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CNN Talkback Live

Should the Bush Daughters be in Headlines?

Aired May 31, 2001 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're the president's daughters. There's an expectation you have being the daughter of the president.

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BOBBIE BATTISTA, HOST: Jenna and Barbara Bush: just college students or women with responsibilities? Less than two weeks after pleading no contest to underage drinking, Jenna is suspected of using someone else's ID to buy alcohol at this Texas restaurant. Mr. Barber was with her.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's just like every other student here. So, everyone else drinks.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's kind of stupid on her part, considering everyone knows who she is.

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BATTISTA: An anonymous 911 call alerted police to our investigating.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if she's doing this because she is the president's daughter and she thinks she can get away with it.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of sad, she getting in trouble like that. She should set an example for all the people her age.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It should be a family matter first.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the first family, it's the president's daughter, I think everything is pretty much fair game once you're in the White House.

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BATTISTA: They are game? Family matter? Are the first family's problems everybody's business?

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to TALKBACK LIVE.

The first family. Are there personal problems our problems? Or even any of our business? Let's meet our guests today. Wayne Slater is the Austin bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News.

And on the phone with us is Marshall Maher, a senior at the University of Texas at Austin. And the newly appointed editor and chief of its newspaper, "The Daily Texan."

Marshall, is this news on campus?

MARSHALL MAHER, "THE DAILY TEXAN": Well, as far as, you know, if other people are talking about it, there's not a lot of students back here from school. Summer school hasn't started up yet. So it's kind of hard to gauge the buzz on campus.

BATTISTA: Is it news for your newspaper?

MAHER: Currently it's not. We've already adopted a policy, prior -- before the Bushes even coming here, you know, Jenna is here and George P. is here as well. The previous editors adopted a policy that said we weren't going to cover these students any -- the Bushes -- any different than we would cover any other student.

And that means, you know, if we're going to start writing, you know, write-ups about every student getting caught trying to buy beer with a fake ID, we'd have no room for news in our newspaper. So, that's how we come on that. And I think we're unique in that we adopted a policy beforehand.

As far as another newspapers go, that's their prerogative, as far as we're concerned.

BATTISTA: Let's ask Wayne about that, because national newspapers and the media, Wayne, of course look at this a little bit differently. How and why do you think this story should be covered?

WAYNE SLATER, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": Incidentally, I respect Marshall for the position that his newspapers taken. Our position is different than that. It is clearly news. What it is not is big news. It is not Mideast agreement. It is not even the Spurs winning or losing the playoff. It is news, though, because it an episode involving the daughter of the president of the United States.

In this case, the episode -- in the past case, involved possible violations of state liquor laws. Now, the fact that so many kids do this, the fact that the daughters may be acting as normal teenagers do, doesn't change the fact that it is news. And that we and the news media need to report.

What we need to do I think is to report it in line with its significance. It is not a giant event. It's not a federal case. But it is a news story, I think that ought to be in newspapers and on television.

BATTISTA: Marshall, you know, she is the president's daughter. I know you guys are pretty much ignoring that in your editorial decision. How do you do that?

MAHER: Well, it's rough. The question has been posed to us. Don't you feel strange not printing anything when other newspapers are putting this on the front page? Sure, we do. But we figured this event didn't merit breaking a policy that's been put in place -- that's been in place basically for a year.

And to have someone try to buy beer with a fake ID -- pretty much, we agreed that that wasn't an offense that would merit us breaking a policy that we thought made a lot of sense when we agreed to it, and so, it is hard. And down the road, I'm sure we will get many questions. And there's lots of opinions on this. We respect that. It's just that that's the decision we came to here with all our editors and the staff here.

BATTISTA: What would merit coverage in the newspaper there at your newspaper at UT?

MAHER: That's rough. As far as the Bushes are concerned. We could bat around hypotheticals a lot. It's hard to say, you know, we don't have a completely -- we will not turn a blind eye. If a significant event happens, of course we would report it. But we figure as the event as is, this doesn't merit breaking a policy that made a lot of sense when we adopted it last year.

