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CNN Sunday Morning
Bush to Take Part in Emergency Summit in Azores
Aired March 16, 2003 - 07:03 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As we have told you, in a matter of hours President Bush will take part in an emergency summit in the Azores with the leaders of Spain and Britain. Now what they decide could start the countdown clock with -- to war with Iraq.
You are looking at a live picture from Andrews Air Force Base.
CNN's Chris Burns joins us now from the Azores with more. Chris?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson -- this lush, green Portuguese island in the middle of the Atlantic used to be a refueling stop before the days of the big transatlantic jetliners. And this is where President Bush will be arriving in the next few hours to meet with the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, as well as British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Both of those prime ministers under heavy domestic fire as they continue to support President Bush to put pressure on Iraq and perhaps even go to war against Iraq.
Now up until now the -- this meeting is supposed to be billed at least by the White House as being the last push for peace in the words of Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser. But many see this as a war council.
And if you do listen to the words of some of the leaders that are going to be meeting here, it does appear that they are going to be speaking about the possibility -- very much the possibility of war.
The -- Tony Blair's foreign minister, Jack Straw, is saying that the war is much more probable.
Words earlier this morning from Jose Maria, now the Spanish prime minister, saying that a new U.N. Security Council resolution is not indispensable -- that you could go to war without it.
And listen to the words from President Bush talking about how you could -- in the past we have gone into the Balkans and into Rwanda without the U.N. blessing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have seen far too many instances in the past decade from Bosnia to Rwanda to Kosovo where the failure of the Security Council to act decisively has led to tragedy. And we must recognize that some threats are so great and their potential consequences so terrible that they must be removed even if it requires military force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: So could there be the withdraw of the U.N. resolution that the United States has been pushing with the Spanish and the British or could there be some kind of new proposal? Could they simply go ahead and say that diplomacy is dead, as many say, and they should push ahead toward war in the coming days? We'll have to see what the press conference says later today. Anderson?
COOPER: All right. Obviously this is a story CNN will be covering all throughout the day. Chris Burns, thanks very much -- live from the Azores.
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 16, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As we have told you, in a matter of hours President Bush will take part in an emergency summit in the Azores with the leaders of Spain and Britain. Now what they decide could start the countdown clock with -- to war with Iraq.
You are looking at a live picture from Andrews Air Force Base.
CNN's Chris Burns joins us now from the Azores with more. Chris?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson -- this lush, green Portuguese island in the middle of the Atlantic used to be a refueling stop before the days of the big transatlantic jetliners. And this is where President Bush will be arriving in the next few hours to meet with the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, as well as British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Both of those prime ministers under heavy domestic fire as they continue to support President Bush to put pressure on Iraq and perhaps even go to war against Iraq.
Now up until now the -- this meeting is supposed to be billed at least by the White House as being the last push for peace in the words of Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser. But many see this as a war council.
And if you do listen to the words of some of the leaders that are going to be meeting here, it does appear that they are going to be speaking about the possibility -- very much the possibility of war.
The -- Tony Blair's foreign minister, Jack Straw, is saying that the war is much more probable.
Words earlier this morning from Jose Maria, now the Spanish prime minister, saying that a new U.N. Security Council resolution is not indispensable -- that you could go to war without it.
And listen to the words from President Bush talking about how you could -- in the past we have gone into the Balkans and into Rwanda without the U.N. blessing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have seen far too many instances in the past decade from Bosnia to Rwanda to Kosovo where the failure of the Security Council to act decisively has led to tragedy. And we must recognize that some threats are so great and their potential consequences so terrible that they must be removed even if it requires military force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: So could there be the withdraw of the U.N. resolution that the United States has been pushing with the Spanish and the British or could there be some kind of new proposal? Could they simply go ahead and say that diplomacy is dead, as many say, and they should push ahead toward war in the coming days? We'll have to see what the press conference says later today. Anderson?
COOPER: All right. Obviously this is a story CNN will be covering all throughout the day. Chris Burns, thanks very much -- live from the Azores.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
