Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/mcclellans-account-of-white-house-sparks-uproar Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Former White House press spokesman Scott McClellan released a book giving his take on the policies and practices of the White House, leading to stormy reactions from some current and retired staff. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: The storm over an insider's look at the Bush White House. Jeffrey Brown has our report.GEORGE W. BUSH, president of the United States: One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas, talking about the good, old days of his time as the press secretary. JEFFREY BROWN: That was then. This is now.SCOTT MCCLELLAN, former White House press secretary: I look forward to doing some interviews tomorrow. JEFFREY BROWN: Scott McClellan, one of President Bush's longest-serving aides, including three years as White House press secretary, is now promoting a new book packed with harsh words for the president and his administration.The memoir is titled, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception."McClellan claims the administration veered terribly off course and took a permanent campaign approach to governing at the expense of candor and competence.He calls Iraq an unnecessary war and says the White House shaded the truth and used propaganda to sell it to the American public.This is not the way McClellan himself once spoke from the White House Press Room podium. SCOTT MCCLELLAN: We knew that Saddam Hussein had weapons. We knew that he had used weapons on his own people, as well as his neighbors. We knew that he had weapons programs. That was one part of the mountain of intelligence that we had for confronting this threat, and we stand by it. JEFFREY BROWN: This morning on NBC's "Today" show, McClellan had this to say. SCOTT MCCLELLAN: I gave them the benefit of the doubt. And looking back on it and reflecting on it now, I don't think I should have. JEFFREY BROWN: As for how the war was presented to the public, McClellan added this. SCOTT MCCLELLAN: As we accelerated the buildup to the war, the information that we were talking about became a little more certain than it was. The caveats were dropped. That made it sound like the threat was more urgent and more grave and gathering than it really turned out to be.