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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Speaks to First Cavalry
Aired January 04, 2003 - 08:10 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.
HIEDI COLLINS CNN ANCHOR: All right, moving on now, with the Bush administration's take on the situation with North Korea, we go to our Dana Bash. She's in Crawford, Texas, where the president is winding up his vacation.
Good morning, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Well, the president talked about both North Korea and Iraq, and he traveled about 80 miles from here in Crawford to visit the home of the First Cavalry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): A note of gratitude to the 4,000 soldiers at the nation's largest Army base.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wherever you serve, or wherever you may be sent, you can know that America is grateful, and your commander in chief is confident in your abilities and proud of your service.
BASH: And a warning to Saddam Hussein that he will call on these men and women to attack Iraq if he has to.
BUSH: If force becomes necessary to secure our country and to keep the peace, America will act deliberately. America will act decisively. And America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world.
BASH: Thousands of troops from Fort Hood served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Are they ready to take on Saddam Hussein again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the commander needs me, I will be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready to do my part to serve my country, bring some people to justice.
BUSH: Our people are well fed right here.
BASH: Ordering roast beef and mashed potatoes in the mess, checking out the tanks. Mr. Bush made clear while he believes they're ready for war and will prevail, giving the order will not be easy.
BUSH: I know that every order I give can bring a cost. I also know without a doubt that every order I give will be carried out with skill and unselfish courage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, Heidi, the president had another message for both the troops and for the world, and that is, if the U.S. does attack Iraq, they'll go there to liberate it, not to conquer it, Heidi.
COLLINS: On the domestic front now, and we know there's a big speech coming up on Tuesday in Chicago where President Bush will be talking about economics that we've been waiting to hear about.
BASH: That's right, the president will speak to the Chicago Economic Club on Tuesday, where aides say he will give a very detailed account of what he says his plan will be to stimulate, to jump-start the economy.
We're told that that is going to be a combination of tax cuts, both for individuals and for businesses. The tax cuts on the businesses, the administration says, will help the businesses save money, and with that money, they hope they will be able to hire people, and that will be job creation.
Now, of course, the Democrats are not happy with the president's plan. They say that it really is just for the wealthy, and incoming minority leader Senator Tom Daschle, spoke about it in the radio address for today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), INCOMING MINORITY LEADER: The tax break the president is said to be proposing is the wrong idea at the wrong time to help the wrong people. The plan the president is considering would go almost exclusively to the wealthiest Americans. The president's plan won't help middle-income families, it won't contribute to economic growth. It won't make our homeland more secure. It won't expand educational opportunity for the young or strengthen Social Security for the elderly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the Democrats will offer a couple of plans on their -- for their part. Senator Daschle, we expect, in the next couple of weeks will offer a plan of his own, and on Monday the House Democrats will offer a plan of their own, which they say will focus on helping the unemployed, and they say will have some kind of cut in a payroll tax, which of course the administration does not like, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. We will hear much more about that, I'm sure. Dana Bash in Crawford, Texas, thank you.
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 January 4, 2003 - 08:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HIEDI COLLINS CNN ANCHOR: All right, moving on now, with the Bush administration's take on the situation with North Korea, we go to our Dana Bash. She's in Crawford, Texas, where the president is winding up his vacation.
Good morning, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Well, the president talked about both North Korea and Iraq, and he traveled about 80 miles from here in Crawford to visit the home of the First Cavalry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): A note of gratitude to the 4,000 soldiers at the nation's largest Army base.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wherever you serve, or wherever you may be sent, you can know that America is grateful, and your commander in chief is confident in your abilities and proud of your service.
BASH: And a warning to Saddam Hussein that he will call on these men and women to attack Iraq if he has to.
BUSH: If force becomes necessary to secure our country and to keep the peace, America will act deliberately. America will act decisively. And America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world.
BASH: Thousands of troops from Fort Hood served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Are they ready to take on Saddam Hussein again?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the commander needs me, I will be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready to do my part to serve my country, bring some people to justice.
BUSH: Our people are well fed right here.
BASH: Ordering roast beef and mashed potatoes in the mess, checking out the tanks. Mr. Bush made clear while he believes they're ready for war and will prevail, giving the order will not be easy.
BUSH: I know that every order I give can bring a cost. I also know without a doubt that every order I give will be carried out with skill and unselfish courage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, Heidi, the president had another message for both the troops and for the world, and that is, if the U.S. does attack Iraq, they'll go there to liberate it, not to conquer it, Heidi.
COLLINS: On the domestic front now, and we know there's a big speech coming up on Tuesday in Chicago where President Bush will be talking about economics that we've been waiting to hear about.
BASH: That's right, the president will speak to the Chicago Economic Club on Tuesday, where aides say he will give a very detailed account of what he says his plan will be to stimulate, to jump-start the economy.
We're told that that is going to be a combination of tax cuts, both for individuals and for businesses. The tax cuts on the businesses, the administration says, will help the businesses save money, and with that money, they hope they will be able to hire people, and that will be job creation.
Now, of course, the Democrats are not happy with the president's plan. They say that it really is just for the wealthy, and incoming minority leader Senator Tom Daschle, spoke about it in the radio address for today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), INCOMING MINORITY LEADER: The tax break the president is said to be proposing is the wrong idea at the wrong time to help the wrong people. The plan the president is considering would go almost exclusively to the wealthiest Americans. The president's plan won't help middle-income families, it won't contribute to economic growth. It won't make our homeland more secure. It won't expand educational opportunity for the young or strengthen Social Security for the elderly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the Democrats will offer a couple of plans on their -- for their part. Senator Daschle, we expect, in the next couple of weeks will offer a plan of his own, and on Monday the House Democrats will offer a plan of their own, which they say will focus on helping the unemployed, and they say will have some kind of cut in a payroll tax, which of course the administration does not like, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. We will hear much more about that, I'm sure. Dana Bash in Crawford, Texas, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
