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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Congressional Democrats Ignore President Bush's Overtures

Aired April 30, 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, HOST: Tonight: It's the first day of the rest of his presidency, and George W. Bush invited Congress for lunch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had some good debates. We've made some good progress, and it looks like we're going to pass some good law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Democrats and Republicans have very different views on how the president's doing, and the battlelines are drawn for the next 100 days. We'll go live to the White House and Capitol Hill, and I'll speak with one of the president's closest advisers, Karen Hughes.

Near the top of his agenda: the ambitious and controversial proposal for a missile defense shield. The president outlines his plan tomorrow. But will it fly?

Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington.

President Bush has started his second 100 days in office by going back to his Texas playbook. As governor, he often reached out to Democrats, a strategy that usually worked. And now, with an evenly split 50/50 Senate and a narrow majority in the House, the president needs every vote he can find if his legislative agenda is going to get off the ground. But he discovered today that even if you invite them, they might not come. And that's our top story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: It's OK sometimes to share a meal, and that's why we're here.

BLITZER (voice-over): President Bush invited all 535 members of Congress to the White House to mark his first 100 days in office.

BUSH: I know we always don't agree, but we're beginning to get a spirit here in Washington where we're more agreeable, where we're setting a different tone.

BLITZER: Fewer than 200 lawmakers attended the luncheon. Of those, fewer than 50 were Democrats. Congressman Martin Frost did not attend.

REP. MARTIN FROST (D), TEXAS: We would like to talk to him seriously about substantive issues. And so far there's been very little of it. It's all been public relations up to this point.

BLITZER: Senator John Breaux did attend.

SEN. JOHN BREAUX (D), LOUISIANA: The greatest opportunity he has to change the way Washington works is to bring about a major bipartisan budget agreement.

BLITZER: Democrats praise some of his education proposals, but on other key issues, he faces serious opposition. On taxes, though Mr. Bush had insisted his figure of a $1.6 trillion tax cut was just the right size, it now looks like Congress will make him settle for less.

He got surprise resistance from some conservative allies to his plan to subsidize the efforts of religious charities to provide social services.

And on the environment, he angered key European and Asian allies for backing out of an international global warming treaty, and a campaign pledge to control carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: So it's 100 down, some 1,360 to go. For more on the Bush agenda, let's go live to CNN senior White House correspondent, John King.

John, Vice President Cheney today outlined some new elements of the proposed energy policy that the administration is coming up with. What are the highlights?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he guaranteed this issue will be one of the major controversies of the second 100 days, as the administration gets about the details. Mr. Cheney saying conservation is nice, but it's not nearly enough to fix what he considers to be a national energy crisis.

He says this nation needs, over the next 20 years, as many as 1,900 new power plants. That's one a week for the next 20 years to bring on line. Obviously, a lot of construction there, thousands of miles of natural gas pipeline. More coal producing plants -- that will anger environmentalists. And the vice president also putting in a plug for nuclear power, saying it's safe, efficient, and easy to get on line.

So the vice president making clear this administration committed not only to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but to bring on a number of new refineries, a number of new power plants. It's very expensive, but Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush will make the case in the coming months that the administration and the United States government must do more. It'll be quite a controversial issue, again, for the second 100 days. BLITZER: And, John, briefly, the president says his top priority remains education, but there seems to be logjam right now in the Senate on his education bill. What's going on?

KING: The logjam, much as you just mentioned about tax cuts, is money. The Democrats have come the president's way, at least far enough for the president, on the issues of testing and accountability. But most Democrats, including Senator Edward Kennedy, want as much as $10 billion more next year for elementary and secondary education. The administration has countered by offering to spend about $2 billion more. They're still haggling, still unable to reach a compromise over the spending level.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thank you very much.

The president has had his ups and downs on Capitol Hill, and if the first 100 days can be seen as something of a grace period, the ride could get bumpier. CNN Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl joins us now live from Capitol Hill.

First of all, Jon, why so few Democrats showing up for lunch at the White House?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, those Democratic no- shows, Wolf, did look a bit like a who's-who of Democratic power brokers. You had Daschle not showing up, Gephardt, Kerrey, Kennedy, and also Hillary Clinton, all not showing up.

