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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/politics/13DECI.html?tntemail1

An Interview With Bush Made News in Advance

By JIM RUTENBERG

he president's comments on ABC News on Wednesday that he would offer voluntary smallpox vaccinations to the public caught senior health officials by surprise and seemed to get ahead of an announcement planned for today, a rare occasion for a White House that sticks closely to its playbook.

The administration's plans to defend against a possible smallpox attack by terrorists or hostile governments had been tightly held as officials debated how aggressively to proceed with the potentially dangerous vaccine.

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The president spoke in an interview that was intended for tonight's edition of the ABC program "20/20" and included his wife, Laura.

In the interview, Barbara Walters asked the president if he believed that all Americans should receive smallpox vaccinations. The president responded by saying, "I think it ought to be a voluntary plan."

That was the first time Mr. Bush had offered such a definitive opinion on the issue. After the interview, White House officials called ABC News to find out whether it was still planning to hold the interview for "20/20," officials at the White House and ABC said.

With no rules dictating when it could show the interview, ABC News responded that the president had made news and that it intended to broadcast an excerpt that night. More of the interview will be shown on "20/20" tonight.

"We made the decision to go with it because the president made news in his interview, " said Jeffrey Schneider, an ABC News spokesman.

Another ABC News executive said that the White House had not put up a fight and that White House officials had not put restrictions beforehand on when the interview could be shown. A White House official said that the administration accepted the decision and that ABC News was "professional in every way, shape and form."

The president's comments were shown on "World News Tonight" at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time and prompted other national news outlets to follow the report. In the process, administration officials released other details of the smallpox plan.

White House officials denied that the president had gotten ahead of the administration's planned announcement, saying he was the one who decided how and when information was dispersed.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary, said that the president had known the subject of smallpox vaccines was likely to come up in the interview and that he had simply answered Ms. Walters's question.

Mr. Fleischer said he did not think the interview would dilute news coverage of today's announcement of the nation's smallpox plans. "I don't think people are going to fail to cover the president's remarks," he said.

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
 

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