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CNN Live At Daybreak

Wake-Up Call: Hot Political Topics

Aired December 16, 2002 - 06:08   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: So much to talk about on this topic. Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is on the phone from Washington for our DAYBREAK "Wake-Up Call."
Good morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, I'm up.

COSTELLO: Thank you. We appreciate that, as always.

So, what were you more surprised by, the timing of the announcement or the announcement itself?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, I tell you, the whole thing. I mean, it was a big surprise, because he had left his options completely open. He had just announced, in fact, on CNN that he was going to prepare an economic statement, as well as a speech on health care, next month. And you know, when a candidate -- when a politician announces something like that, you figure, he must be running for something.

COSTELLO: Well, yes, he's been on such a big publicity tour. He was on "Saturday Night Live," he's been on other interview shows. What was all that about?

SCHNEIDER: I think all of that was about testing the waters. It was about going out there, keeping his options open, getting in touch with Democratic activists and supporters to see exactly how much support there was, how much enthusiasm there was for him to run again.

I know the word got out that he was disappointed in the media response, when he said he was going to be a different kind of politician. He wasn't going to be scripted. He was going to be looser, and he was going to be more spontaneous. And the press simply portrayed that as another re-invention of Al Gore, and that might have convinced him he just can't win.

COSTELLO: Gotcha. Some Democrats are upset at the timing of Al Gore's announcement, because they really wanted to focus all of the attention on the Trent Lott controversy, and this sort of takes some of the heat off of that.

SCHNEIDER: Well, in a way, it does. Of course, we've got stories now in both political parties, and it does step on the Trent Lott story. On the other hand, it's early enough so that it gives the Democrats a lot of time to get their field together. It's a whole year, a little over a year before the first actual votes are cast. This is going to be the year of the invisible primary. That's what the next year is called. Nobody votes, but this stage of the process now becomes absolutely crucial. Because you know what? Whoever wins the invisible primary a year from now, 9 times out of 10, that person becomes the nominee.

COSTELLO: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: What does it mean to win? It means to collect the most money and to move to the top of the polls, and that's what this struggle is going to be about for another year.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about Trent Lott's struggle now. He's going to appear on BET tonight at 8:00. He's going to sit down with Ed Gordon, and you've got to believe this is going to be excruciating for Senator Lott.

SCHNEIDER: It is, indeed. He's got a lot to explain. He has apologized for it, and said it was a thoughtless comment and a mistake to say what he did to praise Strom Thurmond's run for the presidency.

But he's got a lot more to explain. His opposition to Martin Luther King holiday. He resisted integration in a fraternity. He supported Bob Jones University, which had a policy of -- has a policy, I believe, of racial discrimination. He associated with the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group with ties to white racists.

Again and again and again in his record, he associated with racially-divisive causes.

COSTELLO: OK, so...

SCHNEIDER: He still is going to have to explain all of that.

COSTELLO: I know, but how do you do that on Black Entertainment Television?

SCHNEIDER: One hopes truthfully, sincerely, and one hopes, for his sake, it hangs together. It's going to be very tough. It's really the political moment of his life, and his colleagues, his Republican colleagues, it looks are thinking about voting once again whether they want him to be their leader. They're going to be watching this very closely.

COSTELLO: Oh, you're not kidding, as I'm sure millions of people are. Bill Schneider, thanks for getting up early with us. We appreciate it.

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 16, 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: So much to talk about on this topic. Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is on the phone from Washington for our DAYBREAK "Wake-Up Call."
Good morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, I'm up.

COSTELLO: Thank you. We appreciate that, as always.

So, what were you more surprised by, the timing of the announcement or the announcement itself?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, I tell you, the whole thing. I mean, it was a big surprise, because he had left his options completely open. He had just announced, in fact, on CNN that he was going to prepare an economic statement, as well as a speech on health care, next month. And you know, when a candidate -- when a politician announces something like that, you figure, he must be running for something.

COSTELLO: Well, yes, he's been on such a big publicity tour. He was on "Saturday Night Live," he's been on other interview shows. What was all that about?

SCHNEIDER: I think all of that was about testing the waters. It was about going out there, keeping his options open, getting in touch with Democratic activists and supporters to see exactly how much support there was, how much enthusiasm there was for him to run again.

I know the word got out that he was disappointed in the media response, when he said he was going to be a different kind of politician. He wasn't going to be scripted. He was going to be looser, and he was going to be more spontaneous. And the press simply portrayed that as another re-invention of Al Gore, and that might have convinced him he just can't win.

COSTELLO: Gotcha. Some Democrats are upset at the timing of Al Gore's announcement, because they really wanted to focus all of the attention on the Trent Lott controversy, and this sort of takes some of the heat off of that.

SCHNEIDER: Well, in a way, it does. Of course, we've got stories now in both political parties, and it does step on the Trent Lott story. On the other hand, it's early enough so that it gives the Democrats a lot of time to get their field together. It's a whole year, a little over a year before the first actual votes are cast. This is going to be the year of the invisible primary. That's what the next year is called. Nobody votes, but this stage of the process now becomes absolutely crucial. Because you know what? Whoever wins the invisible primary a year from now, 9 times out of 10, that person becomes the nominee.

COSTELLO: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: What does it mean to win? It means to collect the most money and to move to the top of the polls, and that's what this struggle is going to be about for another year.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about Trent Lott's struggle now. He's going to appear on BET tonight at 8:00. He's going to sit down with Ed Gordon, and you've got to believe this is going to be excruciating for Senator Lott.

SCHNEIDER: It is, indeed. He's got a lot to explain. He has apologized for it, and said it was a thoughtless comment and a mistake to say what he did to praise Strom Thurmond's run for the presidency.

But he's got a lot more to explain. His opposition to Martin Luther King holiday. He resisted integration in a fraternity. He supported Bob Jones University, which had a policy of -- has a policy, I believe, of racial discrimination. He associated with the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group with ties to white racists.

Again and again and again in his record, he associated with racially-divisive causes.

COSTELLO: OK, so...

SCHNEIDER: He still is going to have to explain all of that.

COSTELLO: I know, but how do you do that on Black Entertainment Television?

SCHNEIDER: One hopes truthfully, sincerely, and one hopes, for his sake, it hangs together. It's going to be very tough. It's really the political moment of his life, and his colleagues, his Republican colleagues, it looks are thinking about voting once again whether they want him to be their leader. They're going to be watching this very closely.

COSTELLO: Oh, you're not kidding, as I'm sure millions of people are. Bill Schneider, thanks for getting up early with us. We appreciate it.

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