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American Morning

Media: Unpatriotic, or Timid?

Aired May 20, 2002 - 08:25   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: Are the media being unpatriotic in questioning the White House on terrorism or are they just too afraid to ask enough tough questions? The heat has been on the Bush administration since the news that they had been warned about possible al Qaeda hijackings before the September 11 attacks. And last week Vice President Dick Cheney cautioned Democrats about using the news to play politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Basically what I want to say to my Democratic friends in the Congress is that they need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions, as were made by some today, that the White House had advance information that would have prevented the tragic attacks of 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And joining us now is William Bennett, CNN contributor and author of "Why We Fight."

Happy Monday morning to you, Bill.

WILLIAM BENNETT, EMPOWER AMERICA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: I wanted to start off this morning by reviewing a little bit of what CBS anchor Dan Rather told BBC's "News Night." We're going to put up on the screen a small part of that conversation he had when he talked about essentially the war on terrorism and how journalists have handled the Bush administration with kid gloves for fear of being considered unpatriotic.

And here's what he told them: "It starts with a feeling of patriotism within one's self. It carries through with a certain knowledge that the country as a whole, and for all the right reasons, felt and continues to feel the surge of patriotism within themselves and then one finds one's self saying I know the right question, but you know what? That is not exactly the right time to ask."

And then, Bill, he goes on to say, "However, it is unpatriotic not to stand up, look them in the eye and ask the questions they don't want to hear, they being those who have a responsibility, the ultimate responsibility of sending our sons and daughters, our husbands, wives, our blood to face death."

Doesn't he have a point there?

BENNETT: I don't think so. Get a hold of yourself, Dan. I mean it is not unpatriotic to ask tough questions. If I may, Paula, you've asked tough questions. Wolf Blitzer has been asking tough questions. Tim Russert asks tough questions. Many people ask tough questions.

I'm a conservative Republican, and I've asked some tough questions.

James Madison said of patriotism we should be loving critics of our country. How it's done, done with respect, done not with the aim of scoring points, but with getting information.

Later on -- I think the really offensive part of what Rather said, Paula, was he said, you know, you feel that if you do ask such a question you're going to get the political equivalent of necklacing, you know, that horrible practice in South Africa. You will be necklaced. By whom? The political powers of the administration. And that's totally ridiculous. I mean I think the way I...

ZAHN: But wouldn't that mean, though...

BENNETT: Yes?

ZAHN: I mean that's interpreting that on a very literal level. But I think you and I both know that when you're a reporter and you do a particularly hard -- of course, none of us have access to the president one-on-one, but if you were to do a particularly hard hitting interview with the president and ask the kinds of questions Dan is talking about, you would become a persons non grata, wouldn't you? You're not going to, you wouldn't be the next one up in the rotation for that interview.

BENNETT: You might not, but you might also gain a lot of respect from people who -- if you were fair, asked the right questions and the tough questions. And, you know, your job is not to be popular, as you know. Your job is to provide the news to the people.

Look, it's odd for Rather to say people aren't asking tough questions when, you know, the Democrats last week were asking tough questions, some of them, I think, inappropriately. But certainly tough questions were asked. There was some backing down over the weekend on the part of the Democrats, which I think was also appropriate, because the tone was wrong.

But this is a time in which we should ask questions. Your questions in the last segment were tough and strong and good, and I think that's appropriate. And I think we need more of these questions.

Look, I'm very loyal to the president. I voted for him. But I actually believe we need this independent commission to look into this 9/11 and the warnings about 9/11, if there were, because I don't think the congressional committee will do it. I think the political nature of that committee and the tendentiousness in that committee -- the paper reports that this morning -- things are flying in all directions. You don't want a food fight about this. You want exactly these kind of serious and tough questions. I think the administration is well advised to look to an independent commission.

If I may pick up on something you said...

ZAHN: But, before that...

BENNETT: Yes?

ZAHN: Bill, before you go any further, but then don't you get this chorus of you're second guessing us? I mean even Senator Shelby, who was just a guest on the show, was kind of taking to task by the "Wall Street Journal" this morning for making so many appearances on news shows where he has been critical of the administration. He is obviously a key supporter of the president. He told me here this morning that he raised, you know, close to $3 million for the president in his home district.

BENNETT: Right. Well, you know, such...

ZAHN: He's taken some heat for taking on the president, isn't he?

BENNETT: Sure. I've criticized the president and taken some heat. And I've also defended him. And, by the way, your point this morning that the president apparently has stepped forward and was the one who asked for this internal threat assessment is to the president's credit, another reason why we want this commission.

But, you know, to be is to be misunderstood and to be in public life is to be misunderstood in part of that public life. That's the heat and that's the kitchen. But remember what we're talking about. We're talking about the security of the United States, the first object of government. And if this makes some people uncomfortable to talk about or ask the tough question, then they should find another profession. There is nothing more fundamental than this. The administration will survive criticism. I think it's a very good administration. I think President Bush was ahead of the curve, my guess, on this.

But let's have a good, tough, independent inquiry with independent and tough questions and let the chips fall where they may. That's what I believe this country and the first amendment are about.

ZAHN: And where those chips might fall is probably evidenced in the new "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News poll, which basically said Americans, by a margin of 58 to 31 percent, are satisfied with the measures the Bush administration took pre-September 11. So we will count on you in the days to come to keep us posted on how the public continues to react to this big debate going on in Washington.

Bill Bennett, as always, thank you for joining us. BENNETT: OK, I will...

ZAHN: Carry on.

BENNETT: I will have tough questions for everybody, how's that? Fair enough?

ZAHN: That is being fair and balanced, isn't it?

BENNETT: Thank you. That's what we do. Thank you.

ZAHN: Take care.

BENNETT: Good-bye.

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