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CNN Live At Daybreak
Lotts of Trouble: Is There A Way Out?
Aired December 17, 2002 - 06:33 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: Could Lott's interview on Black Entertainment Television, though, help save his career as leader of the Republicans in the Senate?
Joining me from Dallas is radio talk show host, Tom Joyner.
Good morning, Tom.
TOM JOYNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: From your perspective, did Trent Lott's appearance change minds?
JOYNER: No, it didn't change my mind, I mean, that he said he was going to vote for the King holiday if he had it to do all over again. Well, isn't that convenient...
COSTELLO: Well...
JOYNER: ... now that your feet are on the fire.
COSTELLO: Well, but, Tom, I mean, the man has apologized...
JOYNER: Yes, that I'm for...
COSTELLO: The man has apologized five times. He calls his past views repugnant. He says he wants to...
JOYNER: Carol...
COSTELLO: ... improve race relations now.
JOYNER: Carol...
COSTELLO: Why not give him a chance?
JOYNER: Carol, let's suppose for a minute you and I are married.
COSTELLO: OK.
JOYNER: And I cheated on you. First of all, cheating on you is not acceptable, is it?
COSTELLO: No.
JOYNER: But if I cheated on you, would you accept five apologies before I said, look, Carol, I did wrong? And if I said, first of all, Carol, you know, it was just all a misunderstanding, or second, Carol, let's just move forward, then, by the fourth or fifth apology, I said, you know, Carol, I made a mistake, would you think I was sincere?
COSTELLO: Well, is there anything Trent Lott can do to change minds? I mean, what do you want him to say?
JOYNER: Well, maybe this will be a wake-up call, and maybe this will help race relations in the country. I think Trent Lott has to step down as the leader of the House. Whether he will step down as a senator of Mississippi, I don't think that will happen. After all, that's going to mess up the balance of power in the Senate.
And maybe, maybe he'll take his position as the leader, or if he's just a senator, and try to do some things to further race relations in this country.
COSTELLO: Did it help at all, Tom, that Senator Lott said he was now for affirmative action; in fact, he's always been for affirmative action? Did you believe him?
JOYNER: No. No, I don't think you did either. Just like when he said, I'd vote for the King holiday if I had it to go over again. His record speaks for itself. Ed Gordon brought the record up over and over again. You at CNN and everybody else in the media have continually brought his record up, and now that he's been outed (ph), you see the pattern. And he has not changed from 40 years ago to now.
COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you...
JOYNER: He's still saying the same things, so he means the same things. He is a racist. He is the leader of the Senate, and as the leader of the Senate, with those kinds of views, he should not be in that position.
COSTELLO: OK, Tom, so what if he doesn't step down as majority leader? What if his fellow Republican senators allow him to retain his leader position, what do you think will happen?
JOYNER: Well, that's the problem in this country, that we accept apologies for racism instead of facing racism head-on and dealing with the situation. If Trent Lott -- whether Trent Lott stays or goes, for the next two years, Travis (ph) and I on our show will continue to bring this up. We're not going to let this die. We're not going to let this die when we do our town hall meetings that we always do periodically during the year when we talk about issues. This is going to be the No. 1 issue of how racism leads the Republican Party, and how racism is alive and well in this country.
COSTELLO: All right...
JOYNER: And this country needs to deal with it.
COSTELLO: Tom Joyner, thanks for joining us this morning -- appreciate your insight.
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 17, 2002 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Could Lott's interview on Black Entertainment Television, though, help save his career as leader of the Republicans in the Senate?
Joining me from Dallas is radio talk show host, Tom Joyner.
Good morning, Tom.
TOM JOYNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: From your perspective, did Trent Lott's appearance change minds?
JOYNER: No, it didn't change my mind, I mean, that he said he was going to vote for the King holiday if he had it to do all over again. Well, isn't that convenient...
COSTELLO: Well...
JOYNER: ... now that your feet are on the fire.
COSTELLO: Well, but, Tom, I mean, the man has apologized...
JOYNER: Yes, that I'm for...
COSTELLO: The man has apologized five times. He calls his past views repugnant. He says he wants to...
JOYNER: Carol...
COSTELLO: ... improve race relations now.
JOYNER: Carol...
COSTELLO: Why not give him a chance?
JOYNER: Carol, let's suppose for a minute you and I are married.
COSTELLO: OK.
JOYNER: And I cheated on you. First of all, cheating on you is not acceptable, is it?
COSTELLO: No.
JOYNER: But if I cheated on you, would you accept five apologies before I said, look, Carol, I did wrong? And if I said, first of all, Carol, you know, it was just all a misunderstanding, or second, Carol, let's just move forward, then, by the fourth or fifth apology, I said, you know, Carol, I made a mistake, would you think I was sincere?
COSTELLO: Well, is there anything Trent Lott can do to change minds? I mean, what do you want him to say?
JOYNER: Well, maybe this will be a wake-up call, and maybe this will help race relations in the country. I think Trent Lott has to step down as the leader of the House. Whether he will step down as a senator of Mississippi, I don't think that will happen. After all, that's going to mess up the balance of power in the Senate.
And maybe, maybe he'll take his position as the leader, or if he's just a senator, and try to do some things to further race relations in this country.
COSTELLO: Did it help at all, Tom, that Senator Lott said he was now for affirmative action; in fact, he's always been for affirmative action? Did you believe him?
JOYNER: No. No, I don't think you did either. Just like when he said, I'd vote for the King holiday if I had it to go over again. His record speaks for itself. Ed Gordon brought the record up over and over again. You at CNN and everybody else in the media have continually brought his record up, and now that he's been outed (ph), you see the pattern. And he has not changed from 40 years ago to now.
COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you...
JOYNER: He's still saying the same things, so he means the same things. He is a racist. He is the leader of the Senate, and as the leader of the Senate, with those kinds of views, he should not be in that position.
COSTELLO: OK, Tom, so what if he doesn't step down as majority leader? What if his fellow Republican senators allow him to retain his leader position, what do you think will happen?
JOYNER: Well, that's the problem in this country, that we accept apologies for racism instead of facing racism head-on and dealing with the situation. If Trent Lott -- whether Trent Lott stays or goes, for the next two years, Travis (ph) and I on our show will continue to bring this up. We're not going to let this die. We're not going to let this die when we do our town hall meetings that we always do periodically during the year when we talk about issues. This is going to be the No. 1 issue of how racism leads the Republican Party, and how racism is alive and well in this country.
COSTELLO: All right...
JOYNER: And this country needs to deal with it.
COSTELLO: Tom Joyner, thanks for joining us this morning -- appreciate your insight.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
