Transcript of Sept. 12 Press Gaggle by Ari Fleischer

US Newswire ^ | 9/12/2001 | Ari Fleischer

[Utah Girl]

Transcript of Sept. 12 Press Gaggle by Ari Fleischer
U.S. Newswire
12 Sep 11:55

Transcript of Sept. 12 Press Gaggle by Ari Fleischer
To: National Desk
Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580
 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a
transcript of today's press gaggle by Ari Fleischer:

The James S. Brady Briefing Room

9:57 a.m. EDT

MR. FLEISCHER: Good morning. Thank you for allowing me to do
this in the Briefing Room under the usual gaggle rules. Let me
get into the events of the day.

The President arrived in the Oval Office at 7:05 a.m. this
morning. And he has already had his intelligence briefings from
the CIA Director and from other national security officials. He
called Prime Minister Blair and Prime Minister Chretien; they
expressed their resolve to stand united against terrorism. He
thanked Prime Minister Chretien, particularly, for the role that
Canada played in being very helpful to the United States in
handling the commercial airline traffic that landed in Canada.

The President at 9:30 a.m. began a meeting of the national
security team. As you know, at 10:45 a.m., the President will
issue a statement, will make remarks at the end of that meeting.
At 11:30 a.m., a bipartisan, bicameral leadership meeting of the
Congress is coming down to meet with the President and the
President will look forward to talking to members of Congress
and throughout the White House at all levels. The Congress has
been talked to and will continue to be talked to. Their role is
always very important.

Let me give you a bit of a summary from all the various
agencies and what they are doing. You may have heard some of
this before, but let me try to summarize the current play from
the agencies and how they're carrying out the President's
directive to bring help to those who have been injured and to do
everything the federal government can do to help save lives.

The FBI, the INS, the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Marshals
and other agencies have deployed and are deploying teams to
investigate these acts of terrorism in Boston, in New York, in
Pennsylvania, at the Pentagon. A website has been established.
If anybody in the country has any information to provide, at
www.ifccfbi.gov. And there is a toll-free number for family and
friends of possible victims to leave contact number for a future
time when more information is available. And that is
800-331-0075.

The Department of Health and Human Services has sent four
disaster medical teams, each consisting of 35 doctors, nurses
and EMTs, to New York City, and three to Washington, D.C. and
Northern Virginia. They have shipped emergency medical supplies
from the Center for Disease Control to New York City, and they
have activated the 6,000-member U.S. Public Health Service
Commission Corps.

The Department of Transportation is controlling movement of
all vessels in U.S. waters and is conducting a review of
immediate airport security measures to increase travelers'
safety. I think you can anticipate information out of the
Department of Transportation at some point later about
resumption of flights when that will take place.

And FEMA has named Ted Monette as the Federal Coordinating
Officer, with a wide-ranging authority to coordinate federal
responses. FEMA advance teams are on the ground, including four
urban search and rescue teams. FEMA has also established a help
line for victims and others who have been harmed by the
disaster, and that number is 800-462-9029.

I'd be happy to take questions.

Q Has the President made up his mind or is there any way
to know who actually did this, and master-minded it?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the full resources of the government
are involved in collecting information that would give the
government all indications. I'm not at liberty to discuss the
results of all that, but rest assured the full resources of the
government are dedicated to that, as the President indicated.

Q But there are results? He does have a final result?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, I did not indicate there was a final
result.

Q Does the sophistication and scope of this operation
suggest that there might have been some state sponsorship?

MR. FLEISCHER: John, I'm not going to speculate about what
any of the information that is being gathered indicates.

Q Ari, do you know anything about an evacuation of the
Agriculture Department this morning?

MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard anything about that.

Q Any federal buildings that reported any trouble today?
MR. FLEISCHER: Nothing has been brought to my attention.
And I do want to caution everybody -- yesterday there was a
series of information provided that was aired, that turned out
to be wrong. So I will do everything in my power to check, to
help keep everybody accurate; but I have not heard a thing about
that.
Q Ari, given that the scale of the attacks yesterday and
the level of mortality involved, can the President assure the
American people that a U.S. response would be commensurate with
that level?

MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, as the President said yesterday in his
words, America has stood down enemies before and we will do so
this time. We will defend freedom and all that is good and just
in our world. And I think the President's words speak for
themselves on that matter.

Q Ari, which members of the national security team are
here and what makes up the team? And do you know anything more
about his -- how much the President slept last night, if he was
able to get a few hours sleep?

