Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Bush Visits France

Aired May 26, 2002 - 18:14   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the war on terrorism is one of several key issues in the spotlight, of course, as President Bush continues his European tour. His latest stop, Paris, and CNN's senior White House correspondent John King has the latest on Mr. Bush's visit to the French capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A formal handshake outside D'Elysees Palace, diplomatic routine but also meant to send a message.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I appreciate this good man's advice. I listen carefully to it when he gives it, and I'm proud to call him friend.

KING: Image repair is as much on the agenda as the war on terrorism and Russia's new partnership with the NATO Alliance. In Paris, just as earlier in Berlin, many see President Bush as out of step with Europe and many believe he doesn't care, doesn't consult enough.

FRANCOIS BUJON DE L'ESTANG, FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: This is a feeling that you have heard expressed many times in various places, not only in Paris.

KING: Mr. Bush hopes this trip erases that impression, and both the German chancellor and the French president defended their guest.

JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): These demonstrations are really marginal demonstrations that you shouldn't give too much credit to these demonstrations.

KING: But public image and public opinion matter at a time Mr. Bush's urging European allies to increase military spending and to retool the NATO Alliance to combat global terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At war requires coming together of civilized people, sharing intelligence, going after terrorists together and that's the opposite of going along rhetoric or actions.

KING: Iraq is a case study as Mr. Bush and key allies discuss fronts beyond Afghanistan. DE L'ESTANG: We do have concerns on where we go next, and what do we do, and that's why the allies insist regularly on the need for close consultations.

KING: Mr. Bush says he is consulting and listening, but it is also clear when it comes to Iraq, he hasn't changed his bottom line.

BUSH: We do view Saddam Hussein as a significant, serious threat to stability and peace.

KING: This is his third European trip as president, and Mr. Bush thinks his peers are now more familiar and comfortable with his straightforward style.

BUSH: Look, the only thing I know to do is to speak my mind, to talk about my values.

KING (on camera): President Bush says the protests are signs of healthy democracies, not of any fundamental problems in transatlantic relations, and President Chirac was quick to agree, insisting in his words, there is deep solidarity between both sides of the pond.

John King, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com