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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

President Bush Says U.S. 'Will Do What It Takes' to Defend Taiwan; Bob Kerrey Reveals His Role in the Killing of Vietnamese Civilians

Aired April 25, 2001 - 20:00   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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, President Bush says his administration supports a one-China policy, but...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... that I will do what it takes to help Taiwan defend itself. And the Chinese must understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president discusses his first 100 days with John King. We'll go live to the White House, and we'll get live reaction from Beijing and Capitol Hill.

He's a former senator, governor, presidential candidate, and possible future candidate. He's also a decorated veteran, and he's haunted by his role in the killing of Vietnamese civilians. Bob Kerrey joins me to talk about this just-disclosed incident.

Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington. In a few moments, I'll bring you an extraordinary story. I'll speak with former Senator Bob Kerrey about his role in the killing of Vietnamese civilians some 32 years ago. But first, President Bush has for the first time spelled out what the United States would do if Taiwan were attacked by China, and that's our top story.

Let's go live to senior White House correspondent John King who spoke to the president today. John, tell us what he told you.

JOHN KING, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the president saying publicly that the United States should defend Taiwan if it were attacked militarily by mainland China. Now, this a break from policy dating back 20 years including in the administration of this president's father, the first President Bush.

The president saying that he decided to speak out more candidly on this. It's certainly evidence of the harder line this administration taking toward China. But senior administration officials here insist it's not a major break in policy. They simply say this president is being more candid, saying publicly what other presidents have relayed to the Chinese privately.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The president insisted his blunt talk about defending Taiwan was no big deal.

BUSH: The Chinese need to hear the message, and I think it is an important message to send.

KING: But U.S. presidents for more than 20 years now have been deliberately vague about whether, and under what circumstances the United States might commit military forces to defend Taiwan, and the president's explicit pledge raised concerns in Congress, and across Asia. In the CNN interview, Mr. Bush said pro-independence forces in Taiwan should not be emboldened.

BUSH: I will do what it takes to help Taiwan defend herself, and the Chinese must understand that. Secondly, I certainly hope Taiwan adheres to the one-China policy, and a declaration of independence is not the one-China policy, and we will work with Taiwan to make sure that doesn't happen. We need a peaceful resolution of this issue.

KING: On the home front, Mr. Bush is eager for a budget compromise. He is now willing to split the difference between the House and Senate and accept a 10-year, $1.4 trillion tax cut, and is in negotiations over his call that federal spending increase by no more than 4 percent next year.

KING (on camera): Is a 6 percent increase responsible? Would you accept that?

BUSH: I am keeping all options open.

KING: But people are leaving these meetings saying that you appear ready to embrace a compromise?

BUSH: I appear ready to get something done.

KING (voice-over): The president says too much is made of the 100-day mark, that it's too soon to judge a new administration, but he also says he's making progress.

BUSH: Well, I'd say pretty darn good. I mean, I'm enthusiastic about the job. I really love what I'm doing. I put together a great team of fine Americans that are working together on behalf of the American people. Some of the agenda that I talked about in the campaign that people thought would be dead on arrival seems to be doing quite well. One of which is tax relief, another is education reform.

KING: Tensions with China and the president's comments about defending Taiwan are adding a new dimension to the traditional 100-day assessments.

(END VIDEOTAPE) Now, again, administration officials taking pains throughout the day to insist Mr. Bush just being more candid. But veterans of past administrations, including his father's quite stunned by his remarks about Taiwan. And they predict it will cause concern not only in Beijing but among key U.S. allies in the region as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John, briefly, what have you learned about President Bush, the man, today that you didn't know before?

KING: Well he joked that he's not talking to the portraits here and he hasn't seen any ghosts. But he did say one of the concerns about being president is you're confined here to White House. You'll remember from your days on the beat President Clinton complained about that as well.

That's one reason he this president says he likes to go to Camp David or to the ranch in Texas on the weekends, just to get out a little bit. But he insists that that doesn't mean he doesn't like Washington, he just says he wants a little balance in his life, likes to be able to get outdoors a little bit and away from the White House.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Good work. And this note: You'll have a chance to see John's entire interview with the president. It will be replayed tonight on CNN TONIGHT, that's 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. on the West Coast.

