30 October 2001
Transcript: White House Daily Briefing, October 30, 2001
(President's schedule, alert status, al Qaeda, World Series, world
leaders view on continued bombing, aviation security bill, Congress,
stimulus package, anthrax, Pakistan, Social Security meeting,
Strategic Oil Reserve) (6900)
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer briefed.
Following is the White House transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
October 30, 2001
PRESS BRIEFING BY ARI FLEISCHER
INDEX
-- President's schedule
-- Alert status/credible evidence
- Advice to public
-- Al Qaeda/how many in the United States
-- World Series/President's reasons for going
-- World leaders view on continued bombing
-- Aviation security bill
-- Continued bipartisan atmosphere in Congress
-- Stimulus package
-- Continued testing for anthrax/confirmed cases
-- Pakistan/support for American actions
-- Social Security meeting
-- Strategic Oil Reserve
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
October 30, 2001
PRESS BRIEFING BY ARI FLEISCHER
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
12:03 P.M. EST
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. The President this morning spoke with
President Aliyev of Azerbaijan; and President Kucharian of Armenia.
The conversations focused on their strong expressions of support for
the war on terrorism, and President Bush welcomed their support. All
three Presidents reaffirmed their commitments to peace and stability
in the Caucasus region, and to advancing efforts to reach a peaceful
settlement, with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
President Bush underscored the importance of Congress taking final
action to pass authority to waive restrictions on assistance imposed
by Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. Once that waiver is granted
to the President by the Congress, which is now pending, that will
allow the President to do more with Armenia, as well as Azerbaijan, to
fight terrorism and to facilitate deeper cooperation in the region.
Following the phone calls, the President met with his intelligence
advisors, with the Homeland Security advisors, Governor Ridge, and
then he convened a meeting of the National Security Council.
The President later today will arrive at the Wootten High School in
Rockville, Maryland, where he will participate in a Lessons for
Liberty program. This is a new initiative that the President is
declaring to declare the week of November 11th through 17th as
National Veterans Awareness Week. He will ask schools throughout the
country -- public, private, as well as home schools -- to invite a
veteran to speak about their experience in serving our country, the
significance of Veterans Day, and the importance of supporting the
ideas of liberty, democracy and freedom.
The President will return to the White House following that. He will
have several meetings here, and then -- including a meeting with the
co-chairs of the Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Social
Security remains a very important issue to the President, saving and
preserving Social Security, while allowing younger workers to have
more options in the Social Security system.
The President later this afternoon will depart for New York, where he
will throw out the first pitch in the World Series tonight at Yankee
Stadium. And I do not have any additional announcements, so I'm
pleased to take your questions.
QUESTION: The warning that was issued yesterday was based on credible
information from multiple sources, as you've said. Was that connected
in any way with Halloween, with the date of Halloween coming up?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I've heard no such reports that it may be connected
with that.
Q: Do you think you've learned a lesson now to tell the American
people more, without giving away state secrets? I mean, you just leave
people up in the air, saying be on the alert. For what?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the American people have heard everything that
we know. They --
Q: They haven't heard everything you know -- I hope.
MR. FLEISCHER: The information that led to the issuing of this threat
did not contain specific information, for example about what sites,
what state. If any of that were provided, we'd be sharing it. That's
the best way to prevent terrorism from happening. The warnings that we
have do not include any such information.
Q: You just keep people in a state of high tension. There must be a
little bit more that you can give.
MR. FLEISCHER: If there were more, it would be provided. That is what
we know. And it was of a generalized nature, there was no specific
information about any one site, or any one region, or any one state.
It was generalized information, which obviously has reached a
credibility threshold where the Attorney General, along with the
concurrence of the President, made the decision to notify the 18,000
law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Q: Can you describe some of the debate internally about -- just as
there was with the October 11th alert, the debate within the
administration about whether that was the prudent thing to do?
MR. FLEISCHER: David, I'm not aware of anybody in the administration
who questioned it. So I just can't answer that. I know what the
process was and what the decision was. And you also have to keep in
mind that any time the government is going to send an alert to 18,000
law enforcement personnel -- communities across the nation, it's going
to become public. And once it does, everybody in this room is going to
say, why didn't you tell us? So also, there's a logical determination
made that if it's going to get shared with such a wide universe, the
proper thing to do is fully and forthrightly inform the American
people and the press.