MR. FLEISCHER: You'll get an indication of who is in the
room at 10:45 a.m. as, of course, the Secretary of State, the
Secretary of Defense, other military authorities. I'll try to
provide you additional names, but -- go ahead, Sean.

MR. McCORMACK: Chairman Shelton, Director Tenet, Dr. Rice
and others.

Q What's the thrust of that meeting?

Q Any overnight --

MR. FLEISCHER: The President did not receive any updates
overnight.

Q What's the purpose of the NSC meeting?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think you can anticipate at a time
like this the President collect the latest information and to
discuss appropriate steps and actions, meets with his national
security advisors so that they can provide the President with
the latest information; and that so he is in the strongest
position to make all judgements he deems wise.

Q What is he looking for out of the leadership meeting?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as I indicated, at a time like this,
one of the greatest strengths of our country that has always
kept us secure is that we are a democracy. And our nation has
always prevailed. And one of the reasons we have always
prevailed is because our constitutional system keeps us strong
and free. Congress is a vital and important part of that.
Communication with Congress is a vital and important part of
that.

Our government functions, functions well, and has been
tested before and has never failed the test. And we will
continue to work closely with Congress.

Q Is that largely a symbolic meeting, tho, or do you
expect to be -- for him to brief leaders?

MR. FLEISCHER: This is an important meeting. There will be
additional briefings. There were briefings on the Hill last
night, for example, conducted by the National Security Council,
with members of Congress. There will be additional briefings
today by White House or security officials with members of
Congress. Congress has an important role and they will be worked
with closely.

Q Ari, is there anything to suggest that this might not
be over? And the extra security precautions that are being taken
at airports, is the President confident that they will screen
for the type of weapons that we understand were involved in
these hijackings?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think the Department of
Transportation will give you specific information about their
beefed-up safety operations. But, you know, there is just no
question this was a well-coordinated, planned attack that was
executed yesterday morning. And we believe that the perpetrators
have executed their plan and, therefore, the risks are
significantly reduced.

Q How do you know that? I mean, what indications do you
have and what else besides what DOT is doing, what other
precautionary methods are you taking to try to ensure that
nothing --

MR. FLEISCHER: The reason we know this is because of the
resources of the federal government are committed to learning
things. And I indicated the risk is significantly reduced.
Obviously, the President returned to Washington yesterday; the
government is open for business today. And that is the course
that we are on.

Q But, Ari, considering the enormity of the information
that U.S. resources did not know yesterday, why do you feel
confident that you know enough today?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I answered the question by saying that
this was a coordinated attack that was executed yesterday and we
believe that the risk is significantly reduced. The United
States will remain vigilant and the United States will do
everything it can to continue its vigilance.

Q There is nothing to suggest that this might have been
the first wave?

MR. FLEISCHER: John, I'm not going to speculate.

Q Ari, a couple of questions. One, is the President going
to ask Congress for a sum of money, in terms of emergency aid?
I know Bill Albaugh talked about FEMA needing some more money.
Two, can you just follow up on Deb's question about how late the
President was briefed last night, if he was up watching any
coverage or if he got any sleep or made calls?

And number three, any sense of how close you are to
determining who is responsible.

MR. FLEISCHER: Okay. Ask me the first one again.

Q What was the first one? (Laughter.)

Q Emergency aid.

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, the President believes the
number one priority must be to save lives and to help those who
were injured, and to help the cities that are involved. Money
will be not a consideration. Doing what is right to help the
American people is his only consideration.

As for last night, the President, after the Oval Office
address, went into a meeting of his security team. The meeting
lasted a little over an hour. And then the President returned to
the residence and, as I indicated, he did not receive any
additional updates or information in the course of the night. He
received his first information updated early this morning upon
arrival into the Oval.

Q Did he call anybody over the night or --

MR. FLEISCHER: No, the President did not call anybody
overnight.

Q -- gather from the answer to your question, that you do
expect to have emergency spending request of Congress?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't rule it out; I think that's a
possibility.

Q But no idea of an amount at this point?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.

Q On that point, Ari, if I may. You hate to bring up,
sort of, budget matters at a point like this, but obviously the
President had said that dipping into Social Security would only
be appropriate -- and one of the cases he mentioned was severe
emergency. Does this constitute a severe emergency and would you
expect there to be no limits on what kind of spending we would
make in an effort to both help those who have been injured and
killed, as well as pursue those responsible?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think that this is the definition of a
severe emergency and the President's first focus is on helping
those who have been injured and getting the resources in place
so that emergency workers and authorities have everything they
need to save lives. And the President is focused on that goal.
Q One other thing, if I may. The airlines are concerned
about restoring confidence and the potential financial
implications for airlines if people stop flying. Is there any
talk of what the federal government can do to help restore
confidence in flying? Have you had any calls, taken any steps in
that regard?