BATTISTA: Wayne, a know UT wants to treat her like she's just another kid. But can she really be just an average typical, college student?

SLATER: Well, she can't. I remember early on -- the fact is, she has been the daughter -- both these girls, the daughter of governor, the granddaughter of a president of the United States, and currently, they're the daughters -- and 19-year-old daughters of the president of the United States.

I remember early on where neither daughter really wanted their father to run for president, asked him not to do so, but ultimately relented. Frankly, they've never really thought very much about all the accoutrements and perks that go along, and the trappings of public life.

One time when the governor was governor here, and the cable went out at the governor's mansion, the girls tried to get him to get the cable fixed, because they couldn't watch the MTV TV awards. When he couldn't, they said, what's the good of being the governor when in fact you can't even fix the cable? So, they don't really as teenagers think this public life is all that it's cracked up to be.

BATTISTA: I have a group of college students in the audience here today and I wanted to get their take on this. Jana (ph) from New Jersey. Where do you go to school?

JANA: Emory.

BATTISTA: What do you think about all this?

JANA: I just think that maybe she was a little stupid. She knows she is in the spotlight. Maybe she should have someone else buying her alcohol, if that's what she wants to do. But, I don't think the situation is a big deal. I don't think merits major news coverage. Just, everyone does it. She's trying to be a typical college kid. It shows she has a life. She's social. She goes out. Great. She has fun. She needs to be a little smarter in the future.

BATTISTA: Robin, what do you think?

ROBIN: I agree with Jana. I also go to Emory University. And I feel like it's unfortunate for Jenna, she just wants to fit in and be a normal college student. She didn't choose to be a role model and the spotlight. I agree. I mean, she needs to be a little smarter about how she acts, knowing that the cameras are going to be on her now.

BATTISTA: Sebastian, on the other hand, you kind of feel like she should be held to a higher standard.

SEBASTIAN: Well, definitely. It's one of those things where she's the president's daughter. She was the governor of Texas' daughter before hand. So, she kind of knows that anything she does, she will be in the spotlight. And it's basically a reflection on how her parents raise her.

If she is going to go and try and buy alcohol, sure. It's a normal college thing, but she's not a normal college kid. She has Secret Service people following her around. Not every college kid has that. So, she knows it's different, and she should take that into consideration.

BATTISTA: Wayne, a lot of people have asked the question, you know, where were the Secret Service in this whole incident? And I think there's some misunderstanding as to what the role is for the Secret Service in presidential children.

SLATER: That's right. And there was some discussion about this, this morning at the White House. At the press briefing. Basically, in this particular case, as in the earlier one where Jenna Bush was involved at another Austin restaurant about a month ago, the Secret Service were outside.

The responsibility of the Secret Service, as we've been told by the White House, is to protect the physical being of the -- either the president and the president's family. Their number one goal to make sure those girls are safe. Are physically safe. Their goal primarily is not to enforce local ordinances or local laws. Obviously, there's a gray area because the Secret Service is a law enforcement business -- or a law enforcement agency.

But their primary goal is to make sure that those girls are protected and are safe.

BATTISTA: Marshall, are you concerned -- and let me know if there's any evidence on this on campus -- that there could be a bit of a frenzy in the wake of this, that even if the girl -- Jenna stays out of trouble, that there could be some members of the media or outside the mainstream media that might start to dog her on campus now?

MAHER: Sure. And that's always a concern. The probably significant question that could be raised as to, you know, the choice behind sending Jenna Bush to a large public university in Austin, which is the center of the state media. We have a lot of statewide media bureaus here. So, it's a very high profile town, as far as the media goes.

Perhaps, another school where privacy could be better respected or where she was a little bit more guarded from the spotlight might have been a better decision. But, ultimately they chose to send her here. I think that they -- you know, they must have weighed the pros and cons of this, and you know, this is one of the things that comes out of this. So, you know, it's a decision they must have thought about when it happened.

BATTISTA: Any evidence of that happening on campus, though?

