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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Angry Reaction in Senate to Comments From Bush Administration

Aired September 26, 2002 - 05:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: From a tropical storm to a political tempest, negotiations over a congressional resolution supporting President Bush on Iraq go on. But the process has been overshadowed by a controversy over something the president said.
CNN'S Jonathan Karl reports from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nation's most powerful Democrat angrily accused the White House of using the prospect of war to score political points. Citing the "Washington Post," Tom Daschle quoted the president saying the Democratically controlled Senate is not interested in the security of the American people.

SEN. THOMAS DASCHLE (D-SD), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Not interested in the security of the American people? You tell Senator Inouye he's not interested in the security of the American people. You tell those who fought in Vietnam and in WWII they're not interested in the security of the American people. That is outrageous. Outrageous. The president ought to apologize to Senator Inouye and every veteran who has fought in every war who is a Democrat in the United States Senate. He ought to apologize to the American people.

KARL: Senator Daschle was referring to this speech by President Bush in New Jersey.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But the Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people.

KARL: But the president was not talking about Iraq, a point the White House seized on.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president's remarks were about homeland security. Again, I think when you take a look at what was said, it was put into a context which did not match what the president said.

KARL: That prompted another angry response from Senator Daschle.

DASCHLE: I don't care whether you're talking about homeland security. I don't think, you can talk about Iraq. You can't talk about war. You can't talk about any context that justifies a political comment like that. KARL: Republican Senate leader Trent Lott jumped to the president's defense.

TRENT LOTT (R-MI), MINORITY LEADER: Who is the enemy here, the president of the United States or Saddam Hussein? That's who was attacked this morning.

KARL: Although Democrats rallied around Daschle's remarks, they remain divided on the question of war with Iraq, with an increasingly vocal minority opposing military action.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), VIRGINIA: For the first time in the history of the Republic, the nation is considering a preemptive strike against a sovereign state and I will not be silent. I have no grief for Iraq. But I am not going to be silent.

KARL (on camera): But amidst all the rhetoric, bipartisan negotiations over the congressional resolution authorizing the use of force continue and even shortly after Daschle's speech, Vice President Cheney was up here on Capitol Hill giving a briefing on Iraq to a group of senators, including several Democrats.

Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: We're going to be talking a lot about this this morning. Also this for you. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice defended the president against the Daschle attack. Rice says Mr. Bush has never politicized the concern about war and the national security and she made a direct link between Iraq and al Qaeda. Those comments came during a PBS interview. In it she said, "We know, too, that several of the detainees, in particularly some high ranking detainees, have said that Iraq provided some training to al Qaeda in chemical weapons development. So, yes, there are contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda. We know that Saddam Hussein has a long history with terrorism in general and there are some al Qaeda personnel who found refuge in Baghdad."

During a photo-op with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Mr. Bush was asked by reporters to compare al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: It's a comparison that is, you know, I can't make because I can't distinguish between the two because they're both equally as bad and equally as evil and equally as destructive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And be sure to watch our new one hour program, Showdown: Iraq, hosted by Wolf Blitzer. It airs at noon Eastern time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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