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CNN Live Today
Reaction to Lott's Interview
Aired December 17, 2002 - 10:02 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: Embattled Senator Trent Lott takes to cable television, but it appears that his future is very much up in the air. Lott's fellow Republicans in the Senate have called for a meeting to decide whether his leadership is doomed, even as he delivered yet another apology in a prime time interview last night.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is following the developing story for us this morning. Let's go to her right now for more from Washington -- hello, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. Well, you know that Christmas song, the bells will be ringing? Well, these holidays it will be the telephones that will be ringing as Senator Trent Lott tries to convince his GOP colleagues A, that he is not damaged goods, and B, that he can still advance the Republican agenda in the Senate.
Of course, there is a vote coming up January 6 on his leadership. But it was that body of 50 who was perhaps his most important audience in this now fifth apology that he made. This was last night on Black Entertainment Television. The senator said, again, that he was very sorry for his remarks back on December 5. And also, he claimed to have had a change of heart on issues from -- from affirmative action to a national holiday for Martin Luther King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I'm not sure we in America, certainly not white America and the people in the South, fully understood who this man was, the impact he was having on the fabric of this country.
ED GORDON, BET: But you certainly understood it by the time that vote came up, Senator. You knew who Dr. King was at that point.
LOTT: I did, but I've learned a lot more since then, and I want to make this point clearly. I have a high appreciation for him being a man of peace, a man that was for nonviolence, a man that did change this country. I made a mistake, and I now would vote now for Martin Luther King holiday.
The important thing is to recognize the hurt that I caused, and ask for forgiveness, and find a way to turn this into a positive thing, and try to make amends for what I've said, and for what others have said and done over the years. I'm looking for this to be not only an opportunity for redemption, but to do something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KOCH: Many in the African-American community are not convinced, though, of both the senator's sincerity and his ability to deliver on that promise.
Many in the Congressional Black Caucus and also many Democrats are still looking to censure Senator Lott when Congress goes back into session in January. The senator has, however, found a very unlikely ally in the body -- this is Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. He is a very well respected leader in the civil rights -- a veteran of the civil rights struggle, and he came out saying that Senator Lott should be given a second chance.
He said that that is -- quote -- "very much in keeping with the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, to forgive and move on."
But of course, Senator Lott will need not words of support, but votes of support come January 6 when the Republican senators conference and decide whether or not to keep him on as leader. That will, of course, be a vote by secret ballot. We will not know the outcome unless it is, of course, unanimous, which is tough to say whether it would be on an issue like this.
And that vote, in part, explains the deafening silence from Republican senators on this whole controversy involving Senator Lott, because many of them fear that coming out supporting him right now could hurt them politically, but then if they openly oppose him, and he survives the January 6 vote, that that could cost them as well -- Leon.
HARRIS: Kathleen as you just said, Republicans have been largely silent, but there has got to be some reaction among Republicans this morning to this apparent change of heart from Senator Trent Lott that we heard last night on these major issues that you just mentioned. Has there been no reaction there amongst Republicans?
KOCH: Very quiet, Leon. Very, very quiet. Perhaps, as the day goes on, we'll be hearing a little bit more. But everyone is being very careful on this one. No one wants to step forward, and, of course, that deafening silence continues to the White House. While Ari Fleischer still says that the president does not believe that Trent Lott needs to resign, that's far from a ringing endorsement.
So the White House is really going to let the Senate decide how they are going to handle this one.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Kathleen. Kathleen Koch, reporting for us live this morning from Capitol Hill -- Daryn, over to you.
KAGAN: Well, let's go ahead now and get reaction from Lott's home base in Mississippi. Our national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, is in Lott's hometown of Pascagoula -- Gary, good morning.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning, and there is plenty of reaction here. Twenty days from now, we know that U.S. Senate Republicans will be meeting to discuss Trent Lott's fate. But last night, more ordinary Americans were meeting to discuss his fate around their TV sets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): They may not share many of Trent Lott's views, but they share his hometown. So here at this African-American social club in Pascagoula, Mississippi, they watched his interview on Black Entertainment Television particularly intently.
LOTT: This is an opportunity for me to do something about years of misbehavior.
TUCHMAN: Smiles were plentiful, mostly because the audience was often amused.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I think he was playing the same note (ph), that he thinks black Americans want to hear. I think he would say anything now. Wouldn't you say anything if you were in a jam now?
TUCHMAN: None of these community leaders and everyday citizens said they felt worse about Lott after the interview, but most felt he was doing this to help himself more than anything else.
LOTT: I made a mistake, and I would vote, now, for Martin Luther King holiday.
GORDON: All right. Let me hear this. Let me take a break, and we'll come back.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's in a jam. We don't need him to vote for the King holiday now. We have it.
LOTT: I am for affirmative action, and I practice it.
TUCHMAN: The expressions on people's faces spoke volumes.
(on camera): I was watching your face when Trent Lott said he was in now in favor of affirmative action, and you looked surprised. Were you surprised?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was not surprise, Gary. That was, quite frankly, disbelief.
TUCHMAN: They watched carefully for the half hour, sometimes talking back to the TV.
LOTT: That's irrelevant now. That was 30, 40 -- 40 years ago.
TUCHMAN: But mostly, they just listened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He realizes he's in pretty deep, and I think that caused him tonight to make some admissions that he never would have made in a public way a month ago. TUCHMAN: And now they wonder, like most others following the story, if Trent Lott will be able to hang on to his job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: Now it's important to reiterate that nobody left that social hall last night feeling worse about Trent Lott, but they would have felt much better about him if he uttered these comments while Strom Thurmond was still 99 years old. In other words, before his birthday party -- Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Interesting timing, interesting reaction there. Gary, thank you so much.
