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American Morning
Interview with Cliff May, Bob Beckel
Aired July 18, 2002 - 08:17 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan and Saudi Arabia are going to meet today later with the president at the White House. They're expected to try and get the president to soften his hard-line stand right now against Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian Authority.
In recent days, however, Secretary of State Colin Powell has made statements that made it sound a bit like the position might already be changing. Does the U.S. have a policy right now that is compatible with the rest of the world when it comes to the Middle East?
Let's talk about that with Cliff May, former communications director for the Republican Party, Bob Beckel, Democratic strategist, with us also from Washington, ready to sound off.
Gentlemen, twice in one week.
CLIFF MAY, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I know.
HEMMER: We are so lucky.
BOB BECKEL, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to be here today.
HEMMER: Listen, we have four and a half minutes for this. I want to get to three different topics, so I'm going to move you right along.
After intense questioning, Bob, the other night, Colin Powell suggested Yasser Arafat could be a figurehead. We're hearing from Palestinian leadership that maybe he could be a president to the prime minister. The prime minister does the work, the president has the position, essentially, the title.
Is this a way to get around the opposition we're hearing from corners of the world?
BECKEL: Well, it may be in some corners of the world, but it's not going to work, Bill. I mean, the fact of the matter is Yasser Arafat would be as likely to stay out of running that country, if it becomes a country, you know, as Cliff would be to register Democratic.
Arafat, if he's there, is going to have an enormous amount of influence and whoever is elected is not going to have much of a chance to rule. I think it's still a matter of getting rid of him. I just don't think that works.
HEMMER: What do you think, Cliff?
MAY: I think Bob is basically right. I think Arafat has lost his chance to be the father of any country. I think at this point it's got to be clear you don't want to reward terrorism. And for Arafat to be up there with his picture would be a mistake. Bush is right, the Europeans are wrong. If there's going to be a Palestinian state, it cannot be another terrorist-sponsoring state.
HEMMER: What about giving him a figurehead position? We see it like in countries like Germany. I think Israel has the same set up. The prime minister does the work and the president has the title. Does that not work with...
MAY: I have no problem with the concept. I have a problem with Arafat being that ceremonial leader.
HEMMER: Got it. Topic one is done.
Topic two is Operation Tips. If you listen to some, Bob, the cable guy is going to be ratting on Americans when he goes in to check your meter inside your home. Is this a bit of an overstatement when it comes to homeland security?
BECKEL: Overstatement? This is the worst idea since Dan Quayle. I mean the idea that this is supposed to be a conservative administration that when I was coming up in politics conservatives were staunch supporters of the Constitution. The idea of turning hundreds of thousands of Americans into domestic spies whose job it is to put in TV cable, I mean it's crazy.
I don't know, Ashcroft must...
HEMMER: Well, I think what they're saying is the national Neighborhood Watch program. What's bad about that?
BECKEL: Well, fine, if you want to have a watch program, watch outside my house. I'll tell you, if they allow that to go through, I don't know who's going to check my cable, but they're not coming in my house. You know what's going to happen, Bill. They're going to think they have to come up with something.
It's one thing to go in and fix your cable, it's another thing to go in and look around and play James Bond. I mean it is nuts. I mean I'm getting more and more convinced that...
HEMMER: Hey, Bob?
BECKEL: ... Ashcroft is crazy.
HEMMER: Hey, Bob?
BECKEL: Yes.
HEMMER: Spell potato. BECKEL: Potato? P-A-T-A...
HEMMER: I'm just kidding you. Cliff, is this...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: ... is this one of the ideas that is essentially taken off the table when it goes up to the Hill?
MAY: No, I certainly hope not. We are in a war situation. There are people, I've had people call me and say look, here's what I've seen. Who do I report it to? This is entirely voluntary. During WWII, we had retired men who would walk the beaches looking for enemy submarines.
The two times we have managed to thwart terrorism successfully was not because bureaucrats or law enforcement officials did. It was because Todd Beamer organized the passengers to say this plane is not going to back to Washington. It's because the flight attendant on another plane and the passengers said there's a guy lighting his sneaker, we're going to stop him.
This is about watching for signs of terrorism. And the people who have to do it, most importantly, are people in the Muslim and Arab communities of America, because that's where the terrorists are going to hide in plain sight. We need voluntary cooperation about terrorism, not about pot smoking, not about who Bob's dating, nothing like that. Just about terrorism. That's vital.
BECKEL: That would be a short discussion.
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: I wish you would walk the beach, Cliff.
HEMMER: Make it quick, Bob. I have one more comment here.
BECKEL: OK, from the, all the way up the East Coast, the idea -- that's outside, that's one thing. We're talking about going into people's houses. We constitutionally have a right to keep people out of our house unless we ask them to come in for a specific reason.
HEMMER: All right, listen...
BECKEL: This is really stepping on the constitution.
HEMMER: I want to go to the latest poll numbers in the "New York Times" saying that many Americans right now, according to this survey, apparently have some strong disagreements and have some concerns about the White House, the president's connection with big business.
Knowing everything that's out there right now, knowing Harken, knowing Halliburton, Cliff, how does the White House defend itself against this right now?
MAY: Well, looking at the poll numbers, the White House can say the good news is that about 70 percent of Americans, a huge number, approve of President Bush and almost that many think he cares about people like them. But they also, no question about it, have some vulnerability on the various business scandals, the corporate scandals that we've seen recently. They need a better communications effort on that at this point. The president's numbers are good but he has some cause for concern.
HEMMER: Got it. We've got to run. Bob, you have five seconds.
BECKEL: OK.
HEMMER: You're killing me here.
BECKEL: Sixty-six percent, that's right. He spent time in the libraries, I'm in precincts. Sixty-six percent think business has too much influence over him. That's not just a problem. That's a disaster.
MAY: Bob spends time...
HEMMER: We'll see you next week.
MAY: Bob spends time in police precincts mostly because...
BECKEL: Ain't nothing wrong with police precincts.
MAY: ... of his...
HEMMER: Cliff, thanks. Bob, thanks.
BECKEL: Really. Hey, Bill, we'll see you.
HEMMER: We've got to run. We're out of time.
BECKEL: Take care.
HEMMER: You got it. See you, pal. Here's Paula.
BECKEL: All right.
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