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CNN Live Today
Can Lott Survive?
Aired December 12, 2002 - 11:21 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: The NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus and several other prominent Democrats are calling for Lott to step aside, and there are some voices from conservative ranks who are now being added to the call.
Let's bring our senior political analyst Bill Schneider to weigh in on this.
Bill, the question is, can the senator ride out this storm?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, at the moment, the Republican Senate majority appears to support him. Although a lot of them have raised doubts and questions about what he said, they haven't called for him to step down. And most important, the White House, he still seems to have the confidence of the president and the White House.
But the storm is growing bite minute. We've had criticism from prominent conservatives, "The Wall Street Journal, " Jack Kemp, now Bill Bennett has weighed in with criticism that he has to give a more complete explanation and repudiation of what he said, that his comments so far have essentially characterized his remarks as inadvertent and thoughtless. That's not enough.
HARRIS: The reason why people say that's not enough is because he didn't say them one time. We'll take a look at some words culled from the "Clarion Ledger," which quotes him from back in 1980, where he says almost exactly what he said and was quoted as saying on C-SPAN in the celebration of Strom Thurmond's career, again. He says, "You know, if we would have elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess we are in today."
A lot of folks said, if he said this back in 1980, what he said the other day for Strom Thurmond couldn't have been just some innocuous use of some inappropriate or just not completely thought out words.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. His explanation, his apology essentially was casual. He said, I didn't mean anything by it, it didn't have the implications that a lot of people are saying. I apologize if people are getting a misimpression. But the fact is, he said virtually the same words about the same man 22 years ago. That suggests that this wasn't simply a thoughtless or inadvertent comment.
The criticism is being raised, remember back during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, a lot of people said the Democratic senators, the Senate just didn't get it. That's what people are saying about Trent Lott right now. He just doesn't get it. His explanations have been kind of uncomprehending.
HARRIS: What about the calls for his resignation. Will there be steam built up behind them? Because they seem to be coming from perhaps quarters that wouldn't have been expected to be weighing in against him on this one.
SCHNEIDER: They have come from some conservatives, the head of the Family Research Council. Jack Kemp described them as inexplicable, indefensible, inexcusable. Those are very strong terms and we just got a statement by William Bennett, who often speaks out on moral issues for the Republican Party, or he sort of self- designated spokesman on morality, he said "If Senator Lott can provide a satisfactory explanation for his statement, this entire episode should be forgotten. If he cannot, he needs to step down as majority leader."
Now, again, those are from conservatives and Republicans, but not yet from Republican senators or from the White House. That's where it's going to be becoming crucial.
HARRIS: That was my next question to you. Bill, should we expect anything to come from the White House on this? Many people see this as a true test for the Republican Party, which says in the last couple of years, at least talked about trying to reach out to minorities. And when you look at the way the president really badly handled the South Carolina flag issue and the Bob Jones University issue during his campaign, and now to hear silence from the White House on this issue, minorities have got to be thinking, wait a second, how about putting some action behind some of these words?
SCHNEIDER: That's right. The pressure has been growing. So far, it's mostly within Washington, frankly because a lot of people don't know anything about the 1948 presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond. To a lot of people, it's ancient history, and they weren't sure what was so terrible about what Senator Lott said.
Now, they're hearing what was so terrible about what Senator Lott said. He was defending a man whose platform was, in its essence, a call to defend segregation and racism, the entire Jim Crow system in the United States. People are saying wait a minute. If he's defending that, does that mean he really has racist sentiments at heart? He's going to have to give an explanation.
The pressure is growing not just to apologize casually and say, I didn't mean it, but to go before a civil rights group and give a thorough and full repudiation of that statement and an explanation of his views. The White House has taken great pains to say the Republican party is inclusive, we want to reach out to all Americans of all backgrounds, to African-Americans, to Hispanics, to all minorities. This could be a big setback. If this becomes a bigger problem, then I think we begin to hear tougher words from the White House.
