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What Does Majority Leader Lott Truly Believe About Segregation?
Aired December 13, 2002 - 05:09 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: In Washington, what does incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott truly believe about segregation? That touchy question just will not go away. If there was any doubt about the sensitive nature, President Bush has put that notion to rest.
CNN'S Jonathan Karl has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush sharply rebuked Senator Lott for statements he made last week about Strom Thurmond's 1948 campaign for president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive and it is wrong. Recent comments, recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of our country. He has apologized and rightly so.
KARL: Senator Lott later spoke via telephone to the president, telling him, sources say, that he agreed with his remarks, and Senator Lott's office put out a statement after the president's speech saying "Senator Lott agrees with President Bush that his words were wrong. He repudiates segregation and it is immoral." But after the president's speech, several senior Republicans came out with statements sharply critical of Senator Lott and of his words, including two key Republicans, Olympia Snow of Maine and John McCain of Arizona, who said Senator Lott must do more to publicly address exactly what he meant in those comments and to explain his views on race relations and civil rights.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Until he does respond, there is growing pressure here on Senator Lott. Many Republicans are privately beginning to question whether or not he should remain their leader here in the Senate -- back to you.
COSTELLO: We're going to be talking a lot more about this throughout the morning.
But here's what the Congressional Black Caucus has to say about Lott's remarks: "Senator Lott's remarks echo comments and recall actions made by him throughout his public life that condone racial bias and disharmony. Because of this pattern, an apology will not suffice." It goes on to say, "We call on the president, every member of the United States Senate and the leadership of the Republican Party to support a formal censure of Senator Lott's racist remarks. Anything less than a total condemnation will forever leave millions of Americans to believe that these remarks and this continuing pattern of behavior are condoned by the president, Congress and the Republican Party."
Those words by the Congressional Black Caucus.
Now, adding even more fuel to the firestorm, Senator Lott is now responding to reports that he argued strongly in favor of keeping blacks out of his fraternity in college. "Time" magazine's Web site reports that in the early 1960s, Lott was the president of the Intra- Fraternity Council at the University of Mississippi. The report says Lott argued passionately to keep African-Americans out of the Sigma Nu (ph) fraternity nationwide and he was successful.
There's lots more ahead on the Lott controversy. About an hour from now, our own political junkie William Schneider takes our Wake-Up Call and weighs in.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Segregation?>
Aired December 13, 2002 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington, what does incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott truly believe about segregation? That touchy question just will not go away. If there was any doubt about the sensitive nature, President Bush has put that notion to rest.
CNN'S Jonathan Karl has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush sharply rebuked Senator Lott for statements he made last week about Strom Thurmond's 1948 campaign for president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive and it is wrong. Recent comments, recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of our country. He has apologized and rightly so.
KARL: Senator Lott later spoke via telephone to the president, telling him, sources say, that he agreed with his remarks, and Senator Lott's office put out a statement after the president's speech saying "Senator Lott agrees with President Bush that his words were wrong. He repudiates segregation and it is immoral." But after the president's speech, several senior Republicans came out with statements sharply critical of Senator Lott and of his words, including two key Republicans, Olympia Snow of Maine and John McCain of Arizona, who said Senator Lott must do more to publicly address exactly what he meant in those comments and to explain his views on race relations and civil rights.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Until he does respond, there is growing pressure here on Senator Lott. Many Republicans are privately beginning to question whether or not he should remain their leader here in the Senate -- back to you.
COSTELLO: We're going to be talking a lot more about this throughout the morning.
But here's what the Congressional Black Caucus has to say about Lott's remarks: "Senator Lott's remarks echo comments and recall actions made by him throughout his public life that condone racial bias and disharmony. Because of this pattern, an apology will not suffice." It goes on to say, "We call on the president, every member of the United States Senate and the leadership of the Republican Party to support a formal censure of Senator Lott's racist remarks. Anything less than a total condemnation will forever leave millions of Americans to believe that these remarks and this continuing pattern of behavior are condoned by the president, Congress and the Republican Party."
Those words by the Congressional Black Caucus.
Now, adding even more fuel to the firestorm, Senator Lott is now responding to reports that he argued strongly in favor of keeping blacks out of his fraternity in college. "Time" magazine's Web site reports that in the early 1960s, Lott was the president of the Intra- Fraternity Council at the University of Mississippi. The report says Lott argued passionately to keep African-Americans out of the Sigma Nu (ph) fraternity nationwide and he was successful.
There's lots more ahead on the Lott controversy. About an hour from now, our own political junkie William Schneider takes our Wake-Up Call and weighs in.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Segregation?>
