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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talk with WRVA Radio's Jimmy Barrett

Aired November 07, 2002 - 05:37   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We're doing the Talk of CNN, I think.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I guess we're at about that time.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: Jimmy Barrett from WRVA.

COSTELLO: Hello, Jimmy? Are you there?

MYERS: Oh, he just has to see us coming up there.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO CORRESPONDENT: How are you doing?

COSTELLO: Oh, good.

MYERS: There you go. Buddy, how you doing?

BARRETT: I'm doing very well. We've got computer problems again, don't we?

COSTELLO: Oh, well, you know how it goes.

MYERS: Oh, I looked at you yesterday and you were on there.

BARRETT: Hey come on, feed the squirrels, people.

COSTELLO: Feed the squirrels.

BARRETT: Feed the gerbil. Let's get the power going on this. It's a little old.

MYERS: If you don't know, sometimes we have a little Web cam of Jimmy from up there in Richmond. He shows us papers and whatever.

COSTELLO: Yes, but now we just have that beautiful picture of you, and we love that, Jimmy.

Hey, let's talk about the election because there were issues in Virginia, tax issues that did not hold any sway at all with the voters.

BARRETT: Well, here's the big issue. The big issue was transportation. Virginian voters proved a couple of things, I think, on Tuesday. First of all, they proved that they're more than willing to borrow money at a low interest rate in order to build more classrooms for colleges and for universities and they're more than willing to, again, borrow money at a low interest rate in order to expand and preserve park land and for recreational opportunities for the Commonwealth. But they're not interested in spending more money in order to build bigger roads, not even in northern Virginia, where the commute is just hellacious...

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

BARRETT: In Hampton Roads, where it isn't a whole lot better.

COSTELLO: Well, aren't voters concerned about urban sprawl and they're upset at their government leaders for allowing the sprawl to go on? So they're not going to pay any more taxes for bigger roads until they control it.

BARRETT: I think what you had is you had the dynamic of two rather unique forces sort of joining together -- the environmentalists, who you're alluding to there -- they're very concerned about issues such as urban sprawl -- and the anti-tax coalition, the people that just don't want to see any higher taxes no matter what.

So I took a little poll of my own here, my own little Web poll. It's not scientific, I'd be the first to tell you that. But basically I gave our people three choices. The first choice, read my lips, no new taxes. Fifty-nine percent said it was just we don't want to pay any more in taxes or they think that's why it didn't pass. VDOT can find the money if it wants to, 18 percent. The rest said our roads are not that bad to begin with. And I count, those are the 24 percent, I think, of Richmonders who don't see these huge traffic problems.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, the economy kind of stinks right now, Jimmy. People don't want to pay any more taxes. They're struggling as it is.

BARRETT: I have a solution.

COSTELLO: OK, what?

BARRETT: Here's the problem. I think people get frustrated. And certainly when I was in Michigan that was the case. People get frustrated with repaving the same roads over and over and over again. Why don't we spend a little more money and build roads -- it can be done, they do it in Europe -- that last easily 25 or 30 years?

COSTELLO: Well...

MYERS: Well, there are other issues in Michigan, Jimmy, too. I mean I lived on those same roads, as well. They had 100,000 pound trucks going over them and you know that salt and the snow and the heave and the ho and all that kind of stuff. You guys don't have as much frost down there as they did in Michigan.

BARRETT: But you know what, Chad? Just to explain to people how bad it was in Michigan, tell people what you dressed like for Halloween one year at my house. What were you?

MYERS: Yes, that was funny.

COSTELLO: What were you?

MYERS: I was a can, the orange barrel that they put out to block off a lane. I actually got a garbage can...

COSTELLO: You were a construction barrel.

MYERS: I got a garbage can and I painted it orange. I put big strips around it and I had a little flashing light right here.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's clever. I wish I could have seen that.

MYERS: Yes, well, I'll bring it in.

COSTELLO: Hey, Jimmy Barrett, thanks very much for embarrassing Chad. We like that.

MYERS: That's right.

Take care, buddy.

