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CNN Saturday Morning News
White House Calls Warhead Discovery "Troubling," "Serious"
Aired January 18, 2003 - 08:06 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: In Iraq today, U.N. weapons inspectors returned to the site where they found empty chemical warhead shells two days ago. The White House calls the discovery "troubling" and "serious."
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from the White House -- good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
The White House is very confident that it has a strong case against Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration says that he continues not to accurately account for his weapons of mass destruction, that he has also been hiding weapons components and the Bush administration points to the discovery of the 12 empty chemical warheads. U.S. officials saying that they checked the Iraqi declaration, that 12,000 page document, supposedly a listing of his weapons of mass destruction. They say it is not in that document. They say this is further evidence that Saddam Hussein refuses to disarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we will continue to look for is whether or not Saddam Hussein is disarming. And obviously the discovery of 12 chemical warheads is proof that he has not disarmed, especially when you consider the fact that for the purpose of letting the world know whether he had disarmed, he filed a declaration saying that he did not have weapons. He also filed a declaration that did not include these 12 warheads at the bunker. And now we know, of course, that he has them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Yesterday the president visited Walter Reed Medical Center. That's where he was visiting soldiers who'd been injured in Afghanistan, on the battlefields there.
Now, with the focus on disarming Iraq and Saddam Hussein, it seems as if the hunt for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is a distant memory to many Americans. But the Bush administration making it very clear that it may need to expand its war on terror inside Iraq, that the president has a critical decision to make in the weeks to come.
And, Heidi, I want to tell you about a poll that we just saw recently. This is a "Time"/CNN poll that was just released. It shows that the country is basically split on this issue. The question, "Do you think President Bush is doing a good job handling the Iraq situation?" Forty-nine percent said good, 44 percent said poor. So a little bit of an edge to those who believe that the administration is handling the situation well, but still a lot of Americans who have some doubts -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And a complicated issue at that.
Suzanne Malveaux live from the White House.
Thank you.
The chief U.N. weapons inspectors meet with Iraqi officials in Baghdad tomorrow and Monday. In advance of that, we want to let you know we'll have a live interview with Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei on "Showdown Iraq." That's coming up at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
"Serious">
Aired January 18, 2003 - 08:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq today, U.N. weapons inspectors returned to the site where they found empty chemical warhead shells two days ago. The White House calls the discovery "troubling" and "serious."
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from the White House -- good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
The White House is very confident that it has a strong case against Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration says that he continues not to accurately account for his weapons of mass destruction, that he has also been hiding weapons components and the Bush administration points to the discovery of the 12 empty chemical warheads. U.S. officials saying that they checked the Iraqi declaration, that 12,000 page document, supposedly a listing of his weapons of mass destruction. They say it is not in that document. They say this is further evidence that Saddam Hussein refuses to disarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we will continue to look for is whether or not Saddam Hussein is disarming. And obviously the discovery of 12 chemical warheads is proof that he has not disarmed, especially when you consider the fact that for the purpose of letting the world know whether he had disarmed, he filed a declaration saying that he did not have weapons. He also filed a declaration that did not include these 12 warheads at the bunker. And now we know, of course, that he has them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Yesterday the president visited Walter Reed Medical Center. That's where he was visiting soldiers who'd been injured in Afghanistan, on the battlefields there.
Now, with the focus on disarming Iraq and Saddam Hussein, it seems as if the hunt for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is a distant memory to many Americans. But the Bush administration making it very clear that it may need to expand its war on terror inside Iraq, that the president has a critical decision to make in the weeks to come.
And, Heidi, I want to tell you about a poll that we just saw recently. This is a "Time"/CNN poll that was just released. It shows that the country is basically split on this issue. The question, "Do you think President Bush is doing a good job handling the Iraq situation?" Forty-nine percent said good, 44 percent said poor. So a little bit of an edge to those who believe that the administration is handling the situation well, but still a lot of Americans who have some doubts -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And a complicated issue at that.
Suzanne Malveaux live from the White House.
Thank you.
The chief U.N. weapons inspectors meet with Iraqi officials in Baghdad tomorrow and Monday. In advance of that, we want to let you know we'll have a live interview with Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei on "Showdown Iraq." That's coming up at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
"Serious">
