Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview With Mike Luckovich

Aired December 31, 2002 - 11:51   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, if you were watching yesterday, you probably got a big laugh out of Mike Luckovich's top ten political cartoons, but he is back today, pen in hand.
MIKE LUCKOVICH, CARTOONIST: And I like that little deal, "Draw of the Luck" underneath. That's very clever.

LIN: "Draw of the Luck," yes. That's our crack writing team there.

LUCKOVICH: Oh, very good. Very good.

LIN: And he has brought with him -- you've brought with him your top news makers. But you know, the reason why, because I have to say it, because it is in the script that you are a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist at the Atlanta "Constitution-Journal" (sic).

LUCKOVICH: Yes, yes. I'm glad...

LIN: We don't just bring anybody on set, you know.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. Well, thank you for that, again.

You know, the ten that I'm going to show today, the first few are kind of heavier subjects, and what I like when I draw my editorial cartoons is some issues are just not worthy of a hard hitting cartoon, and they are just fun and I like to kind of mix up my cartoons.

The first cartoon that I'm going to show here is on what the Israelis have gone through over the past year with the suicide bombings, and you know, that's a small country, and they have lost so many people and that terror is so bad, and it happens so often so I did this. This is -- I do the Israeli calendar. And you see that it's September, and every day is the 11th.

LIN: I bet you got mail on that too.

LUCKOVICH: I did. It was mainly people saying thank you. Yes -- and another serious issue was the sniper shootings in Washington, and even though we don't live in Washington, most of us, we could understand the feelings that they were feeling, the sense that they were under attack, and never knowing...

LIN: Right. Randomness.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. So I drew this cartoon. You see one of those signs that you always see in a mall that says you are here, and it's a big gun sight. I was just trying to get at what people are feeling.

Now, this has got to be one of the great things this year. He's one of my heroes. Jimmy Carter winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He does so much for poor people all over the world, and he does it quietly, and he's just such a good person. So I did this cartoon; it's a two-panel. The first panel you see the U.S. war machine, huge conglomeration of different weapons, and then in the next panel, you see the U.S. peace machine, which is Jimmy Carter.

LIN: One simple man.

LUCKOVICH: He really is a hero, I think.

Now, we had the -- we had the CEO corporate scandals this year, and so I did this cartoon. An aide to a CEO is saying, "Your incompetence and lawlessness bankrupted the company, cost the workers their jobs, depleted their retirement funds." And the CEO says, "Hurry, get to the part about my $125 million severance package."

LIN: Oh, well, we were just talking about Dennis Kozlowski's spending habits.

LUCKOVICH: That just amazes me, and to think that they can just screw up so badly and be rewarded like that.

LIN: I think it is about going away quietly, not stirring it with the stockholders.

LUCKOVICH: I guess, I guess.

LIN: What's this?

LUCKOVICH: Well, this is sort of how I viewed Wall Street, all the corruption going on. It has really scared investors because of the dishonesty, so I drew Wall Street as Pinocchio. As you see, the nose is a Dow indicator headed downwards as it grows.

LIN: Oh, we know that feeling, unfortunately.

LUCKOVICH: Now, as I said, sometimes the issues are a little bit lighter. And -- for instance, in this one, Southwest air announced that they were going to begin charging obese passengers two seats for the price of one. So I drew these -- this couple on the couch and the husband saying, Honey, let's get away this summer, just the four of us.

LIN: Double your pleasure.

LUCKOVICH: You know, I had fun doing that cartoon. And with the Mideast crisis building, I tried to come up with a reference point that people would remember, and the pretzel eating incident with Bush was -- when he ate the pretzel and then collapsed and why his two dogs witnessed that in horror. So I drew this huge pretzel labeled Mideast crisis, and one dog is saying to the other, Well, this should be interesting.

LIN: OK, next.

LUCKOVICH: Now finally, one Martha Stewart. She has had a difficult year. So I have her saying, "I had a variety of feathers for a truly festive look," as she's been tarred and feathered there. We will have Greenspan trying to put an optimistic spin on the economy, he is saying, "On the upside, retailers report Winona Ryder is actually shopping."

LIN: And paying for the things that she is buying.

LUCKOVICH: Now, this is one of my favorite cartoons. This was on the Michael Jackson dangling-baby saga. And so I was just trying to come up with something that I thought would be fun, so -- if you see, he's dangling an older woman -- although opinion, someone's saying, "Oh, my God, now he's dangling Liz Taylor."

LIN: His best friend. Oh, Mike, thanks so much for sharing.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you for having me again.

LIN: Yes. It really gives us a window into your mind, which I am not sure is a good thing.

LUCKOVICH: No, I don't think it is.

LIN: All right. Well, we'll look forward to all your drawings in 2003. You will have plenty of fodder I am sure.

LUCKOVICH: Oh, I will. I am sure.

LIN: And please come back and join us.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you, Carol.

LIN: All right. Thanks, Mike. Have a happy New Year.

