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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Defends Himself, Administration
Aired May 18, 2002 - 07:02 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: More details now on our top story for you. The White House is digging in for what may be a long political battle over its handling of terror warnings before September 11.
CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush denounces Washington's second-guessing, vigorously defending himself and his administration.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people.
WALLACE: The president's advisers say no one could have predicted that a possible al Qaeda hijacking could turn into a suicide mission. But just that prediction was in this September 1999 report commissioned by the CIA during the Clinton administration and prepared by the Library of Congress.
The report suggested al Qaeda operatives could "crash-land an aircraft packed with explosives into the Pentagon, the CIA, or the White House." The White House said it knew nothing of that report until now.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think what it shows, Campbell, is this information that was out there did not raise enough alarms with anybody that it suggested, because it was not intelligence information, it was their thinking of sociology psychology.
WALLACE: Republican Senator Charles Grassley is calling for an investigation into what the CIA did or didn't do with that report.
Meantime, the president's advisers are accusing Democrats of playing politics, taking issue with this "New York Post" headline and how one Democratic senator referred to it on the Senate floor.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Questions being asked by my constituents, questions raised by one of our newspapers in New York, with the headline, "Bush Knew." The president knew what? WALLACE: The White House press secretary said Senator Clinton crossed the line.
FLEISCHER: She immediately went to the floor of the Senate and I'm sorry to say that she followed that headline and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it.
WALLACE: But Senator Clinton says she's not being divisive, simply asking questions.
CLINTON: I am only seeking answers and information. I am not looking to point fingers or place blame on anybody.
WALLACE (on camera): The administration continues to be in damage control mode, revealing publicly for the first time that the president ordered a report earlier last year on ways to dismantle the al Qaeda network. That report was complete and was sitting on the desk of the president's national security adviser ready to go to Mr. Bush for his final approval on the day of the terrorist attacks.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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