MAHER: Not as of yet. I mean, you know, here at "The Daily Texan" we've gotten quite a few phone calls, but as far as, you know, camera hoards and media frenzies, we haven't had any of that as of yet, so.

BATTISTA: OK. A couple of e-mails here. "Barbara and Jenna Bush are in the limelight, like it or not," John says, "A second offense to illegally purchase and consume alcohol with a false ID in less than a month merits media attention."

Susan in Kansas says: "Leave Jenna alone. None of your children are any different. It's really none of our business. It's a family matter. And just who in the media didn't drink in college?"

Marshall, thank you very much for joining us. I'm sorry you couldn't be with us in person, but I know you got a newspaper to get out.

MAHER: Thanks, Bobbie.

BATTISTA: Thank you very much.

We will take a break here. What do you think? Should the media be covering this story? We'll talk next about media restraint and when the gloves do come off. And we will talk with the woman who developed the hands-off policy for Chelsea Clinton.

Also, let us know what you think about media coverage. Take the TALKBACK LIVE online viewer vote at cnn.com/TALKBACK, AOL keyword "CNN." And while there, read my personal note and drop us an e-mail. We'll be back.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, she's a teenager. It was kind of silly, but she should know better being that her family has been in politics all these years. She used bad judgment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, all teenagers go through different stages in life, and I think this is just one of her stages, and she will pass it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a -- they have a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) their father is in the public spotlight, so they should maintain a certain behavior, because they know they are under constant scrutiny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has to act a little more under control now that her father is the president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BATTISTA: I want to take a phone call here quickly, Vicky in Missouri. Go ahead, Vicky.

VICKY: Hi. I don't believe the girls are any better nor any less than other people their age, and I believe they should have been taught there are consequences for their wrong choosing.

BATTISTA: And you don't think they have, or -- well, I guess she's not there. She's gone.

Laticia (ph) in the audience, go ahead.

LATICIA: Hello. My response to that is I admitted earlier that I had a fake ID and I had to pay the consequences when I was caught. I had to pay a fine, and it's on my record I think as of now. And I feel that she should be held accountable for the same responsibility.

Even though she didn't choose to be in the public eye, whenever you are related to someone who is in the political eye, that's just a responsibility that you have to accept. And I mean, that's just how I feel about the situation. BATTISTA: We should mention also that the police are still investigating this incident, and no charges have been filed yet, so there is not a definitive conclusion to this story just yet.

Joining us now Michelle Cottle, senior political editor of "The New Republic" and member of CNN's "TAKE 5" and Robert George, associate editorial page editor of the "New York Post," also a member of CNN' "TAKE 5." And -- hi, good to see you, Robert, Michelle. Also on the phone with us, Lisa Caputo, former press secretary to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Michelle and Robert, let me start with you first. What is the responsible way to cover this story, Robert?

ROBERT GEORGE, "NEW YORK POST": Responsible way to cover the story? Well, I guess it's the way "The Post" put it on their front page, "Jenna and Tonic" today.

BATTISTA: You know, you got to admire the "New York Post" to come up with those.

GEORGE: Oh, absolutely. This is -- my vote actually would have been "Jenna Bush Beer," but that wasn't -- that wasn't -- that wasn't my call.

There are a couple of things here. And one of you -- somebody in the audience mentioned it. You know, Jenna, in a sense, has to realize, yes she is -- she's in the public eye. Her dad is the president. That means, you know, get a classmate to go and get the beer, or something like that and don't put yourself -- don't put yourself into that position.

And as somebody else observed too, you know, the media should pull back until you get to the point where a law is -- a law is broken, and even if it's something relatively minor as underage drinking, the media -- it's -- it's fair game for the media then to start raising some questions.

BATTISTA: Michelle?

MICHELLE COTTLE, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Well, the "Washington Post" took a little bit lower-key approach than the "New York Post." They didn't put it on the front page. They put it on the front page of the style section, and I think as Wayne Slater is pointing out, this is not hard news, but it's absolutely the kind of soft, squishy, gossipy news that Americans eat up. And of course, the media is going to go after it. There is just no question.