And the president's approval of an arms package for Taiwan has already sparked protests by China. To find out how his latest comments are playing in Beijing, let's go live to our Beijing bureau chief, Rebecca MacKinnon. Rebecca, how are all of President's Bush's remarks are playing over there including the arm's sales to China -- to Taiwan?

REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, at this point in time, it's still fairly early in the morning here in Beijing. There have been no official reactions yet to President Bush's latest remarks in the media, his remarks to John King earlier. However, observers here are saying that he did make an important clarification over his initial remarks in a U.S. broadcast where he said that the United States was committed to defend Taiwan, but did not clarify further in his interview with John King.

He did reiterate the United States' commitment to the one-China policy and did warn Taiwan against declaring independence, making it clear the United States would not support that route. This is considered by observers to be an important clarification if United States relationship to China is proceed on really any kind of stable footing. However, we're not likely, people feel, to hear any kind of praise for how Bush is not as bad as he might have been.

Instead, we're likely to hear complaints that President Bush is still much stronger in his commitment toward Taiwan defense than President Clinton was, at least in his public comments, and we're very much expecting today to hear some strong protest from the Chinese Foreign Ministry -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Rebecca MacKinnon in Beijing where it's already Thursday morning. Thank you so much for joining us.

The president's remarks are drawing lots of attention on Capitol Hill. For more on that part of the story, let's go live to CNN congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl. There was some criticism, some sharp criticism of the president today, wasn't there, Jonathan?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf. Democrats almost immediately pounced on the president's remarks, suggesting that he simply doesn't understand the nature of the one-China policy. John Kerry, Senator from Massachusetts, came to the floor of the Senate and said that the president had unilaterally done a major and significant and dangerous change U.S. foreign policy without consulting Congress.

And meanwhile the senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden, said the president had given what was essentially a misstatement, but a misstatement that could have serious consequences.

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SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: I'm afraid it has probably confused things significantly in mainland China and in the Far East and I think it will take a little while for this to get cleaned up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: That said, Wolf, some Republicans, conservative Republicans who were very hawkish towards China applauded the president's comments and said it was good to clear up some of the ambiguity about what we would do should Taiwan come under attack from China -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jon, briefly, how about the statement that the president suggested he's ready to accept a $1.4 trillion tax cut over ten years. He originally wanted 1.6. with 1.2 approved by the Senate. Is that playing well?

KARL: Well, the president's been having kind of a revolving door at the Oval Office with the moderate Democrats trying to get support for that $1.4. trillion figure. So far, those moderate Democrats, including John Breaux of Louisiana, who had dinner with the president last night, are saying they want to stick to $1.2 trillion.

BLITZER: Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill. Thank you very much.

Up next, a medal of honor recipient for his role in one incident. He anguishes over another, which took the lives of Vietnamese civilians. I'll speak with former Navy Seal, and Former Senator, Bob Kerrey.

And later, a South Pole rescue: a small plane carries an ailing American doctor across Antarctica. We'll get a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. His courage under fire as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam earned him the medal of honor. He later became governor of Nebraska, and a U.S. Senator. A once, and possibly future, presidential candidate, he's now president of the New School University in New York.

But all this time, Bob Kerrey says he's been haunted by another incident: the killing of Vietnamese civilians in 1969. I spoke with him a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Senator Kerrey, thanks very much for joining us. Tell us what happened on that night in February, 1969.

BOB KERREY, PRESIDENT, NEW SCHOOL: Well, we went into an area that was called a free-fire zone, where the Viet Cong had been operating pretty heavily. And we had reason to believe that there was going to be a district-level meeting of Vietcong in this particular village. I had done a fly over the area in a fixed-wing aircraft to make sure there weren't civilians in the area. The district chief that we were working with told us that anybody in there, as a result of it being a free-fire zone, was the enemy.

We expected it to be a very difficult mission, and we met some people that we believe were outpost, and we killed them. And then went on, and took fire from the area where we expected this meeting to occur, and we returned very lethal fire. And when the firing was all over, all we have is women and children that are dead. We didn't have any evidence, any physical evidence, of the enemy having been there.

