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CNN Saturday Morning News
President Bush, Leaders of Spain, Britain Will Hold Emergency Summit
Aired March 15, 2003 - 09:02 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: Now, today's headline. President Bush, along with two allies, the leaders of Britain and Spain, will hold an emergency summit in the Azores tomorrow. They're going to discuss the future of the Iraq resolution amid signs that a decision on war is imminent.
CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us now from Washington -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, 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. Those are the folks he will meet with in the Azores, and they're Mr. Bush's allies on the resolution to give a deadline to disarm to Hussein.
But with the prospect of getting the votes they need to pass that resolution at the U.N. Security Council looking quite bleak, the leaders decided that they needed to get together, meet face to face, and figure out their next move.
Can they still find a way to get another U.N. resolution for force passed at the U.N., or at least a majority passed? And, if not, will they just drop the idea of going for a vote altogether? And if they do not go through the United Nations, who exactly will be part of their coalition to disarm Saddam Hussein?
Those are all questions they will be talking about this Sunday in their one-day summit tomorrow. And Anderson, in a signal that the second resolution really may be out of reach at this point and military action could be imminent, yesterday, Chile, one of the so- called undecided six countries of the Security Council, offered a compromise proposal for a three-week deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm, and the White House dismissed it as a nonstarter.
It's also worth noting that Chile and the other five undecided nations at the U.N., those that Mr. Bush and his allies have been lobbying by telephone for weeks, were not invited to this summit. And although the White House says there will be no military strategy discussed tomorrow, as British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said today, quote, "The prospect of military action is now more probable," Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Dana Bash from Washington, thanks 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
Emergency Summit>
Aired March 15, 2003 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, today's headline. President Bush, along with two allies, the leaders of Britain and Spain, will hold an emergency summit in the Azores tomorrow. They're going to discuss the future of the Iraq resolution amid signs that a decision on war is imminent.
CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us now from Washington -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, 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. Those are the folks he will meet with in the Azores, and they're Mr. Bush's allies on the resolution to give a deadline to disarm to Hussein.
But with the prospect of getting the votes they need to pass that resolution at the U.N. Security Council looking quite bleak, the leaders decided that they needed to get together, meet face to face, and figure out their next move.
Can they still find a way to get another U.N. resolution for force passed at the U.N., or at least a majority passed? And, if not, will they just drop the idea of going for a vote altogether? And if they do not go through the United Nations, who exactly will be part of their coalition to disarm Saddam Hussein?
Those are all questions they will be talking about this Sunday in their one-day summit tomorrow. And Anderson, in a signal that the second resolution really may be out of reach at this point and military action could be imminent, yesterday, Chile, one of the so- called undecided six countries of the Security Council, offered a compromise proposal for a three-week deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm, and the White House dismissed it as a nonstarter.
It's also worth noting that Chile and the other five undecided nations at the U.N., those that Mr. Bush and his allies have been lobbying by telephone for weeks, were not invited to this summit. And although the White House says there will be no military strategy discussed tomorrow, as British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said today, quote, "The prospect of military action is now more probable," Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Dana Bash from Washington, thanks 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
Emergency Summit>
