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CNN Live Sunday

President Bush Sets Out on European Trip

Aired June 10, 2001 - 17:40   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush sets out this week for a major European tour that will put him face-to-face with leaders skeptical on his policies on global warming and missile defense. Mr. Bush leaves tomorrow night for the five-day trip that begins in Spain. He's expected to address the issue of global warming before leaving the U.S. tomorrow in response to a just-released study indicating that man-made pollution is making the Earth hotter.

On missile defense, the president plans to consult with his allies, but hasn't ruled out moving forward despite other countries' objections. In advance of the president's visit, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid today. Trade unions, anti- globalization and anti-death penalty groups are among those planning several days of demonstrations.

For more on the president's European visit and the reception that he's likely to receive from the various leaders, I'm joined now by Rick Dunham, White House correspondent for "Business Week" magazine, and he joins us from Washington. Thanks for being with us.

RICK DUNHAM, "BUSINESS WEEK" MAGAZINE: Glad to be with you.

SAVIDGE: Is it just me, or I haven't heard too much fanfare leading up to this trip?

DUNHAM: No, I think this is one of the least-hyped presidential trips I've ever seen. There was not a major presidential address. You didn't even have the secretary of state or secretary of defense give a speech, sort of setting it out.

SAVIDGE: Now, he even leaves starting off with controversy, the execution of Timothy McVeigh. We know that capital punishment is a very sensitive issue in Europe, and he's going to walk straight into that as soon as he arrives.

DUNHAM: Right, and the big headline in Europe when he arrives is going to be execution, and that's part of the image of George Bush that has hurt him in Europe is that Texas cowboy and supporter of the death penalty, and that's something that he's just going to have to face because he's not going to change his position on global warming and some of the others, he's going to try to convince the Europeans of how he believes his position is right.

SAVIDGE: You really think this is going to be a contentious trip for him?

DUNHAM: I think it will be a difficult trip. I think the most important thing is not going to be talking about the issues. I think for the president, the most important thing is to make personal relationships with the European leaders. He hardly knows any of them, and also to gain their respect.

The press coverage of Bush in Europe has been very negative, and I think he has to at least show the leaders he's a person of substance and a person of some knowledge about international issues because the press coverage has been the opposite in Europe.

SAVIDGE: So, is this his chance to try to change what appears to be a negative look at him, at least from other capitals in the world?

DUNHAM: I think so, and also to reshape the debate. I mean, whether it's missile defense or global warming or even his relationship with Russian President Putin, who he'll meet in Slovenia on the last day of the trip. So, I think it's really important for him to start that process. But he's good at low expectations and exceeding the expectations, so I think the White House is counting on that again in this trip.

SAVIDGE: Part of the problem may be the perception, I would think, by European leaders that this is a president who is going to make a decision and takes action regardless of their input.

DUNHAM: Right, and that's a real problem. Just remember back to his father. His father was known so well for the relationships he has with other European leader and bringing them all in before decisions were announced, and the problem that this president had is on Kyoto, when they disavowed the treaty on global warming, he didn't be consult with the European leaders beforehand. So, I think it's important that they come out believing that he'll actually talk to them before they develop the policies on missile defense or on global warming or even on trade, and that remains to be seen.

SAVIDGE: Are we really going to see something tangible come out of this or is it all just public relations...

DUNHAM: No, I think that there really is nothing tangible that we can expect other than nice words, and I think that that's one of the reasons the White House is downplaying the expectations for the trip. It's not like the G7 -- G8 economic summit that we're going to see in a month in Italy where there will be a number of communiques on everything from AIDS to third world debt. This is really about relationships and not communiques.

SAVIDGE: Well, whatever it is that the president may lack internationally, does Secretary of State Colin Powell make up for that?

DUNHAM: He definitely gets good press in Europe. I was just over in Europe for a couple of weeks, and had talked to number of reporters and then just seeing what people in Europe were saying, and lot of people asked why is Colin Powell in this administration. I think they don't really realize that he and the president have similar views, it's just that his image is one of being much more moderate and much more reasonable, and I think they don't really understand that they two of them are in sync, it's just that there's an image difference there.

SAVIDGE: Rick, are you going to be on the trip as well?

DUNHAM: I wish I could say so. I'm going to be here editing our "Washington Outlook" column for "Business Week."

SAVIDGE: Thank you very much for joining us today. Future trips, good luck on those.

DUNHAM: Thanks.

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