BATTISTA: Lisa, you were pretty much the architect of the hands- off policy that went with Chelsea Clinton. How did you manage that?

LISA CAPUTO, FORMER HILLARY CLINTON PRESS SECRETARY: Bobbie, guess it's generous that I was the architect. I was merely executing the wishes of then-president and Mrs. Clinton. And they felt very strongly that there was a zone of privacy around their daughter. And it was my job, as the press secretary of the first lady whose responsibility was to handle the press matters around the entire first family, the extended family, you know, parents, brothers, children, to enforce that.

And what we did was we drew a very hard-line in the sand. And we -- we indicated to the press and basically begged the press to respect Chelsea's privacy, that it was the wish of the family to allow her to try and lead as normal of a life as she possibly could.

And we just, you know, had a lot of back-and-forth conversations with members of the White House press corps, just really in constant dialogue, basically asking them and imploring them to step out of their shoes as reporters and into their shoes as parents, and look at this from a parents' perspective.

BATTISTA: Was there a quid pro quo involved here, in the sense that, you know, if they stepped over the line or went too far covering Chelsea Clinton that that would limit their access to the White House?

CAPUTO: Absolutely not. I mean, that's just -- that's -- there's just no possible way that ever entered into anybody's mind, nor would it. And secondly, it's just not something that is done, nor is it something that is enforceable. You would get killed.

GEORGE: You know what, I think there's also -- I think you've got kind of an interesting situation -- interesting situation that goes on here. Chelsea was about 13 or 14 when -- when the Clintons came into the White House. And so, you -- it was very clear, you know, she's their daughter, she's living in the White House, but it's off limits. Jenna and Barbara, of course, I mean, they've just gone off to college so they're in that gray area as to whether -- is it just the president's kids, or are they -- are they adults? So I think it's more of a gray area as to whether they're -- they should be...

BATTISTA: Well, you know, but Chelsea did go off to college while her parents were still in office. And, Lisa, I'm curious as to if this sort of thing had happened to Chelsea, how you guys would have handled it.

CAPUTO: Well, I think there is a point of context here that has to be realized which was just discussed, which is when Chelsea Clinton entered the White House she was 13 years old. Jenna and Barbara Bush are 18 or 19 years old. So there's a slight difference in age, certainly, in terms in where they are in their stage of life. Chelsea entering high school, the Bush daughters entering college.

And I think Chelsea Clinton had, I think, a certain -- there was probably some advantage now, looking back in hindsight, for the fact that we started this policy, sort of the respect the child's privacy, starting at the age of 13. And so there was this really quite great dialogue between the White House and the press corps around Chelsea and covering Chelsea that is really a great untold success story of the Clinton years. And a great -- I think a tribute to the media that they treated Chelsea Clinton in the way that they did, and continue, by and large, to leave her alone, to let her lead her life. And I think, sadly for the Bush daughters, they didn't have the -- perhaps the benefit of four years living in the White House and going to high school in Washington.

BATTISTA: And the governor's mansion is not quite the same.

CAPUTO: Well, but they weren't in Washington with the national press corps, you know, their father wasn't president during their high school years in Washington. So we were able to spend four years really talking to the press about this so that by the time Chelsea went to college, there was a real sort of healthy dialogue and relationship between the White House and the press corps around Chelsea.

(CROSSTALK)

BATTISTA: I'm sorry, Michelle, I have to take a quick break here. I'm pushing it. So we'll come back in just a minute and ask the question: What will the president do? If it's something that he should tell us about. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) make a public statement regarding his daughters?

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There was never a question. There was never a question about that.

QUESTION: No? Did you ask him?

FLEISCHER: It was never a question that the president might seek to do so.

QUESTION: Why not?

FLEISCHER: The president views this as a family matter, a private matter. And he will treat it as such.

QUESTION: It is a public matter. It happens to be in every newspaper in the country.

FLEISCHER: I think I've answered the question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BATTISTA: That was earlier today, when Ari Fleischer was asked about that. The president also was asked about it a little earlier today, and gave a "no comment."

Wayne, before you go, I'm not sure what the public was expecting the president to say, but do you think that he should have addressed it or been a little bit more forthcoming that just "no comment."

