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CNN Live Today

The Week in Politics

Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:15   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, ANCHOR: We are back at 15 minutes after the hour.
From Senator Clinton's book blitz to questions about Iraqi intelligence and weapons of mass destruction or mass disappearance, if you will, to the crisis in the Middle East, this now is our look at the week in politics.

And joining us for that is Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times." He's joining us from Washington, however, for a talk about a political postscript for the week.

Good to see you, Ron. How are you?

RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning, Leon. Nice to be here.

HARRIS: I'm surprised to see what you wrote about Hillary's book. A lot of folks have been rather critical, saying that she didn't really divulge enough or give up enough of the dirt behind the scenes. You think she did.

BROWNSTEIN: Actually, I think it was somewhere in the middle.

Like any mid-career memoir of a public official, it leaves out a lot because she's obviously pulling punches for people she has to deal with in the future.

On the other hand, once the couple gets into the White House in the book, she does give you some of the sense of what it's like living in that maelstrom.

You know what's interesting, though, is an old saying among the feminists that the personal is political. I think Hillary has reversed that in this book, in that the political is personal. Clearly, the book has a political goal of reintroducing her to the American public. But the goal isn't to identify her with any particular set of ideas or ideologies. It's to humanize her, it's to make her more as the mom next door with all the insecurities, uncertainties and realities of daily life. Now whether she succeeded in that, I don't know. But it's fascinating to see this kind of political effort, as they go into a memoir.

HARRIS: But did it tell you anything that you didn't already know? Did it tell you anything that you were dying to know or hear?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that, you know, there are some tidbits I found kind of fascinating. One was what a hardball political player she is, to the point she threatened her husband in the White House, that if he signed a welfare reform she didn't support, she would go public in opposing it. I find that rather remarkable, given that she was not elected to anything herself, was not a member of the cabinet.

I think, you know, readers by and large are going to see her familiar explanation on many of the stories that were -- many of the allegations against her over the years, whether it's Whitewater, or the cattle stock futures trading.

But on the other hand, as I said, I think you do get insights into their relationship and you do get some insights into what it's like trying to live in the White House and to function at that level of national politics.

Another interesting tidbit is that she puts a lot of emphasis on her foreign travel, which again reminds -- makes me think that this is a book that is designed to bolster her credentials if she decides to run for president.

HARRIS: Yes. Of course, she's saying now she doesn't want to run. But you know politicians are known to change their minds.

All right. Let's talk about weapons of mass destruction. That did top the headlines quite a bit this week. The Republican leadership coming out, trying to sort of quell the debate right now and put a little bit of water on the fires here.

What do you make of the way that that story evolved this week?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that what you're seeing, so far, in the polls, the best poll being a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, most Americans are saying that they would believe the war was the right decision even if we don't find the weapons of mass destruction.

And without the evidence of that kind of public outrage developing, Republicans in Congress so far have felt comfortable essentially stonewalling the Democratic demands, and for that matter some Republican demands, for a full fledged public investigation.

What they said this week was they were going to look into the questions of the pre-war intelligence, but in a routine manner, behind closed doors, and without anything that's really going to keep the spotlight on from CNN and everybody else.

So at the moment they feel comfortable doing that. I suppose they will hold to that position as long as nothing is revealed that makes it unsustainable to keep the lid on.

HARRIS: All right. Very quickly, let's talk about the Middle East situation, the road map now pretty much being folded up and put back in the glove compartment right now.

What do you make of the way that story's being handled? And pretty much does it strike you as odd that the president would continue to go on vacation while this is brewing?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, not for the first time we have a situation that is extremely complex and really quite daunting.

You have Palestinian extremists led by Hamas that are clearly trying to use violence to derail the peace process. You have a new Palestinian prime minister who seems committed to the peace process but may not have enough effective control over the government to really restrain the terrorists. And you have Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, who also says that he's committed to it but takes very provocative military actions for these targeted assassinations that puts the process under enormous strain.

In that circumstance, it may not be possible at all to have progress, but if it is, it is going to require enormous sustained engagement from the American government, really at the top levels of the government, the president and his top advisors. And we will see whether Bush is willing to make that level of commitment. He wasn't early in his presidency, he really has turned it on in the last couple of months.

But again, as this is a very, very difficult problem, there really is no solution on the horizon. The best you can do is try to keep it under control. And in that environment it remains to be seen whether Bush wants to invest the prestige, time, energy and frustration it takes to keep this moving forward.

HARRIS: Speaking of moving forward and keeping things under control...

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HARRIS: ... perfect seque for -- talk about a seque -- President Bush on vacation. We want to show folks this video. And I'm not sure if anybody's seen these pictures yet out there in the audience, but I'm sure you've seen this. President Bush had a little bit of difficulty operating on a Segway in Kennebunkport.

BROWNSTEIN: Anybody who talks for a living on television knows about awkward segues. But I think this is taking it to a whole new level. You know, John F. Kennedy said he wouldn't wear hats. Maybe presidents should not ride on anything with less than four wheels. Not only presidents, maybe anchors. I don't know.

HARRIS: Exactly. Yes, I can tell you about one anchor in particular here. OK?

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

HARRIS: Thanks, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: All right.

HARRIS: Ron Brownstein from the "L.A. Times." Good to see you again. Have a good weekend. We'll talk to you later.

