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CNN Sunday Morning
U.S. Provides Intelligence Info to U.N. Inspectors
Aired December 22, 2002 - 08:03 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In response to calls for the U.S. to back up claims that Iraq is still developing weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration is now providing sensitive intelligence information to U.N. inspectors in Iraq. For more details, we check in at the White House with our CNN's Dana Bash -- good morning, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning, Miles.
Well, the U.S. says they have been giving some intelligence information to the United Nations, but after this week, when the U.S. said that Iraq did not come clean in its declaration on weapons of mass destruction programs, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix made it clear that the U.S. needed to give over more intelligence information to help Iraq -- inspectors who are moving around Iraq find whatever programs Iraq has to prove, to back up the claims that the U.S. is making that Iraq is not coming clean.
Now, U.S. officials say that they will begin in handing over spy satellite photos that the U.S. says shows areas where Iraq is stockpiling chemical and biological weapons. Beyond that, U.S. officials say that they're going to give intelligence piecemeal. They're worried, the White House has said repeatedly that they're worried about compromising methods and sources, and they're also worried about this information ending up in Iraqi hands -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Dana, a quick question for you on this. I know this is a very sensitive issue for the administration, releasing this intelligence information. It is truly a catch-22, because if they want the inspectors to be effective, this information is helpful. And yet the possibility of it leaking out and in some way compromising the methods that the intelligence agencies use is a problem. So how are they going to do that? How are they going to walk that tightrope?
BASH: It is a tightrope, lure absolutely right. What they're telling us right now is that they're going to do it slowly. They're going to, again, first start out with things like spy satellite photos, at least to help guide the iii inspectors to places where they truly believe that they're going to find something. After that, they're going to wait until more inspectors get on the ground, until they have secure phone lines, until they're sure that the information that they're giving over isn't going to end up in iii hands, it isn't going to end up compromising their sources.
O'BRIEN: Of course, that's what happened the last time.
Let's shift gears here slightly. How's the president doing after his smallpox shot?
BASH: Well, according to a White House spokesman, there were no immediate side effects from that smallpox shot. The president did get the shot yesterday here at the White House before he left for Camp David. It was administered by somebody who came over from Walter Reed Medical Center. The president said that he, when he announced last week that about 500,000 members of the military were going to be ordered to get the smallpox vaccine, he had said that as commander-in- chief he, too, would get it.
So he came true to his promise yesterday and he got that vaccine shot and as far as we know, again, there were no immediate effects -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House, thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
BASH: Thanks.
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 22, 2002 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In response to calls for the U.S. to back up claims that Iraq is still developing weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration is now providing sensitive intelligence information to U.N. inspectors in Iraq. For more details, we check in at the White House with our CNN's Dana Bash -- good morning, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning, Miles.
Well, the U.S. says they have been giving some intelligence information to the United Nations, but after this week, when the U.S. said that Iraq did not come clean in its declaration on weapons of mass destruction programs, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix made it clear that the U.S. needed to give over more intelligence information to help Iraq -- inspectors who are moving around Iraq find whatever programs Iraq has to prove, to back up the claims that the U.S. is making that Iraq is not coming clean.
Now, U.S. officials say that they will begin in handing over spy satellite photos that the U.S. says shows areas where Iraq is stockpiling chemical and biological weapons. Beyond that, U.S. officials say that they're going to give intelligence piecemeal. They're worried, the White House has said repeatedly that they're worried about compromising methods and sources, and they're also worried about this information ending up in Iraqi hands -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Dana, a quick question for you on this. I know this is a very sensitive issue for the administration, releasing this intelligence information. It is truly a catch-22, because if they want the inspectors to be effective, this information is helpful. And yet the possibility of it leaking out and in some way compromising the methods that the intelligence agencies use is a problem. So how are they going to do that? How are they going to walk that tightrope?
BASH: It is a tightrope, lure absolutely right. What they're telling us right now is that they're going to do it slowly. They're going to, again, first start out with things like spy satellite photos, at least to help guide the iii inspectors to places where they truly believe that they're going to find something. After that, they're going to wait until more inspectors get on the ground, until they have secure phone lines, until they're sure that the information that they're giving over isn't going to end up in iii hands, it isn't going to end up compromising their sources.
O'BRIEN: Of course, that's what happened the last time.
Let's shift gears here slightly. How's the president doing after his smallpox shot?
BASH: Well, according to a White House spokesman, there were no immediate side effects from that smallpox shot. The president did get the shot yesterday here at the White House before he left for Camp David. It was administered by somebody who came over from Walter Reed Medical Center. The president said that he, when he announced last week that about 500,000 members of the military were going to be ordered to get the smallpox vaccine, he had said that as commander-in- chief he, too, would get it.
So he came true to his promise yesterday and he got that vaccine shot and as far as we know, again, there were no immediate effects -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House, thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
BASH: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
