Kelly Wallace: Reaction to bin Laden tape, withdrawal from ABM treaty

Kelly Wallace is a CNN White House correspondent. She joined CNN.com chatroom from Washington, DC.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today, Kelly Wallace, and welcome.

KELLY WALLACE: Great to be with you.

CNN: Has the international reaction to the bin Laden tape been what the president hoped it would be -- that it would prove bin Laden's guilt?

WALLACE: The president's aides say he is encouraged by some of the reaction from moderate Arab leaders, leaders such as the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. and a spokesman for the United Arab Emirates speaking out, saying the tape shows bin Laden's guilt. But there has been silence in other parts of the world. And on the streets of the Arab and Muslim world, there are a lot of skeptics who continue to believe the tape was doctored. U.S. officials say they will make the tape widely available and they certainly hope the more people see and watch bin Laden, the more doubts will be put to rest. The administration says it is not pushing the tape, but it will certainly monitor reaction in the days ahead.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Is Bush upset because some people are questioning the authenticity of the tape?

EXTRA INFORMATION Transcript of Osama bin Laden videotape

WALLACE: The president certainly appeared a bit frustrated when asked about this very issue during a meeting with the prime minister of Thailand. He said it was "preposterous" to think the tape is a fake and he also said those who believe it is doctored are just hoping for the best about an evil man. The administration says it went to great lengths to determine that the tape was authentic. One concern about releasing it, U.S. officials said, was that the tape quality is not great and that some might accuse the administration of twisting bin Laden's words. The Arabic translation will be very key. Many throughout the Islamic world will be looking at that before determining if they believe the tape is legitimate or not.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Why was there so little coverage of scrapping the ABM treaty when this will have such profound implications for years to come?

WALLACE: That is a great question. It was sort of amazing, barely a mention at times yesterday of the president's decision to withdraw from a 30-year old treaty. Of course, the announcement came on the day the long-awaited bin Laden tape was released and most networks devoted most of their coverage to that tape, which people throughout the U.S. and the world watched closely.

White House officials say they did not schedule the announcement about the ABM treaty on the day the tape was released so the issue would not get as much attention. Some skeptics say they don't necessarily believe that timing. But it is an example of how things have changed quite a bit since September 11 -- stories that would normally dominate the headlines now get little coverage because of the war.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Has the president really thought through his decision to pull out of the ABM treaty?

WALLACE: The president's aides will say he has been thinking about this since the presidential campaign, and has had a series of conversations with the Russian leader, President Vladimir Putin about it. Clearly, the administration was trying to work out some sort of agreement with the Russians, a way for the U.S. to move forward with testing and developing a missile defense system without violating the treaty. In the end, the U.S. felt it could not work something out and decided it needed to get moving with testing and development.

The administration was pleased to see Putin's reaction. While saying he felt Bush's decision was a mistake, he also indicated the two countries could move forward on this and other issues. The president, with a sky high approval rating, obviously felt he could make this move without suffering politically at home and felt his relationship with Mr. Putin could survive a move that the Russians certainly expected would come.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Has it been announced as to how soon we are planning on beginning the missile testing and development?

WALLACE: The president's announcement yesterday starts the time clock on the United States' six-month withdrawal from the treaty. My understanding is that more tests, which would not violate the treaty, are planned over the next six months and that the building of a system and testing, which is currently prohibited, such as testing a sea-based system, will get underway then. Many Democrats questioned the wisdom of withdrawing from the treaty when it is still not clear if such a system will work, but the president made the choice he wants to do the testing now to get a system ready. So, with the announcement yesterday, look for the administration to start moving more aggressively on getting a system to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in place.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: With high approval ratings, why do you suppose Bush has not better used that to push his economic plan?

WALLACE: That is an interesting point. The president's aides believe he is using his political capital to get an agreement, putting pressure on the Democratically-controlled Senate to get a deal. But in the end, it really comes down to the Democrats in the Senate. Since they control the chamber, if enough Democrats don't sign on to any presidential proposal, there can be no deal. That is why we have been seeing the president calling and meeting with moderate Senate Democrats, and why the president has made some compromises in the areas of unemployment benefits, health care coverage and tax relief to try and win more Democratic support.

It is not clear if the president and Republicans can cobble together 60 votes to stand in the way of any procedural roadblocks in the Senate. But it is already clear if the Senate does not pass a bill, the president and Republicans will point the fingers at Senate Majority Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, saying he stood in the way of helping laid-off workers and giving a boost to the economy. Democrats will blame Republicans. If any party is held accountable during the 2002 elections is an open question.

CNN: Do you have any closing comments to share with us?

WALLACE: The next days should be very interesting to watch in the military campaign in Afghanistan. With some U.S. officials saying they believe bin Laden is holed up in the Tora Bora area of Eastern Afghanistan, we are likely to see continued, intense bombing of the area. The question remains -- is the U.S. closing in on bin Laden and his al Qaeda operatives? Also, keep an eye out for any reaction to that bin Laden tape, and also next week we'll know if lawmakers are going to reach agreement on an economic stimulus bill or go home without one. It should be another busy week.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today, Kelly Wallace.

WALLACE: Always great to be with you. Thanks for the questions. We'll see you next week.

Kelly Wallace joined CNN.com from Washington, DC. This is an edited transcript of the interview, on Friday, December 14, 2001.