SLATER: Frankly, that's a decision that they have to make. They're probably playing it just about right, that this is a private conversation that the president has had with Jenna. But that doesn't change the fact that this is an issue that is news. It may not be big news, but it's something that the reporters are going to ask about, and the White House can answer in any way they want.

BATTISTA: Well, Michelle and Robert, a lot of people may look at this as an opportunity for the president -- we were talking about this with the audience -- in that you certainly could put the spotlight on one or two issues, whether it's underage drinking or whatever. Also, he is a parent, like everybody else in this country. This is a dilemma that every parent -- not every, but a lot of parents are going to face when their kids go off to college. And they might be looking to the president as to how he'll handle this, as an example.

COTTLE: Well, I've got to say, he's a parent and she's still a teenager. But she's a 19-year-old teenager. Most of the people I know, when they went off to college, they're out from under their parents' roofs for the first time. They go a little crazy. It would kind of be a mistake for Bush to try and turn this into public matter, because then that just opens him up to all sorts of questions, and the Bush campaign has usually liked to keep a tight rein on things.

But in this case, he needs to just kind of let it go. And I'm not even sure he needs to fly down there and jerk a knot in Jenna's hide for this. I mean, if there's one way to make your teenager go even crazier, it's by trying to control her too tightly.

BATTISTA: I'll tell you, Robert, Talk Radio -- I have to say -- Talk Radio is all over this, and that is the consensus with them. That, you know, that she's being selfish, and that she should be held to higher standard, and that she's being a brat, and they should rip her out of school and make a point out of her, make an example out of her. What do you think?

GEORGE: Well, you know, I don't think I'm going to quite go that far. I mean, I think there's two things. There's both a higher standard and there's a double standard. There's a higher standard in the sense, yes, she's the president's daughter, and I think, if anything, I would imagine that the president or the first lady is going to have to sit down with the daughters and say, you know, like it or not, there are going to be certain benefits that will accrue to you in your life because you are the daughter of the president of the United States, but there are also going to be certain drawbacks, and part of that is media intensity. So you're going to have to deal with that.

Now, on the flip side of that, I wouldn't be surprised -- and I can't say this for sure, and Lisa Caputo can correct me if I'm wrong, but there's probably a small possibility that Chelsea Clinton may have had a beer before she turned the age of 21. You know, there are no stories on that but it may very well have happened. And a reporter may have heard about it somewhere on -- somewhere on the grapevine.

But, you know...

(CROSSTALK)

COTTLE: Well, here, Robert, though, is where I think Chelsea had the advantage, because she had all that intense scrutiny when she was growing up, so by the time she hit college she didn't necessarily behave better, but she had the sense to do it in a less public way.

GEORGE: Michelle, I agree with you. But I think the point I was going to say was that there may very well be -- some conservatives may say there's a double standard in the sense that, you know, Chelsea was not scrutinized in quite this way. But what I would say -- I think what the Bushes have to tell their daughters is, yes, there may very well be a double standard. They may be looking at you because you're the daughter of a Republican president, to screw up. But that's also something that you're going to have to understand, and act appropriately.

BATTISTA: You know, and Lisa, the shocker may be not so much that a presidential kid got, you know, busted for underage alcohol -- maybe that Chelsea Clinton never got into trouble.

Lisa, was she always really that perfect?

CAPUTO: Well, Bobbie, I mean, as you can well imagine, as a good press secretary, I'm just not going to get into that. I'm going to continue to respect the family's wishes, and I'm going to respect Chelsea's privacy.

But I don't think it's fair to make a comparison between Chelsea Clinton and Barbara and Jenna Bush. And I don't think it's fair at all to say that Chelsea Clinton had it easier. I mean, that's just flat-out wrong. I had to sit on the front lines with my team at the White House on a daily basis trying to fend off the press and allow Chelsea to try and have some semblance of privacy.

