Administration Faces Mounting Criticism Over Pre-9/11 Warnings
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration's facing mounting criticism for its handling of pre-9/11 intelligence like that memo. President Bush is hoping to leave all of that behind in his wake as he embarks on a week-long trip to Europe. His goal there is to bolster the global war on terrorism. Let's check in now with our Kathleen Koch. She stands by with more, from Washington. Hello -- Kathleen.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon. For the White House's purposes, the timing of this week-long trip to Europe could not be better. As you pointed out, the White House says over the last week, it has been facing mounting amounts of criticism over its handling, the administration's handling, of these pre-9/11 terror warnings. Some believe that it is sensitivity to that that is perhaps responsible for this flurry of warnings that we have been getting in recent days that law enforcement agencies themselves say are based on unsubstantiated and uncorroborated information. Early this morning, as President Bush left the White House, he said he will be bringing up the subject of terrorism with his European counterparts.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Our alliance must remain tough in the war against global terror. That even though we've had some initial successes, there is still danger for countries which embrace freedom, countries such as ours or Germany, France, Russia, or Italy. And as an alliance, we must continue to fight against global terror. We've got to be tough.</s>KOCH: As Mr. Bush begins his visit, starting in the country of Germany, he will be met not only by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, but crowds of demonstrators who began taking to the streets of Germany on Tuesday. They are angry, among other things, about U.S. trade and environmental policies and talk about possible U.S. action against Iraq. From there, Mr. Bush heads to Russia to sign a landmark arms reduction treaty, which will slash both countries' deployed strategic nuclear warheads by two-thirds over ten years. Other stops will include France and Italy, with Mr. Bush spending Memorial Day on the beaches of Normandy, helping to honor the sacrifice of U.S. service members -- Leon.</s>HARRIS: Kathleen, one question real quickly. With all of that pending protest or whatnot, that activity, they're waiting on President Bush when he does get to Europe, is the White House indicating that he is going to be keeping a low profile once he does get over there?</s>KOCH: Not at all, Leon. President Bush will be speaking out to the German Bundestag. He'll be making public appearances. Basically, the White House philosophy on all this is that we have agreed to disagree. We can still be friends and allies while having these points that we are not quite on target with the two of us. But it is far different from years past, where an American president could be guaranteed of a very warm reception, especially in cities like Berlin.</s>HARRIS: Kathleen Koch, at the White House, thank you very much. Check back with you later.</s>KOCH: Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com Warnings>