This partial transcript of Special Report with Brit Hume, October 21, 2001 was provided by the Federal Document Clearing House. Click here to order the complete transcript.
Let's go to the ups and downs.
Up, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
FRED BARNES, CO-HOST: Putin's not only one of President Bush's most vocal allies in the war on terror, he's now warming to the idea of missile defense and the expansion of NATO.
(CROSSTALK)
MORT KONDRACKE, CO-HOST : Another hero for you.
BARNES: ... all right, now you've heard me...
KONDRACKE: Berlusconi, Putin, who's next?
BARNES: ... well, then there's Musharraf...
KONDRACKE: Musharraf...
BARNES: ... we'll get to him...
(CROSSTALK)
BARNES: ... in a minute. But the -- you know, Putin has done what is the obviously the most significant thing, historically significant thing since September 11, the second most historical thing, the first is the war on terrorism, of course, but he has decisively put -- put Russia in the West's camp and the America's camp. He's with us in the war on terrorism, he's getting all the "stans," you know, Uzbekistan and all those countries...
KONDRACKE: Tajikistan.
BARNES: ... with us, he's pulled out of Cuba, he's pulled out of Vietnam, he's going along, they -- he's going to work out some agreement on missile defense. He said OK to NATO expansion. President Bush was right when he said he looked into Putin's soul and saw something good.
KONDRACKE: Well, apparently he did not say -- have the same experience with China's Jiang Zemin, because Jiang Zemin was -- is going along with the, the anti-terror campaign...
BARNES: Right.
KONDRACKE: ... at least verbally...
BARNES: Yes, yes, just barely.
KONDRACKE: ... right, but, but as to missile defense and, and nonproliferation policy, which is the, is the serious problem, China is, is noplace. I mean, Powell said, Powell said quite eloquently that not only is the cold war era over, but the post-cold war era is over about Russia, big progress, not the same about China.
BARNES: Exactly.
Up, Lisa Beamer, widow of Todd Beamer
Todd Beamer, he died battling the terrorist hijackers on United Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Beamer flew the same route her husband never completed, from Newark to San Francisco, to show the terrorists and the world that life goes on.
KONDRACKE: Well, if it hadn't been for Tom, Todd Beamer and the other guys aboard that plane, Todd, Todd Beamer famously saying, "OK, guys, let's roll," and attacking the terrorists aboard that United, United flight, the Congress of the United States might not exist.
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: I mean, that plane was headed, headed back for Washington...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... probably for the United States Capitol...
BARNES: Yes, right.
KONDRACKE: ... and there, and...
BARNES: Right.
KONDRACKE: ... it would have been filled...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... with members of Congress.
BARNES: Yes, I want to say one thing. But let's listen to Lisa Beamer first before I make a comment on this. Listen to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA BEAMER, WIDOW OF TERRORIST VICTIM: It is my desire to use the heroic acts of my husband and the other passengers of Flight 93 as a way to help America rebound emotionally, physically, and financially from the events of September 11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNES: Now, Mort, you know what has made -- what made her husband, Todd Beamer, so brave that he led the guys to go and thwart the terrorists, and has at -- has made her so strong, you know what that is?
KONDRACKE: Faith.
BARNES: That's their religious faith. I mean, these people are -- were very devout Christians, and it shows in their lives. It's important.
KONDRACKE: Well, let it be said that there were other people who, who also participated in the, in the heroism...
BARNES: Sure.
KONDRACKE: ... who may not have been by faith, but by patriotism.
BARNES: Yes, right, sure.
KONDRACKE: So both, both things work.
Up, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
He confirmed his unwavering support for America's war effort in a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell. His reward, the U.S. lifted sanctions against Pakistan and plunked down $50 million in new foreign aid.
BARNES: Mort, you want to try...
KONDRACKE: Mush...
BARNES: ... pronouncing his first name again?
KONDRACKE: Yes, Pervez.
BARNES: OK.
KONDRACKE: OK. Now, now, he is one of the -- one of the great stand-up people in this...
BARNES: Oh, absolutely.
KONDRACKE: ... in this entire effort. I mean, a "Newsweek" poll showed that 83 percent of his population opposes the United States and favors the Taliban, which is not exactly an argument for democracy, the spread of democracy in Pakistan.
BARNES: Yes, yes.
KONDRACKE: In any event, here's what he had to say about, about his plight at the moment.
BARNES: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: Certainly a majority of the people are against the operation in Afghanistan. They would like to see this operation to be terminated as fast as possible, and that is what I would urge the coalition to achieve the military objective and terminate the operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KONDRACKE: Quickly, he means. You know, get it over with.
(CROSSTALK)
BARNES: ... right, oh, yes.
KONDRACKE: So that my public doesn't, doesn't fall on me.
BARNES: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
KONDRACKE: And he's had to cash in his intelligence chief and several generals...
BARNES: Right.
KONDRACKE: ... who are pro-Taliban. I'm sure he's being marked for assassination.
(CROSSTALK)
KONDRACKE: And the danger is, is that if the bad guys control his country, that country has nuclear weapons.
BARNES: Yes. Well, look, there's a reason, not -- I think he's right about doing the war quickly in Afghanistan, or as quickly as possible, and winning, and that is to show other countries like Syria and Iraq and others they -- who harbor and sponsor terrorists what can happen to them if they don't get on board of -- Iraq's obviously not -- and get rid of their terrorism
You know, Musharraf does not look like a tough guy. Remember General Zia (ph) now back in the '80s who was a tough...
(CROSSTALK)
KONDRACKE: ... General Zia, yes.
BARNES: ... yes, I loved General Zia, yes, he was great, I met him, he had a -- actually had a whole lunch...
KONDRACKE: Big moustache.
BARNES: ... with his, his entire cabinet, but he stood up to the communists. Musharraf is standing up to the terrorists, he really is.
Down, Al Jazeera TV.
The Arab -- the Arabic satellite news channel is a must stop for players in the war on terror, but it's quickly becoming an unfettered mouthpiece for Usama bin Laden and the al Qaeda, al Qaeda network. These guys are not great. You know, "Newsweek" said the other day that their talk shows and so on on there with all the people they have on said ranges from anti-American to virulently anti-American, and they are a mouthpiece for Usama bin Laden. If there were a similar American, like Al Jazeera, American all-news channel, it would have all the time would have Ramsey Clark on and Noam Chomsky and Edward Said, you know, these super-lefties.
KONDRACKE: Yes, but, you know what, with -- the United States needs a counter-Al Jazeera. It needs a Radio Free Arabia, a television -- with a satellite link-up to, to the, to the Arab world to broadcast the truth to the Arab world the way it used to broadcast the truth to Eastern Europe through Radio Free Europe.
BARNES: Yes, right.
KONDRACKE: I hope your friend Jesse Helms is willing to finance such a thing, because he hasn't been in the past. What I want, what I want...
(CROSSTALK)
KONDRACKE: ... is to get for them to get news, fair and balanced and unafraid, you might say.
BARNES: Mort, Mort, had you heard that Jesse Helms is not the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee any more?
KONDRACKE: He's got a vote.
BARNES: Yes, yes, why don't you give a call to Joe Biden? Isn't he the chairman?
KONDRACKE: Yes, yes, I think so.
BARNES: All right.
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