Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Interview with Dick Morris, Author of "Power Plays"
Aired April 18, 2002 - 07:39 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In politics, it seems, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That is the message from former Clinton political adviser, Dick Morris, in his new book, "Power Plays," which examine how some of history's greatest leaders have played the political game.
And Dick Morris joins us now to talk about his book and the current president's political strategy -- good morning -- great to see you.
DICK MORRIS, AUTHOR, "POWER PLAYS": Good morning. But before we do that, it's good to be back with you again. I haven't seen you since you migrated.
ZAHN: Migrated. It's been a very positive migration, I might add.
MORRIS: Good, good...
ZAHN: Delighted to be here at CNN.
MORRIS: ... for both you and your recipient.
ZAHN: Thank you, thank you. Let's talk a little bit about the strategies you talk about in your book as it relates to President Bush's Mideast policy now. You pick up the papers this morning, and they are filled with editorials about the president's legitimacy being on the line right now, particularly as Colin Powell comes home without a cease-fire.
MORRIS: But, look, I don't buy that. I think that this was a diversion, a distraction. I think that Bush had to send Powell, because he had to persuade the Europeans he was doing something, and I think basically his message yesterday was now we're back on track. We're going after Iraq. I think though...
ZAHN: Now, wait, wait. Somehow I missed that message of what the president said, because he called Powell's mission a success.
MORRIS: Yes, I know. You have to do that.
ZAHN: But he didn't talk directly about Iraq...
MORRIS: Yes. He... ZAHN: ... from everything I...
MORRIS: Oh, yes, he did, axis of evil, he named Iraq by name. He said we're coming after you. And the basic purpose of that speech, I think, was the king is dead, long live the king. I think that that marked a departure from the Middle East phase, that little interlude in the Bush administration. And I think he basically is saying Iraq is our problem.
And that's one of the key lessons that I tried to draw from history, that Churchill and Roosevelt always kept their eye on the ball. They always kept their eye on what they needed to do. And Bush is really doing that, and he is keeping the American people posted. He is telling them this is a long war. There are going to be long casualties. He is always telling us the truth. And I think he is essentially doing a very, very good job of avoiding the kind of self- delusion that led Lyndon Johnson astray.
ZAHN: But given the sentiments of Arab leaders all over the world, how does President Bush carry forward on Iraq when no one can even get a cease-fire in the Middle East?
MORRIS: Look, I don't think that -- I think Iraq is our problem, and the Israel-Palestinian affair is Israel's problem, and to some extent Europe's. The United States' big problem is that there is a guy in a laboratory in Iraq, who is making a bomb for New York City. And I put it in that very stark term, and we have to get him before he gets us.
And I believe that the Israeli-Arab thing was deliberately cooked up by the Arabs as a way of diverting the United States, as a way of trying to siphon some of the energy to that situation, and by the western Europeans, who are not very concerned about the Middle East. They are concerned about Paris, London and Rome, where they have these huge Arab populations.
ZAHN: I'm not following your reasoning, because the intifada was going on long before...
MORRIS: Yes, but it was juiced...
ZAHN: ... the September 11 problem.
MORRIS: Yes, but it was juiced up in the post -- the suicide bombing took place in the last four or five months, the suicide bombing, which really got this moving as post-9/11. And the reason the Europeans are this focused on resolving the situation in the Middle East is basically a domestic issue for them. You know, the second largest religion in Sweden is Islam.
They are basically scared of their own domestic Arab populations. They are worried that the Middle East is going to spread to Europe as it is with the anti-Semitism now. And I think that they basically told Bush, hey, put some water on this fire, before we help you out with yours. And Bush, I think, cut that deal with them on a relatively short-term basis, and now I think he's back in business doing what he needs to do.
And that's what is so admirable about Bush. He's like a compass. He points north. And in the "Power Plays" book, I talk about the importance of keeping that internal gyroscope and compass set where it needs to go.
ZAHN: OK. You think the compass might be set where it needs to go, but nevertheless, you've got people like Bill Bennett and a number of conservatives out there saying the president has completely alienated his base.
MORRIS: Hey, the president...
ZAHN: And that Israel not withdrawing immediately, they render the president impotent.
MORRIS: Paula, at 82 percent approval, you're not impotent, and at 20 percent you might be.
ZAHN: But the Israelis aren't out of those West Bank towns...
MORRIS: Yes, so you...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: ... in Bethlehem.
MORRIS: So you can't make a democracy do what it doesn't want to do. I believe that the solution to the Middle East is fairly clear, and I think it's moving in that direction. I think after this incursion, the Israelis will understand that offensive military action doesn't work. And the United States and Western Europe have to get that peace for land is a charade. Those fanatics are not going to be appeased by a real estate deal.
In the last analysis, Israel has to withdraw to secure borders and fortify them with a wall, which is essentially what Barak and Clinton came to in the last couple of months of the Clinton administration, and I think that that's about to happen. But while that's going on, let us understand in the United States that our priority is not the West Bank. Our priority is Baghdad.
ZAHN: Final thought on what chapter of this book President Bush will be reading of "Power Plays," because you studied what FDR did, what Lyndon Johnson did...
MORRIS: The Most important...
ZAHN: ... what Ronald Reagan did, or Winston Churchill has done in times of crisis.
MORRIS: The most important chapter in this book for him is "Stand on Principle." I analyzed Reagan, De Gaulle, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. And I came to the conclusion that all of them stood on principle and succeeded by morphing their conservative or other ideologies into a national and patriotic framework that everybody could access. Lincoln went from being an abolitionist to being a unionist, Reagan from a conservative to being an optimist, "morning again in America," Churchill from being an advocate of the British empire to the defender of civilization. And Bush needs to understand the patriotic and nationalistic context of the stand in the war on terror. But right now...
ZAHN: So you're saying he doesn't have morph into anything.
MORRIS: Right now, he is doing a great job. He has a date with Mount Rushmore right now.
ZAHN: Are you working for him?
MORRIS: No. I wish...
ZAHN: Would you like to be?
MORRIS: I wish I could claim credit for all that he had done.
ZAHN: Right now, are you working for more Democrats or Republicans?
MORRIS: I am working for people abroad. I don't do domestic graces. But if you're asking who I am rooting for, right now I'm rooting for President Bush, not because I'm a Democrat or a Republican, but because I'm an American. And we are all at warm and he is our commander in chief.
ZAHN: Dick Morris, delighted to talk with you about your latest book, "Power Plays."
MORRIS: It's good to be here.
ZAHN: You said it's what, in the top 20 of Amazon or close to about 30?
MORRIS: Yes, yes.
ZAHN: Congratulations. Nice shot of you. You look so serious on that jacket.
MORRIS: Absolutely. It's better looking than I am. You know, Amazon isn't a jungle anymore. It's an on-line book buying service.
ZAHN: Thanks, Dick -- come back and see us soon.
MORRIS: Thank you, I will.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
