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CNN Saturday Morning News
WMD: Burden of Proof
Aired July 12, 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And now on to Washington, where Bob Franken is following the developments of the controversy that continues to brew from there -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's sort of dissect this just a little bit. We see the president expressing confidence in the CIA director after the CIA director has, in effect, tried to take the hit for the problems that have come up in the words that were uttered in the State of the Union message.
CNN has reported in days past that the CIA had objected to the language, and there was an agreement that since British intelligence had used words to this effect, that in the State of the Union message, the British intelligence would be cited.
Well, in this comments yesterday, the CIA director, George Tenet, said agency officials, in the end, concurred that the text in the speech was factually correct, i.e., that the British government report said that Iraq sought uranium from Africa.
So he said, "Those 16 words should not have appeared in the State of the Union message, given the benefit of hindsight almost six months ago."
It was almost six months ago, so let's go back and review those 16 words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium -- from Africa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: So the CIA director is saying, yes, those words were factually correct. Now, the CIA is taking the hit on this, and it was an effort that was sort of a rolling effort that started yesterday with the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, saying, "The CIA cleared the speech in its entirety. I can tell you, if the CIA, if the director of Central Intelligence had said, 'Take this out of the speech," then it would have been gone, without question."
But there is a little bit of the background now where British intelligence was cited in spite of CIA concerns over the dubious value of the comments that President Bush would make, had it been attributed to U.S. intelligence. Ari Fleischer, the president's press secretary, Fredricka, says the president considers the matter closed.
There are an awful lot of Democrats around who are saying that's probably wishful thinking.
WHITFIELD: The president may think it's closed, but everyone knows it's certainly not. Well, let's talk about the layers of the script approval process. I mean, Condi Rice is saying that the CIFs -- CIA signed off on this, but aren't there other checks and balances?
FRANKEN: Well, there are a lot of checks and balances. This is something that had been bandied around. It was fairly well known that this claim had been made and it had been discredited in many circles. Congress had been told, the State Department certainly was nervous about it, going all the way back to proof in December, when it changed a talking point briefing that it gave.
So there were a variety of people out there who knew about it. And, of course, the ultimate question is, where does the final ultimate responsibility lie? Does it lie with the president, or his underlings? And, of course, that is a debate that's going on, with the Democrats trying to see that it's the president who takes whatever hit there is.
WHITFIELD: Yes, debate, I have a feeling, is going to go on not just days but weeks to come. Thanks very much. Bob Franken 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 July 12, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And now on to Washington, where Bob Franken is following the developments of the controversy that continues to brew from there -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's sort of dissect this just a little bit. We see the president expressing confidence in the CIA director after the CIA director has, in effect, tried to take the hit for the problems that have come up in the words that were uttered in the State of the Union message.
CNN has reported in days past that the CIA had objected to the language, and there was an agreement that since British intelligence had used words to this effect, that in the State of the Union message, the British intelligence would be cited.
Well, in this comments yesterday, the CIA director, George Tenet, said agency officials, in the end, concurred that the text in the speech was factually correct, i.e., that the British government report said that Iraq sought uranium from Africa.
So he said, "Those 16 words should not have appeared in the State of the Union message, given the benefit of hindsight almost six months ago."
It was almost six months ago, so let's go back and review those 16 words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium -- from Africa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: So the CIA director is saying, yes, those words were factually correct. Now, the CIA is taking the hit on this, and it was an effort that was sort of a rolling effort that started yesterday with the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, saying, "The CIA cleared the speech in its entirety. I can tell you, if the CIA, if the director of Central Intelligence had said, 'Take this out of the speech," then it would have been gone, without question."
But there is a little bit of the background now where British intelligence was cited in spite of CIA concerns over the dubious value of the comments that President Bush would make, had it been attributed to U.S. intelligence. Ari Fleischer, the president's press secretary, Fredricka, says the president considers the matter closed.
There are an awful lot of Democrats around who are saying that's probably wishful thinking.
WHITFIELD: The president may think it's closed, but everyone knows it's certainly not. Well, let's talk about the layers of the script approval process. I mean, Condi Rice is saying that the CIFs -- CIA signed off on this, but aren't there other checks and balances?
FRANKEN: Well, there are a lot of checks and balances. This is something that had been bandied around. It was fairly well known that this claim had been made and it had been discredited in many circles. Congress had been told, the State Department certainly was nervous about it, going all the way back to proof in December, when it changed a talking point briefing that it gave.
So there were a variety of people out there who knew about it. And, of course, the ultimate question is, where does the final ultimate responsibility lie? Does it lie with the president, or his underlings? And, of course, that is a debate that's going on, with the Democrats trying to see that it's the president who takes whatever hit there is.
WHITFIELD: Yes, debate, I have a feeling, is going to go on not just days but weeks to come. Thanks very much. Bob Franken 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