Q: Can I follow up on just one thing? Is your information as nebulous
as you're trying to transmit to the public?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I've told you what the information was.
Q: -- you act on as --
MR. FLEISCHER: You heard it from Governor Ridge at this same podium
just an hour ago. My answer is no different from what the Governor
said to you. The information is as described. It is general
information about a threat to the United States, with no more
specificity, that will take place sometime in the next week or so. And
that's why that information was shared.
Q: Governor Ridge suggested to us that some of the information was
gathered from associates of al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden. Can you
expand in any way on what he meant when he said that?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I don't want to get into anything more than that. I
don't want to indicate who may be passing along information to the
United States, where this information could come from. Suffice it to
say, it came from sources that were deemed credible enough to take
this public step.
Q: So the public should conclude that this is something, if, in fact,
it occurs, might possibly be sponsored by al Qaeda?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to speculate on who might be behind it.
Q: Ari, do you have any idea how many al Qaeda operatives there might
be in this country and abroad who are trained, ready to go, to carry
out these or make good on these threats? And any idea how many al
Qaeda operatives might have been caught up in the worldwide dragnet
since September 11th?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I don't have any reliable, hard information on
that. As you know, al Qaeda operates in some 50 to 60 nations
worldwide. And the United States has been very vigilant, particularly
since September 11th, in trying to identify anybody who might be
associated with al Qaeda. And those efforts remain ongoing.
Q: And what about the number of operatives who may have been swept up
in this worldwide dragnet?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I don't have any hard, reliable facts on that --
figures on that.
Q: Ari, you say you can't give information about the threat, but could
it be also -- from what I understand, it can be abroad. It doesn't
necessarily have to be inside the United States, it could be the
American interests abroad. Is that right?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, that's a very interesting question, because
you've put your finger on something. The fact of the matter is that
Americans abroad, particularly in our embassy community, have been
living with this nature of threat for quite a number of years. They
have gone about their normal lives, every day, showing up at their
various embassies. But you've heard repeatedly throughout this summer,
heightened states of alert announced for our embassies, particularly
in the Mideast area. So to people who have worked abroad, this is not
anything new. But the information in this threat pertained to the
United States. Other threats have been received, as I indicated, over
the summer.
But that's another example of how people have gotten used to this. The
fact of the matter is, our diplomatic community, people who serve in
the embassies, have been living with this for years. And they go about
their normal lives every day, showing up at work, taking their
children to school, and doing all the things that normal Americans do,
in a heightened security environment.
Q: Can I ask about the World Series? Is the President, aside from
being a baseball fan, trying to send a message by going to the game
tonight?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, sure he is. The President is going to the game at
Yankee Stadium because, one, he is a sports fan, and two, because of
the events in New York City, for helping to do what all Americans are
doing now, which is keeping the country doing what it typically does
at this time of year. The World Series is a time of great excitement
for many Americans. The President's going to participate in that, just
like many Americans watch and enjoy the World Series. It helps to keep
the fabric of our country strong.
Q: Did he give any thought to the alert that the FBI has just issued,
and the danger of traveling in public?
MR. FLEISCHER: Obviously, the President follows the advice of the
Secret Service, and he has full faith in the ability of the Secret
Service to keep himself safe any time, anywhere.
Q: But it was considered a prudent precaution to have the Vice
President someplace else?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.
Q: There are an increasing number of world leaders of Muslim nations
who are calling for a pause in the bombing during Ramadan, and there
are polls in even Western European countries that show a declining
support for U.S. military action in Afghanistan. How concerned is the
President that support for the military operation is on the decline
around the world?
MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, the President is confident the support is strong
for the operation, strong among the American people and strong
elsewhere. And the President knows that this military operation is
about saving lives and protecting citizens, not only here, but abroad.
Keep in mind that citizens from 80 countries were killed when the
terrorists attacked America on September 11th. And the President is
mindful of that fact.
And the President is waging this war because our country was attacked,
and our country will defend itself. He will keep building the
coalition, keep working with the coalition, but he will take the
actions necessary, in concert with our friends, to protect America.
Q: But isn't there hard evidence, in the statement of these leaders
and in polls, that that support is not as strong as it was several
weeks ago? And is it -- are the actions of the U.S. constrained at all
by what is obviously a cooling towards our operations?
MR. FLEISCHER: First, I just don't want to accept the premise of that.