As I said earlier, you know, the Bush daughters are at a different stage in their life than Chelsea Clinton was, but there's one central issue here, and that is this: What do first children and their activities have to do with the national interest, and what do their activities have to do with the way their father governs the country, sets the direction for the country? I think we have to take a step back as a country and look at these kids for who they are. And I don't know it's right to be singling them out as scapegoats for issues and things that kids their age are doing all across the country. I'm not sure that's right.

BATTISTA: All right, Wayne Slater and Lisa Caputo, thank you both very much for joining us today.

CAPUTO: You're welcome, Bobbie.

BATTISTA: Lots of kids have grown up in the shadow of the White House; we'll look at some of those lives. Do the sons and daughters of politicians really live like the rest of us? We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BATTISTA: OK, a couple of e-mails here. Carrie in West Virginia says: "I'm a 19-year-old who's attending college. I think that it's part of every young adult's life to make a mistake, or how else do people expect us to learn? Yes, what she did was wrong, but I think she'll learn from it."

Oops -- sorry; I'm throwing away the e-mails here.

Ed in Fountain Hills, Arizona says: "These aren't kids; they're 19 years old. You are an adult at 18. Is it against the law or not? Saying everyone does it is wrong and stupid. Use of alcohol is a very big problem in our country."

Let me go to the audience quickly here. Yes.

LARKIM: Larkim (ph).

BATTISTA: Larkim, what a pretty name. Go ahead.

LARKIM: Thank you. It's -- realistically you cannot ask two 19- year-old girls to not drink in college. It's -- no one was pressuring them to go buy beer; it was their choice. And as adults -- in that e- mail they mentioned being adults -- the question is, if "adults" encompasses voting and "adults" encompasses going to war, why can't it encompass drinking -- making it responsible earlier so you don't have problems later in life?

BATTISTA: And over here, quickly, to -- you're killing me today with the names, you guys.

Neeham (ph) from Ireland.

NEEHAM: Yes. I go to school in England -- the University of East Sanglia (ph) -- and I came over here on the exchange to LSU. And I'm not 21, but I was drinking legally for two years before I came over here and the changes are phenomenal. The difference in college students is phenomenal. You're given this responsibility to be independent when you're 18, because you go to college, and you leave home, and you're not relying on your parents for anything. And if you want to drink and it's not legal for you to do so and all of your friends are, it's very, very difficult. And peer pressure is unbelievable in these situations, especially if Jenna Bush was going through rush or some such thing.

BATTISTA: We just love to listen to her accent (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there.

All right, welcome back. Joining us now is Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a presidential historian and author of "America's First Families: An Inside View of 200 Years of Private Life in the White House."

Carl, good to see you.

CARL SFERRAZZA ANTHONY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Good to see you, Bobbie.

BATTISTA: A little perspective here -- what other past presidents have had children who have gotten into trouble?

ANTHONY: What other presidents have had children that haven't gotten into trouble would probably be an easier way of answering that question.

You know, you could go back 125 years to Allen Arthur, the freshmen Princeton student and son of President Chester Arthur, who used to take the train down from New Jersey at midnight and arrive in Washington in the wee hours of the morning to go to a party, who was once found swimming in the buff in the south fountain in the front lawn -- I should say the back lawn of the White House with the prince of Siam, and the local police were about to arrest him until they realized he was the president's son and, technically, that was his home.

You know, Alice Roosevelt became this nation's -- one of this nation's, really, first celebrities for all of the wild deeds that she did -- smoking cigarettes on the roof of the White House when her father said, I will not allow you to smoke under this roof. Jumping into pools fully gowned. Going on -- dancing on top of cars in Newport, speeding down the East Coast. You know -- and then complaining that champagne was not being served at her debutante party. Teddy Roosevelt said, I could do one of two things: I can either run the country or control Alice, but I cannot do both.

BATTISTA: You know, that does lead to the question, though, whether or not the kids of presidents can have -- everybody be wants Jenna and Barbara to have a normal life, but they're the president's daughters and that may not be in the cards for them. I mean, history has sort of spelled that out, too, as well, hasn't it?