MR. FLEISCHER: Jim, as I indicated, the Secretary of
Transportation is going to address that today.

Q Do you know what time, Ari?

MR. FLEISCHER: Don't have times.

Q Ari, is the President upset that we had such a lack of
intelligence and information and that we apparently have lost
the human factor -- the Middle East and otherwise -- in terms of
intelligence?

MR. FLEISCHER: You know, I think from the President's point
of view, the United States has the best intelligence and the
best military in the world. As you know, upon his election he
went to the CIA and met with the CIA. I think that's a sign of
how much importance the President attaches to intelligence
information and its role in keeping our society safe and free.
Q Did he have any warning --

MR. FLEISCHER: But you said, is the President upset. Colin
Powell addressed that this morning, in indicating, saying it
yesterday as well, that there were no specific warnings that
were received.

But you asked about the President's mind set, was he upset.
I can just tell you in the many conversations I've had with the
President -- whether it was this morning or traveling with him
and being really in a small cabin with him for almost all of
yesterday -- I have just never seen a man so determined to do
what is right to protect our country. That's his mind set.

Q But that doesn't answer the question. Why didn't we
know some things that we should have known?

Q Does he consider it an intelligence failure?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I think that when you live in a free
society, even one that has the best intelligence like the
American system, it does everything it can to prevent acts of
terrorism. There have been many times in the past -- some
reported, some not -- in which our intelligence services did
interdict and stop terrorist incidents. And we are a free
society; we do everything in our power as a government to
protect. Obviously, yesterday was a day that all measures taken
were met with a series of suicide bombers in airplanes.

Q But has he commissioned an analysis of what went wrong?
Does he want to know what happened?

MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, I think in all due course, all items
will be looked at. The President's focus right now is on helping
to save lives and take appropriate action.

Q So, Ari, there's been all this talk recently about
missile defense as a way to defend ourselves against these rogue
acts by rogue states or terrorist groups. Does this suggest that
there should be a reassessment of that strategy?

MR. FLEISCHER: No. The two are not connected. The United
States still faces risks of many natures. This was a terrorist
risk that was carried out in a different form of delivery,
within our borders. But that does not mean there are not other
threats out there that also need to be addressed, per missile
defense.

Q But isn't this the sort of contingency that we should
be putting the type of effort that this administration is
putting towards missile defense on, to try to prevent?

MR. FLEISCHER: Absolutely, there is far more emphasis in the
government, in terms of the spending on preventing acts of
terrorism, than there is in missile defense. Lopsidedly,
overwhelmingly -- I think it's something like $11 billion is
spent on counterterrorism and deterring terrorism.

Q But you're thinking of spending upwards of $200 billion
on missile defense.

MR. FLEISCHER: The President's budget request for this year
is $8 billion.

Q In the long run.

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, in the long run, there's increased
funding for terrorism as well. The President has that in his
budget.

So no, it's an irrelevant comparison.

Q Is the initial judgment here about airport security
that a lot more money needs to be spent, a lot more people need
to be involved, a very different system needs to be in place?

MR. FLEISCHER: I mean, these are questions that I think the
Secretary of Transportation is going to get into. Dick?

Q Ari, many of the newspapers this morning and lots of
the people that have been talking on TV over the last 24 hours
are calling this an "act of war." Does the President see it as
an act of terrorism, or perhaps as an act of war, albeit a
different kind of war from the ones this nation has faced in the
past?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm going to refer you back again to what the
President said last night. And the President will express
himself on any other issues. But I will refer you at this moment
to what the President said last night.

Q Ari, is there any reason to believe that this noon
deadline for resuming flights is going to get pushed back at
all?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to speculate about it. I want
to make sure that any answer I would provide would be
definitive, and I have not got a definitive word yet from the
Department of Transportation.

Q But is it under discussion right now, at this point?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm just not going to speculate. I know that
they're going to take the appropriate action to resume
activities in a way that provides safety.

Q Ari, on a more parochial matter. I understand that the
White House doesn't have the final say, but does the White House
have any thoughts on police requests to postpone the IMF
meetings?

MR. FLEISCHER: I need to get an update on that. I cannot
tell you right now.

Q On a similar parochial issue, how will this affect the
President's scheduled travel to New York for the United Nations
Summit, the Shanghai APEC Summit, even just domestic travel?