I think when you hear people say that they hope the operation of the
military bombing, for example, will be over soon -- who doesn't? Who
doesn't wish it would be over soon? But that doesn't mean they're
saying, stop it. They understand that the risk to terrorism is a risk
to themselves, as well.
And this is a chance for this generation to take action, to do
something for the next generation and the generation after that, in
the President's opinion, to make the world a safer world. And the
President is determined, the President is resolute. And the President
understands that the American people are patient, they know it may
take years, and he appreciates the strong support that the American
people have shown toward their government and toward the military.
Q: So no constraints on U.S. military options by overseas opinion?
MR. FLEISCHER: Anything that would deal with military options, the
Pentagon will be happy to discuss with you.
Q: Ari, is the President going to meet with moderate Republican
lawmakers this afternoon to lobby them on the aviation security bill?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President will be meeting with members of Congress
to discuss the aviation bill that is pending in the Congress. As you
know, the House will shortly vote on an aviation measure. And the
President thinks it's very important for the House to pass a bill that
protects the traveling public. The President has laid out a series of
specific initiatives involving strengthening cockpit doors, putting
air marshals on airplanes, and having an increased federal role in the
supervision of screeners and in the background checks of screeners. So
he will be meeting with members of Congress as that vote approaches.
Q: Do you know how many, who is he meeting and --
MR. FLEISCHER: As always, once those meetings take place, we post the
members who arrive for the meetings, and we will do so again.
Q: It's just the House, right?
MR. FLEISCHER: Today's meeting -- yes, the Senate has acted, so the
action is in the House.
Q: Ari, related to that, the Democratic National Committee yesterday
conducted about 30 rallies around the country to try to pressure
lawmakers and to put out the public message that the President's
position is flat wrong on airline security. Does the President view
this as the first significant open breech in what had been a new tone
of cooperation and bipartisanship? And, if so, what does he intend to
do about it?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think the President believes that there's a
balance to these things; that on the one hand, it's appropriate for
Congress to do what it normally does, and as Congress acts, it's not
uncommon for various groups to get involved and to speak their mind
and make their point.
I think the President would be disappointed if this turned into a
party-building exercise that was done involving the Democrat National
Committee and unions, for example, as an effort to somehow diminish
the President, politically, or to build up Democrat loyalty and
support from unions. I think the President would be disappointed if
that were the case.
Q: Does he believe that is the case now?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as I said, I think there's a balance to these
things, and we'll just have to see what steps people take to make
their points.
Q: Do you still maintain his overall attempt to create and stick with
this bipartisan atmosphere, even though it tends to and has tended to
aggravate some of his own Republican partisans?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think the President is going to continue to work very
closely with members of Congress from both parties. And I think,
depending on the issue, you're going to see a different lineup on how
many people are willing to act on a bipartisan fashion. Many issues
will have a bipartisan result on the Hill. Other issues may not. And
the President is going to continue to push for passage of items that
are on his agenda.
The economic stimulus bill is a case in point. Clearly, on energy
legislation, opening ANWR, there is bipartisan support to open ANWR.
There is bipartisan support to pass an energy bill. Those actions are
being stalled now in the Senate, and the President thinks that's much
to the detriment of an independent energy policy for America.
Q: Ari, as has been pointed out here previously, there have been these
kinds of terrorism warnings in the past, even before September 11th.
I'm wondering where this Office of Homeland Security fits in in all of
this, and who has the ultimate say in issuing these warnings.
MR. FLEISCHER: This is a joint decision that was made. The President
was informed about some of the intelligence information at his morning
briefing yesterday, and then there was another meeting that was
convened that involved the FBI, Governor Ridge, Dr. Rice, and they
reached conclusions at that time. The President concurred in the
conclusions that they reached. That led the FBI to put out the
statement it did.
Q: And ultimate decision authority?
MR. FLEISCHER: Ultimate decision authority would rest with the FBI.
They're the agency of contact. But as I indicate, there's a
collegiality to these things, there's a joint approach.