Although anybody in that area has to be considered at least sympathetic if not actually operating with the enemy. I just have never been able to justify what we did, either militarily or -- certainly not morally.

BLITZER: But this wasn't a case where you deliberately went out there and decided you were going to kill civilians?

KERREY: No. We went on a mission where we expected to find military leadership. Indeed we had been invited to go on missions where the object was to do that, which was to kill civilians that were sympathetic. We refused missions like that.

And, indeed, the mission that I was injured on, as a result of the experience we had in Tan Fu (ph), we refused to do what we could have done, which was to say we're not going to try to take prisoners. We tried to take prisoners on the operation I was injured on, and that may have accounted for the difficulty we got into as a result.

BLITZER: One of your comrades has come out and said that -- has a different recollection of that mission than you have -- insisting that they -- that you and the rest of the squad knew you were killing civilians?

KERREY: That isn't true. I love Gerhard, he's a -- I recruited him into my platoon as a result of his having made a tour previously. We've talked to one another over him the last 32 years. He's never expressed anything of the kind to me over that period of time. But that is not the way it happened. I organized this mission. I flew the areas before. It was free-fire zone. That much, Gerhard and I agree on. It's a free-fire zone. There were enemy operating in the area.

And even though there were civilian casualties, we had every reason to believe that they were at the very least, sympathetic to Viet Cong, and at the very worst, a participating lethal force against Americans. So I don't -- I don't feel harshly towards a different point of view, but it's considerably different than what I experienced and saw that night. And so I just have to respectfully provide a different account that occurred.

BLITZER: Your Senate -- go ahead.

KERREY: Well -- part of what's going on here is I've been trying to tell the story for some time, and I'm. in fact, working on a book right now to do it, and I gave a speech last week in VMI about it. And I -- though there may be disagreements about what happened that night, what matters to me more than anything is to be able to talk publicly about something that produced a great deal of shame and a great deal of guilt, not for the purpose of doing anything other than -- in the first instance, being able to talk to my children about it honestly.

In the second instance, hopefully that some good could come of it -- that we can prepare men differently, that we can think, as civilians, more seriously about war when we're sending young men off. not just to die for their country, but also to kill for it.

BLITZER: Your former Senate colleague, John Kerry of Massachusetts, came to your defense today on the Senate floor. I want you to listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Bob Kerrey served with distinction. He feels, obviously, anguish and pain about those events. But I don't believe they should diminish for one moment the full measure of what he has given to his country, and of what he represents. And it's my hope that he personally will not allow it to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In your mind, does this incidents, which you're now recalling and speaking about publicly for the first time, diminish your record?

KERREY: I mean, I -- John is quite right. I do feel anguish and guilt about it, and sometimes to a fault. I would answer the question no, because when I told my children what happened, they say they still love me. So -- you know, the hardest thing for a human being sometimes to do is to extend mercy and love, and yet it's the most healing and most important thing that we can give one another. And of all the things that I hope to be able to talk about, is that -- to need to do that more.

And John is -- Senator Kerry has been very nice. I've talked to him privately about this. But I don't seek to be defended here. I don't seek anything other than an opportunity to talk honestly something that I did, and something that could happen, not just in wartime, Wolf, but it happens in non-wartime.

We -- human beings do things that, afterwards, we regret. And we like to run the clock back, and wish we could do them differently. And about the only way that we've got to live with it is to ask God's forgiveness and ask our friends to do the same. And it's quite remarkable how we find that it comes, if we're just willing to ask for it.

BLITZER: Already, some in Washington are speculating that there may be a political motive behind your disclosures at this time. "The Wall Street Journal," in the piece this morning, you probably saw it, said this: "The disclosure came at a time when... Kerrey, who sought the presidency in 1992, is believed to be weighing another try. Divulging it now could also help inoculate him against future attacks."

KERREY: Well, you know, cynicism is a dangerous thing. Cynicism says I don't believe that there's any possibility for human beings to do good things. And it causes us to be unwilling to do the thing that we most need to do, which is to extend mercy and love. And I -- this is not a political play for me. I'm married now, I've got a baby due in the fall, and I'm very happy with my life. But I do want to take what has been a difficult public memory and talk about it privately, because I think it helps me, and it already has.

