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CNN Saturday Morning News

President Bush Gets Annual Check-Up

Aired August 02, 2003 - 09:03   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.


JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is being poked and prodded this morning, and it's just after 9:00. It's his annual checkup at Bethesda Naval Hospital outside Washington.
CNN's Chris Burns joins us from the White House with more on the presidential checkup. Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

The president in the middle of his annual checkup. And if his first two checkups as president are any indication, the president will probably be again extremely fit. He's 57 years old, jogs a mile under seven minutes. Puts a lot of us to shame. And he did have a muscle tear in his right calf in April, but officials say that it's pretty close to fully healed.

So not likely to be facing any medical challenges at that checkup.

The president, if you look at some of the statistics that he had from last year, it's enviable. In fact, puts a lot of us to shame. Six feet, 189 pounds, blood pressure 106 over 70, total cholesterol 177, resting heart rate 44. Very good statistics.

So let's see what he has later today. We're expecting an update on that later today.

The president starting, though, his vacation, getting an early round of golf yesterday, despite the rain. The president saying that he's really ready for vacation. He got his summer buzz cut.

He's going to be, however, in Crawford, meeting with economics and defense chiefs. He'll be getting, of course, his daily national security briefings, but he'll also be traveling. He'll be doing five states, six fund raisers over that month of August.

He'll also be traveling to national parks to talk about his environmental policy, trying to shore up his green credentials, if you will, because if you look at some of the polls, some -- a lot of Americans believe he's not doing well enough on the environment.

So the president having quite a few things up ahead during this next month. However, he is taking quite a few days off. In fact, his first week up ahead in Crawford, no events planned until Friday.

Back to you, John.

VAUSE: Yes, Chris, just very quickly, any idea if, in that time off, the president will be considering the issue of Liberia? Kofi Annan has made it clear he expects U.S. Marines to be a part of that multinational force. Any idea what the president is thinking?

BURNS: Well, John, a senior administration official says that these discussions will continue on exactly what the U.S. role will be. The U.S. was in part responsible for drafting that U.N. resolution that was passed last night that authorized that peacekeeping force, the U.S. saying that they are fully behind that force. They want to help them.

There are three U.S. warships steaming over there, two of them expected there today off the coast of Liberia with about 2,300 troops. Another supply ship in the coming days, so that they are available to be deployed. But as far as boots on the ground, still a big question.

Senator John warner, Republican head of the Armed Services Committee, even just yesterday questioning whether it really is in the U.S. national interest to go in there. So there is quite a bit of skepticism, even among Republican ranks, as to whether the U.S. should go in.

However, President Bush was in Africa just last month for five days, trying to express his commitment to that continent, and there are a lot of demands among people in that region and among people in this country that there be some kind of a deployment there to support that peacekeeping force to prevent that country from descending into another bloodbath, John.

VAUSE: OK, Chris Burns, reporting for us live this morning from the White House. Thank you, Chris.

BURNS: 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 August 2, 2003 - 09:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is being poked and prodded this morning, and it's just after 9:00. It's his annual checkup at Bethesda Naval Hospital outside Washington.
CNN's Chris Burns joins us from the White House with more on the presidential checkup. Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

The president in the middle of his annual checkup. And if his first two checkups as president are any indication, the president will probably be again extremely fit. He's 57 years old, jogs a mile under seven minutes. Puts a lot of us to shame. And he did have a muscle tear in his right calf in April, but officials say that it's pretty close to fully healed.

So not likely to be facing any medical challenges at that checkup.

The president, if you look at some of the statistics that he had from last year, it's enviable. In fact, puts a lot of us to shame. Six feet, 189 pounds, blood pressure 106 over 70, total cholesterol 177, resting heart rate 44. Very good statistics.

So let's see what he has later today. We're expecting an update on that later today.

The president starting, though, his vacation, getting an early round of golf yesterday, despite the rain. The president saying that he's really ready for vacation. He got his summer buzz cut.

He's going to be, however, in Crawford, meeting with economics and defense chiefs. He'll be getting, of course, his daily national security briefings, but he'll also be traveling. He'll be doing five states, six fund raisers over that month of August.

He'll also be traveling to national parks to talk about his environmental policy, trying to shore up his green credentials, if you will, because if you look at some of the polls, some -- a lot of Americans believe he's not doing well enough on the environment.

So the president having quite a few things up ahead during this next month. However, he is taking quite a few days off. In fact, his first week up ahead in Crawford, no events planned until Friday.

Back to you, John.

VAUSE: Yes, Chris, just very quickly, any idea if, in that time off, the president will be considering the issue of Liberia? Kofi Annan has made it clear he expects U.S. Marines to be a part of that multinational force. Any idea what the president is thinking?

BURNS: Well, John, a senior administration official says that these discussions will continue on exactly what the U.S. role will be. The U.S. was in part responsible for drafting that U.N. resolution that was passed last night that authorized that peacekeeping force, the U.S. saying that they are fully behind that force. They want to help them.

There are three U.S. warships steaming over there, two of them expected there today off the coast of Liberia with about 2,300 troops. Another supply ship in the coming days, so that they are available to be deployed. But as far as boots on the ground, still a big question.

Senator John warner, Republican head of the Armed Services Committee, even just yesterday questioning whether it really is in the U.S. national interest to go in there. So there is quite a bit of skepticism, even among Republican ranks, as to whether the U.S. should go in.

However, President Bush was in Africa just last month for five days, trying to express his commitment to that continent, and there are a lot of demands among people in that region and among people in this country that there be some kind of a deployment there to support that peacekeeping force to prevent that country from descending into another bloodbath, John.

VAUSE: OK, Chris Burns, reporting for us live this morning from the White House. Thank you, Chris.

BURNS: 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