MR. FLEISCHER: In the near-term, the President's schedule is
going to be substantially changed to focus on handling the
terrorist acts that have taken place. Longer than near-term, I'm
not going to speculate about additional possible changes in the
President's schedule. But suffice it to say for the next several
days or so the President is going to remain focused on the
crisis and the response to it.

Q Does he want or intend to travel to the sights of the
attacks?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, Terry, he does.

Q He does?

MR. FLEISCHER: He does. And, of course, the President wants
to be with those who need comfort. The President wants to
express his gratitude to the rescue workers and to the ordinary
citizens who have done so much, in many cases risked their jobs
-- risked their lives to save people. Clearly, the first
priority has got to be not to do anything that would interfere

with the rescue efforts that are currently underway. And the
President is respectful of that.

Q Do you expect the U.N. General Assembly session to go
on as planned?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I indicated short-term; I'm not going
to speculate about anything longer term.

Q Beyond the President's --

MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't heard. I just haven't heard. I
think in fairness, a lot of people are going to assess what
they're doing, and it's just too soon to make some judgements.
But I have not heard anything on that point, so don't take that
as a lean one way or another.

Q Ari, do you have details on the correspondence that he
had last night from President Putin or the communication that --
MR. FLEISCHER: I anticipate I'll be able to get you
additional information on that and several other communications
the President has had a little later today.

Let me take just a couple more, and then I'm going to be
back to brief on camera later this afternoon. We don't have a
hard time for you yet. What we're going to try to do is
coordinate, there are going to be likely several Cabinet members
and other announcements being made to provide the maximum
information to the press and to the public. And so we have a
series of coordinations to conduct.

Q Will the President ask members of Congress when they
come up here today to pass something resembling a declaration of
war?

MR. FLEISCHER: Jim, the President in half an hour will speak
for himself.

Q Ari, on the point of President Putin, there was a
report this morning that the Russian President had a great deal
of difficulty reaching the American President yesterday. Can you
--

MR. FLEISCHER: I have no information on that.

Q He made several calls, couldn't get through.

MR. FLEISCHER: Don't have anything for you, Jay; I can't
confirm that.

Q Ari, what about the potential affects on the economy,
of this? And we're not just talking about air travel and a
diminution of air craft loads. How about the overall affect on
the economy? Could this potentially take the slow growth and
drive us into recession?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I don't think that I am qualified to
answer that question. That's an economist question that also
remains -- there are just several variables that I think people
have to give some time to fully analyze the impact of this.

Q Is that an aspect of it that the President is concerned
about?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President's focus is on the lives and the
President's focus is on the appropriate response.

The President, of course, cares at all times about the
economy, but at a time like this, his first focus is now on the
incident.

Q Ari, does an incident like this lead the administration
to want to fight harder on behalf of removing some restrictions
that currently apply to CIA, such as more latitude to commit
assassinations or hire foreign agents with criminal backgrounds?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think now is not a time to speculate on any
of those structural issues. I was asked earlier about how did
this happen. There will come an appropriate time.

Q Ari, is it too early to know whether this will affect
the -- that will be presented this fall.

MR. FLEISCHER: Will it affect the what?

Q The defense reform that has to be presented this fall.
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to speculate about that --
speculating about that would get into what type of action is
going to be required and reaction to this, and I'm just not
going to speculate.

Last question.

Q Has the President spoken to any pastors that he knows,
or any other religious leaders in the last 24 hours?

MR. FLEISCHER: I know that the meeting yesterday of the
national security team began with a prayer that was led by the
President. The President asked everybody to pray.

Q Has he talked to his father?

MR. FLEISCHER: He has.

Q The meeting last night or the one in Nebraska?

MR. FLEISCHER: The one last night, I can tell you that. The
meeting in Nebraska, I do not know.

Q When did he talk to his father and what was that about?

MR. FLEISCHER: He talked to his father yesterday.

Q From where, at what point during the day?

MR. FLEISCHER: Aboard Air Force One.

Q -- flight?

MR. FLEISCHER: I have to take a look; I don't recall.

Q He called his father?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know.

Q You usually don't disclose the contents of those
conversations.

MR. FLEISCHER: Right.

Q Can you today?

MR. FLEISCHER: No.

Q Was the Vice President in the national security team
meeting that's going on now?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes.

Q Is the former President reaching out to world leaders
on behalf of his son?

MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't heard that. Okay. I'll be back for
the briefing.

Q Did he call the --

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to give any details about
conversations with his father.

Q Did he call --

MR. FLEISCHER: He did. The President did, from Air Force One
en route back to Washington yesterday, call Solicitor General
Ted Olson to express his condolences about the death of his
wife, Barbara.
 

END 10:19 a.m. EDT