Q: Ari, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman is expected to outline a
plan on the stimulus package today, much along the line of the
President's. You said yesterday there's a possibility that the package
might never reach the President's desk, it's pretty much in the hands
of the Senate. How do you expect this to advance if there's no
indication on the part of the White House that there's some
flexibility on the spending side? It seems you've drawn the line in
the sand on that.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President believes very strongly that there
has already been $55 billion worth of spending approved by the
Congress and signed into law by the President. So on the spending
side, it's taken care of, it's been done. So if members of Congress
now say, we want to spend more, the President thinks that the spending
has been taken care of. The President thinks the best way to stimulate
the economy is not through spending, but is through tax incentives
that help get the economy growing again -- rebates that allow people
to have more money to spend in the economy, incentives for businesses
to invest in new plant and equipment. That's the President's view.
Q: This is a follow-up to a question asked during the last briefing.
There's concern among the employees in the DOA and in the Cohen
Building who do not have testing and medicine available. Only those
who directly work in the mailroom are allowed to get tested at this
point. What is the White House policy on general testing for everyone
who enters the building? And who makes the decisions on which
buildings get tested and get antibiotics?
MR. FLEISCHER: These decisions are made based on the recommendations
of the Centers for Disease Control, working with the local health
officials and other agencies on the ground. And the protocol has been
that once something is discovered in a mailroom, for example, the
people who work in the mailroom or visit the mailroom are tested.
That's been the pattern that has been followed.
And, for example, in the case here with the White House, where our
remote facility tested positive with small traces of anthrax, they
tested all the people who worked at the remote facility, who visit the
remote facility or who handle the mail here. There was no suggestion
that everybody in the White House needed to be tested. And as I
announced this morning, as a result of those tests now, which are some
-- more than 400 tests, there has not been a single positive case of
anthrax found. All of the results are now conclusively negative.
So it's always a question of finding the right balance between testing
those who will be most likely to come into contact, and not
overreacting, not straining the capacity of our system where everybody
in entire buildings are tested who very well may not need any testing,
because of the time spent with testing those people could take away
from the time and the resources necessary to target the affected
community, which has typically been the people in the mailrooms or who
visited the mailrooms.
Q: The chain of command, does it come from the CDC?
MR. FLEISCHER: This is a health matter, and protocols for health
matters are set by the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control.
Q: Ari, is there advise you can give to the American people on finding
this balance between being on high alert and going on with their
normal lives? Is maybe "normal" not the right word?
MR. FLEISCHER: Larry, I think that when it comes to the balance of
going on with normal lives and with adjusting to a heightened state of
security alert, the American people get it. They do understand that
it's possible to do both. They do understand it's possible to go to
work every day, to take their children to school every day, to enjoy
after-work, after-school activities, while knowing that the law
enforcement community is on a heightened state of alert.
I've seen nothing in America to suggest the country is otherwise
understanding of it or accepting of it. Nobody likes it, but I've seen
nothing that suggests I've seen nothing that suggests the country
doesn't understand it.
Q: Well, actually, I've given a couple of speeches, and I've got to
tell you that the constant question in various forms that I get
everywhere is, how do you strike this balance. Because normal is not
really what you're telling people to do. You're telling them to also
be on alert. I don't know, I'm just wondering if there was some advice
of how to balance the two. And I do think there's concern out there.
MR. FLEISCHER: There's no question there's concern. There's no
question there's anxiety. There's also reason and calm, which also is
in the finest traditions of this country. There's been no challenge
ever raised to our country before that the people of this country did
not meet.
And you say it's not normal, and you're correct. Neither is war. And
our nation is at war. War is not a normal status for the United States
of America, but make no mistake, our country is at war and that's why
everybody is being asked to adjust to this new environment. It's not
like life was on September 10th. Governor Ridge addressed that this
morning when he said that he can't know when life will return to the
way it was prior to September 10th. Events on September 11th have
obviously affected the American psyche and affected our country,
affected the actions we're taking. But make no mistake; every time in
every generation the American people and the government have been
tested, the American people and the American government have risen to
meet that challenge and have led the world in making the world a
safer, better place. That is the case, too, in the war against
terrorism.
Q: On the meeting with the House members, just a quick question. Will
the President specifically ask them not to include in the legislation
federalizing the workers?
MR. FLEISCHER: The way the President typically does this at these
meetings is he makes his case. The President will explain to the
members of Congress who come down here why he thinks it's so important
to have the safest possible way of protecting the traveling public.
What the President will say is that, in his estimation, the way to do
it is not by forcing a rigid one size fits all, put everybody on the
government payroll approach, to allow some flexibility in the hiring,
and allow some flexibility so that federal security experts, federal
workers with federal standards can supervise a work force that can be
partially federal, but not fully federal.
