Washington Week Show - # 4221
Washington Week Show - WW 4221- "Show Open"
Washington Week Show # 4221 - Segments: "Friend and Foe" (stepping up the pressure on Saddam Hussein), "Listening In" (intelligence War), "Building A Bureaucracy" (Homeland Security), "Al Gore Is Back." Hosted by Gwen Ifill, with guests Doyle McManus, Pete Williams, Alan Murray, Karen Tumulty. Composite footage (unclean) with Washington Week title and text : Saddam Hussein; U.S. President George W. Bush shaking hands with British Prime Minister Tony Blair; medical team carrying wounded person on stretcher after bus bombing; young woman crying; John Ashcroft walking to podium; FBI officials removing computer equipment; airport security; members on congressional floor; U.S. Coast Guard ship at sea, crew member watching monitor.
Washington Week Show - # 4221 - "Guest Panelists"
Host Gwen Ifill introduces guest panel: Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times, Pete Williams of NBC News, Alan Murray of CNBC, and Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "U.S. and Iraq"
U.S. President George W. Bush saying, "Saddam Hussein has been given a very short time to declare completely and truthfully his arsenal of terror. Should he again deny that this arsenal exists, he will have entered his final stage with a lie. And deception at this time will not be tolerated." Gwen Ifill says Iraq is not the President's only problem in the Middle East (Afghanistan, hunt for bin Laden). She asks Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times how the administration is handling these problems at the same time. He points out that the administration is making it look easy, but behind the scenes it's been difficult. Currently the problem is getting consensus from NATO and/or the UN for military action against Iraq.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "U.S. and Iraq"
Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times discusses possible lines Iraq could cross that would lead President Bush to go to war. The problem is that any "trigger point" is of the President's own making, not something the UN has agreed to. Saddam Hussein has been cooperative with UN Weapons Inspectors in allowing them to do their work in Iraq. The whole point of this is to make President Bush's case to the UN all that much more difficult. Gwen Ifill asks about tanks rolling into Bethlehem, if that adds pressure facing the White House in teh peace process. Doyle says normally this would have added pressure, but Israel is already in the midst of an election cycle which has already put aside any planned peace talks.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "FISA Court"
Gwen Ifill segues into new segment: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to include broadened permission for domestic spying. Pete Williams of NBC News gives a brief history of the FISA court and its abilities. Williams explains what the ruling means for American intelligence services, how the Justice Department will now be able to share info with various law enforcement agencies in an effort to "connect the dots." He mentions that on average there are 850 FISA court surveillance requests a year, but only the number of requests are known, not the nature of the requests.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "FISA Court"
Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine asks if the ruling by the FISA Court to allow the Justice Department to expand its domestic spying operations is final or if there will be a Supreme Court challenge. Pete Williams of NBC News talks about the issue of challenging a ruling where there is no opposing party or defendant. The ACLU is trying to find a way to challenge the ruling. Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times asks if there is any way for an accused terrorist defendant to defend oneself if they are arrested via the new spy powers. Williams talks about the difficulty in doing so given the lower burden of proof needed to spy on someone domestically. He also addresses Gwen Ifill's concern that the expanded ability of the Justice Department to spy domestically may lead to abuse of power.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "DHS"
Gwen Ifill introduces new topic: the newly formed Department of Homeland Security and the hurdles facing the administration. Alan Murray of CNBC discusses the details of the new department and what challenges lie ahead, as resources, agencies, and people must cooperate with one another during the transition, which will take time. In the short term, DHS may actually be counterproductive to information flow between law enforcement agencies.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "DHS"
Alan Murray of CNBC says the chief problem now is funding the agency properly and ensuring the money flows down to state and local agencies that will work with the new Department of Homeland Security. Congress hasn't yet approved the appropriation bills meant for the new department. Further, while funding still hasn't been passed, new lines of communication and information sharing needs to be set up between Homeland Security and the FBI and CIA.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "Al Gore"
Gwen Ifill introduces the final segment: the Al Gore Comeback Tour. Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine talks about what Gore is up to with the new publicity onslaught. Ostensibly it is a book tour, but the publicity is a gauge of whether or not Gore will run for political office again.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "Al Gore"
Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine details Al Gore's feelings on the Bush administration, and the need for any Democratic candidate to lay down the stark differences in policies. Given his statement of support on a single payer health care system, if he were to run again, it appears as though he would run much more to the left of his usually centrist/moderate positions. While he may not have the support of certain Democratic leadership, rank and file members wouldn't mind if he ran for office again. Gwen Ifill asks whether those who are running are pressing him to make up his mind, or pressuring him not to run so that they can. Tumulty says there are different factors pushing and pulling on him to run and not to run, but his decision will come once he has an idea if he can win the presidency, not just the Democratic nomination.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "JFK"
Gwen Ifill commemorates the 39th anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy by asking the panelists where they were on that day.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "End"
Gwen Ifill thanks her guests, wraps up the show.