But if this was a snub, Wolf, it was a bipartisan one, because you also had some very big-name Republicans among those more than 350 members who did not show up. That includes the speaker of the house, wasn't there, neither was Tom DeLay, the majority whip. Neither were the two senators from his very own home state of Texas -- they weren't there.

By and large, the reason was not a snub, not any effort to, it was insisted, insult the president, but simply a combination of two factors: One, very short notice. The White House didn't put out invitations for this until about a week ago. And also, bad timing. Monday is a day in Washington where not much gets done on Capitol Hill because most members are still generally back in their home states.

Wolf, there may also be one other factor not talked about much, and that is: This is a president who has invited members of Congress over to the White House so often, and has continued to do this so much, that perhaps lunch with the president isn't as big of a deal. They figured, hey, if they miss this one, they'll catch the next one.

BLITZER: And very briefly, Jon, any immediate speculation where he's likely to be bruised in the second 100 days?

KARL: We'll look most immediately to education and to the issue of tax cuts. On education, Democrats are insisting they want more education spending than what the president's proposing.

And on tax cuts, the president may get a tax cut about $1.2-1.3 trillion -- that means they're going to figure out how they make up that tax cut. He's going to have to sacrifice on some of what he wanted, because of course, he wanted $1.6 trillion.

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

The president will unveil another element of his agenda tomorrow when he gives a speech outlining a proposed missile defense system. In a series of telephone calls today, he briefed leaders of key U.S. allies, who are, let us say, at best, cool to the idea.

CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president's speech will highlight sweeping changes he plans in the way the U.S. defends itself and announce that he's sending a team to hear allied concerns before he spells out the specific details later this spring.

BUSH: It should be possible to reduce the number of American nuclear weapons significantly further.

ENSOR: The final decisions are not yet made, but officials are preparing proposals for dramatic unilateral cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, taking it from over 7,000 weapons down to as low as 1,500; slashing the number of bombing targets in Russia in the event of war; adding a small number of new targets in China; increasing by as much as $7 billion research and development of strategic and theater ballistic missile defense systems; adding sea-based and space-based systems to the land-based plan already in testing under the Clinton administration.

The problem for Mr. Bush: the earliest possible date for missile defense may well be after he leaves office.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: We have years to go just in testing and research to find out if there's anything worth deploying.

ENSOR: What's more, the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty clearly forbids any kind of national missile defense. So kill the treaty now? A debate is raging within the administration. Secretary of State Powell and his aides favor going slow.

CIRINCIONE: I think withdrawal from the ABM Treaty would cause a major international crisis at this point. It could dominate the president's first year in office, and he doesn't need that.

ENSOR: On the other side, administration hawks like Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and their aides are pushing hard for Mr. Bush to abrogate the ABM Treaty this spring and go it alone on nuclear weapons.

RICHARD PERLE, FORMER ASST. DEFENSE SECY.: There's no reason to ask the Russians for their approval any more than we should be asking anyone else for their approval.

ENSOR (on camera): Some within the Bush administration also argue for developing new nuclear weapons capable of penetrating deep into the Earth to reach chemical or biological weapons facilities, or leadership bunkers.

But still others argue that Mr. Bush will have quite enough to do convincing wary allies to accept missile defense, without asking them to accept new nuclear weapons as well. David Ensor, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And this programming note: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be my guest tomorrow night on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

CNN also will have live coverage of the president's defense speech. That's tomorrow 2:30 p.m. Eastern, 11:30 a.m. on the west coast.

Up next: she's been a shield and sword for George W. Bush, and she's also been called his "security blanket." I'll speak with the influential counselor to the president, Karen Hughes.

And later: it's off the beaten track, a bit pricey, and a bit cramped, but the view is spectacular! The world's first space tourist settles in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back; she's been with George W. Bush since his first race for Texas governor, and he's said to have told her that he would not run for president without her. She's now one of his top White House advisers. A short while ago, I spoke with counselor to the president, Karen Hughes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Karen Hughes, thanks for joining us.

I want to get right to the issue that the president is going to be addressing this week, the missile defense shield. It's going to cost billions and billions of dollars. Do you know right now where that money is going to come from?

