Bush: U.S. Still Hunting Bin Laden

President Bush denied reports Friday that the CIA had disbanded a special unit hunting Osama bin Laden.

"It's just an incorrect story. We have a lot of assets looking for Osama bin Laden," Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush vowed to keep hunting for the al Qaeda terror leader, a search that has been fruitless in the nearly five years since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"No ands, ifs or buts. My judgment is it's just a matter of time," he said. "We're not going to stop looking so long as I'm the president; not only for Osama bin Laden, but anybody else who plots and plans attacks against the United States of America. We're going to stay on the offense so long as I'm your president."

In a rare out-of-town news conference, Mr. Bush also said he wants to rally world support in confronting North Korea over its missile tests to send an unmistakable message to the leader of the communist regime.

"It's your choice, Kim Jong Il. You've got the choice to make," Mr. Bush said.

He also said anew that he would await a recommendation from Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, on when to withdraw American forces.

"We will lose if we leave too early," Mr. Bush said. There are just under 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

The president sought to explain why he was committed to seeking U.N. Security Council support on dealing with North Korea, whereas he launched the invasion of Iraq in 2003 after failing to obtain the council's support.

"All diplomatic options were exhausted as far as I was concerned" in confronting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Mr. Bush said.

At the same time, he conceded that awaiting U.N. consensus, both on dealing with North Korea and Iran, was adding to delay.

"You know, the problem with diplomacy: It takes a while to get something done. If you're acting alone, you can move quickly," Mr. Bush said.

He said he wanted to make clear to the North Korean leader "with more than one voice" that the world condemned the test firing this week of seven missiles, including a long-range missile that failed.

Mr. Bush said the United States had "a reasonable chance" of shooting down the long-range missile, if it had not failed.

But he also said, "Our anti-ballistic systems are modest, they are new."

The United States has a rudimentary missile defense program in which interceptor missiles based in Alaska and California — linked to a network of satellites, radar, computers and command centers — are designed to strike and destroy incoming ballistic missiles.

The Pentagon says the system is capable of defending against a limited number of missiles in an emergency — such as a North Korean attack. More than $100 billion has been spent on the program since 1983.

The setting for Mr. Bush's news conference was the rotunda of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. He stood in front of a large photograph of Chicago skyscrapers. The setting underscored the lengths the White House went to, to pose the president outside of Washington.

Mr. Bush gave a rambling 15 minute opening statement in which he talked about Chicago's vibrant economy, the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports the visit to Chicago is part of a new White House strategy to improve the president's poll ratings by going out to new places around the nation, staying a while and talking to folks.

"It might do me some good," Mr. Bush said.

Following a government report showing unemployment holding steady at 4.6 percent in June, Mr. Bush also praised the U.S. economy. "Productivity is high, people are better off, people are working," he said.

Mr. Bush said immigration was one of the top issues in this midterm election year. "The system we have now isn't working," he said.

In defending his decision to seek U.N. support on North Korea, Mr. Bush said that the leader of the reclusive communist regime in Pyongyang had "defied China and Japan and South Korea and Russia and the United States."

"All of us said, 'Don't fire that rocket.' He not only fired one, he fired seven. Now that he made that defiance, it's best for all of us to go to the U.N. Security Council and say, loud and clear, 'Here's some red lines.' And that's what we're in the process of doing."

Mr. Bush said he still hopes to resume stalled six-nation talk's designed to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and once again ruled out direct talks between just the U.S. and North Korea.

"My judgment is you can't be successful if the United States is sitting at the table alone with North Korea. You run out of options very quickly if that's the case," he said. "In order to be successful diplomatically it's best to have other partners at the table"

Turning to efforts to restrict Iran's nuclear program, Mr. Bush noted that some nations had economic interests in Iran that colored the deliberations.

"Part of our objective is to make sure national security interests trump economic interests," he said.

A local reporter asked the president what he thought of some Republican candidates keeping their distance this election year because of his low poll numbers. The reporter cited a comment from an aide to Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka, who reportedly had said Mr. Bush would be welcome only in the middle of the night.

"It didn't work," Mr. Bush laughed, noting he was going straight from the news conference to a lunchtime fundraiser for Topinka, the state's treasurer who is running to unseat Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The event was drawing about 500 people and was expected to add a hefty $1.1 million-plus to Topinka's campaign account. "I was invited, I gladly came and I think we're going to have a pretty successful fundraiser for her," Mr. Bush said