Transcript: President Bush Interview

Dec. 16 -- MS. SAWYER: Was this the best day of your Presidency? PRESIDENT BUSH: No. The best day of my Presidency was when I was sworn in as President and--because it gave me a chance to assume this high office and implement a strategy that would make the world more peaceful and more free and a country more compassionate. That's so far been the best day of my Presidency. This has been a Presidency with a lot of dramatic moments, however, and, of course, the 13th of December was a very dramatic moment. September the 11th, 2001, was a dramatic moment. It's been a Presidency that has been an active Presidency for the sake of peace and freedom, and, therefore, there's been--there are a lot of interesting stories to talk about.//(STATUE VIDEO) MS. SAWYER: You have said, "Wanted, dead or alive." Were you sorry it was alive? PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm glad that chapter in Iraqi history's over with. MS. SAWYER: One way or the other? PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah, absolutely. And--because, see, there were some people who were told that Saddam is coming back and, therefore, shouldn't risk anything for peace and freedom. And now they know he's not coming back, and I look forward to the trial. We had an interesting discussion yesterday which I'll be glad to share with you my sentiments, if you'd care to hear them, about how I think he ought to be tried by the Iraqis. // MS. SAWYER: And if he does not get the death penalty, will you be disappointed? PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I'm...let's just see what penalty he gets. But I--I think he ought to receive the ultimate penalty and--for what he has done to his people. I mean, he is a torturer, a murderer, and they had rape rooms, and this is--this is a disgusting tyrant who deserves justice, the ultimate justice. But that will be decided not by the President of the United States but by the citizens of Iraq in one form or another. // MS. SAWYER: But you also said in a way that will stand international scrutiny-- PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah, that's right, and what I meant by that is, you know, you don't want a kangaroo court. I don't know if you saw the instant outburst when Bremer got up and said, "We got him," and some journalists, I believe they were journalists, started screaming, "Death to Saddam." And there needs to be a process that people--that is transparent and open and people are able to see exactly what's--what's going on. MS. SAWYER: Do you--does that mean you want an American role in it to ensure some international vantage point? PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, there is an American role in it already because the--until we-- MS. SAWYER: But-- PRESIDENT BUSH: --transfer for sovereignty, and it would be during this process that we'll be working with the Iraqis to develop a system that--that people will say it's open and it's fair. MS. SAWYER: But in terms of an American presence in the rial itself? PRESIDENT BUSH: I don't think so. I think the Iraqis are plenty capable of conducting the trial itself. // MS. SAWYER: Would you like to see him? PRESIDENT BUSH: No. I don't care to see him. MS. SAWYER: Never? PRESIDENT BUSH: I have no--I've seen him. I've seen enough of him. I saw him getting deloused and after having been pulled out a rat hole. MS. SAWYER: His daughter has said that those photos were disrespectful and humiliating to him, but he also seemed sedated, by the way. (DAUGHTER VIDEO FROM AL ARIBYA) PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah. MS. SAWYER: Was he sedated? And was it designed to humiliate him? PRESIDENT BUSH: (VIDEO HERE OF SADDAM EXAMINATION)No, I don't--first of all, I don't know if he was sedated or not. I mean, that's a question you'd ask the folks in the field.Secondly, it was designed to reflect the truth and to show--and to show the world that this barbaric person was found in a hole, hiding, cowering, that--it's also interesting that he's going to receive the justice that he never gave others. And it's--it's a dramatic moment. And I can understand a daughter being concerned about her dad. I mean, presumably somewhere in this hard, barbaric heart there was some love for his child. And--but he showed no love for the Iraqi people, particularly those that dared express an opinion other than his. // MS. SAWYER: Two little questions I'm just afraid I'll forget. One of the members of one of the congressional intelligence committees said this morning that it would be perfectly all right on Saddam Hussein to use some of the measures--not torture, but sleep deprivation, cold, some of the things that can be induced to make him uncomfortable. Do you endorse this? PRESIDENT BUSH: I have no idea what--how they're going to interrogate. I do know that this country doesn't torture. MS. SAWYER: And it's all right if they use the other means? PRESIDENT BUSH: I have no idea what they're going to do, but we do not torture. // MS. SAWYER: We read that he has already said no weapons of mass destruction. PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah. You've read that for many, many years. MS. SAWYER: But that he is talking. Has he said anything that is new, // PRESIDENT BUSH: I wouldn't trust a word he said. He--he's deceived and lied to the world in the past. He's not going to change his stripes. And I wouldn't--I wouldn't hold much account to the word of Saddam Hussein. MS. SAWYER: Do you think he was directing the raids on Iraq now that you've seen him, now that you see where he was hiding ? PRESIDENT BUSH: I don't think we know enough yet, and what we do know is that he's a dangerous man who gassed his own people, who murdered people, who invaded Kuwait, and--and that the world is safer without him. And the Iraqi people can now close that chapter, that ugly, brutal chapter of their history, and show the world they can govern themselves. MS. SAWYER: Many people have said, "Saddam Hussein. All right. What about Osama bin Laden?" VIDEO OF OSAMA PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, he's--he's--we're on his trail, too. He's-- MS. SAWYER: Close? PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I don't know. It's--it's--you know, had you and I conducted this interview the day before we captured Saddam, you'd have said, "Are we close to Saddam?" And I would have said, "You know, I really don't know." And I knew that we have a strategy to find him, but I didn't know how close we were. And I don't think you know how close you are on finding somebody like this until you actually find them.I mean, this is a person hidden in a hole and in a country the size of California. And bin Laden's on the run. I mean, he's--all I can say, he's certainly not leading any parades these days. And, you know, he's probably in a hole somewhere hiding from justice. We'll get him.SOT: "THERE'S AN OLD SAYING, DEAD OR ALIVE" MS. SAWYER: Dead or alive? PRESIDENT BUSH: Dead or alive.

END OF PART 1

BUSH PART 2

MS. SAWYER: Does the capture of Saddam Hussein mean that the troops will come home? PRESIDENT BUSH: The troops will come home when we've completed the mission and--which is a free and secure Iraq. And the capture of Saddam Hussein is a great tribute to the bravery of our troops. And it's a great tribute to the capacity for us to gather intelligence, actionable intelligence, and be able to respond to it very quickly. // MS. SAWYER: I'm thinking that most mornings, I assume in that office right through that door-- PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.OVAL OFFICE VIDEO MS. SAWYER: --you get the reports on deaths and casualties. PRESIDENT BUSH: I do. MS. SAWYER: As Americans do when they wake up every morning. PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah. MS. SAWYER: When you hear, on an average, nine // every day, what do you say to yourself in that office? PRESIDENT BUSH: I, first of all--and, you know, I've seen the grief of the moms and dads and husbands and wives and children firsthand. I've had--one of my duties is to--is to, you know, console as best as I can, and weep or hug or whatever is necessary to do my part to try to help. And--but I say thank God our country has got people willing to sacrifice on behalf of peace and freedom // I have had to make some very difficult decisions about sending brave young Americans into harm's way. And in so doing, they lost their life, and I've asked for God's blessings on their--on the people that love them. MS. SAWYER: Is there ever a point at which you would say this is too many, this is too high a price to be paying? PRESIDENT BUSH: The--my job is to do everything I can to protect America and Americans. We are at war, and the war on terror is--is the challenge of the 21st century, and we must win the war. And there are different fronts on the war on terror, and I will continue to do what I think is necessary to win that war. I--and the key for me is to remind the loved ones that their troops are getting what is necessary to achieve this objective, that this government's supporting them, and that--and that we honor their memories, and we will not stop short of the objective until we have achieved the objective. //