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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

President Bush Makes Decision on Federal Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Aired August 09, 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, a special report. He's agonized over the issue for months. Aides say it may be the most important decision he'll make as president. Just an hour from now, President Bush will announce his decision on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. It's an issue of cutting edge science, ethics and morality.

Researchers and many patients believe stem cells may lead to cures for various diseases and injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: I am positive that in 10 years I'll be on my feet. I will not be sitting here in a wheelchair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll look at the science behind the debate and I'll talk to our correspondents about the forces that helped shape the presidents decision.

And a suicide bomber targets a lunchtime crowd in the center of Jerusalem with devastating results. Are the Israelis and Palestinians on the brink of all out war? Is it time for the U.S. to get more involved? We'll have reports from Jerusalem and the State Department.

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

President Bush has been wrestling with the issue of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research for months. He's now made up his mind, and tonight we've learned details. The issue involves what many doctors and scientists say could potentially be major breakthroughs in ailments such as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, along with spinal cord injuries.

On the other side of the debate, those who insist any research involving stem cells taken from human embryos is wrong, for some of them even tantamount to murder.

In less than one hour, the president will address the nation and announce his decision, and that's our top story.

Stem cells, which form inside an embryo shortly after fertilization, can be made to mature into any type of human tissue. Researchers say they believe they can grow cells to restore ailing organs.

Opponents say all of this would involve destroying the embryo.

Tonight, we're going to have full coverage of this debate, the president's decision. I'm joined live by CNN senior White House correspondent John King, White House correspondent Kelly Wallace, she's near the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl on Capital Hill, and CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield in New York.

Let's go first to John King at the White House. John, give us the details. What have you learned about the president's decision?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have learned, Wolf, that in that speech to the nation just an hour from now, two sources familiar with the president's deliberations telling CNN the president will reverse course from a campaign pledge and announce that he will now support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research in limited cases.

Now, what does that mean, limited cases? That is what we have been unable to determine. The president has sworn his top aides to secrecy, saying he wants to make this very grave announcement directly to the American people himself. But we do know from sources, two sources involved in these deliberations, the president indeed will endorse federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in some cases. And that will, of course, be a reversal from a campaign pledge and a later pledge that he would not support federal funding in any cases.

That is one of the reasons, understanding the political gravity of this debate, the president decided to do this in a nationally televised address to the American people and the White House preparing an all-out public relations campaign to explain the president's decision once he makes it clear to the American people in an hour from now. Wolf.

BLITZER: And referring to that letter he wrote in May, John, to this conservative foundation, he did say "I oppose federal funding for stem cell research that involves destroying living human embryos."

How does he reconcile this compromise decision he's making tonight with that apparent very firm decision, position, that he had taken earlier?

KING: Well, aides say the more the president studied this issue, the more he decided he needed to come out in favor of limited research. The president will make that case directly to the American people. And because of the political debate, especially among conservatives who supported this president, the administration, over the next several hours, the next days and weeks, will meet with those official to explain the president's decision. They know they're in for some criticism, but they also believe the president has made the right decision and that in time those groups will understand. Wolf. BLITZER: John King at the White House, thank you very much. And this very tough decision is an uncomfortable decision-making process for the president. He'll announce that decision from a place where he says he feels most comfortable, his Texas ranch.

That's where CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joins us now, from Crawford, Texas.

Kelly, take us behind the scenes. When did the president make up his mind? And when did he decide to deliver this address to the nation?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we understand the president came to the conclusion this week, but that he actually made a final decision yesterday and that is when he also made the decision to go forward with an announcement today.

Now, his aides presented him with a series and a range of options, but we understand that it was the president who decided on going forward with a nationally televised address to speak directly with the American people.

As you noted, he will giving that address from his ranch; in fact, from a place called the Governor's House on his ranch. This is a very simple, old ranch house. It is the place where Mr. and Mrs. Bush lived until their new home was built. Aides saying the president feeling that this is an issue that the American people have been discussing over their dinner tables, and so they feel that there's no other place for the president to announce this than what they call the heartland and here at his ranch. Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelly Wallace in the heartland in Crawford, Texas, thank you very much.

