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CNN Live Sunday

Bush Will Deliver Speech on Corporate Scandals

Aired July 07, 2002 - 17:20   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. lawmakers and President Bush will get a chance to show how serious they are about stopping future Enron and WorldCom-like scandals. A bill aimed at reforming corporate financial responsibilities is expected in the Senate, and congressional hearings on WorldCom begin next week.

CNN's Kelly Wallace joins us from Kennebunkport, Maine with more. And I understand the president is still working on his speech expected for Tuesday, right?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, you are exactly right. President Bush will head to Wall Street on Tuesday to deliver that speech. And in between family outings here in Kennebunkport, including church services this morning, the president is putting the finishing touches on that speech.

Aides say the president will call for tougher measures, including mandatory jail time for corporate leaders who knowingly misreport their company's earnings. Now, this is something both Democrats and Republicans say is a must in order to calm jittery investors.

But at the same time, Democrats are accusing the Bush White House of being too close to big business, and they are singling out Harvey Pitt. He is the former securities industry lawyer who is now the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. And on this day, the Senate Democratic leader stopped just short of calling for Mr. Pitt's resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I think that Mr. Pitt has been a real disappointment so far. I haven't come to that conclusion yet, but I must say that his -- his philosophy and his manner of -- of regulating, at least to date, has done a real disservice for this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: But the White House is vigorously defending Pitt, saying the SEC under Pitt's watch has been tougher on corporate wrongdoing than SECs in years past. Ari Fleischer, the president's spokesman, calling these charges against Pitt, saying they're without merit and saying they're politically motivated. But Democrats are really sensing a political advantage here, hoping to gain some ammunition in the November elections. And here's why. According to a recent CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, 62 percent said that Republicans were more interested in large corporations than ordinary Americans, compared with 41 percent who thought so of the president and 36 percent who did of Democrats.

Now, politics aside, on a much lighter note, Mr. Bush enjoying some R&R here in Kennebunkport. This afternoon, we saw members of the Bush family out on a fishing boat, and the president helping daughter Jenna real in a very big catch. So, a successful fishing expedition for the Bush family. Fredricka, the president will be in Kennebunkport tonight, expected to do some golfing possibly Monday before heading back to work at the White House Monday afternoon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kelly. That fish wasn't moving. Was that really a fresh catch?

WALLACE: Are you saying it was staged?

WHITFIELD: No, of course not.

WALLACE: I'll have to get back to you on that.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot of, Kelly Wallace...

WALLACE: We'll get back to you, sure.

WHITFIELD: ... traveling with the president. All right.

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