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CNN SHOWDOWN: IRAQ
President Bush to Meet with Relatives of Troops Killed in Iraq
Aired April 3, 2003 - 12:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A grim duty still awaits America's commander in chief. A meeting with relatives of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. President Bush is at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina this hour at a base that has suffered a number of U.S. war casualties. Traveling with the president covering this story, our senior White House correspondent John King.
John Zarrella, by the way, is also gauging the mood on the base. But let's begin with John King. John, go ahead.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that difficult meeting for the president due to happen in just moments, if it is not already underway. Mr. Bush first having lunch with some troops, and then he'll travel to a chapel here at Camp Lejeune to meet with about 20 family members of five Marines killed in action.
This base, Camp Lejeune, a key strategic Marine camp and training facility here in North Carolina. About a dozen Marines from this base killed in action already in the fighting. Another handful are missing.
Mr. Bush making note of that in his remarks today. But the president also sounding upbeat when it came to the war effort itself. Aides say he is being constantly updated on the progress of the U.S. forces as they move close and closer to Baghdad. Mr. Bush, aides say, is leaving the key decisions as to timing, as to when massive forces will enter the city itself, up to the generals. But in his speech to a crowd of 20,000 here at Camp Lejeune, some 12,000 Marines in the audience, the president sounded very much like a commander in chief who believes victory will soon be at hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: No one who falls will be forgotten by this grateful nation. We honor their service to America. And we pray their families will receive god's comfort and god's grace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That, the president there paying tribute to the Marines from this base and other members of the United States military killed in action in the two weeks of fighting so far. Again, I believe we have more sound for you. The president of the United States talking about the overall war effort.
He says U.S. troops are moving closer and closer to Baghdad. Mr. Bush saying the days of Saddam Hussein and his regime are now numbered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Having traveled hundreds of miles, we will now go the last 200 yards.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: The course is set. We're on the advance. Our destination is Baghdad, and we will accept nothing less than complete and final victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Marines and family members here at Camp Lejeune saying it was critical for the president to come at this moment. One woman I spoke to, hugging both of her children, said it was critical for them to hear from the president of the United States why their father has been deployed overseas for quite some time now.
And, Wolf, this is the first time Mr. Bush -- and the first lady is with him -- will meet face to face with family members of those killed in action. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer saying it will be a difficult moment and an emotional moment for the president, but Ari Fleischer also saying that the president personally believes it is critical and he also believes that it's part of his duty as commander in chief to spend some time with the families and to thank them for their sacrifice -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John, before I let you go, a very interesting development unfolding here in Kuwait. There are scores of former U.S. diplomats, executives, retired U.S. military officers waiting for the word to go into Iraq to take control of various ministries, to take charge of the post-Saddam era, if you will, at least for some of the transition period. Others are standing by in the United States waiting to come over here.
Is everyone in the Bush administration on board, as far as this U.S. role that's going to be the leadership role in an immediate period after Saddam Hussein's regime is toppled? Is everyone exactly on the same page right now, or are there serious splits, let's say, between the Pentagon and the State Department when it comes to what happens in the new post-Saddam world?
KING: There is general consensus in the administration on what happens immediately. Once General Franks believes that Iraq is secure, those officials that are standing by in Kuwait, others standing by in the United States would form a transitional authority, an interim authority that is under the command of the United States military but is designed to get the Iraqi infrastructure and the government up and running.
Where there is some disagreement as to what happens in the weeks and months after that. How quickly should there be a United Nations role, how prominent should there be a United Nations role? Should all of this be turned over to the United Nations authority, or should most of it still be under the auspices of General Franks and the United States?
Most at the White House want that scenario. They want General Franks in charge. They want the United States running most of the show. They want the United Nations to endorse an interim Iraqi authority. But, Wolf, in the immediate term, we are told there is broad consensus on getting this U.S.-led effort up and running.
And then the question is how fast can you bring in Iraqi dissidents, Iraqi exiles, some Iraqis from within the bureaucracy? How fast can you bring them into the operation and transfer some authority over Iraq back to the Iraqi people?
White House officials saying it could be weeks. Some say even months before all of that is clear, because it depends largely on the situation in the country once the fighting stops.
BLITZER: John King traveling with the president at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. John, thanks very much.
CNN's John Zarrella is also at Camp Lejeune, a huge U.S. Marine Corps base. John Zarrella, in this particular case, what's the mood over there as you are trying to gauge the reaction to what is unfolding on that home base, as far as what's happening here in the Persian Gulf?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Wolf, I can tell you that there were 19,000 tickets that were districted by the White House for this event and it was hardly enough. There were lots of people, members of families who wanted to go who just could not get tickets to the event, which is an indication of the tremendous bond that the community here, Jacksonville, North Carolina, has established with the Marine base.
And having been here a dozen years ago for a considerable amount of time during the Gulf War, you notice that the bond is strengthened here. You know whatever happens to one Marine, whether it's good or bad, happens to all Marines, and it also affects the community here. And the people have told us here that the lessons they learned out of the Gulf War, Wolf, were that they needed to strength be the bond between Jacksonville, North Carolina, and the people here at the Marine base.
Now one man, Walter Scott, who was wounded during the Gulf War, he went to the USO headquarters looking for his tickets last night, and he said he was very, very proud that the president was coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER SCOTT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): With war you got tragedy. But you also got the admiration from everybody else in the country. And we're going to give our people the support that they need without question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: There's a tremendous amount of support from the community for the military families and the folks here on the base. In fact, last night, Wolf, we visited a Baptist church where 39 teens from a teen group there were writing letters to the soldiers over in the Persian Gulf. In fact, one of the young boys there was writing to his dad who is serving there. There are 65 members of this particular Baptist church who are all over in the Persian Gulf, and many of their family members go to that church for the support and comfort that they are receiving now from the community that is outside of the base here at Camp Lejeune -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John Zarrella at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. That's where the president is right now, as well. Thanks, John, very much.
And as we've been reporting since the top of this program, the lights are off in Baghdad. No electricity following some 15 minutes of explosions. We don't know why the lights are off, why there is no electricity.
We do know that two weeks almost exactly since the start of the war, this is the first time you're seeing dark pictures of the Iraqi capital, a city of some five million people. No electricity there right now. We're trying to find out why precisely this has happened. We'll continue to show live pictures from Baghdad, even as we continue our search for the reason for this.
We might get some answers at a Pentagon briefing. That's coming up now in about 20 minutes or so. We'll bring you live coverage as soon as it gets under way.
Up next, I'll talk with a former Persian Gulf prisoner of war. How does his experience compare to what Jessica Lynch is going through right now?
And bracing for hot, hot weather. Here in the Gulf, troops are about to face, get this, triple-digit temperatures. It's all ahead.
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