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 - 10:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Embattled Senator Trent Lott takes to cable television, but it appears that his future is very much up in the air. Lott's fellow Republicans in the Senate have called for a meeting to decide whether his leadership is doomed, even as he delivered yet another apology in a prime time interview last night.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is following the developing story for us this morning. Let's go to her right now for more from Washington -- hello, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. Well, you know that Christmas song, the bells will be ringing? Well, these holidays it will be the telephones that will be ringing as Senator Trent Lott tries to convince his GOP colleagues A, that he is not damaged goods, and B, that he can still advance the Republican agenda in the Senate.
Of course, there is a vote coming up January 6 on his leadership. But it was that body of 50 who was perhaps his most important audience in this now fifth apology that he made. This was last night on Black Entertainment Television. The senator said, again, that he was very sorry for his remarks back on December 5. And also, he claimed to have had a change of heart on issues from -- from affirmative action to a national holiday for Martin Luther King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I'm not sure we in America, certainly not white America and the people in the South, fully understood who this man was, the impact he was having on the fabric of this country.
ED GORDON, BET: But you certainly understood it by the time that vote came up, Senator. You knew who Dr. King was at that point.
LOTT: I did, but I've learned a lot more since then, and I want to make this point clearly. I have a high appreciation for him being a man of peace, a man that was for nonviolence, a man that did change this country. I made a mistake, and I now would vote now for Martin Luther King holiday.
The important thing is to recognize the hurt that I caused, and ask for forgiveness, and find a way to turn this into a positive thing, and try to make amends for what I've said, and for what others have said and done over the years. I'm looking for this to be not only an opportunity for redemption, but to do something about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KOCH: Many in the African-American community are not convinced, though, of both the senator's sincerity and his ability to deliver on that promise.
Many in the Congressional Black Caucus and also many Democrats are still looking to censure Senator Lott when Congress goes back into session in January. The senator has, however, found a very unlikely ally in the body -- this is Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. He is a very well respected leader in the civil rights -- a veteran of the civil rights struggle, and he came out saying that Senator Lott should be given a second chance.
He said that that is -- quote -- "very much in keeping with the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, to forgive and move on."
But of course, Senator Lott will need not words of support, but votes of support come January 6 when the Republican senators conference and decide whether or not to keep him on as leader. That will, of course, be a vote by secret ballot. We will not know the outcome unless it is, of course, unanimous, which is tough to say whether it would be on an issue like this.
And that vote, in part, explains the deafening silence from Republican senators on this whole controversy involving Senator Lott, because many of them fear that coming out supporting him right now could hurt them politically, but then if they openly oppose him, and he survives the January 6 vote, that that could cost them as well -- Leon.
HARRIS: Kathleen as you just said, Republicans have been largely silent, but there has got to be some reaction among Republicans this morning to this apparent change of heart from Senator Trent Lott that we heard last night on these major issues that you just mentioned. Has there been no reaction there amongst Republicans?
KOCH: Very quiet, Leon. Very, very quiet. Perhaps, as the day goes on, we'll be hearing a little bit more. But everyone is being very careful on this one. No one wants to step forward, and, of course, that deafening silence continues to the White House. While Ari Fleischer still says that the president does not believe that Trent Lott needs to resign, that's far from a ringing endorsement.
So the White House is really going to let the Senate decide how they are going to handle this one.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Kathleen. Kathleen Koch, reporting for us live this morning from Capitol Hill -- Daryn, over to you.
KAGAN: Well, let's go ahead now and get reaction from Lott's home base in Mississippi. Our national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, is in Lott's hometown of Pascagoula -- Gary, good morning.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning, and there is plenty of reaction here. Twenty days from now, we know that U.S. Senate Republicans will be meeting to discuss Trent Lott's fate. But last night, more ordinary Americans were meeting to discuss his fate around their TV sets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): They may not share many of Trent Lott's views, but they share his hometown. So here at this African-American social club in Pascagoula, Mississippi, they watched his interview on Black Entertainment Television particularly intently.
LOTT: This is an opportunity for me to do something about years of misbehavior.
TUCHMAN: Smiles were plentiful, mostly because the audience was often amused.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I think he was playing the same note (ph), that he thinks black Americans want to hear. I think he would say anything now. Wouldn't you say anything if you were in a jam now?
TUCHMAN: None of these community leaders and everyday citizens said they felt worse about Lott after the interview, but most felt he was doing this to help himself more than anything else.
LOTT: I made a mistake, and I would vote, now, for Martin Luther King holiday.
GORDON: All right. Let me hear this. Let me take a break, and we'll come back.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's in a jam. We don't need him to vote for the King holiday now. We have it.
LOTT: I am for affirmative action, and I practice it.
TUCHMAN: The expressions on people's faces spoke volumes.
(on camera): I was watching your face when Trent Lott said he was in now in favor of affirmative action, and you looked surprised. Were you surprised?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was not surprise, Gary. That was, quite frankly, disbelief.
TUCHMAN: They watched carefully for the half hour, sometimes talking back to the TV.
LOTT: That's irrelevant now. That was 30, 40 -- 40 years ago.
TUCHMAN: But mostly, they just listened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He realizes he's in pretty deep, and I think that caused him tonight to make some admissions that he never would have made in a public way a month ago. TUCHMAN: And now they wonder, like most others following the story, if Trent Lott will be able to hang on to his job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: Now it's important to reiterate that nobody left that social hall last night feeling worse about Trent Lott, but they would have felt much better about him if he uttered these comments while Strom Thurmond was still 99 years old. In other words, before his birthday party -- Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Interesting timing, interesting reaction there. Gary, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