BROWNSTEIN: 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 June 13, 2003 - 11:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, ANCHOR: We are back at 15 minutes after the hour.
From Senator Clinton's book blitz to questions about Iraqi intelligence and weapons of mass destruction or mass disappearance, if you will, to the crisis in the Middle East, this now is our look at the week in politics.

And joining us for that is Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times." He's joining us from Washington, however, for a talk about a political postscript for the week.

Good to see you, Ron. How are you?

RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Good morning, Leon. Nice to be here.

HARRIS: I'm surprised to see what you wrote about Hillary's book. A lot of folks have been rather critical, saying that she didn't really divulge enough or give up enough of the dirt behind the scenes. You think she did.

BROWNSTEIN: Actually, I think it was somewhere in the middle.

Like any mid-career memoir of a public official, it leaves out a lot because she's obviously pulling punches for people she has to deal with in the future.

On the other hand, once the couple gets into the White House in the book, she does give you some of the sense of what it's like living in that maelstrom.

You know what's interesting, though, is an old saying among the feminists that the personal is political. I think Hillary has reversed that in this book, in that the political is personal. Clearly, the book has a political goal of reintroducing her to the American public. But the goal isn't to identify her with any particular set of ideas or ideologies. It's to humanize her, it's to make her more as the mom next door with all the insecurities, uncertainties and realities of daily life. Now whether she succeeded in that, I don't know. But it's fascinating to see this kind of political effort, as they go into a memoir.

HARRIS: But did it tell you anything that you didn't already know? Did it tell you anything that you were dying to know or hear?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that, you know, there are some tidbits I found kind of fascinating. One was what a hardball political player she is, to the point she threatened her husband in the White House, that if he signed a welfare reform she didn't support, she would go public in opposing it. I find that rather remarkable, given that she was not elected to anything herself, was not a member of the cabinet.

I think, you know, readers by and large are going to see her familiar explanation on many of the stories that were -- many of the allegations against her over the years, whether it's Whitewater, or the cattle stock futures trading.

But on the other hand, as I said, I think you do get insights into their relationship and you do get some insights into what it's like trying to live in the White House and to function at that level of national politics.

Another interesting tidbit is that she puts a lot of emphasis on her foreign travel, which again reminds -- makes me think that this is a book that is designed to bolster her credentials if she decides to run for president.

HARRIS: Yes. Of course, she's saying now she doesn't want to run. But you know politicians are known to change their minds.

All right. Let's talk about weapons of mass destruction. That did top the headlines quite a bit this week. The Republican leadership coming out, trying to sort of quell the debate right now and put a little bit of water on the fires here.

What do you make of the way that that story evolved this week?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that what you're seeing, so far, in the polls, the best poll being a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, most Americans are saying that they would believe the war was the right decision even if we don't find the weapons of mass destruction.

And without the evidence of that kind of public outrage developing, Republicans in Congress so far have felt comfortable essentially stonewalling the Democratic demands, and for that matter some Republican demands, for a full fledged public investigation.

What they said this week was they were going to look into the questions of the pre-war intelligence, but in a routine manner, behind closed doors, and without anything that's really going to keep the spotlight on from CNN and everybody else.

So at the moment they feel comfortable doing that. I suppose they will hold to that position as long as nothing is revealed that makes it unsustainable to keep the lid on.

HARRIS: All right. Very quickly, let's talk about the Middle East situation, the road map now pretty much being folded up and put back in the glove compartment right now.

What do you make of the way that story's being handled? And pretty much does it strike you as odd that the president would continue to go on vacation while this is brewing?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, not for the first time we have a situation that is extremely complex and really quite daunting.

You have Palestinian extremists led by Hamas that are clearly trying to use violence to derail the peace process. You have a new Palestinian prime minister who seems committed to the peace process but may not have enough effective control over the government to really restrain the terrorists. And you have Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, who also says that he's committed to it but takes very provocative military actions for these targeted assassinations that puts the process under enormous strain.

In that circumstance, it may not be possible at all to have progress, but if it is, it is going to require enormous sustained engagement from the American government, really at the top levels of the government, the president and his top advisors. And we will see whether Bush is willing to make that level of commitment. He wasn't early in his presidency, he really has turned it on in the last couple of months.

But again, as this is a very, very difficult problem, there really is no solution on the horizon. The best you can do is try to keep it under control. And in that environment it remains to be seen whether Bush wants to invest the prestige, time, energy and frustration it takes to keep this moving forward.

HARRIS: Speaking of moving forward and keeping things under control...

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HARRIS: ... perfect seque for -- talk about a seque -- President Bush on vacation. We want to show folks this video. And I'm not sure if anybody's seen these pictures yet out there in the audience, but I'm sure you've seen this. President Bush had a little bit of difficulty operating on a Segway in Kennebunkport.

BROWNSTEIN: Anybody who talks for a living on television knows about awkward segues. But I think this is taking it to a whole new level. You know, John F. Kennedy said he wouldn't wear hats. Maybe presidents should not ride on anything with less than four wheels. Not only presidents, maybe anchors. I don't know.

HARRIS: Exactly. Yes, I can tell you about one anchor in particular here. OK?

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

HARRIS: Thanks, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: All right.

HARRIS: Ron Brownstein from the "L.A. Times." Good to see you again. Have a good weekend. We'll talk to you later.

BROWNSTEIN: 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