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A Lott to Explain
Aired December 11, 2002 - 11:35 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: He's apologized, but Senate Republican leader Trent Lott is taking some new heat for a statement that many people see as racist. At a 100th birthday party for Senator Strom Thurmond last week, Lott said that the country wouldn't be in such a mess had Thurmond won the presidency back in 1948. The problem is, back then, Thurmond ran as a segregationist. Today we find out that Lott said the same thing, practically word for word, about Thurmond, back in 1980.
Our congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl is following this for us on Capitol Hill.
Good morning, Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
I have several new developments to share with you about the reaction to this latest revelation. The first is that the chairman of the Democratic National Committee Terry McAuliffe has put out a statement criticizing Trent Lott saying -- quote -- "That it demonstrates and unfortunate pattern of racist remarks by Senator Lott." And he goes on to say, despite the fact Trent Lott has apologized for what he say at that celebration last Thursday, this latest revelation about what he said back in 1980 -- quote -- "Sadly, it would rather appeared that these comments reflect Senator Lott's true prejudices on race," a very strong statement, very harshly critical, from Terry McAuliffe. That may not be too surprising, given that he is the leader of the Democratic Party.
But I can also tell you, there is another new statement out today, this coming from a very prominent conservative group, Christian conservative group, called the Family Research Council, that put out its own blistering statement about Trent Lott, saying -- quote -- "The damage he has done is considerable." The statement, which is lengthy, says it shows that Senator Lott is not sensitive to the impact that his words have on African-Americans, and that it is up to the Republicans to now think whether or not they really want Trent Lott to be their leader in the United States Senate.
So while all that is going on and you have that reaction coming from groups off Capitol Hill, here on Capitol Hill, at least so far, there has been actually strong support for Senator Lott, criticism of what he said certainly, but support for his views. Senators coming up, saying they do not believe he is a racist or has racist views.
The latest on this was at a press conference that was held just a little while ago, Leon, where the chairman and the vice chairman, outgoing chairman and vice chairman of the intelligence committee here in the Senate, Richard Shelby and Bob Graham, they were asked after presenting their results from the 9/11 commission, their investigation, what they thought of all of this. Here's what they had to say:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: The statement that he made recently was clearly wrong, unfortunate, insensitive. But I do not believe that it can -- that event in and of itself can stand for the proposition that Senator Lott is a racist.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: I believe he's open to all people. He's -- I've never heard him, and I've been with him in the House and the Senate -- utter anything that I would consider or anybody would consider racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: Now, Senator Lott's defenders are saying this is really about politics, not about race, that Democrats are looking at a way to get at him and to hurt him politically in light of this latest revelation.
But now with a conservative group coming out almost as harshly critical as the Democratic Party, it will be interesting to see what happens now as more Republicans and moderate Republicans up here on Capital Hill are asked for their reaction to this. We've put out a wave of calls to see what people are saying. By and large, right now, most Republicans are not saying anything at all -- Leon.
HARRIS: Interesting. Are any of them calling for him to come back out and re-explain himself, or do you know of any plan for him to do so? After all, he just said last time around, that it was just an unfortunate choice of words, but now we're learning they were his words that he was choosing from.
KARL; Yes, there's nobody publicly yet from the Republican side saying Trent Lott must come out and explain himself, but I can tell you that, privately, there is a virtual groundswell among Republican operatives and some Republican senators, saying privately, that they believe that Trent Lott must come out and must come out soon to explain himself, and to forcefully put this issue behind him. Otherwise, his leadership could be in jeopardy. But nobody has come out publicly to say that yet. This is what is being said privately, and I am told this message has been given directly to Trent Lott by a number of prominent Republicans up here, that he must come out and say something further.
HARRIS: We'll be listening to see if that does happen, at least you will be, that's for sure.
All right, thanks, Jon. Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill.
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 December 11, 2002 - 11:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: He's apologized, but Senate Republican leader Trent Lott is taking some new heat for a statement that many people see as racist. At a 100th birthday party for Senator Strom Thurmond last week, Lott said that the country wouldn't be in such a mess had Thurmond won the presidency back in 1948. The problem is, back then, Thurmond ran as a segregationist. Today we find out that Lott said the same thing, practically word for word, about Thurmond, back in 1980.
Our congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl is following this for us on Capitol Hill.
Good morning, Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
I have several new developments to share with you about the reaction to this latest revelation. The first is that the chairman of the Democratic National Committee Terry McAuliffe has put out a statement criticizing Trent Lott saying -- quote -- "That it demonstrates and unfortunate pattern of racist remarks by Senator Lott." And he goes on to say, despite the fact Trent Lott has apologized for what he say at that celebration last Thursday, this latest revelation about what he said back in 1980 -- quote -- "Sadly, it would rather appeared that these comments reflect Senator Lott's true prejudices on race," a very strong statement, very harshly critical, from Terry McAuliffe. That may not be too surprising, given that he is the leader of the Democratic Party.
But I can also tell you, there is another new statement out today, this coming from a very prominent conservative group, Christian conservative group, called the Family Research Council, that put out its own blistering statement about Trent Lott, saying -- quote -- "The damage he has done is considerable." The statement, which is lengthy, says it shows that Senator Lott is not sensitive to the impact that his words have on African-Americans, and that it is up to the Republicans to now think whether or not they really want Trent Lott to be their leader in the United States Senate.
So while all that is going on and you have that reaction coming from groups off Capitol Hill, here on Capitol Hill, at least so far, there has been actually strong support for Senator Lott, criticism of what he said certainly, but support for his views. Senators coming up, saying they do not believe he is a racist or has racist views.
The latest on this was at a press conference that was held just a little while ago, Leon, where the chairman and the vice chairman, outgoing chairman and vice chairman of the intelligence committee here in the Senate, Richard Shelby and Bob Graham, they were asked after presenting their results from the 9/11 commission, their investigation, what they thought of all of this. Here's what they had to say:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: The statement that he made recently was clearly wrong, unfortunate, insensitive. But I do not believe that it can -- that event in and of itself can stand for the proposition that Senator Lott is a racist.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: I believe he's open to all people. He's -- I've never heard him, and I've been with him in the House and the Senate -- utter anything that I would consider or anybody would consider racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: Now, Senator Lott's defenders are saying this is really about politics, not about race, that Democrats are looking at a way to get at him and to hurt him politically in light of this latest revelation.
But now with a conservative group coming out almost as harshly critical as the Democratic Party, it will be interesting to see what happens now as more Republicans and moderate Republicans up here on Capital Hill are asked for their reaction to this. We've put out a wave of calls to see what people are saying. By and large, right now, most Republicans are not saying anything at all -- Leon.
HARRIS: Interesting. Are any of them calling for him to come back out and re-explain himself, or do you know of any plan for him to do so? After all, he just said last time around, that it was just an unfortunate choice of words, but now we're learning they were his words that he was choosing from.
KARL; Yes, there's nobody publicly yet from the Republican side saying Trent Lott must come out and explain himself, but I can tell you that, privately, there is a virtual groundswell among Republican operatives and some Republican senators, saying privately, that they believe that Trent Lott must come out and must come out soon to explain himself, and to forcefully put this issue behind him. Otherwise, his leadership could be in jeopardy. But nobody has come out publicly to say that yet. This is what is being said privately, and I am told this message has been given directly to Trent Lott by a number of prominent Republicans up here, that he must come out and say something further.
HARRIS: We'll be listening to see if that does happen, at least you will be, that's for sure.
All right, thanks, Jon. Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
