Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

'Gimme a Minute'

Aired March 07, 2003 - 08:31   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for our weekly "Gimme a Minute" segment. Our fast-talking panel races the clock on three big stories of the week and then they give us their ideas of three big stories we may have missed.
Joining us from now Washington, Jonah Goldberg of the National Review Online Donna Brazile of the Democratic National Committee, and here in New York with us this morning, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker."

Welcome, trio. Good to see you all again.

Ladies first this morning.

So, Donna, you heard the president's speak last night. How close do you think the nation is to war?

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I think we're already at war, and unless Saddam Hussein this weekend have a change of mind, or a conversion and pack his bags, put on a burka and hike across the desert, we're going to start the war in the next 12 days.

ZAHN: Jonah Goldberg.

JONAH GOLBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: I think that's basically right. Remember, we have been bombing Iraq for 12 years. I think that's right. I think the Shakespearian in me wants to be the ides of March. But I think basically, the political calender mean less than the lunar calender. Whenever the next new moon is, that's when we're beginning.

ZAHN: So you're saying the beginning of next month, or -- I don't when know the next moon -- I know the new moon started March 3rd, so I'm trying to make the computation in my head.

GOLDBERG: I didn't get a chance to check my lunar calendar on the way in.

ZAHN: But I'll bet you Andy Borowitz has -- Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Well, I heard the president speak last night. And I've got to say, he said the words regime change more times than Jennifer Lopez has said the words "I do," so I think it looks pretty imminent.

ZAHN: All right, on to our next question. In California this week, the average price of grass -- gas shot up to over $2 a gallon, and energy experts are saying it could hit 3 bucks a gallon in the summer. Are oil companies gouging consumers, Jonah?

GOLDBERG: I don't think so. It may be possible that individual gas stations are. But every time they do one of these investigations to figure out if oil companies are gouging, it turns up there is no evidence of it. You know, oil is a commodity. Gas is essentially a commodity. And there is no evidence of gouging, but the price is going to go up, because there is a war on the way.

ZAHN: Donna?

BRAZILE: I think this has a suspicious smell to it. I hope Senator Barbara Boxer investigates this and smoke out the cronies who are behind raising the prices of gas when the price of oil is still not spiked up that high.

ZAHN: Well, what kind of conspiracy are you suggesting here?

BRAZILE: Well, look, I think there's a suspicious odor around raising the price so quickly, when basically Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia and others are saying they have reserves, and there's no reason to panic right now.

ZAHN: Andy, we've just eaten into your 20 seconds. You have 10 left.

BOROWITZ: Well, maybe I'm a contrarian, but I have a lot of sympathy for oil company executives. Remember, a lot of these guys thought that they would have jobs at the White House by now.

ZAHN: You are so disciplined today.

On to our final question, the news program "60 Minutes" announced that it's going to bring Bob Dole and former President Clinton together in a sort of point-counterpoint segment. Do you think this will be a ratings minute winner, Donna?

BRAZILE: Absolutely. "60 Minutes" has always been a top-rated program, and I think Bill Clinton and Bob Dole will do a fabulous job, and perhaps give Andy Rooney some time off to update his material.

ZAHN: Jonah? What about Andy?

GOLDBERG: I'm not a huge fan of Andy Rooney. When they asked him if he wanted to do his commentary on "60 Minutes II" he said that 450 words a week was already too much work.

In terms of this Bob Dole-Clinton thing, you know, to be brutally honest, I don't care -- I didn't like the guy, Bill Clinton as president, but I never said he wasn't qualified to be a journalist.

ZAHN: Andy?

BOROWTIZ: Well, I think the segment can do well, but Bill Clinton is a little disappointed, because the show he wanted to be on was "The Bachelor," so this was sort of disappointing for him.

ZAHN: Andy, Andy, Andy.

Now to our undercovered story of the week -- Jonah.

GOLDBERG: Remember all of those stories about calling the British -- I mean calling the French and the Germans the axis of weasels, and "The New York Post" cover axis of weasels?

ZAHN: Oh, sure.

GOLDBERG: It turns out, obviously, that is a big controversy and people thought it was unfair to the French and the Germans. PETA has come out and protested that this is actually unfair to weasels, which are actually very brave and bold creatures and shouldn't be compared to our partners in peace the Germans and the French.

ZAHN: That was sort of slipped our radar this week -- Donna.

BRAZILE: Well, I call it poll pork. A couple of days ago, there was a bill on Capitol Hill to give a tax break to military families, and all of a sudden, they loaded it up with all of these wonderful tax breaks, including one that would allow foreigners to have a tax cut if they bet on American horse races. Last night's Republican leaders pulled it from the floor.

ZAHN: Ten seconds left for Andy.

Actually, you were so disciplined, Andy, you can do whatever you want as we close out the segment.

BOROWITZ: Well, thank you, Paula.

Well, last week, of course, Robert Blake went on national TV and said he did not kill his wife. This week, O.J. Simpson went on TV and called Mr. Blake's story derivative.

ZAHN: On that note, we're going to have to end. Jonah Goldberg, Donna Brazile, Andy Borowitz, thanks for your time this morning. We hope you all have a really good weekend.

