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CNN Live Sunday
Pressure to Find Iraqi WMDs Increases
Aired May 04, 2003 - 18:04 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to turn our attention right now to Iraq and the hunt for its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
After a number of false starts, there is still no discovery of what the Bush administration said was the main justification for going to war.
Well, now there's increased pressure for an explanation.
CNN White House correspondent Chris Burns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly a month after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, U.S.-led forces have yet to find what they waged war over: weapons of mass destruction.
The Bush administration on the defensive, asks patience, but appears to lower expectations from finding Saddam's alleged weapons to simply finding people and parts.
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: He never lost the infrastructure or the brain power assembled in a way to use that infrastructure if he was ever given a chance to do so.
BURNS: President Bush himself has suggested at least some of the alleged weapons or components may never be found, destroyed, hidden, smuggled elsewhere -- even looted, according to some reports, and that many former Iraqi officials won't talk.
Mr. Bush was pressed by the media at his Texas ranch over the weekend while he hosted and thanked an ally in the war, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iraq's the size of the state of California, has got tunnels, caves, all kinds of complexes. We'll find them. And it's going to be a matter of time to do so.
BURNS: In any case, Secretary Powell says the United Nations provided the justification for war with the threat of serious consequences.
POWELL: The basis of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 was a judgment on the part of all 15 members of the Security Council that the Iraqi regime had been in violation of its obligations under all sorts of previous resolutions to account for its weapons of mass destruction.
BURNS: Washington however failed to get Security Council backing for another resolution before attacking. Most wanted time for more inspections.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: Anderson, whether or not weapons of mass destruction are found, polls indicate that most Americans believe that toppling Saddam Hussein was enough of a justification for the war, but if WMD's are found, that could help to mend relations between the United States and other countries, especially the Arab world.
Back to you.
COOPER: Chris, I know President Bush has had something of a working weekend, hosting the prime minister of Australia. What's on the agenda for tomorrow?
BURNS: The president is traveling to Arkansas, to Little Rock, to talk to small business owners, to push his $0.5 trillion tax plan over the next 10 years. On Tuesday he also meets with the American Chamber of Commerce for the same reason. It's an uphill battle on Capitol Hill.
COOPER: All right. Chris Burns, at the Crawford, Texas Western White House, thanks very much.
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 May 4, 2003 - 18:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to turn our attention right now to Iraq and the hunt for its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
After a number of false starts, there is still no discovery of what the Bush administration said was the main justification for going to war.
Well, now there's increased pressure for an explanation.
CNN White House correspondent Chris Burns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly a month after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, U.S.-led forces have yet to find what they waged war over: weapons of mass destruction.
The Bush administration on the defensive, asks patience, but appears to lower expectations from finding Saddam's alleged weapons to simply finding people and parts.
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: He never lost the infrastructure or the brain power assembled in a way to use that infrastructure if he was ever given a chance to do so.
BURNS: President Bush himself has suggested at least some of the alleged weapons or components may never be found, destroyed, hidden, smuggled elsewhere -- even looted, according to some reports, and that many former Iraqi officials won't talk.
Mr. Bush was pressed by the media at his Texas ranch over the weekend while he hosted and thanked an ally in the war, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iraq's the size of the state of California, has got tunnels, caves, all kinds of complexes. We'll find them. And it's going to be a matter of time to do so.
BURNS: In any case, Secretary Powell says the United Nations provided the justification for war with the threat of serious consequences.
POWELL: The basis of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 was a judgment on the part of all 15 members of the Security Council that the Iraqi regime had been in violation of its obligations under all sorts of previous resolutions to account for its weapons of mass destruction.
BURNS: Washington however failed to get Security Council backing for another resolution before attacking. Most wanted time for more inspections.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: Anderson, whether or not weapons of mass destruction are found, polls indicate that most Americans believe that toppling Saddam Hussein was enough of a justification for the war, but if WMD's are found, that could help to mend relations between the United States and other countries, especially the Arab world.
Back to you.
COOPER: Chris, I know President Bush has had something of a working weekend, hosting the prime minister of Australia. What's on the agenda for tomorrow?
BURNS: The president is traveling to Arkansas, to Little Rock, to talk to small business owners, to push his $0.5 trillion tax plan over the next 10 years. On Tuesday he also meets with the American Chamber of Commerce for the same reason. It's an uphill battle on Capitol Hill.
COOPER: All right. Chris Burns, at the Crawford, Texas Western White House, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
