First lady offers preview of husband's address
 |  First lady Laura Bush talks Tuesday to CNN's Candy Crowley. |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 First lady Laura Bush on heart disease, war and other topics.
 Bush's previous State of the Union addresses.
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- First lady Laura Bush gave a preview Tuesday of what her husband will tell Congress and the American people in his State of the Union address, touching on Social Security, the Iraqi elections and women's health.
In an interview with CNN's Candy Crowley, Mrs. Bush said the president on Wednesday night will discuss his plan to overhaul Social Security, which he has said is one of the top priorities of his second term.
She said he planned to urge members of Congress to "come together to make sure Social Security will be viable in the future when all of us who are baby boomers are on Social Security and then there are fewer, at that point, younger workers who are putting money into Social Security."
Difficult but hopeful times cited
Turning to Iraq, the first lady said that sending troops into harm's way is the hardest thing for a commander in chief to do and that her husband thinks about those who have died every day.
"These are very tough times. They are tough for people who have a loved one who's deployed overseas, but on the other hand look at what happened on Sunday," she said, referring to the Iraqi elections.
Mrs. Bush said she and her husband got up early Sunday to follow the election reports on television.
When asked if her husband felt vindicated by the vote, she replied, "I don't know if I would say that. I mean that's somebody's putting that word on him.
"I do think that we all, that all Americans see that, you know, that the Iraqi people do want to build a democracy. That's what we saw in Afghanistan when they voted," she said.
"Just think about what we've seen in the last three or four months. We've seen a historic election in Afghanistan. We've seen an election in the Palestinian territory. And now we've seen an election in Iraq.
"These are very, very hopeful times. They're difficult times. There's no doubt about it. And they're particularly difficult for the United States military and their families. But they're very historic."
Battling misconceptions
In this week's address, the president also plans to discuss what can be done to help teenagers have successful lives, Mrs. Bush said, adding that it's an issue close to her heart.
She said that Bush also would focus on the needs of American boys, who she said were more likely to get in trouble and less likely to go to college than girls.
"The numbers for boys, the statistics for boys, just are not that great right now, and I think we really need to pay attention to them," she said.
"I think in our country we've all fallen into the stereotype and the myth that boys can be self-reliant, that boys don't cry, that boys can get along fine without a lot of nurturing, and all of us know that that's just not right. Little boys need the same nurturing that girls get."
Mrs. Bush also promoted the Heart Truth campaign, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Department of Health. The initiative aims to educate women about heart disease and encourages them to make positive changes in their lifestyles.
She said she used to be unaware that heart disease was the leading killer of women in the United States. "When I found that out, I was really amazed," she said. "I knew if I didn't know, then probably a lot of other women didn't know either."
Because they tend to consider cardiac problems "a man's disease," Mrs. Bush said, many women may not know that symptoms of a heart attack may differ from those of men -- for instance, a jaw, back or neck ache instead of chest pain.
The president on Tuesday was to proclaim February as American Heart Month.
Friday, the first lady said, is National Wear Red Day in which all Americans are encouraged to show support for fighting heart disease by donning the color.
