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CNN Saturday Morning News
President Bush Will Meet Leaders of Britain, Spain
Aired March 15, 2003 - 07:03 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And Iraq, of course, is our top story.
President Bush, along with the leaders of Britain and Spain, will huddle tomorrow at an emergency summit in the Azores. The question on the table, what to do about Iraq?
CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us with more.
So what do they hope to accomplish, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, you know, the president has been talking all week long by telephone with these leaders, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who are Mr. Bush's allies and co-sponsors of the resolution giving Iraq a deadline to disarm.
But with the prospects of getting the votes they need to pass the second resolution at the U.N. really looking bleak, the leaders decided to get together, meet face to face, and figure out their next move.
Can they still get -- find a way to get another U.N. resolution through? Or, if not, what would a smaller so-called coalition of the willing look like?
Now, a signal that a second resolution at the U.N. may be totally out of reach at this point, and military action could be imminent, came yesterday when Chile, one of the so-called undecided six countries of the Security Council, offered a compromise proposal for three more weeks, giving Iraq three more weeks to disarm, and the White House dismissed it as a nonstarter.
And it's also worth noting, Anderson, that Chile and the other five undecided nations were not invited to this summit. It is a meeting among the allies to plot their next move and also to display a united front, Anderson.
COOPER: Dana, just so we're absolutely clear, and very briefly, we're not talking about new diplomatic moves, we're not talking about new talks with Iraq, it's just a question of whether or not to proceed with this U.N. resolution.
BASH: Exactly. What this is, is that it's a summit. It's called -- they're calling it a summit. But it is sort of people who are already committed to the same purpose talking to each other. It's very worth nothing, as I just mentioned, that the countries that they're trying to bring on board at the Security Council are not going to be there, certainly not Iraq.
So what they are trying to do is to plot their next move. What, exactly, can be done, if anything, at the United Nations? And if not, what are they going to do next? How will the diplomacy or military action proceed from here?
COOPER: All right. Dana Bash, thanks very much, in Washington.
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 15, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And Iraq, of course, is our top story.
President Bush, along with the leaders of Britain and Spain, will huddle tomorrow at an emergency summit in the Azores. The question on the table, what to do about Iraq?
CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us with more.
So what do they hope to accomplish, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, you know, the president has been talking all week long by telephone with these leaders, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who are Mr. Bush's allies and co-sponsors of the resolution giving Iraq a deadline to disarm.
But with the prospects of getting the votes they need to pass the second resolution at the U.N. really looking bleak, the leaders decided to get together, meet face to face, and figure out their next move.
Can they still get -- find a way to get another U.N. resolution through? Or, if not, what would a smaller so-called coalition of the willing look like?
Now, a signal that a second resolution at the U.N. may be totally out of reach at this point, and military action could be imminent, came yesterday when Chile, one of the so-called undecided six countries of the Security Council, offered a compromise proposal for three more weeks, giving Iraq three more weeks to disarm, and the White House dismissed it as a nonstarter.
And it's also worth noting, Anderson, that Chile and the other five undecided nations were not invited to this summit. It is a meeting among the allies to plot their next move and also to display a united front, Anderson.
COOPER: Dana, just so we're absolutely clear, and very briefly, we're not talking about new diplomatic moves, we're not talking about new talks with Iraq, it's just a question of whether or not to proceed with this U.N. resolution.
BASH: Exactly. What this is, is that it's a summit. It's called -- they're calling it a summit. But it is sort of people who are already committed to the same purpose talking to each other. It's very worth nothing, as I just mentioned, that the countries that they're trying to bring on board at the Security Council are not going to be there, certainly not Iraq.
So what they are trying to do is to plot their next move. What, exactly, can be done, if anything, at the United Nations? And if not, what are they going to do next? How will the diplomacy or military action proceed from here?
COOPER: All right. Dana Bash, thanks very much, in Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
