American Morning - Transcript

SHOW: AMERICAN MORNING 07:00

HEADLINE: Interview with Senator Saxby Chambliss, Representative Jane Harman

GUESTS: Jane Harman, Saxby Chambliss

BYLINE: Bill Hemmer

HIGHLIGHT:
The failure to find any banned weapons or even confirmation that they existed prior to the war in Iraq are raising questions about whether or not the evidence against it was exaggerated. Some on Congress are calling for hearings now into whether or not the case against Iraq was intentionally oversold.

BODY:
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the search for weapons of mass destruction now in Iraq. It's been more frustration then revelation, though, for the White House so far. The failure to find any banned weapons or even confirmation that they existed prior to the war raising questions about whether or not the evidence against it was exaggerated. Some on Congress are calling for hearings now into whether or not the case against Iraq was intentionally oversold.

With us this morning on Capitol Hill to talk about both sides of this issues, Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, a member of the Intelligence Committee, and Congresswoman Jane Harman of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Welcome back to "AMERICAN MORNING" to both of you.

REP. JANE HARMAN (D-CA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thank you.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Good to with you.

HEMMER: Representative Harman, what were you told prior to the war that broke out that convinced you that WMD was there and present in Iraq?

HARMAN: Well, a very strong case was made to us in classified briefings. A lot of the information we heard was declassified by Colin Powell when he made a forceful presentation to the UN in early February, and he said that there were 25,000 liters of Anthrax, 100 to 500 tons of chemical weapons and the means to deliver both, and that there was interest in Iraq in achieving nuclear capability. In addition to that, he claimed that there was an Al Qaida presence in Iraq. Those were strong pieces of information.

Certainly, my vote depended on my view -- which may still be true --that Iraq posed a clear and present danger to its citizens and to American interests around the world.

HEMMER: OK, I got...

HARMAN: We need to find that WMD now.

HEMMER: OK, I got you on the record.

To the Senator, then, what was your position prior to the war breaking out then?

CHAMBLISS: Well, basically the same, both in classified as well as unclassified briefings. We were convinced beyond a doubt that weapons of mass destruction were in the hands of Saddam Hussein, and I still think, without question, they were, and may still be. He may have destroyed them, moved them -- whatever. We were not able to get into Iraq within the time frame that the president originally wanted to get there, which makes it more difficult.

Plus, you have to remember, there are some in excess of 1,000 potential weapon sites in Iraq. We have checked out about 200 of those sites. So, we're still on the way to finding those weapons of mass destruction. We already found the mobile labs, we knew they were there, and eventually they'll be found. But you have to remember also that a mason jar full of VX gas will destroy thousands and thousands of people, so it's not like looking for a gymnasium.

HEMMER: We understand the CIA is willing to now go ahead and hand over a number of these records, I'm wondering from Representative Harman, if you go about and do hearings right now, is that a bit premature at this point? You've been listening to Tony Blair yesterday, he's urging the world again to be patient, it's a big country, give us sometime.

HARMAN: Well, I think our highest priority has to be to find the WMD. If it's buried under ground, or if it was transferred to a terrorist group or some other country through the porous borders around Iraq, we need to find it. It'll get in the wrong hands and it could cause us enormous harm.

Porter Goss, who shares the House Intelligence Committee, which Saxby was a member of, until he was promoted over here. At any rate, Porter Goss and I have written to George Tenet. We asked, by July 1 -- not tomorrow morning, by July 1 -- for a thorough accounting of how the intelligence was put together, whether there were dissenting views, how it was weighed and so forth.

But, I think, our highest priority has to be finding WMD. It certainly was there. The question is, what happened to it? Did we lose track of it? Was it destroyed? It's counter intuitive to think it would have been destroyed and no one would have told the inspectors of the world, prior to Saddam Hussein losing his government, and possibly losing his life.

HEMMER: What do you say to those who say, this is not weapons of mass destruction, but rather weapons of mass distortion, right now. That it's all being politicized right now, and these are just the enemies of the White House coming forward and emerging right now, and really seizing on a moment at this point?

HARMAN: Well, I think there are legitimate questions about whether the intelligence was accurate, and we need to find out if it was, and we need to make certain that our intelligence is timely, accurate, and unbiased going forward. The U.S. creditability depends on that.

How is anyone going to believe what we say about North Korean nuclear capability or Iran's capability and so forth if our intelligence isn't accurate?

But nonetheless, my view is to be very thorough here, make sure we have all the information, but immediately to put more people into Iraq. We are doing this. I think to reconstitute these UN inspectors -- Hans Blix is retiring -- the rest of them want to go back and Tony Blair has called for this -- to make certain that we've got all the talent on the case, and if the WMD is buried in Iraq or has been transferred, we find it as soon as possible.

HEMMER: Thanks to both of you, Jane Harman...

CHAMBLISS: And the fact of the matter is,

HEMMER: Go ahead, Senator.

CHAMBLISS: We knew there were weapons of mass destruction there. Saddam Hussein admitted he had the weapons. He didn't come forward and say what he had done with them. That's the whole issue that we've been dealing with all along.

So the critics of the administration who say, well, you know it was distortion. Well, it was distortion by Saddam Hussein, if that's the case, because we absolutely, without question, knew, that following the Desert Storm war in '91 that he had weapons of mass destruction. He simply has not told us what he's done with them. So they're there somewhere.

HEMMER: Thanks to both of you. Saxby Chambliss, the senator, Representative Jane Harman, there on Capitol Hill.