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 March 7, 2003 - 08:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for our weekly "Gimme a Minute" segment. Our fast-talking panel races the clock on three big stories of the week and then they give us their ideas of three big stories we may have missed.
Joining us from now Washington, Jonah Goldberg of the National Review Online Donna Brazile of the Democratic National Committee, and here in New York with us this morning, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker."

Welcome, trio. Good to see you all again.

Ladies first this morning.

So, Donna, you heard the president's speak last night. How close do you think the nation is to war?

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I think we're already at war, and unless Saddam Hussein this weekend have a change of mind, or a conversion and pack his bags, put on a burka and hike across the desert, we're going to start the war in the next 12 days.

ZAHN: Jonah Goldberg.

JONAH GOLBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: I think that's basically right. Remember, we have been bombing Iraq for 12 years. I think that's right. I think the Shakespearian in me wants to be the ides of March. But I think basically, the political calender mean less than the lunar calender. Whenever the next new moon is, that's when we're beginning.

ZAHN: So you're saying the beginning of next month, or -- I don't when know the next moon -- I know the new moon started March 3rd, so I'm trying to make the computation in my head.

GOLDBERG: I didn't get a chance to check my lunar calendar on the way in.

ZAHN: But I'll bet you Andy Borowitz has -- Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Well, I heard the president speak last night. And I've got to say, he said the words regime change more times than Jennifer Lopez has said the words "I do," so I think it looks pretty imminent.

ZAHN: All right, on to our next question. In California this week, the average price of grass -- gas shot up to over $2 a gallon, and energy experts are saying it could hit 3 bucks a gallon in the summer. Are oil companies gouging consumers, Jonah?

GOLDBERG: I don't think so. It may be possible that individual gas stations are. But every time they do one of these investigations to figure out if oil companies are gouging, it turns up there is no evidence of it. You know, oil is a commodity. Gas is essentially a commodity. And there is no evidence of gouging, but the price is going to go up, because there is a war on the way.

ZAHN: Donna?

BRAZILE: I think this has a suspicious smell to it. I hope Senator Barbara Boxer investigates this and smoke out the cronies who are behind raising the prices of gas when the price of oil is still not spiked up that high.

ZAHN: Well, what kind of conspiracy are you suggesting here?

BRAZILE: Well, look, I think there's a suspicious odor around raising the price so quickly, when basically Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia and others are saying they have reserves, and there's no reason to panic right now.

ZAHN: Andy, we've just eaten into your 20 seconds. You have 10 left.

BOROWITZ: Well, maybe I'm a contrarian, but I have a lot of sympathy for oil company executives. Remember, a lot of these guys thought that they would have jobs at the White House by now.

ZAHN: You are so disciplined today.

On to our final question, the news program "60 Minutes" announced that it's going to bring Bob Dole and former President Clinton together in a sort of point-counterpoint segment. Do you think this will be a ratings minute winner, Donna?

BRAZILE: Absolutely. "60 Minutes" has always been a top-rated program, and I think Bill Clinton and Bob Dole will do a fabulous job, and perhaps give Andy Rooney some time off to update his material.

ZAHN: Jonah? What about Andy?

GOLDBERG: I'm not a huge fan of Andy Rooney. When they asked him if he wanted to do his commentary on "60 Minutes II" he said that 450 words a week was already too much work.

In terms of this Bob Dole-Clinton thing, you know, to be brutally honest, I don't care -- I didn't like the guy, Bill Clinton as president, but I never said he wasn't qualified to be a journalist.

ZAHN: Andy?

BOROWTIZ: Well, I think the segment can do well, but Bill Clinton is a little disappointed, because the show he wanted to be on was "The Bachelor," so this was sort of disappointing for him.

ZAHN: Andy, Andy, Andy.

Now to our undercovered story of the week -- Jonah.

GOLDBERG: Remember all of those stories about calling the British -- I mean calling the French and the Germans the axis of weasels, and "The New York Post" cover axis of weasels?

ZAHN: Oh, sure.

GOLDBERG: It turns out, obviously, that is a big controversy and people thought it was unfair to the French and the Germans. PETA has come out and protested that this is actually unfair to weasels, which are actually very brave and bold creatures and shouldn't be compared to our partners in peace the Germans and the French.

ZAHN: That was sort of slipped our radar this week -- Donna.

BRAZILE: Well, I call it poll pork. A couple of days ago, there was a bill on Capitol Hill to give a tax break to military families, and all of a sudden, they loaded it up with all of these wonderful tax breaks, including one that would allow foreigners to have a tax cut if they bet on American horse races. Last night's Republican leaders pulled it from the floor.

ZAHN: Ten seconds left for Andy.

Actually, you were so disciplined, Andy, you can do whatever you want as we close out the segment.

BOROWITZ: Well, thank you, Paula.

Well, last week, of course, Robert Blake went on national TV and said he did not kill his wife. This week, O.J. Simpson went on TV and called Mr. Blake's story derivative.

ZAHN: On that note, we're going to have to end. Jonah Goldberg, Donna Brazile, Andy Borowitz, thanks for your time this morning. We hope you all have a really good weekend.

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