HARRIS: Got to wonder what would have happened if this had happened before November 5. It's a different conversation for a different day. Bill Schneider, thank you, appreciate it. Have a good one, 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 December 12, 2002 - 11:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus and several other prominent Democrats are calling for Lott to step aside, and there are some voices from conservative ranks who are now being added to the call.
Let's bring our senior political analyst Bill Schneider to weigh in on this.
Bill, the question is, can the senator ride out this storm?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, at the moment, the Republican Senate majority appears to support him. Although a lot of them have raised doubts and questions about what he said, they haven't called for him to step down. And most important, the White House, he still seems to have the confidence of the president and the White House.
But the storm is growing bite minute. We've had criticism from prominent conservatives, "The Wall Street Journal, " Jack Kemp, now Bill Bennett has weighed in with criticism that he has to give a more complete explanation and repudiation of what he said, that his comments so far have essentially characterized his remarks as inadvertent and thoughtless. That's not enough.
HARRIS: The reason why people say that's not enough is because he didn't say them one time. We'll take a look at some words culled from the "Clarion Ledger," which quotes him from back in 1980, where he says almost exactly what he said and was quoted as saying on C-SPAN in the celebration of Strom Thurmond's career, again. He says, "You know, if we would have elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess we are in today."
A lot of folks said, if he said this back in 1980, what he said the other day for Strom Thurmond couldn't have been just some innocuous use of some inappropriate or just not completely thought out words.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. His explanation, his apology essentially was casual. He said, I didn't mean anything by it, it didn't have the implications that a lot of people are saying. I apologize if people are getting a misimpression. But the fact is, he said virtually the same words about the same man 22 years ago. That suggests that this wasn't simply a thoughtless or inadvertent comment.
The criticism is being raised, remember back during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, a lot of people said the Democratic senators, the Senate just didn't get it. That's what people are saying about Trent Lott right now. He just doesn't get it. His explanations have been kind of uncomprehending.
HARRIS: What about the calls for his resignation. Will there be steam built up behind them? Because they seem to be coming from perhaps quarters that wouldn't have been expected to be weighing in against him on this one.
SCHNEIDER: They have come from some conservatives, the head of the Family Research Council. Jack Kemp described them as inexplicable, indefensible, inexcusable. Those are very strong terms and we just got a statement by William Bennett, who often speaks out on moral issues for the Republican Party, or he sort of self- designated spokesman on morality, he said "If Senator Lott can provide a satisfactory explanation for his statement, this entire episode should be forgotten. If he cannot, he needs to step down as majority leader."
Now, again, those are from conservatives and Republicans, but not yet from Republican senators or from the White House. That's where it's going to be becoming crucial.
HARRIS: That was my next question to you. Bill, should we expect anything to come from the White House on this? Many people see this as a true test for the Republican Party, which says in the last couple of years, at least talked about trying to reach out to minorities. And when you look at the way the president really badly handled the South Carolina flag issue and the Bob Jones University issue during his campaign, and now to hear silence from the White House on this issue, minorities have got to be thinking, wait a second, how about putting some action behind some of these words?
SCHNEIDER: That's right. The pressure has been growing. So far, it's mostly within Washington, frankly because a lot of people don't know anything about the 1948 presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond. To a lot of people, it's ancient history, and they weren't sure what was so terrible about what Senator Lott said.
Now, they're hearing what was so terrible about what Senator Lott said. He was defending a man whose platform was, in its essence, a call to defend segregation and racism, the entire Jim Crow system in the United States. People are saying wait a minute. If he's defending that, does that mean he really has racist sentiments at heart? He's going to have to give an explanation.
The pressure is growing not just to apologize casually and say, I didn't mean it, but to go before a civil rights group and give a thorough and full repudiation of that statement and an explanation of his views. The White House has taken great pains to say the Republican party is inclusive, we want to reach out to all Americans of all backgrounds, to African-Americans, to Hispanics, to all minorities. This could be a big setback. If this becomes a bigger problem, then I think we begin to hear tougher words from the White House.
HARRIS: Got to wonder what would have happened if this had happened before November 5. It's a different conversation for a different day. Bill Schneider, thank you, appreciate it. Have a good one, 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