President has felt pressure from both sides of the stem cell debate. And from both sides of the aisle on Capital Hill. Let's go live to Capital Hill and CNN congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl.

Jon, first of all, any reaction to these preliminary reports, including that from our own John King, on Capital Hill? Any reaction to the president's decision?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've spoken to the offices of two Republican Senators on, by the way, opposite sides of this issue, who have both tried to get answers out of the White House as to what exactly the president was going to say. Both have not been able to get answers from the White House on that. So, not any reaction. The senators and others here on Capital Hill following this, actually hearing their news on television, getting no direct word yet from the White House on this question.

But there was some reaction earlier from a conservative back- bencher in the House, a Republican who has said that if the president goes forward and allows some form of funding for embryonic stem cell research, he'll be making a serious mistake. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Let me be clear. There is no doubt that should the president change his mind on the issue of federal funding for stem cell research that it will erode the creditability of the Republican message to pro-life voters across America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: But by and large, Wolf, Republicans on both sides of this question giving the president breathing room on this, letting him make his own decision before they come out and say anything.

BLITZER: As you know, Jon, three of the top Republican leaders in the House of Representatives some five weeks ago wrote a letter to President Bush, urging him not to go forward with any compromise whatsoever. Among other things, they said this: "It is not pro-life to rely on an industry of death, even if the intention is to find cures for diseases."

How does he placate Dick Armey and Tom DeLay and J.C. Watts and so many other conservative Republicans that are part of this political base?

KARL: Well, first of all, do not look for any of those three to come out and harshly attack the president for backing down on a campaign promise on this, even though they disagree with him, obviously, as you saw in that quote.

I've talked to aides to all three of those Republicans, who say that they will be very muted in their criticism of the president because they believe he struggled with this decision and he's thought about it and, frankly, they don't want to attack him because he's their standard bearer. So, don't look for strong attacks from the Republican leadership to the president.

BLITZER: Jon Karl on Capital Hill, thank you very much.

Now, let's step back for a little bigger picture look at this entire question. Joining us now from New York, CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield.

Jeff, as you know, some of the president's aides are saying this could wind up being the most important decision of his presidency. Give us some context. Is that shaping up to be the case.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: You know, one thing that's very important to remember is that this is not a case in which the president is taking on an entire constituency.

The pro-life movement is split. I won't say it's down the middle, but it's split all over the place on this issue, where some of the more prominent pro-life members of the House and Senate have come out for stem cell research. And so, he -- it isn't as if he were nominating, say, a pro-choice Supreme Court justice, which would be an absolute crossing of the Rubicon.

It's an important decision. If it is as reported, it is going to create some difficulty. But, you know, I talked to somebody who's pretty close to the White House this morning White House points out, look, this is the president who appointed John Ashcroft Attorney General, who instantly reversed a Clinton decision on family planning funding, who says he admires Scalia and Thomas, the Supreme Court justices, so I think among the White House there may be a feeling that the president has some cover, even if it is going to create some criticism.

BLITZER: Are there, historically speaking, Jeff, some other presidential decisions that spring to your mind, of equal importance as far as this decision by President Bush is concerned?

GREENFIELD: Well, there are plenty of cases where a president has had to wrestle between what he decided he wanted to do or what he thought was right and his constituency -- I mean, Bill Clinton on free trade alienated the labor movement, which was what, you know, the core of the Democratic party.

What makes this one tricky or different is, it's not a political decision in the sense that you have to decide if you're going to raise taxes, if you're going to go to China, what your policy is on missile defense. This decision is at a very unusual intersection where politics and religion and science and ethics all meet, and it's not that typical that we have a president that has to make that kind of decision. So, in this case, I think there is something quite special about it.

BLITZER: Jeff Greenfield in New York. And this note, Jeff Greenfield, of course, will be back at 10:30 p.m. tonight for more on this very, very important decision.

Researchers say the results of the stem cell research could change a lot of lives. We'll look at the science and we'll hear why actor Christopher Reeve says stem cells could help him walk again.

