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CNN Saturday Morning News
A Look at What's on Bush Plate While Returning from Vacation
Aired January 03, 2004 - 08:09 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush is heading back to the White House after a two week holiday break. An FBI investigation figures to be high on his new year's agenda.
White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us life from Washington -- good morning, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sean.
And President Bush returns to the White House today with some of the same challenges he faced before he left -- a raised terror alert that officials say could last the whole month; a still near daily killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, despite the capture of Saddam Hussein; and an economy getting better but still lacking new jobs.
But as you mentioned, the president and, more importantly, his staff, are also starting the new year with what seems to be a stepped up investigation of the White House into who leaked the classified identity of a CIA official. Not only did Attorney General John Ashcroft recuse himself this week from -- and appointed the first special prosecutor of the Bush presidency, FBI agents are now, we are told, taking the unusual step of asking top Bush aides to sign forms to waive confidentiality agreements they have reporters -- with reporters.
Now, the goal here is to force reporters who may have received information about the CIA agent to talk to investigators and give up their sources. That's something, as you know, Sean, reporters almost never do. And at this point, the White House says they're not making requests of their staff to sign these waivers even while the president says, as he said again this week, he expects full cooperation from everyone in the White House on this issue -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Well, Dana, the president will be back in Washington for his first full week since the holidays. I imagine he has a pretty full schedule.
BASH: He sure does. He's not going to stop the pretty brisk fundraising clip that you saw towards the end of last year. At this point, we are told he's got already about $120 million in the bank that is just for the primary season. And, again, he doesn't have a primary opponent. So he's going to have three fundraisers this coming week. But he's also going to mark a key domestic accomplishment for the Bush White House, and that was one year ago signing what's called the No Child Left Behind Act. That is something that put him certainly on the map, if you will, as a Republican, on the issue of education. But he is going to have to defend himself, because a lot of Democrats say that that particular piece of legislation, this new law, has put in new standards, new tests, new mandates. But the president is not funding it enough. That's what Democrats are saying and we're certainly going to hear a lot more of that this week.
CALLEBS: OK, Dana Bash in 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
Vacation>
Aired January 3, 2004 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush is heading back to the White House after a two week holiday break. An FBI investigation figures to be high on his new year's agenda.
White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us life from Washington -- good morning, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sean.
And President Bush returns to the White House today with some of the same challenges he faced before he left -- a raised terror alert that officials say could last the whole month; a still near daily killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, despite the capture of Saddam Hussein; and an economy getting better but still lacking new jobs.
But as you mentioned, the president and, more importantly, his staff, are also starting the new year with what seems to be a stepped up investigation of the White House into who leaked the classified identity of a CIA official. Not only did Attorney General John Ashcroft recuse himself this week from -- and appointed the first special prosecutor of the Bush presidency, FBI agents are now, we are told, taking the unusual step of asking top Bush aides to sign forms to waive confidentiality agreements they have reporters -- with reporters.
Now, the goal here is to force reporters who may have received information about the CIA agent to talk to investigators and give up their sources. That's something, as you know, Sean, reporters almost never do. And at this point, the White House says they're not making requests of their staff to sign these waivers even while the president says, as he said again this week, he expects full cooperation from everyone in the White House on this issue -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Well, Dana, the president will be back in Washington for his first full week since the holidays. I imagine he has a pretty full schedule.
BASH: He sure does. He's not going to stop the pretty brisk fundraising clip that you saw towards the end of last year. At this point, we are told he's got already about $120 million in the bank that is just for the primary season. And, again, he doesn't have a primary opponent. So he's going to have three fundraisers this coming week. But he's also going to mark a key domestic accomplishment for the Bush White House, and that was one year ago signing what's called the No Child Left Behind Act. That is something that put him certainly on the map, if you will, as a Republican, on the issue of education. But he is going to have to defend himself, because a lot of Democrats say that that particular piece of legislation, this new law, has put in new standards, new tests, new mandates. But the president is not funding it enough. That's what Democrats are saying and we're certainly going to hear a lot more of that this week.
CALLEBS: OK, Dana Bash in 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
Vacation>