COSTELLO: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 7, 2002 - 05:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We're doing the Talk of CNN, I think.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I guess we're at about that time.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MYERS: Jimmy Barrett from WRVA.

COSTELLO: Hello, Jimmy? Are you there?

MYERS: Oh, he just has to see us coming up there.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO CORRESPONDENT: How are you doing?

COSTELLO: Oh, good.

MYERS: There you go. Buddy, how you doing?

BARRETT: I'm doing very well. We've got computer problems again, don't we?

COSTELLO: Oh, well, you know how it goes.

MYERS: Oh, I looked at you yesterday and you were on there.

BARRETT: Hey come on, feed the squirrels, people.

COSTELLO: Feed the squirrels.

BARRETT: Feed the gerbil. Let's get the power going on this. It's a little old.

MYERS: If you don't know, sometimes we have a little Web cam of Jimmy from up there in Richmond. He shows us papers and whatever.

COSTELLO: Yes, but now we just have that beautiful picture of you, and we love that, Jimmy.

Hey, let's talk about the election because there were issues in Virginia, tax issues that did not hold any sway at all with the voters.

BARRETT: Well, here's the big issue. The big issue was transportation. Virginian voters proved a couple of things, I think, on Tuesday. First of all, they proved that they're more than willing to borrow money at a low interest rate in order to build more classrooms for colleges and for universities and they're more than willing to, again, borrow money at a low interest rate in order to expand and preserve park land and for recreational opportunities for the Commonwealth. But they're not interested in spending more money in order to build bigger roads, not even in northern Virginia, where the commute is just hellacious...

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

BARRETT: In Hampton Roads, where it isn't a whole lot better.

COSTELLO: Well, aren't voters concerned about urban sprawl and they're upset at their government leaders for allowing the sprawl to go on? So they're not going to pay any more taxes for bigger roads until they control it.

BARRETT: I think what you had is you had the dynamic of two rather unique forces sort of joining together -- the environmentalists, who you're alluding to there -- they're very concerned about issues such as urban sprawl -- and the anti-tax coalition, the people that just don't want to see any higher taxes no matter what.

So I took a little poll of my own here, my own little Web poll. It's not scientific, I'd be the first to tell you that. But basically I gave our people three choices. The first choice, read my lips, no new taxes. Fifty-nine percent said it was just we don't want to pay any more in taxes or they think that's why it didn't pass. VDOT can find the money if it wants to, 18 percent. The rest said our roads are not that bad to begin with. And I count, those are the 24 percent, I think, of Richmonders who don't see these huge traffic problems.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, the economy kind of stinks right now, Jimmy. People don't want to pay any more taxes. They're struggling as it is.

BARRETT: I have a solution.

COSTELLO: OK, what?

BARRETT: Here's the problem. I think people get frustrated. And certainly when I was in Michigan that was the case. People get frustrated with repaving the same roads over and over and over again. Why don't we spend a little more money and build roads -- it can be done, they do it in Europe -- that last easily 25 or 30 years?

COSTELLO: Well...

MYERS: Well, there are other issues in Michigan, Jimmy, too. I mean I lived on those same roads, as well. They had 100,000 pound trucks going over them and you know that salt and the snow and the heave and the ho and all that kind of stuff. You guys don't have as much frost down there as they did in Michigan.

BARRETT: But you know what, Chad? Just to explain to people how bad it was in Michigan, tell people what you dressed like for Halloween one year at my house. What were you?

MYERS: Yes, that was funny.

COSTELLO: What were you?

MYERS: I was a can, the orange barrel that they put out to block off a lane. I actually got a garbage can...

COSTELLO: You were a construction barrel.

MYERS: I got a garbage can and I painted it orange. I put big strips around it and I had a little flashing light right here.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's clever. I wish I could have seen that.

MYERS: Yes, well, I'll bring it in.

COSTELLO: Hey, Jimmy Barrett, thanks very much for embarrassing Chad. We like that.

MYERS: That's right.

Take care, buddy.

COSTELLO: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com