Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Organizes Three-Mile Race at White House
Aired June 22, 2002 - 08:36 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: All right, we've got our regular CNN shape-up segment in just a few minutes. We know you're waiting for that.
But President Bush is doing some summer shaping up of his own.
And for that we go to CNN's White House correspondent Kelly Wallace, who I know is not running this morning. I was hoping that you would be actually doing this live shot, you know, with wireless equipment kind of padding the streets with the president.
What's interesting about this race is it starts whenever the president shows up, apparently, right?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And it started, as you said, early. This president starting, I think it started about 8:17 a.m., probably about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. And what this is, Miles, the president really is encouraging Americans to get out and exercise every day, to eat right. It is a three mile race. There is also a 1.5 mile walk, which the first lady is leading.
A report coming in that Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, and Karen Hughes, the president's top adviser, are walking. Other staffers are running.
The big question, of course, who will be the first to the finish line? -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and we're looking at the coverage here. It's not, quite frankly, they're not letting our cameras get very close there, as you can see. But my reckoning, if the president is doing his six minute miles, the race is just about over and naturally, as we've speculated, the staffers let POTUS slip them by to go into first place and get the blue ribbon, don't we think?
WALLACE: We think. Of course, we'll have to wait to see. I'm told, again, that the president is competitive...
O'BRIEN: Look at that guy walking there. That guy walking there, he's going to be in trouble with the staffers on Monday. Anyway, go ahead.
WALLACE: Exactly. They'll say you didn't quite keep up. You know, Miles, the staffers were encouraged to run their hardest, to make this a competitive race, and the president, Miles, working very hard behind-the-scenes over the past several weeks, having a lot of training, really trying to get his time down. The word is he wanted to really impress everybody today with a good showing and I'm told he's clocked in something like six minutes and 20 seconds recently. So well under seven minutes a mile.
O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, that's really, really humbling me. Let me just ask you this, Kelly. How does he fit his fitness regimen into what is probably the busiest schedule in the world?
WALLACE: He does, works out when he can, and he often does workout in the middle of the day. He gets into the Oval Office early, 7:00 a.m. He might around noon time go for a run or work out in the residence and then get back to the Oval Office.
One thing I'm hearing from staffers, Miles, is that they feel this president is encouraging them to exercise and even if encouraging them to take an hour, 45 minutes during the day to go do it, and that he's sending a message to employers around the country that they should let their employees do the same thing. So we're sort of saying a lot in jest, but this president is so physically fit, he could really have an impact on employers and perhaps on those Americans who don't exercise -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Oh, and there's POTUS himself at the finish line, or at the starting line. Do we know? That's at the starting line. Yes, his hair's a little too perfect for having done a three mile race there. But it looks like he's saying hello to folks before he began the race. We're probably not going to have time to sit here and watch the start. Or are we going to do that? We'll look at it later. We'll cue that tape up and we'll show you some actual shots of the president doing a six minute and 20 second mile.
Kelly Wallace, are you shamed into doing something about this and I guess I...
WALLACE: I am shamed on national television here so...
O'BRIEN: I guess I have to ask the question. Are our bosses listening? Would they let you escape for your little cubbyhole at the White House to go for a little half-hour jaunt in the middle of the day? I doubt it.
WALLACE: I have nothing for you on that, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Pleading the Fifth, she is.
Kelly Wallace, we'll check in with you a little bit later.
WALLACE: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
