Transcript: President Bush, Part 1

Couric's Interview With President Bush

(CBS) 
COURIC:Can I tick down a – a laundry list, Mr. President–

BUSH: Sure.

COURIC:– of – of some of the areas? And we can do an assessment. Airlines.

BUSH: Yeah.

COURIC: We've spent something like $20 billion on airline security. And yet, as you mentioned, the London – the foiled London plot showed that we still can't really figure out when dangerous liquids are being brought on an airplane. I know that a House panel said that airline security has been haphazard and the technology is outdated. How would you grade what's been accomplished vis-à-vis airline security in this country?

BUSH: Improved. Much more improved. We've got hardened cockpit doors, you know? Pilots are able to carry guns if they want to. We got air marshals. We got better screening. We got better information about who's getting on airplanes. It's much improved.

Is there more work to be done? Of course. But there's more work to be done on every front. I mean, if what you're saying is: Can we find way– ways to improve? Yeah. We – we can and will.

COURIC: Let's talk about cargo.

BUSH: Yeah.

COURIC: Let's talk about ports in this country. I know that only ten percent – actually nine percent of the cargo that's coming into our ports is thoroughly checked. And when it comes to – to railway security, there are about a hundred federal inspectors dedicated to passenger and freight security on our railroads throughout the entire country. Does that concern you?

BUSH: If – if there's any – you know, weakness, it concerns me. And it should concern anybody. But let me talk about ports. You know, one of the things we've done is we got a new– way of inspecting cargo, and that is inspecting cargo before it leaves the port. Say like it's coming in from Singapore. We – we understand who's likely to ship materials. We understand cargo that needs to be inspected.

And oftentimes, most the time, we're able to secure cargo and be comfortable about what's coming into the country before it comes to the ports. And that makes sense. That make– you know, basically– is able to– let us focus on, as you said, the ten percent. But that doesn't mean that we're not aware of what's coming into this country.

COURIC: Let me ask you about some of the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

BUSH: Okay.

COURIC: Because clearly, they're getting a lot of attention right now, Mr. President. Tom Kean, the chairman of the commission, recently wrote a book. And he still says that so many of the recommendations have not been implemented. For– and some that are being implemented are not being done quickly. For example, securing nuclear materials, particularly in the former Soviet Union. He says the administration plan is going to take something like 14 years. And it has to happen in a much more timely fashion. And he notes a lot of other recommendations that just have not been put in place. What is your response to– to those criticisms?

BUSH: My response is – is that – there were 37 recommendations. And we're – we're in the process of implementing 35. Two of them we're not gonna implement because it doesn't make any sense. One of them is to disclose the – intelligence agencies' budgets. That doesn't make any sense to me.

And the other one was something Congress needs to get done. But, no, we – we take these recommenda – these suggestions seriously, and we're implementing them. Look, Kate – this is a world where – (LAUGHTER) where, you know, back to your initial…

COURIC: Are we completely secure?

BUSH: The answer's no, but we're working to get there. And can we ever be? I hope so. Because our most important job is to protect the people.

And I – I believe the best way to do it, by the way, is not only secure the homeland and give our people the tools necessary to do so, but is to stay on the offense against these people and to bring them to justice before they come here to hurt us. And that's what we're doing.

[dgn2]

Katie Couric was scowling at the president at times -- did anyone notice THAT?

[mjmurph1]

Weak interview. Bush lied us into Iraq and the media thumped the drum. Now the media owes it to all of America to hold this administration accountable for depleted monies, lives and resources that we need to fight those who actually attacked us.

[ssgatorr]

Katie,

You are doing a wonderful job reporting the news -as bad as it is some of the time.

As far as your closing to the viewers - just a big sincere smile as you always have, along with a closing comment.

It is very difficult to report the awful news and have a great smile.

Is this an interview or just a well-publicized occasion for the president to issue his views unchallenged by any real interrogation of the record? Her gushing opening about "really really" appreciating him "talking to us" tips her hand right off. We need journalists with backbone who will challenge the politicians who want to serve up this kind of pap to the public on TV.

[baddaddy9]

Katie was totally weak - she lobbed lame, softball questions at Bush, and then helped him formulate the answers. Even worse, she didn't follow up when Bush dodged the questions. She's falling down on the job right out of the gate! She's doesn't have what it takes to ask the tough questions and get the answers that we need from our public officials. What a sad joke. All this hype and she's nothing but a blonde Oprah. Soon she'll be asking Kofi Anan and *** Cheney for dating and diet tips! She should go back to the Today Show and leave real journalism to real journalists. She's an embarassment and exactly the wrong thing for the country at this critical juncture in our history. BOO!

[tucker1no]

Wow, where do I start. First off wardrobe - BAD, Really bad. A bright blue mock turtleneck under a dark blazer combined with the skyline behind her.
Second - what was with walking down the hall ways as though Katie just happened to be at the White House and ran into the president and said hey do have a moment to talk about world affairs. After 4 or 5 shots of different hall ways they finally sit down. This is about the state of the United States of America. This is not a casual chit chat. Go in there like hell on wheels and get a good interview. Call him out on questions he can't or won't answer. He stumbled on just about every answer he gave.
Lastly - Katie you need to figure out what to do with your hands and don't cross your arms when you are meeting and introducing the president or anyone else for that matter. You looked very afraid and defensive.

BETTER LUCK ON YOUR NEXT INTERVIEW - I will stick around for one more.

[squance-2009]

I thought that Couric was opinionated on NBC, but she has only gotten worse. And now, CBS has tried to slant this dialog by inserting EVERY um, pause, etc to try and show the President in a bad light. Never have I seen this done before on CBS or any other network. It's the NEWS dummy! We don't need more opinions, just the news as it happens.

Rest assured, you have lost another long time viewer for good.

[gardnerjohn4]

The interview with George W. Bush by Katie Couric, for me, wasn't hard hitting enough. It was scripted.If I wanted to watch puppet theatre I should have TiVOed sesame street and watched that instead.

When the president doesn't answer a question reporters need to hold him accountable.

I think we need to re-examine that this administration has thrown away our civil liberties all in the name of the war on Terror; to spend an hour of television trying to convince people that more has to done is just plain wrong. Our first amendment right to assemble peacefully is being violated by hidden cameras in public places. The patriot act is making it easier to crack down on "suspected terrorist" but what if it is being used to identify peaceful protestors like the NYPD did during Critical Mass in New York. The Patriot Act is a way in which law enforcement can now violate Fourth amendment law. Our constitution is being rewritten without a good honest debate in the media. Instead, we are given tours of facilities that costs the taxpayers billions and for what? It might be more effective to spend billions from the War on Terror on cancer cures or more measures to combat drunk driving or....maybe actually help the victims of Katrina.

Could someone please change the public dialog to when we can impeach this guy?