And I'm willing, by the way, to tolerate whatever consequences come. I accept full responsibility for that. I don't pass it off on anybody. I still love my country, I'm glad I served in the Navy. I loved Seal team and the people that I served with. But this is something that I did and it's important for me to let people know it and to talk about it openly.

BLITZER: Senator Kerrey, I want to thank you very much for speaking so openly and candidly with us.

KERREY: You're welcome.

BLITZER: And when we return, a rescue plane leaves the South Pole. We'll have a live report about a daring mission.

And later, pictures from an incredible landing in Florida. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. In other news, CNN has learned new details about the fatal downing of the U.S. missionary plane in Peru. U.S. officials say none of the three U.S. crewmembers who spotted the plane from a CIA surveillance aircraft similar to this one, was fluent in Spanish. U.S. officials pointed out the missionary aircraft to the Peruvian military, which then shot it down, thinking it was carrying drugs. Of the five people on board, two were killed.

A frightening landing today at a South Florida airport. The pilot of a Piper Navajo was forced to cut off the engine in midair after realizing two of its wheels wouldn't drop. The plane landed on only one wheel, skidded and fell onto its left wing. Once it came to a stop, the pilot and passenger jumped out and joyfully embraced.

Tonight on "The Leading Edge," a plane that rescued an ailing American doctor from the bottom of the world is set to arrive at Rothera base in Antarctica shortly, the first of a three-leg journey back to the United States. From there, the doctor will be flow to Punta Arenas, Chile.

And that's where we join CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman by videophone -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, tonight the people here in the Antarctic region of Chile are getting ready to greet an ailing U.S. doctor who has been rescued from the South Pole. The rescue happened today precisely at 12:47 p.m. Eastern time, when the doctor, who was suffering a life-threatening condition, left aboard a small Twin Otter, eight-seat airplane equipped with skis for an eight-hour flight from the U.S. Air Station right in the middle of Antarctic at the South Pole to a British station on a corner of Antarctic.

He's expected to get to that base about 30 minutes from now. He'll rest overnight, and then tomorrow he'll come here to this portion of Chile, to the city of Punta Arenas, Chiles. This is the closest major city to the South Pole. The doctor in question, Ronald Shemenski, 59 years old, from Ohio; he had a problem with a gall bladder attack. He found out he had pancreatitis, which is a potentially life-threatening condition.

The decision was made to get him out of the South Pole now. Never before has a rescue attempt been made during the winter polar season, which stretched from February to October, but so far, so good. He will come here to Chile. He will then go to his home in Colorado where this weekend, he is expected to go to the Health One Swedish Hospital in Denver to go to the hospital to get treated.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman in Punta Arenas, thank you so much for joining us.

Up next, I'll open our mailbag. One of our viewers takes a shot at all of you who have homes on the waterfront. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Time now to open our mailbag. Lots of reaction to my interview last night with Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Farid from Charlottesville, Virginia, expressed a view many Lebanese living in the United States apparently share: "We want to come back home, but won't until we fell that Lebanon is free, strong, and independent of foreign and neighboring interference."

Barak in Jerusalem writes this: "I am sick and tired of this whole mess. What's everyone yelling and killing about. We all just want a better life, and that means living in peace."

On the floods in the Upper Mississippi, Elizabeth writes about Davenport, Iowa's decision not to build a permanent flood wall: "If the people of Davenport make reasonable choices, as they have to some extent, then don't single them out. Pick on those more deserving. Why do you let people build fancy houses along the East Coast beaches."

Remember, you can e-mail me at wolf@cnn.com. I just might read your comments on the air, and you can read my daily online column and sign up for my daily e-mail previewing our nightly programs by going to our WOLF BLITZER REPORTS Web site, cnn.com/wolf

Please stay with CNN throughout the night. Kent Walker is Larry King's guest at the top of the hour. He's the son of a notorious con artist and convicted killer.

Up next, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by to tell us what she has -- Greta.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, CNN'S "THE POINT": Wolf, Robert Downey Jr. is in trouble again, drugs. What should we do with drug addicts: Lock them up or something else? I'll ask my panel -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks, Greta. Sounds good. Tomorrow night, more on the president's first hundred days in office. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.

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