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CNN Sunday Morning

Bush Administration Goes on Diplomatic Offensive

Aired March 09, 2003 - 09:00   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Britain has asked the U.N. Security Council to set a March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm in an amendment to a new resolution. Some council members oppose the idea and other nations are undecided. The Bush administration is on the offensive trying to get support for the resolution. White House correspondent Dana Bash can tell us about that.
Dana, do you think the administration will get the votes it needs?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, that is the $64,000 question at this point. It is a subject, as you mention, of intense diplomacy going on over the weekend and leading up to next week's vote at the Security Council.

And that is also a question that Wolf Blitzer posed to the Secretary of State Colin Powell in a taping for "Late Edition" earlier this morning. The secretary said that he is optimistic, though, right now he's really unsure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are working very hard over this weekend, as you might imagine, and we'll be working very hard over the next several days to talk to our friends in the Security Council. And I think we're making some progress with the elected 10 members, but as you know, the French have taken a strong position to oppose any resolution, although they haven't used the word veto, they're certainly indicating that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, on the question of whether or not March 17, that is the deadline that is in the resolution, that would be voted on next week, whether that is enough time to give Saddam Hussein to fully disarm before military action would be taken against him, the secretary said that that is a date that they feel comfortable with. That he has been given more than enough time, 12 years, he said, of U.N. resolutions, encouraging him to disarm and that time has run out.

The question of whether or not, if this resolution fail fails, what the president would do, whether he would take military action against Saddam Hussein. The secretary said the president has made what he feels and what he will do very clear that he will get a coalition of the willing to disarm Saddam Hussein. He said, he wouldn't prejudge Mr. Bush, but that his words have been quite clear on what his intentions are -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And speaking of those words, Dana, we know that President Bush has made a lot of phone calls to world leaders trying to get support for the resolution that he needs. Do you have any idea what he is saying or how he's going about that?

BASH: Well, those phone calls, we're told, will resume tomorrow, and he made some last week.

A senior official said that he's doing the kind of thing that you would see him do when he's got a tough vote on Capitol Hill. He's calling the key swing leaders and asking for their vote, saying that he needs them. Also, we are told, that he is making pretty clear that he feels that he already has the authority by the United Nations based on Resolution 1441, that passed unanimously in November, to use military action. That he's already got that authority.

And he's also saying, we're told, that the U.N. Security Council and its relevance is at risk here. He's trying to put the pressure on with dialing diplomacy and he'll resume that, we're told, tomorrow -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Dana Bash from the White House this morning.

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 March 9, 2003 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Britain has asked the U.N. Security Council to set a March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm in an amendment to a new resolution. Some council members oppose the idea and other nations are undecided. The Bush administration is on the offensive trying to get support for the resolution. White House correspondent Dana Bash can tell us about that.
Dana, do you think the administration will get the votes it needs?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, that is the $64,000 question at this point. It is a subject, as you mention, of intense diplomacy going on over the weekend and leading up to next week's vote at the Security Council.

And that is also a question that Wolf Blitzer posed to the Secretary of State Colin Powell in a taping for "Late Edition" earlier this morning. The secretary said that he is optimistic, though, right now he's really unsure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are working very hard over this weekend, as you might imagine, and we'll be working very hard over the next several days to talk to our friends in the Security Council. And I think we're making some progress with the elected 10 members, but as you know, the French have taken a strong position to oppose any resolution, although they haven't used the word veto, they're certainly indicating that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, on the question of whether or not March 17, that is the deadline that is in the resolution, that would be voted on next week, whether that is enough time to give Saddam Hussein to fully disarm before military action would be taken against him, the secretary said that that is a date that they feel comfortable with. That he has been given more than enough time, 12 years, he said, of U.N. resolutions, encouraging him to disarm and that time has run out.

The question of whether or not, if this resolution fail fails, what the president would do, whether he would take military action against Saddam Hussein. The secretary said the president has made what he feels and what he will do very clear that he will get a coalition of the willing to disarm Saddam Hussein. He said, he wouldn't prejudge Mr. Bush, but that his words have been quite clear on what his intentions are -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And speaking of those words, Dana, we know that President Bush has made a lot of phone calls to world leaders trying to get support for the resolution that he needs. Do you have any idea what he is saying or how he's going about that?

BASH: Well, those phone calls, we're told, will resume tomorrow, and he made some last week.

A senior official said that he's doing the kind of thing that you would see him do when he's got a tough vote on Capitol Hill. He's calling the key swing leaders and asking for their vote, saying that he needs them. Also, we are told, that he is making pretty clear that he feels that he already has the authority by the United Nations based on Resolution 1441, that passed unanimously in November, to use military action. That he's already got that authority.

And he's also saying, we're told, that the U.N. Security Council and its relevance is at risk here. He's trying to put the pressure on with dialing diplomacy and he'll resume that, we're told, tomorrow -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Dana Bash from the White House this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com