KAREN HUGHES, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, Wolf, as you know, we have a -- not only billions and billions, but a trillions-of- dollar national budget of almost $2 trillion. Obviously, once something is a priority, the money -- we will make the money available to pay for it. The president will look at that in the context of the overall defense transformation that Secretary Rumsfeld is looking at right now.

There is no greater priority for the president of the United States than the defense of the American people, and he wants us to look at new technology, look at new ways. The world has changed a great deal.

Our defense used to be based, as you know, on the theory of -- that the two of us -- Russia, the Soviet Union and the United States -- were pointing at nuclear weapons at each other and neither ones of us would fire because of the fear that we would annihilate each other, a nuclear balance of terror.

Well, the world is much different from that today. We face a lot of different threats from what nations, many rogue states that are bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. So the president believes that we ought to look at better ways to defend ourselves and our friends and allies throughout the world.

BLITZER: Will the president announce tomorrow how much money he's committing to the additional tests to try to develop this kind of defense shield?

HUGHES: Wolf, I don't believe that the president is going to address specific dollar figures tomorrow. He's going to talk more generally about beginning the process of consulting with our friends and allies throughout the world, of discussions with Russia, of discussions with members of Congress. He'll talk more generically about the changing world and the changing threat that we face and how we might all work together to address it.

BLITZER: The president has often said education is his top priority, priority No. 1. Right now, the education bill in the Senate seems to be stalled. Senator Ted Kennedy wants an additional $10 billion. Republicans are saying it should be closer to $2 billion. Is the president ready to step in and come in with a new number that will see passage of this education bill?

HUGHES: Actually, Wolf, I just came from a meeting where some of our education advisers were talking about their ongoing discussions with Senator Kennedy and other members of the Senate. And during lunch today, as you know, the president invited all the members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, to come to lunch to celebrate the 100 days of working together here today. And we are continuing.

We think we're making great progress in terms of accountability, in terms of greater flexibility for states to spend federal education dollars as they see fit. We've made a lot of bipartisan progress and consensus on those fundamental reforms to improve our schools.

And we are still talking about money. President Bush proposed an increase in education spending, a very significant increase in his budget. He has since discussed with the Democrats his willingness to provide even additional money to help implement these reforms. They have a much higher number and we're continuing to talk about that. But I think our people feel that they're making progress.

BLITZER: A lot of Republicans say they're disappointed that there's -- it appears right now that the school voucher initiative, which the president supported during the campaign, allowing parents to send their kids from bad public schools to good parochial or private schools with government scholarships, vouchers if you will, that that doesn't seem to be on the agenda. That's not going to be passed this year.

HUGHES: Well, Wolf, I think that there will continue to be some efforts in the House and the Senate, perhaps on the floor, to bring up that idea. President Bush does feel that when parents of children who are trapped in failed schools, that they should have other options, that they should have the option of being able to move their child to a different pool.

No child in America should be stuck in a school that is consistently failing, and President Bush felt that his original proposal was a good idea: that at the end of three years, if a school failed to improve, that the parent could then transfer that child to a different school, either a different public school or a charter school or a private school of the parents' choice.

We have not been able to achieve consensus yet on that issue, although I think that there are some discussions about spending some money for private tutoring programs, which we believe would be a good start. And again, the point of all this is to empower parents, to give them choices and to make sure that no child has to be trapped in a school that is failing.

BLITZER: A lot of -- a lot of interest in the environment. Most people give the president relatively good grades during these first 100 days. They say if there was a political stumble it was in the way he explained some of the decisions reversing some of the Clinton administration decisions on water and carbon dioxide emissions.

There's a poll that just came out in "The L.A. Times": Does President Bush care more about the needs of environment or business? 13 percent said the environment, 58 percent said the business community.

Would you concede that there were some political stumbles in how he explained his environmental commitment.

HUGHES: Well, Wolf, I think I would concede that the biggest disappointment of these first 100 days is that I think an unfair perception has developed, and I think it's unfair because President Bush does care about clean air and clean water.

It's the nature sometimes of news that controversial decisions get more coverage than good decisions, and I'll give you an example. President Bush enacted tough regulations on diesel fuel to reduce a significant source of air pollution. That was virtually unnoted. Yet, his decision on arsenic in drinking water -- and I'd like to discuss that just a minute, because I think it's been widely mischaracterized.

