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CNN Saturday Morning News
President Bush Will Meet Privately With 9/11 Commission
Aired February 14, 2004 - 07:06 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will meet privately with the 9/11 commission. That panel is investigating events leading up to the suicide attacks of September 11, 2001. No time has been set for the meeting, and it is unclear if the president will be under oath. Invitations have also been sent to Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore. No response yet from them.
Meanwhile, at the White House, a blizzard of documents, 400 pages of military records, have been released, all of them believed related to George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War.
A weekend reading list for reporters, including our Kathleen Koch, who is standing by now at the White House this morning. Kathleen, what do these documents show that you can tell at this point?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, first of all, you can see that this is quite a stack, and so it has not exactly been light reading. But these documents do give some new details on President Bush's five years of service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War, both in Texas and Alabama.
There is a glowing review, for example, when he was promoted to first lieutenant, a commander calling Bush, quote, "an outstanding young pilot and officer, a credit to his unit."
But the papers provide no evidence that Bush served in Alabama during that period in question between 1972 and 1973, and that is when Democrats charge that President Bush was temporarily AWOL, or absent without leave.
The records do indicate that Bush was suspended from flying in August of '72 because he failed to undergo a medical exam. White House officials say Bush chose not to hand the exam because at that point he had determined he'd not planned to fly again. The records do not, though, show any disciplinary action while Bush was in the military.
Reporters also got a peek at President Bush's medical records. There were no damaging details found in there.
But Democrats remain skeptical about all this. The statement from the Democratic National Committee released last night saying, quote, "It remains to be seen if these new documents will provide any answers." And the White House was really backed into a corner on this one. Briefings by the president's spokesman, Scott McLellan, had grown increasingly combative over the last several days. Scot McLellan in the position yesterday of actually denying President Bush's own words from an interview that the president gave just one week ago.
So this was all giving the appearance that President Bush had something to hide, even if he didn't. So Heidi, the White House is clearly hoping that this very large document dump, as we call them, will finally lay all this issue to rest. But no guarantees on that one.
COLLINS: All right, Kathleen, we'll let you get back to your reading. I'm sure a lot more to go. Thanks so much.
KOCH: Thank you.
COLLINS: This morning from the White House.
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 February 14, 2004 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will meet privately with the 9/11 commission. That panel is investigating events leading up to the suicide attacks of September 11, 2001. No time has been set for the meeting, and it is unclear if the president will be under oath. Invitations have also been sent to Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore. No response yet from them.
Meanwhile, at the White House, a blizzard of documents, 400 pages of military records, have been released, all of them believed related to George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War.
A weekend reading list for reporters, including our Kathleen Koch, who is standing by now at the White House this morning. Kathleen, what do these documents show that you can tell at this point?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, first of all, you can see that this is quite a stack, and so it has not exactly been light reading. But these documents do give some new details on President Bush's five years of service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War, both in Texas and Alabama.
There is a glowing review, for example, when he was promoted to first lieutenant, a commander calling Bush, quote, "an outstanding young pilot and officer, a credit to his unit."
But the papers provide no evidence that Bush served in Alabama during that period in question between 1972 and 1973, and that is when Democrats charge that President Bush was temporarily AWOL, or absent without leave.
The records do indicate that Bush was suspended from flying in August of '72 because he failed to undergo a medical exam. White House officials say Bush chose not to hand the exam because at that point he had determined he'd not planned to fly again. The records do not, though, show any disciplinary action while Bush was in the military.
Reporters also got a peek at President Bush's medical records. There were no damaging details found in there.
But Democrats remain skeptical about all this. The statement from the Democratic National Committee released last night saying, quote, "It remains to be seen if these new documents will provide any answers." And the White House was really backed into a corner on this one. Briefings by the president's spokesman, Scott McLellan, had grown increasingly combative over the last several days. Scot McLellan in the position yesterday of actually denying President Bush's own words from an interview that the president gave just one week ago.
So this was all giving the appearance that President Bush had something to hide, even if he didn't. So Heidi, the White House is clearly hoping that this very large document dump, as we call them, will finally lay all this issue to rest. But no guarantees on that one.
COLLINS: All right, Kathleen, we'll let you get back to your reading. I'm sure a lot more to go. Thanks so much.
KOCH: Thank you.
COLLINS: This morning from the White House.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
