Q The French Prime Minister, can I ask for your response to his
assertion that war now in Iraq would be precipitous and illegitimate?
MR. FLEISCHER: We will continue the course of the consultations
and the diplomatic discussions with all the members on the Security
Council. And France's position is known. President Bush has talked
with President Chirac about it. And the process will continue until
the day of the vote.
Q You're not prepared to respond to his assertion that it would
be precipitous and illegitimate?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President thinks that the most precipitous
thing in the world would be to leave the illegitimate rulers of Iraq in
position to have weapons of mass destruction that they could use
against the American people or others in the region. That, to the
President, is the most precipitous thing of all.
Q Illegitimate?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't think Saddam Hussein is a legitimate
leader, no. Is he elected by his people? I think he's a brutal
dictator and a torturer. Yes, illegitimate.
Q Is the head of Pakistan legitimate?
Q Ari, does the President understanding of the First
Amendment's constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of religion
mean that he believes that Cardinal McCarrick should go to jail if he
does not suspend the seal of the confessional in cases of pedophilia,
as being proposed by a number of state legislators?
MR. FLEISCHER: Lester, it's not the place of the President to
decide who goes to jail in our country.
Q No, I know, but the question is, does he believe that
Cardinal McCarrick should go to jail if he doesn't suspend the
sacrament of penance?
MR. FLEISCHER: Lester, I think you need to address your question
to different people.
Q All right. At the time of Desert Storm, the first President
Bush, as you remember, compared Saddam Hussein to Adolph Hitler. And
my question is, from your extensive knowledge of the media, do you know
of any instance where Edward R. Murrow of CBS, ever interviewed or even
tried to interview or even wanted to interview Adolph Hitler?
MR. FLEISCHER: Lester, I addressed the topic earlier and I
addressed in what I think is a serious journalistic issue. And I do
think that journalists are going to get put into a position where they
are performing their duty for the United States by having Iraqi
officials talk to them. That's appropriate. I think it's also
appropriate for the White House to have a response because this is
propaganda. And that's the White House view.
Q My information is Murrow never even thought of interviewing
Hitler -- did he? Did he, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: I've expressed my opinions on the issue.
Q Two quick ones, please. Does the President have any reaction
to the Supreme Court ruling today about abortion demonstrations?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard about the Supreme Court case, yet,
so I don't have anything for you on that.
Q And any follow-up, any more comments about the --
rescinding the executive order situation?
MR. FLEISCHER: There's nothing to report since yesterday.
Q Ari, two things. You said yesterday that if we go to war
with Iraq --
MR. FLEISCHER: Excuse me, Russell, hold on a second. Helen.
Q What did he say? Sorry.
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know what he said, you were talking.
Q Sorry. Should I go stand in the corner?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, go stand in the corner, Helen. (Laughter.)
Q Helen, do you want another time-out? (Laughter.)
Q Don't make me come down there. (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell.
Q Ari, you said yesterday that if we go to war with Iraq, the
Iraqi leadership, including Saddam Hussein, would be a legitimate
target under international law. Does this mean that if we go to war
with Iraq our leadership would be a legitimate target under
international law?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think you should address that to an international
lawyer. But the point remains the same -- our nation is threatened,
all people in our nation are threatened by Saddam Hussein having
weapons of mass destruction. We know that terrorists desire to strike
the United States. We know terrorists desire to strike the leadership
of the United States. We don't know definitively if that fourth
airplane was heading toward the White House or the Congress. So we do
know that we are at war with people who want to seek maximum damage on
our country and its leadership.
Q But you made a judgment yesterday under international law
that Saddam would be legitimate target. So does that mean our
leadership would be a legitimate target?
MR. FLEISCHER: Russell, I have no intention of becoming Saddam
Hussein's international lawyer. You can find another one.
Q Okay. The second question, can I take from what you said
earlier that the reason Lawrence Lindsey was fired was because he made
an
estimate about the cost of war with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I was having fun with Dick. That's why I said
that. And I wanted to get myself out of having to dodge the question
again. (Laughter.)
Paula.
Q Ari, the National Governors Association has recommended that
seniors who are duly eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid have those
costs paid by the federal government. What is the White House view on
that?
MR. FLEISCHER: The White House is working with the Congress about
the best way to get, one, prescription drugs to seniors; and two,
modernize the program so it is reflective of medicine in the 21st
century, which has changed dramatically since 1965 when Medicare was
invented, where Medicare basically focused on just business to
hospitals and visits to doctors. The question about dual eligibility
such as similarly the questions about QMBies and SLMBies and other
low-income seniors who received the Medicaid coverage paid for under
Medicare are all part of the complicated mix of Medicare issues that
will likely get looked at by the Congress this year.
Q Ari, today the President, when he met with the Latino
Coalition, expressed interest to continue working with the Mexican
government on different topics of the agenda. And he also expressed
interest of -- in making sure that the relationship with -- the
relations with Mexico continues to be positive and moving forward. Why
did he say that now? And in the past two years, the relation -- I
mean, the topics -- there have been issues with Mexico have not been
raised besides security matters --
MR. FLEISCHER: He's always said -- I refer you to the remarks he
made when he traveled to Mexico for the APEC Summit last fall. The
President in his press availability said that similar points. The
President is very dedicated to the improvement of relations between the
United States and Mexico. The President is dedicated to increased
opportunities for trade between the people of the United States and
Mexico, and for making progress on some of the most contentious border
issues.
Clearly, September 11th has made it much more difficult,
particularly with the Congress, given the fact that 245-I, which is a
family reunification program, cannot even be agreed to by the
Congress. So this is what you're hearing from the President, is his
longstanding dedication to America's partnership and alliance with
Mexico.
Q But is he, by this statement -- is he trying to highlight
the fact that -- is he recognizing the fact that the U.S.-Mexican
relations is not as good as it was before, for different issues --
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's just as I indicated in the answer to
your question.
Q Ari, is the U.S. government prepared to offer compensation to
Derek Bond, the 72-year-old British man who spent three weeks in prison
because the FBI misidentified him as a man they're looking for in
connection with a fraud case?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think you may want to talk to the FBI about
this. This is not information that I have at my disposal here at the
White House.
Q The President is aware of the case.
MR. FLEISCHER: This is the first that I have been personally
informed about it, so I couldn't tell you.
Q On the supplemental that you're talking about today, would
that be strictly for military action in Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: It would be as I indicated, in the event that the
President decides to authorize the use of force, it would be the cost
of war, as well as humanitarian efforts.
Q Extra money for the war on terrorism, would that be in a
different supplemental, or would it be in that --
MR. FLEISCHER: It would be for the reasons that I just gave.
END 1:53 P.M. EST