And later, can anyone or anything stop the violence in the Middle East? We'll have the latest from Jerusalem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. The personal debate over stem cell research is also a very passionate one. And there are strong emotions on both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDIE BROWN, AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE: A frozen embryo who is destined to be discard is a tiny human being, an embryonic child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. More on the science driving this controversial research -- Elizabeth. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, well, all this talk about stem cells might have you thinking what exactly do they do? Well, here's an example of what stem cells might be able to accomplish someday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): This rat is paraplegic, and he may be the key to helping Dr. John McDonald get his patient, Christopher Reeve, walking again.

DR. JOHN MCDONALD, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Christopher Reeve, you know, had a fall from a horse during an equestrian event and basically landed on his head.

COHEN: So, Dr. McDonald gave rats a similar injury and then injected some of them with stem cells, and it worked. This rat was paralyzed, got stem cells, six weeks later his hind-legs function again. By comparison, the rat on the right didn't get the stem cells.

So, if this has worked so well in rats, when can Christopher Reeve get this treatment? Well, the research hasn't made it past the rat stage yet because in order for it to work in people, scientists would have to destroy human embryos. So some groups are fighting this kind of research tooth and nail.

And that makes Reeve furious. He's seen what stem cells can do for rats.

REEVE: You see that and you get very excited. Never before, not until 1998, has there ever been such a powerful tool, such a resource, that can give so much hope. And to have it just sitting there, right in front of us, ready to go, while this debate rages on, is really, really frustrating.

COHEN: Here's how stem cells might work in humans. When Reeve fell, he injured the area around the top two vertebrae in his spine. The injury caused a cyst to grow inside the spinal cord. As the cyst grew, it damaged what's called the myelin coating around part of the nerve cells in his spine. Without that coating, the nerves can't work properly and Reeve can't move.

REEVE: If you imagine a wire with a rubber coating around it, a tight rubber coating allows conductivity. And if you take it away, the wire doesn't work.

COHEN: Here's where the embryonic stem cells come in. Their blank cells that can be turned into basically any type of tissue.

In the case of the rats, doctors turned them into myelin coating cells, injected them into the rats, the coating grew back where it was needed and the rats could move their hind-legs again.

For this to work in people, scientists would have to destroy human embryos to get to the stem cells. There are about 100,000 embryos stored in freezers in infertility clinics nationwide that parents don't want to use anymore to start a pregnancy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, it's important to remember, this research has only shown results in rodents so far. It's not known if it will work in people. Wolf.

BLITZER: As you know, Elizabeth, the devil is often in the details when it comes to these kinds of decisions. Tell us why it's so important to understand what perhaps President Bush may be limited in this research.

COHEN: Exactly. That's an important point. We've been hearing a lot about compromises, what kind of compromises could he make.

There are two very, very different compromises that he can do. Let's take a step back and say where do stem cells come from. Well, they come from embryos. In IVF clinics, those are fertility clinics around the country, they sit frozen in tanks like these. There are about 100,000 or maybe even more in the country. These are again embryos sitting in fertility labs. 100,000 is a lot.

However, Bush could say that, or he could say, let's take a look at this. Here's an embryo being made, and now you see there are stem cells sitting in the bottom. The stem cells come out, creating a stem cell line. There are only 20 to 50 of those. In other words, people have taken about 20 to 50 embryos and made stem cells out of them.

If Bush says you can only use those stem cells that have already been created, there's only 20 - 50 different lines of those. If he tells doctors, you know what, go back to the fertility labs, ask parents their permission, and then you'll have 100,000, scientists will be very happy about that, but they wouldn't be so happy about the other way.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you, once again, very much.

And again, President Bush will deliver his address to the nation at 9:00 PM tonight. CNN, of course, will have live coverage.

Another round of death and violence in the Middle East. This time, a suicide bomber takes aim at a busy restaurant, turning it into a massive death-trap. Details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. A new wave of violence in the Middle East. Israeli police say they have occupied Palestinian offices in East Jerusalem and an Israeli jet has fired missiles at a Palestinian police station in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The actions follow today's devastating blast in the heart of Jerusalem, where a suicide bomber killed himself and 14 others, including a number of children.