That gives a flexibility that also allows for much more ability of the
people who are in charge at the federal level to discipline or to fire
somebody who does not do their job well. I think it's common
experience that when somebody is on the federal payroll and the Civil
Service, it's almost impossible to get them out of their job, it's a
job for life. And I don't think the American people take comfort
knowing that the screeners behind those machines inspecting their bags
when they go through will be there forever, even if they do a bad job.
The public wants to know that discipline can be taken if discipline is
needed.
Q: Did the President call the meeting to make his case, or did the
House members ask to meet with him?
MR. FLEISCHER: It's probably a little bit of both. I mean, this is not
uncommon; the President has often had members of Congress down to
discuss issues on the eve of the vote.
Q: If I could, in the very beginning, you talked about waiving
something to allow trade -- I'm sorry if this is a stupid question,
but what are we waiving to allow --
MR. FLEISCHER: This is called Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act,
and it's a provision that the Senate has already moved to eliminate.
It's now pending in a conference committee in the Congress -- that
prohibits the United States from having certain military contacts and
additional activities that could help in the war against terrorism
with Azerbaijan. And the Congress is taking that up shortly, and the
President is calling on the Congress to finish what the Senate started
and to send him that authority so he can waive it, and therefore,
engage in military-to-military contacts with Azerbaijan, which will
help win the war against terrorism.
Q: Ari, you keep on saying that you don't want to federalize these
workers because it may be difficult to get rid of them if they don't
perform their job functions appropriately.
MR. FLEISCHER: And other reasons.
Q: The government was willing to take that chance with 1,760,000 other
federal employees; why not this group?
MR. FLEISCHER: Because the President doesn't think the solution to
every problem in America is to put everybody on the federal payroll.
Q: But if that's the reason, you can't get rid of them, as I've said,
you've taken that chance --
MR. FLEISCHER: The best way, in the President's opinion, to promote
security is by taking a look at the lessons of Europe and of Israel.
Europe and Israel used to have all screeners on their federal
payrolls, and then they changed and now they have a system much like
what the President is proposing, which is a much more flexible system,
allowing for some private involvement under federal supervision. And I
have to point out that since those steps were taken in Europe and in
Israel, the number of hijackings has gone down. So there's a body of
evidence that suggests that there's good reason not to put all
screeners on the federal payroll. And the President believes that it's
important for Congress to look at the lessons of Europe, to look at
the lessons of Israel, and to provide some flexibility for the federal
government, which will have vigorous oversight of screeners.
Lester.
Q: A two-part. New York Times columnist Bill Safire wrote, in a moment
when the U.S. is dispatching bombers and soldiers to kill the
assassins of 6,000 of our citizens, harbored by the Taliban, it is the
height of hypocrisy to demand that our ally, Israel, refrain from
hunting down killers harbored by the PLO. And my question is, do you
think that Safire and the New York Times are irresponsible to write
and publish this?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, it's always their right to publish anything they
choose. But from the President's point of view, and also from the
words of Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yassir Arafat, the two of them have committed themselves to a peace
process, and that's a process that is of dialogue, not of violence.
And so that's why the President has called on them to honor their
word, now given, to follow the political discourse.
Q: You and the President, as regular readers of the Washington Post,
are undoubtedly aware of Congresswoman McKinney's apology for Mayor
Giuliani asking for the $10 million. And yesterday she claimed in the
Post that she is the "protector of U.S. military personnel who are
otherwise powerless." You saw that, didn't you?
MR. FLEISCHER: I read parts of it.
Q: Since nationally syndicated columnist Jonah Goldberg has described
Ms. McKinney as "aggressively stupid, pugnaciously ignorant, moronic
and dim-witted," surely you won't dismiss this with a no comment
evasion because that would suggest that you agree with Goldberg,
wouldn't it? How do you and the President feel about her statement?
MR. FLEISCHER: I've not discussed this matter with the President and
I'm not familiar with the second person's statements.
Q: Ari, I wanted to ask you about General Musharraf. He's facing
enormous pressure in Pakistan, a great Muslim population there. He
repeatedly continues to be asking for the military campaign to be over
soon. The President is going to be meeting with him in less than two
weeks in New York. Can General Musharraf hold on to the position that
he's been -- with all the problems he has in sight? My question is,
does the White House think he can continue if the bombing continues
and he faces internal opposition?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's important to read General Musharraf's
statements in their totality. He has said that he hopes the bombing is
over soon. Everybody hopes that. He's also said that he is a member of
the coalition, that Pakistan is going to do all it can to support our
efforts, and that he support America in the war against terrorism. So
it's important to see everything he said, not just one snippet.
