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CNN Live At Daybreak

What's on Tap for D.C. Today?

Aired August 23, 2002 - 06:08   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now on the phone is our Washington deputy bureau chief, Steve Redisch, with a look at what's on tap there today.
And of course, you guys in Washington have been wrestling with the West Nile virus, too.

STEVE REDISCH, CNN WASHINGTON DEPUTY BUREAU CHIEF: In fact, my mother-in-law believes that I had the West Nile virus yesterday, which is why I was out, but we'll see about that.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, that's true that there's a lot of paranoia attached to it now.

REDISCH: There is, but apparently the -- it's very rare that it gets beyond the mild form, and -- but there is definitely a scare, especially here in Washington, where it stopped testing a lot of the dead birds that they have found, because so many of them had been found to have West Nile.

COSTELLO: Yes. Let's talk about President Bush now. Do you think he expected the protests in Oregon to be as violent as they were?

REDISCH: I don't think you could expect anything like that. I know that the proposals that he had put forth regarding the forests were going to be controversial and were going to raise the hackles of the environmentalists. But to expect something like that, I don't think it's something to be expected.

COSTELLO: So he's traveling to California today. Will he talk more about the environment, or will he just concentrate on fund- raising?

REDISCH: Mostly fund-raising. He's got a few remarks to a Latino community in Santa Ana, but he's got two fund-raisers for the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bill Simon. He's got a third fund-raiser for him tomorrow morning, but after waking up in Portland today, he goes to Stockton and then Santa Ana. And then, he finishes his day at Dana Point, California, two fund-raisers and a talk to the Latino community.

COSTELLO: He's doing a lot of fund-raising for Bill Simon. Can you tell our viewers why?

REDISCH: California was lost by -- was won by Al Gore in the 2000 election. The president wants to make sure that California is in his column in 2004, and one of the best ways to do that is to get the man at the top in charge of the government in the state on his ticket.

COSTELLO: And he's obviously going after the Latino vote, too, for his own sake.

REDISCH: Exactly. And the president has had -- did have the Latino vote in many states in 2000. Shoring up California's would be politically wise for the president.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you very much for joining us, and we're glad you're feeling better and that you don't have the West Nile virus.

See you on Monday, Steve.

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