ANTHONY: Well, I think there's the ideal and the reality. Yes, the reality is, simply because of who their father is -- I mean, they wouldn't have Secret Service protection, to begin with, if they were just normal, everyday kinds of teenagers. But the simple -- virtue of the fact that they're they are related to the president puts them in a different position.

On the other hand, I will say this: Things have gotten much better in the last years under the Bush -- first Bush administration when George W. Bush, the current president, and his brothers and sister made a very concerted effort to kind of not be public figures and -- at least during his term, his four years -- and really not take on a public role, I should say, since George W. did own the baseball team.

And then Chelsea Clinton and her parents did not try and have it both ways, and George W. and Laura Bush have not had -- tried to have it both ways, either -- meaning they haven't used the children for political purposes. They haven't been used in, you know, ads or, you know, literature and so forth.

And so, they really have toed the line in terms of saying, our children are truly a part of our private life.

BATTISTA: So, that in a sense, Robert and Michelle, the fact that they haven't tried to have it both ways really does hold the media at bay, wouldn't you say, to some degree?

GEORGE: Well, I might disagree slightly with Carl in that the Clintons didn't use Chelsea in certain ways politically. I mean, I can remember after the -- during the whole Monica and impeachment mess, you had some of these strategically placed appearances where Chelsea would be walking in between Hillary and Bill Clinton. And you know -- and when they went off to Martha's Vineyard, you know, she would, in a sense, be almost acting as a semi-hostess. I mean, in a sense, I thought that...

COTTLE: That's true, but that was really late in the game.

GEORGE: I know that was late in the game.

(CROSSTALK)

GEORGE: ... but it still applies.

ANTHONY: One important thing, though, when you are thinking about that -- just one quick thing: when you are thinking about that, about here they are, these three people going on a vacation or arriving at a place, just think of a regular family also.

Wouldn't it have been more abnormal to say, OK, Chelsea, you get in helicopter first and wait there, so it doesn't seem like we are using you? Or you allow your parents to go in the helicopter first, once they are on, then you run around on the other end, so you are not seen with your parents?

BATTISTA: I got to take a quick break here, as we do a couple of e-mails. Axel (ph) says: "Being European, I never fully understood why the legal drinking needs to be as high as 21, but having said, it's the law here and it doesn't reflect too well on the Bush twins, and thus their father, to break the law when they should be fully aware they will get caught and media attention will center around them."

Kelly says: "It is the Republicans and Mr. Bush himself that made such a big deal out of bringing character and integrity back to the White House after the Clinton years. They shouldn't just be held to a higher standard because they are president's daughters, they should be held to a higher standard because it's their parents that made it an issue in the first place."

We'll be back in just a moment.

The first child to live in the White House was the 4-year-old granddaughter of John and Abigail Adams. The only child born to the president in the White House was Grover Cleveland's daughter Esther. Jacqueline Kennedy established a kindergarten at home so that John Jr. and Caroline could play with children their age.

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BATTISTA: On the phone with us from Alabama is Jeff. Go ahead, Jeff.

JEFF: Hi. I believe this is news, but it's not TV and newspaper news. I believe it shows me and you that the president's kids are the same kids that me and you have brought up, and I believe that we need to remember that this is a problem that the president has to handle as a father, not as a president. He can't set policy for his children.

And I believe that when we elected president, we elected President Bush, not his daughters. I believe the newspapers, some went overboard and some have kept it in good perspective, but I also believe that the girls themselves are not innocent, and I believe they show a lack of respect for their father, but not a lack of good raising.

BATTISTA: And that is what we are attempting to do here today, is to put it in some context. We have not spoken to any parents from the audience. I want to go to Marcia (ph) quickly, go ahead.

MARCIA: Hi. I just wanted to share my thoughts. It's obviously has become news, and my concern now is how we are dealing with our opinion of Jenna, and how we should leave her alone and just let her be a normal college kid. This is normal college behavior, and my concern is as a high school -- as a parent of a high school student is, I don't want my 16-year-old daughter to believe that this is normal college behavior, and that is what she is going to look forward to in college.

BATTISTA: Michelle and Robert, when -- well, when does this story go to far and when does it end?