But President Bush hopes the bombing will be over soon, and President
Bush understands that the bombing can be over immediately if the
Taliban were to hand over Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants and
to dismantle Afghanistan as a place that harbors terrorists. But
unless that happens, the American campaign will continue, because this
is about protecting our country and defending our freedom. And the
President is resolute on that. And so, too, is the country.
Q: Ari, did the President waive sanctions against Pakistan yesterday
as a reward to General Musharraf for joining the coalition?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President did that because he thought it was the
appropriate policy to take, and also because he wants to provide a
package of aid to Pakistan, as you've been seeing a regular series of
announcements on that front.
Q: Ari, what is the Social Security meeting about? It's with Moynihan
and the other chairmen, and is he going to get a specific proposal?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, it's interesting, because even with all this
going on, and the war against terrorism in Afghanistan and the
military planning that the President has been involved in, as well as
the domestic meetings of the home front counsel on the anthrax
attacks, the President has also been keeping a busy agenda on other
domestic issues.
Last week he met for one hour to discuss Social Security and how best
to reform the Social Security system. A commission the President
appointed will make its recommendation to the President in December
for how best to reform the system. And as events are going on abroad
and at home, the Social Security system is still going broke. The
Social Security system still is in need of reform and repair. So the
President will be meeting with the co-chairs of the Social Security
Commission today to discuss their efforts, what they're working on,
and to ponder what steps should come next after the Commission makes
its recommendations.
Q: Who did he meet with last week?
MR. FLEISCHER: Internal White House meeting -- the Secretary of the
Treasury was there and other White House advisors on Social Security.
Q: And he still plans to push this issue during the election year next
year?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President continues to believe very strongly that
it's important to make certain that those who currently receive Social
Security will have a full guarantee that their Social Security will be
there, but also to make certain that younger workers are not put into
a lifetime of paying higher taxes for benefits that they're never
going to receive. And that's the likely course of Social Security
unless action is taken. So he wants to make certain that we have a
system in mind that doesn't turn its back on young workers, that helps
them as well.
Q: He's going to take action next year, he's still going to push this
next year?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sorry, Keith?
Q: He's still going to push this next year, on next year's agenda?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President continues to believe it's very important
to have a reform in Social Security, so that younger workers can get
the money that they paid in.
Q: You're not saying that he's going to do that next year? MR.
FLEISCHER: I think next year is next year. But the President certainly
still believes Congress needs to do this.
Q: There's been some reports in recent days that the administration is
preparing a new package of aid for Pakistan. It could range from $300
million to several billion dollars. What's the status of that?
MR. FLEISCHER: The administration is taking a look at a variety of
ways to help our ally, Pakistan. And I'm not going to go beyond that.
If there's anything to announce, it will be announced.
Q: Back on yesterday's alert, the President has called for more
complete information-sharing between federal and local law enforcement
agencies. Yet the Assistant Chief of the D.C. Police says he learned
about yesterday's alert from television. Governor Gilmore says he's
not at all satisfied with the information-sharing going on now, he
chairing a task force on terrorism. Is the President comfortable with
it? Does he feel that more needs to be done, and specifically, what
and how?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President is satisfied. The President yesterday, at
his --
Q: With the current level of federal to local information sharing?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct. The President does believe that all the
appropriate steps are being taken. There's always room for
improvement. There's always room to do more. And the agencies of the
government will continue to work with all authorities, local and
federal, to convey information, to share information. That's why
Governor Ridge, at the President's direction, yesterday did a
conference call with all governors. I can't tell you exactly how many
were on the phone. They were all invited to participate in the call.
Congressional leadership was notified.
And so that is the way to disseminate information, and, of course,
through the public disclosure of the information and through the
dissemination electronically to 18,000 law enforcement officials
across the country, that's a very effective way for word to get out.
Q: And does the President dismiss the dissatisfaction of local law
enforcement officials?
MR. FLEISCHER: Local law enforcement officials received the
notification directly, electronically, as a result of the FBI alert.
