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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush in Africa: Visit to Nigeria
Aired July 12, 2003 - 07:07 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR: Well, in Africa now, while wrapping up his five-nation tour, President Bush commented on the controversy back home involving his State of the Union address. Mr. Bush is in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, meeting with AIDS patients and with the country's president.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president and joins us live with more details. Good morning to you, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fred.
Well, the president wraps up that five-day trip, and he has been dogged by questions regarding the State of the Union flap. Of course, the dubious claim that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Africa.
Now, this was clear to the White House it was becoming a big public relations perception problem during the Africa trip that would have to be addressed. We heard from Secretary Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, as well as the president, all addressing it, squarely putting this on the CIA director, George Tenet, saying that the information intelligence was cleared by intelligence agencies for the State of the Union address.
But the White House today wants to put this behind them. The president stating that this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I've got confidence in George Tenet, I've got confidence in the men and women who work at the CIA, and I continue to look forward to working with them, and as we win this war on terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, the administration certainly wants to see this go away. There have been some calls for investigations, but the administration really wants to put an end to all of this, saying that it isn't necessary.
But it really has overshadowed the president's main agenda here in Africa to highlight the AIDS pandemic and his own AIDS initiative, a $15 billion, five-year program to fight AIDS in Africa, earlier today the president visiting a hospital as well as an AIDS clinic, meeting mothers as well as children who are infected with the disease. Should also tell you as well that Nigeria is a strong economic partner with the United States, mutually beneficial, Nigeria being the sixth-largest producer of crude oil in the world, the eighth-largest exporter in the world as well. And 17 percent of U.S. oil comes from Africa. It's estimated that's going to increase by 25 percent in 10 years.
So clearly there's an advantage here, an economic relationship. Nigeria is hoping to get rid of some of its debt, a debt of $26 billion, much of it owed to the United States, Fred.
WHITFIELD: And Suzanne, there's been some skepticism that was expressed in some of the other nations that President Bush had visited. Was there any expressed skepticism coming out of Uganda about whether indeed the Bush administration will be able to deliver on these promises?
MALVEAUX: Well, Fred, there's been skepticism at all the countries that we've been at. There've been cheering crowds, but there also have been people that we've talked to who really want to see a long-term commitment by the United States.
And it was interesting, because the president himself, before the trip, said that this was really an opportunity to show that America not only has muscle but also heart. That is the message that they are trying to deliver, and it's one that some are looking at rather cautiously. They want to see the outcome of all of this.
WHITFIELD: All right...
MALVEAUX: So it's a wait and see.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux from Abuja, Nigeria, president's last stop. 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
Aired July 12, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR: Well, in Africa now, while wrapping up his five-nation tour, President Bush commented on the controversy back home involving his State of the Union address. Mr. Bush is in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, meeting with AIDS patients and with the country's president.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president and joins us live with more details. Good morning to you, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fred.
Well, the president wraps up that five-day trip, and he has been dogged by questions regarding the State of the Union flap. Of course, the dubious claim that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Africa.
Now, this was clear to the White House it was becoming a big public relations perception problem during the Africa trip that would have to be addressed. We heard from Secretary Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, as well as the president, all addressing it, squarely putting this on the CIA director, George Tenet, saying that the information intelligence was cleared by intelligence agencies for the State of the Union address.
But the White House today wants to put this behind them. The president stating that this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I've got confidence in George Tenet, I've got confidence in the men and women who work at the CIA, and I continue to look forward to working with them, and as we win this war on terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, the administration certainly wants to see this go away. There have been some calls for investigations, but the administration really wants to put an end to all of this, saying that it isn't necessary.
But it really has overshadowed the president's main agenda here in Africa to highlight the AIDS pandemic and his own AIDS initiative, a $15 billion, five-year program to fight AIDS in Africa, earlier today the president visiting a hospital as well as an AIDS clinic, meeting mothers as well as children who are infected with the disease. Should also tell you as well that Nigeria is a strong economic partner with the United States, mutually beneficial, Nigeria being the sixth-largest producer of crude oil in the world, the eighth-largest exporter in the world as well. And 17 percent of U.S. oil comes from Africa. It's estimated that's going to increase by 25 percent in 10 years.
So clearly there's an advantage here, an economic relationship. Nigeria is hoping to get rid of some of its debt, a debt of $26 billion, much of it owed to the United States, Fred.
WHITFIELD: And Suzanne, there's been some skepticism that was expressed in some of the other nations that President Bush had visited. Was there any expressed skepticism coming out of Uganda about whether indeed the Bush administration will be able to deliver on these promises?
MALVEAUX: Well, Fred, there's been skepticism at all the countries that we've been at. There've been cheering crowds, but there also have been people that we've talked to who really want to see a long-term commitment by the United States.
And it was interesting, because the president himself, before the trip, said that this was really an opportunity to show that America not only has muscle but also heart. That is the message that they are trying to deliver, and it's one that some are looking at rather cautiously. They want to see the outcome of all of this.
WHITFIELD: All right...
MALVEAUX: So it's a wait and see.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux from Abuja, Nigeria, president's last stop. 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