LUCKOVICH: And you too, you too.

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 31, 2002 - 11:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, if you were watching yesterday, you probably got a big laugh out of Mike Luckovich's top ten political cartoons, but he is back today, pen in hand.
MIKE LUCKOVICH, CARTOONIST: And I like that little deal, "Draw of the Luck" underneath. That's very clever.

LIN: "Draw of the Luck," yes. That's our crack writing team there.

LUCKOVICH: Oh, very good. Very good.

LIN: And he has brought with him -- you've brought with him your top news makers. But you know, the reason why, because I have to say it, because it is in the script that you are a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist at the Atlanta "Constitution-Journal" (sic).

LUCKOVICH: Yes, yes. I'm glad...

LIN: We don't just bring anybody on set, you know.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. Well, thank you for that, again.

You know, the ten that I'm going to show today, the first few are kind of heavier subjects, and what I like when I draw my editorial cartoons is some issues are just not worthy of a hard hitting cartoon, and they are just fun and I like to kind of mix up my cartoons.

The first cartoon that I'm going to show here is on what the Israelis have gone through over the past year with the suicide bombings, and you know, that's a small country, and they have lost so many people and that terror is so bad, and it happens so often so I did this. This is -- I do the Israeli calendar. And you see that it's September, and every day is the 11th.

LIN: I bet you got mail on that too.

LUCKOVICH: I did. It was mainly people saying thank you. Yes -- and another serious issue was the sniper shootings in Washington, and even though we don't live in Washington, most of us, we could understand the feelings that they were feeling, the sense that they were under attack, and never knowing...

LIN: Right. Randomness.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. So I drew this cartoon. You see one of those signs that you always see in a mall that says you are here, and it's a big gun sight. I was just trying to get at what people are feeling.

Now, this has got to be one of the great things this year. He's one of my heroes. Jimmy Carter winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He does so much for poor people all over the world, and he does it quietly, and he's just such a good person. So I did this cartoon; it's a two-panel. The first panel you see the U.S. war machine, huge conglomeration of different weapons, and then in the next panel, you see the U.S. peace machine, which is Jimmy Carter.

LIN: One simple man.

LUCKOVICH: He really is a hero, I think.

Now, we had the -- we had the CEO corporate scandals this year, and so I did this cartoon. An aide to a CEO is saying, "Your incompetence and lawlessness bankrupted the company, cost the workers their jobs, depleted their retirement funds." And the CEO says, "Hurry, get to the part about my $125 million severance package."

LIN: Oh, well, we were just talking about Dennis Kozlowski's spending habits.

LUCKOVICH: That just amazes me, and to think that they can just screw up so badly and be rewarded like that.

LIN: I think it is about going away quietly, not stirring it with the stockholders.

LUCKOVICH: I guess, I guess.

LIN: What's this?

LUCKOVICH: Well, this is sort of how I viewed Wall Street, all the corruption going on. It has really scared investors because of the dishonesty, so I drew Wall Street as Pinocchio. As you see, the nose is a Dow indicator headed downwards as it grows.

LIN: Oh, we know that feeling, unfortunately.

LUCKOVICH: Now, as I said, sometimes the issues are a little bit lighter. And -- for instance, in this one, Southwest air announced that they were going to begin charging obese passengers two seats for the price of one. So I drew these -- this couple on the couch and the husband saying, Honey, let's get away this summer, just the four of us.

LIN: Double your pleasure.

LUCKOVICH: You know, I had fun doing that cartoon. And with the Mideast crisis building, I tried to come up with a reference point that people would remember, and the pretzel eating incident with Bush was -- when he ate the pretzel and then collapsed and why his two dogs witnessed that in horror. So I drew this huge pretzel labeled Mideast crisis, and one dog is saying to the other, Well, this should be interesting.

LIN: OK, next.

LUCKOVICH: Now finally, one Martha Stewart. She has had a difficult year. So I have her saying, "I had a variety of feathers for a truly festive look," as she's been tarred and feathered there. We will have Greenspan trying to put an optimistic spin on the economy, he is saying, "On the upside, retailers report Winona Ryder is actually shopping."

LIN: And paying for the things that she is buying.

LUCKOVICH: Now, this is one of my favorite cartoons. This was on the Michael Jackson dangling-baby saga. And so I was just trying to come up with something that I thought would be fun, so -- if you see, he's dangling an older woman -- although opinion, someone's saying, "Oh, my God, now he's dangling Liz Taylor."

LIN: His best friend. Oh, Mike, thanks so much for sharing.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you for having me again.

LIN: Yes. It really gives us a window into your mind, which I am not sure is a good thing.

LUCKOVICH: No, I don't think it is.

LIN: All right. Well, we'll look forward to all your drawings in 2003. You will have plenty of fodder I am sure.

LUCKOVICH: Oh, I will. I am sure.

LIN: And please come back and join us.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you, Carol.

LIN: All right. Thanks, Mike. Have a happy New Year.

LUCKOVICH: And you too, you too.

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