The target was a branch of the U.S. based Sbarro pizza chain and an American woman was among the dead. The militant Islamic group Hamas has claimed responsibility.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where Jaffa and King George streets meet, downtown Jerusalem's busies crossroad. When the bomber walked in with a bag over his shoulder, it was 2:00 PM, lunchtime, the small pizza parlor crowded. The bomb, police stay, bolstered with bundles of nails and steel pellets for more deadly effect.

AVI ZOHAR, MEDICAL RESCUE SERVICES: There were a lot of kids inside, even babies. It was a holiday. Mothers with kids and so, so it is a heavy, heavy attack.

KESSEL (voice-over): Right around the corner from the pit area, sisters Yufat (ph) and Puah (ph) run a small coffee shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We saw a mess, noise, crowds, tears, panic, people standing and tears falling down; smoke; a woman lying in the street, someone trying to revive her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Most people had tears in their eyes. People just crying and crying. It's first the pain. It doesn't translate right away into feelings of revenge.

KESSEL: Only once explosive experts make sure there are no other bombs does the grisly business of removing bodies continue. A blast so powerful, one body is blown right up the chimney of the pizza ovens.

Israeli cities had been bracing for just such an attack. Several would-be bombers recently foiled, all failing to carryout their mission.

"We have had quite a lot of success in this war," says Israel's national police commissioner, "but sometimes there is success for the other side. Today they succeeded with a very hard and a very painful attack."

Israel pointed a finger directly at the Palestinian authority, blaming Yasser Arafat for not stopping, and even abetting, the militants. The Palestinian leader condemning the targeting of civilians, called on the Israeli government to join him, he said, in issuing a joint call for an immediate cease-fire and implementation of the Mitchell Report and the international supervision.

This explosion came as a fresh debate was just beginning to take shape within the Israeli government about the wisdom of the policy of not negotiating under fire.

Suddenly, new Pandemonium. Reports another bomb has gone off near the cities central bus station. A false alarm; a bus tire blowout in the heat. But this is a time when Israel is on edge and Prime Minister Sharon may have to take that mood into account as well as he decides how to respond to this latest attack.

Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The Hamas group released a picture of the man it says carried out the bombing, a 23-year-old from the West Bank town of Jenin. Palestinians have openly celebrated the suicide bombing, even as they fear what many expect to grow into a massive Israeli response.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat issued a statement condemning the bombing. He also said, "We call on the Israeli government to join us in issuing a joint declaration for a comprehensive cease fire to take place immediately."

For more on this spiraling violence, let's go back to Jerusalem and our bureau chief there Mike Hanna. He joins us live by telephone.

Mike, tell us what's going on right now.

MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, right now it does appear that a reprisal operation is under way by Israeli forces. Israeli police confirm that they have taken over several offices in East Jerusalem connected to the Palestinian Authority. Among these offices, Arrant (ph) House, which serves as the unofficial foreign ministry of the Palestinian Authority. At least seven security guards at those offices have been arrested.

Also, the Israeli defense force says it's taken over a large area of East Jerusalem, containing buildings which house Palestinian security forces. The Israeli army saying that this action being taken because all these buildings are illegally located, it says, and saying that in terms of pre-disagreement signs between the two sides, the security services, Palestinians are not able or should not be in these areas.

In addition to these moves under way, there has been the deployment of F-16 fighter aircraft once again for the second time this year. F-16s have struck at a target in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The target, according to eyewitnesses, a police command post in Ramallah. The Palestinian Red Crescent says that no injuries have been reported in this fighter aircraft strike, that an indication of a widespread operation under way, apparently in reprisal for that suicide bomb blast that claimed 15 lives, including that of the Palestinian man that police said operated the explosive device -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mike Hanna, thank you so much in Jerusalem. Of course, CNN will continue to monitor the situation in Israel and the West Bank. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: That's all the time we have tonight. Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Remember, CNN will have live coverage of President Bush's announcement on stem cell research in just half-an-hour.

"THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.

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