Q: Going back to aid to Pakistan, I have no problem for the U.S. aid
package, it could be billions. But did it work to because is Pakistan
really helping the United States in what we expected? And, number two,
we still don't have Osama bin Laden, and they promised that they will
help the United States in this coalition if we help them.
And also, according to The New York Times, Secret Service was in war
with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, and also with the Taliban. And
finally, General Musharraf was also one of the -- of al Qaeda, which
President Bush banned, and it is on the list. And I guess I don't know
whether he's still on or not. So what I'm saying is, where do we stand
today, as per --
MR. FLEISCHER: Any questions there? (Laughter.) You know, I think
Secretary Rumsfeld said it very well yesterday, when he said that the
United States is very satisfied with the cooperation of General
Musharraf and Pakistan -- that Musharraf is doing a very good job in a
very difficult situation. The United States understands all the
sensitivities involved. And the President and Secretary Rumsfeld are
satisfied with the activities taken in a very complex part of the
world, amidst many of these sensitivities and difficulties.
Q: On the national level, Americans are in fear because they are fear
to go to the airports, to the post office, to the malls, to the
shopping, anywhere. What message does President Bush have for us, and
do we need to wear gloves when we go to pick up our mails at the mail
boxes? How this fear can go away that we are having today?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think the President understands that the American
people are worried, the American people are anxious. But he also sees
how calm the American people are. And this is why, again, I remind you
that what the President believes is that in every generation, there
has been a test of our country. And the President understands that
this now is a test of this generation and this government to take
action in the war on terrorism, both domestically and abroad, to
protect people so that our children and our grandchildren can live a
life that is free from terrorism.
The President has every full faith and confidence that the American
people, as they always have, will meet that challenge. And that's what
the President sees. That's what the President hears, and that's what
the President knows.
Q: Is the United States government boosting supplies in the Strategic
Oil Reserve? And if so, why?
MR. FLEISCHER: The energy report that the President put together last
spring, that was sent -- publicly released, called for a review about
whether or not the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should be increased.
That review is underway. No decisions has been made. The President has
not made any decisions. And once something is decided we will, of
course, share that information. It is a possibility --
Q: Has he gotten a recommendation?
MR. FLEISCHER: This is a recommendation that goes back well before the
attacks on September 11th.
Q: Generally speaking, does the President think this is a more urgent
piece of information to consider and a decision to make, considering
what's going on in the Middle East and in South Asia?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, this is going to be one of many things that the
President takes a look at and decides. And I'm not going to
characterize them until the President makes his decision. Suffice it
to say it is under review.
Q: Is Yankee fan Hillary going to meet him --
Q: I have a follow up.
Q: I'm sorry.
Q: Ari, has he gotten a recommendation yet?
MR. FLEISCHER: Les, you've already had your two. Dick.
Q: Has he gotten a recommendation, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, he has not.
Q: How many confirmed cases of anthrax do we have? The numbers 14 and
15 have been floating around. And secondly, is one of the aims of the
warning that we had yesterday, which, frankly, raises more questions
than it answers, obviously -- is one of the aims of that warning to
deprive anyone planning a terrorist act of the element of surprise? Is
that part of the strategy here?
MR. FLEISCHER: On your second question, clearly, there is no doubt
that putting the nation on a higher alert status can very well disrupt
or prevent a terrorist attack. And it may be the type of thing that we
won't know it. It's possible that terrorists would have taken an
action, they would have seen a stepped-up presence of law enforcement
officials, and scrapped the action they had planned to take. It's
entirely possible, and we may never know it, again, that the last
alert presented a similar result, as a result of the last alert that a
terrorist action could have been planned and, frankly, was thwarted,
was disrupted. And this is the nature of combatting terrorism. They
prey on terror. They prey on an open society. And taking the efforts
to step up law enforcement helps prevent their actions.
On the numbers, Governor Ridge was referring to, accurately, the 14
cases that were known. And then, of course, you have the new cases in
New Jersey and New York, that there's a preliminary and then a
positive. And the Center for Disease Control has a very stringent
criteria, after the cultures are received, before putting something
into the final positive category. So you can say there are 14 for
certain. There are two other suspect cases that are, based on what we
know now, likely to become confirmed anthrax cases. And that would
bring it to 16 if those two do develop in finality. All indications
are that they will.
THE PRESS: Thank you.
MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you.
END 12:38 P.M. EST
(end White House transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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