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CNN Saturday Morning News
Intense Diplomatic Effort to Pass New U.N. Resolution
Aired March 08, 2003 - 09:04 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: Now with the White House perspective, CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash comes to us now from our Washington bureau.
Dana, tell us, what is the White House doing to get those votes needed to pass a resolution in the United Nations Security Council?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Well, there is an intense diplomatic effort going on, in addition to what you heard Richard talking about happening up in New York. Here in Washington, they are working the phones from the president on down, that's according to a senior administration official.
And that official said that the president is going to be asking some of the Security Council members on the fence, some of the leaders of those countries, for their vote. It almost kind of reminds you of what happened during an intense debate when the president is trying to legislation passed, calling key swing senators or members of Congress, saying, Please vote my way.
So it's kind of an interesting thing to kind of observe from the outside.
But the president will also, according to a senior official, say that he really believes in the Security Council and that the Security Council's credibility and legitimacy is at stake here. He will also be telling these leaders that he does have the authority to use military action no matter what happens at the U.N. next week, Heidi.
COLLINS: You know, we have heard so much, Dana, at least in the beginning, about regime change. Would President Bush actually allow Saddam Hussein to remain if he does disarm?
BASH: I think the short answer to that is no. Just like you said, the White House policy is regime change in addition to disarmament. And it's interesting, because it kind of puts them at a little bit of a difference from other members of the Security Council, even some of their closest allies, who are really focusing on disarmament of Iraq.
But the White House is -- has said for some time and has kind of reminded us more publicly of the fact that their policy is regime change. They do not trust Saddam Hussein, they don't think that he will disarm, and even if he can say that he's disarming, he -- there's no trust at all from this White House that he will not try to get weapons of mass destruction in the future.
And the other thing to note is that the White House doesn't think, although there is this 10-day deadline, this window for Saddam Hussein to come forward with everything that the U.N. says that he has in terms of weapons of mass destruction, they don't think at all, they're even kind of open about the fact, that he's actually going to be able to do that, because history shows, they say, that he hasn't disarmed, that he hasn't been willing to disarm, and they don't expect him to do that at this point.
That, of course, means that military action seems almost inevitable, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, live from Washington, Dana Bash this morning. 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 March 8, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now with the White House perspective, CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash comes to us now from our Washington bureau.
Dana, tell us, what is the White House doing to get those votes needed to pass a resolution in the United Nations Security Council?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Well, there is an intense diplomatic effort going on, in addition to what you heard Richard talking about happening up in New York. Here in Washington, they are working the phones from the president on down, that's according to a senior administration official.
And that official said that the president is going to be asking some of the Security Council members on the fence, some of the leaders of those countries, for their vote. It almost kind of reminds you of what happened during an intense debate when the president is trying to legislation passed, calling key swing senators or members of Congress, saying, Please vote my way.
So it's kind of an interesting thing to kind of observe from the outside.
But the president will also, according to a senior official, say that he really believes in the Security Council and that the Security Council's credibility and legitimacy is at stake here. He will also be telling these leaders that he does have the authority to use military action no matter what happens at the U.N. next week, Heidi.
COLLINS: You know, we have heard so much, Dana, at least in the beginning, about regime change. Would President Bush actually allow Saddam Hussein to remain if he does disarm?
BASH: I think the short answer to that is no. Just like you said, the White House policy is regime change in addition to disarmament. And it's interesting, because it kind of puts them at a little bit of a difference from other members of the Security Council, even some of their closest allies, who are really focusing on disarmament of Iraq.
But the White House is -- has said for some time and has kind of reminded us more publicly of the fact that their policy is regime change. They do not trust Saddam Hussein, they don't think that he will disarm, and even if he can say that he's disarming, he -- there's no trust at all from this White House that he will not try to get weapons of mass destruction in the future.
And the other thing to note is that the White House doesn't think, although there is this 10-day deadline, this window for Saddam Hussein to come forward with everything that the U.N. says that he has in terms of weapons of mass destruction, they don't think at all, they're even kind of open about the fact, that he's actually going to be able to do that, because history shows, they say, that he hasn't disarmed, that he hasn't been willing to disarm, and they don't expect him to do that at this point.
That, of course, means that military action seems almost inevitable, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, live from Washington, Dana Bash this morning. 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