President Clinton on his way out the door, along with a few other last-minute decisions that we did not agree with, decided to arbitrarily reduce the amount of arsenic in drinking water to a level that was not supported by science. That was going to take effect in 2006. All that our administration did is say we want to base this decision on science. We are also going to reduce the level of arsenic in drinking water, perhaps even lower than that which President Clinton recommended. The EPA administrator between three and 20, and President Clinton's recommendation was 10. But she wants to look at the science, and she wants to make the decision based on sound science and in a reasonable and fair way, after listening to all those involved, including many (UNINTELLIGIBLE) water districts who are going to have trouble meeting that new standard.

The new rule will be implemented the same time that President Clinton's rule would have been implemented in 2006.

BLITZER: We only have a second left, but if there's one top priority for the next 200 days, what is that?

HUGHES: Well, I think there are a couple: tax relief for the American people, a responsible budget that controls spending, and getting through this package of education reforms, because we really do think it will make a difference for every child in America.

BLITZER: Karen Hughes, thanks for joining us from the North Lawn of the White House.

HUGHES: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And when we return, we'll tell you why these people are willing to stand in long lines today.

And: NASA hears from an old friend billions and billions of miles from home. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Checking our other top stories: there's something missing from the latest State Department report on terrorism. Unlike earlier years, you won't find a photograph or a long description of suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden. The State Department says its new approach focuses more on terrorism as a whole, and not personal faces. One thing that remains the same, the report says trends in terrorism continue to shift from the Middle East to South Asia, in particular Afghanistan.

A U.S. technical team is headed to China to inspect the damaged Navy surveillance plane on Hainan island. The technicians from the aerospace firm Lockheed Martin were briefed by Navy officials in Hawaii today. The team is to determine whether the plane could be repaired and flown out of China, or if it will have to be disassembled.

Around the United States, undocumented immigrants are scrambling to beat a midnight deadline to remain in a program that might help them become permanent citizens. The program allows immigrants sponsored by family members or employers to pursue permanent residency without first returning to their home country. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates 640,000 people are eligible.

Tonight on the "Leading Edge": American multimillion Dennis Tito, the first paying space tourist, is finishing his first day aboard the international space station. He'll be spending the next six days aboard the station, after giving Russia some $20 million. In about six-and-a-half hours, Tito will hold a news conference from space. You can watch it live right here on CNN at 2:50 a.m. Eastern, 11:50 p.m. Pacific.

NASA has finally heard from the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, after eight months of silence. A radio antenna in Spain picked up the signal, ending fears the robotic probe was permanently incommunicado. In its 29 years in space, Pioneer 10 has traveled more than seven billion miles.

Up next: I'll open our mailbag. Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it was then called, fell to the Viet Cong 26 years ago today. But some of our viewers are still grappling with that war. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Time now to open our mailbag. Twenty- six years ago today, Saigon, or as it's called today, Ho Chi Minh City, fell to the Viet Cong. And we're still getting lots of reaction to my interview last week with former Senator Bob Kerrey and his admission of killing civilians during the Vietnam war.

Ernie writes from Memphis, Tennessee: "I am 23 years old. I am from Vietnam, now living in the United States. Even though I was born after the war, I believe that Bob Kerrey did the right thing. He just defended himself from the Viet Cong."

But Carol from Maryland writes: "If he suffered such remorse, one would think he would have been honest with his peers many years ago, expressed remorse, relinquished his Medal of Honor, and faced the consequences as part of the healing process."

On my interview Friday night with former President Ronald Reagan's aide Michael Deaver, Rachel writes this: "Do more stories about the president we have in the White House now. He calls himself the president for education and cannot even put together a whole sentence."

Rachel, next time you have to tell us how you really feel. 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. Denise Rich is Larry King's guest at the top of the hour. 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, Sara Jane Olson. Prosecutors say that she's a radical who put bombs under police cars. She says she's innocent. One thing is clear, for the last 10 years, she's been living a suburban life in Minnesota, married to a doctor.

Plus, $20 million, and you could have a ride in outer space. We'll tell you about it -- Wolf.

BLITZER: OK, Greta, thanks. I'll be watching.

Tomorrow night, I'll speak with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. 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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