focus of this investigation of this commission, but it will be under way shortly -- Carol.
LIN: And they only have 18 months, don't they?
MALVEAUX: Exactly.
LIN: Thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House. Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
