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American Morning
Michael Kramer and Rich Lowry Review 2001 and Peak at 2002
Aired January 01, 2002 - 08:44 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Looking back at the big stories of 2001, it is hard to predict what might be ahead in 2002. At a reporter's round table recently, CNN's Paula Zahn talked with her guests about how the past might influence the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Looking back on the year, it's pretty easy to determine what the big story was, easy, but painful at the same time. The searing memories of September 11, that story will shape the century ahead. But what about the year to come, what will 2002 bring?
Well joining me now for a look ahead and a look back, Michael Kramer, columnist for the "New York Daily News," and Rich Lowry, editor of the "National Review." Thanks for joining us.
RICH LOWRY, "NATIONAL REVIEW": Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: So before we jump ahead to 2002, let's quickly reflect on the beginning of 2001...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
ZAHN: ... and what all of us have covered over the last year. Inauguration day, many doubts that the president could lead a divided country after a nasty election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
ZAHN: Some quick thoughts on that, Michael.
MICHAEL KRAMER, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well it was -- it was incredible. And I thought if we had a really lesser version of the father in the son. Al Gore was keeping his powder dry, but everybody else on the Democratic side of the aisle was calling him illegitimate. His first speeches and forays didn't seem to go down very well. He seemed small. He's not a small man in physical stature, but he seemed small, not up to the job. And I think a lot of us wondered whether he ever would get up to speed, and I think he basically didn't until events, you know, smacked him in the face.
ZAHN: Many say the defining moment for the president not only were the terrorist attacks on September 11 but the day he made his speech to the joint session of Congress.
LOWRY: Well, you know...
ZAHN: Was that a defining moment? Was that the day he became president?
LOWRY: No, you know I would put the date -- the defining moment slightly earlier. I think it's when he came up here to New York and went down to ground zero and mingled with those firefighters, slung his arm around one old guy, stood on the top of a crushed fire truck and took a bullhorn and gave an impromptu little talk that was just fantastic and moving and is the close -- closest Bush will ever come to giving a St. Crispin's Day speech. That was when I realized he realizes what this is about. And I think the emotion he had from that moment and the seriousness carried through to that joint speech to -- the speech to the joint session of Congress and everything he's done since.
KRAMER: The ad lib was really extraordinary on that day when he said, you know, "and the rest of the world will hear you soon" was just, you know, off the top of his head and really quite remarkable. But that speech -- I still think the congressional speech, the speech to the joint session was just extraordinary. We hadn't heard a speech like that in a long, long time. Bill Clinton is a great orator. You know other presidents have been, he is not. So he exceeded expectations, which, of course, is a big deal in the political business. But he stroked -- struck the right notes, and he seemed to have found a voice that was uniquely his, not just a president at war voice, but a George W. Bush at war voice.
LOWRY: There's almost a messianic feel you get from Bush on this war. You know part of the doubts about him initially was about his seriousness, does he really take this job seriously, does he really want to be there? All during the campaign he would -- he would say, oh I'll be happy to go home and sleep on my own pillow and play with my stray cat, Ernie, if it comes to that. And some of that's just a political pose, but some of it seemed a little too -- he seemed too sincere about it. And this incident just, I think, gave him a clear sense of purpose, and he thinks maybe God selected him to do this,...
KRAMER: But he also...
LOWRY: ... although you'd never say that out loud.
KRAMER: He also lucked out a little bit in the sense that this is a very black and white issue. There are no, you know,...
LOWRY: Sure.
KRAMER: There's no shade of gray here like there have been in other conflicts.
ZAHN: Contrast this with the insanity of our coverage of Gary Condit...
KRAMER: Who? ZAHN: ... earlier in the year...
KRAMER: Gary who?
ZAHN: ... and the shark madness that you saw on every cable news operation.
LOWRY: You had to -- you had to fill the air.
ZAHN: What do we learn from that?
LOWRY: Well you had...
ZAHN: The Gary Condit saga.
LOWRY: You had to fill the air with something. And you know it was -- it -- a story that had some...
ZAHN: It was embarrassing.
LOWRY: Well it's a story that had some marginal legitimacy. But you know the funny thing is you knew on September 12 Gary Condit was walking somewhere with his jacket slung over his shoulder and no one was paying any attention.
KRAMER: Which is lucky because now he's running again, right?
ZAHN: And no one is...
KRAMER: I mean he's...
ZAHN: And still no one is paying attention.
KRAMER: He's a victor. He's the only clear victor so far in this war is he's going out there and running again. No, I think it was shameful. I think we clearly overdid it. Everybody, the tabloids especially. I mean we had a field day with it. I think ours was a little less obnoxious than others, but it was pretty bad.
ZAHN: Now that this country has discovered new heroes in the wake of September 11, how does this shape our coverage going into the next year? Will we do a lot of Britney Spears? I know we're not going to do that here on this show, but are we going to continue to see those stories...
LOWRY: Well the media -- when we...
ZAHN: ... and the fascination with pop culture?
LOWRY: We talk about Bush rising to the occasion and having a new sense of seriousness, that's really true of the media as well. And just beginning that morning of September 11, I thought the TV coverage was just fantastic and everyone rose to the occasion, and that's pretty much followed through. I mean the coverage has been quite substantive and generally unobjectionable. I just think what you're talking about with heroes that will be -- that already is the most important cultural trend of this country and that will carry through into the New Year. And especially...
ZAHN: It seems frivolous for people to talk about movie stars now and what they're wearing and what they're talking about, their latest project.
KRAMER: It does, but I think you know the jury is still out in the sense that as the war enters this phase where nothing seems to be happening or we're the cave to cave phase, if you will, and there are no big strikes, and in fact there's a lot of upset about the fact that this thing has gone on as long as it has and bin Laden seems to have disappeared, there's an opportunity, I think, and many media will fill it, to rush back, so to speak, to the -- to the stuff that we're all...
(CROSSTALK)
KRAMER: ... offended by.
ZAHN: The bottom line is, Rich, and he's on to a point here, but you still have to sell magazines, you still have to sell newspapers and you still have to sell advertising time on television programs.
LOWRY: But...
ZAHN: What's going to bring them in?
LOWRY: But I think you're on to something. You know the sex symbol of the new culture here in America is Don Rumsfeld rather than Britney Spears. And we have a piece in the latest "National Review" that says he should be called sex death rather than sec death because you have women all over America falling in love with him and that's because I think there's a new ideal of manliness and manly behavior that Rumsfeld and that kind of guy really fits. The firefighter, Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, I'd throw him in there too, type.
KRAMER: We're (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ZAHN: Final thought on what you're going to be covering or want to cover in 2002?
KRAMER: The war. I think that the continuation of this effort is going to be fascinating and require all of our skill because it's going to be less sexy, it's going to have less dramatic episodes, but it's going to be even more vital both in Afghanistan, outside of Afghanistan and the continuing search for Mullah Omar and bin Laden, and then onward into Iraq or Somalia or wherever else it's determined that you have to go to actually win this war against terrorism. So I think it's going to become very tricky and much harder to do because it is booby (ph) less sexier perceived as such and as the country kind of settles down. And on the other hand, you know one more incident here, and it'll ratchet up again.
ZAHN: Sure. Well we are committed to covering this story, as you know, here on this broadcast, and we look forward to having both of your insights.
Michael Kramer, Rich Lowry, thanks for your time.
LOWRY: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: Have a good rest of the holiday.
KRAMER: Thanks (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
LOWRY: You too.
ZAHN: And thanks for looking back and ahead for us this morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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