COTTLE: Well, the story is going to pop up every time something happens like that. It popped up when Jenna dispatched the Secret Service to get her boyfriend out of lockup for having been caught drinking. It popped up two weeks ago. It is going to keep happening.

As far as when it goes too far, you know, that's -- the more times she does this, the more extreme the coverage is going to get, because she is going to get a reputation as a party girl. So, this is pretty much as good as it is going to get for her.

GEORGE: Yeah, I have to -- I agree with Michelle. I think that, you know, after a while, you get sort of a -- the media loves like a contextual storyline, and when you have to the Secret Service picking up a friend from jail because they were out partying, plus the previous incidents, plus this one, you start seeing a string -- you start seeing a string going on, and it just expands.

What I would say is, if it's something that is happening in a public sector, like they are actually going out to buy beer or something, then sure, it's definitely fair game. But I would say, if -- if, for example, she ends up drinking on college campus, you know, amongst friends or something, and somebody is taping this or something like that, I think that's unfair. I mean, I think that's definitely -- that's definitely crossing -- that's definitely crossing a line.

But if obviously, if they are going out in public, in public settings, it's definitely a legitimate story.

BATTISTA: Reynaldo (ph) on the phone with us, a student in Illinois, go ahead. REYNALDO: I just think this whole thing is ridiculous. You know, everyone talks about giving president's daughter a normal life, but the second she does something like a normal college student, we jump all over it.

BATTISTA: Well, I guess that's the point. She -- as we were saying earlier, Carl, you really can't have a normal life if your parents particularly have been in the public eye since almost the beginning.

ANTHONY: Yeah, I think it's an ideal, but it's very unrealistic. And I think, you know, according to reports from year and a half ago that Governor Bush really had some resistance within his family from his daughters about his running for president simply because of just these sort of concerns, that their own lives would be overshadows in either way.

You know, whether they went on dates or whether they did charity work, or whether they became nuns, you know, or whether they got straight A's, or whether they bought beer. Whatever it was that they did would become amusing, or it would be used politically against them -- their father, or politically for their father. It would just become public knowledge.

BATTISTA: I'm guessing, too, that he to have been sympathetic to their concerns, because didn't he commission some sort of private study when his father was elected about presidential children?

ANTHONY: Yes, he did. And you know, the end result really is it's a difficult life. And really, yeah, sure, there's a lot of great privileges, but being able to sort of grow and make mistakes -- I mean, Jackie Kennedy, for example, was very concerned that the Secret Service not prevent her little children from getting into fights, because then the children wouldn't learn how to defend themselves. Betty Ford made her sons learn how to cook their own breakfast, and Susan Ford, make her own bed. We don't think about these things, but there are certain little things along the lines of personal maturity and development that some of these kids miss out on.

BATTISTA: We have to take a quick break. We'll be back in just a moment.

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BATTISTA: I don't think it's quite a mountain. I think kind of still in the mole hill stage. A couple of e-mails: Carol in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, says: "As soon as I saw this I felt sorry for Jenna Bush. My father was a public figure and I remember acting out just like her just to establish my own identity and space."

And from Takoma Park, Maryland, "From Amy Carter's braces to John F. Kennedy's love life, the media has always reported on the most mundane and spectacular details of the lives of the kids of the presidents."

Vicki in the audience, go ahead. VICKI: Hi, I'm an attorney, and I would like -- I kind of hope Jenna is watching, in a way. I think there are some things she ought to be aware of. It could get real, real fast. In some states, on the third misdemeanor charge, the judge has the discretion to charge that either as a misdemeanor or as a felony, and that's called a wobbler because the judge can charge it either way.

BATTISTA: I'm guessing she's finding out this information as we speak. But, Vicki, thanks very much. Quick look at poll, the question today was: Do you think the media should be covering the story?

Fifty-five percent say yes, 45 percent say no. Robert and Michelle, thank you both very much for joining us, and Carl Anthony, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

We'll see you again tomorrow at 3:00 Eastern for more TALKBACK LIVE. "Free-For-All Friday!"

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