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CNN Live Sunday

White House Presses Case Against Iraq

Aired September 08, 2002 - 17:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is pressing its case that Iraq is a global threat, and the vice president is again weighing in. Dick Cheney says over the last 14 months, Saddam Hussein has been aggressively trying to develop nuclear weapons. CNN's Kelly Wallace is at the White House with more. Hi there, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well this information coming out as the Bush administration faces growing calls from members of Congress and U.S. allies to prove why it believes Saddam Hussein poses an imminent threat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): President Bush's advisers engaging in a full court press, citing new evidence they say shows the Iraqi leader is aggressively trying to build a nuclear weapon.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons but we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.

WALLACE: U.S. officials say over the past 14 months, Saddam Hussein has unsuccessfully tried to get his hands on special high grade aluminum tubing that's needed to enrich uranium and build a nuclear bomb. This is a concern Vice President Cheney alluded to in an interview with CNN's John King.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Does not have the fissile material but he may be working on it. Based on what we've seen, we're fairly confident that he, in fact, is moving forward once again to develop nuclear weapons.

WALLACE: A senior administration official said the new evidence was given to top congressional leaders last week and will likely be presented to skeptical United Nations Security Council members France, Russia, and China. But the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the administration still has not provided the evidence to warrant a possible preemptive attack on Iraq.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: While I'm convinced that the president is resolute in his position and feels that there are the facts to justify it, that information has not yet been adequately shared with the Congress.

WALLACE: The president facing pressure from Congress and U.S. allies to prove why Saddam Hussein must go, takes his case to the United Nations Thursday. Secretary of State Powell says the president will call on the world body to get tough on the Iraqi leader.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Saddam Hussein is in violation of all the resolutions that were passed over the last 11 years for him to disarm himself of weapons of mass destruction. It's a powerful case. It is an indisputable case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And on Monday, President Bush will make that case to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, the two leaders to meet in Detroit, Michigan. The Canadian leader just one of several U.S. allies expressing some opposition to any possible military attack in Iraq. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kelly Wallace from the White House, thank you very much.

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