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American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'
Aired June 20, 2003 - 08:33 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for our Friday feature "Gimme a Minute." Our panel will weigh-in this morning's on the week's big stories with high speed brilliance, we hope.
With us in Minneapolis today, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.
Good to see you.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
And in New York, we have John McWarner, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Good to have you with us.
JOHN MCWARNER, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: Good morning.
HARRIS: And also in New York, humorist and author Andy Borowitz. His new book is titled "Who Moved My Soap: The CEOs Guide to Surviving in Prison." There you go.
Good to see you, Andy.
ANDY BOROWTIZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Hi, Leon.
HARRIS: Good to see you, Andy. Glad to have you with us.
BOROWITZ: Good to be here.
HARRIS: All right, we're going to start off with you, Donna. The question first off this morning is about the peace process in the Middle East. As you know, Secretary of State Colin Powell is there, urging all sides to keep talking. Meanwhile, Hamas says you can talk all you want to, we're still making bombs. What influence does the U.S. really have if the bombs keep coming?
BOROWITZ: Well, first of all, if the administration had stayed the course we would be further along in the process. But luckily, Secretary Powell has not only the stature, but the stamina to keep the trains running on time, and perhaps run over Hamas during this course.
HARRIS: John?
MCWARNER: It's vastly unclear to me how this is anything to more than symbolic. If Hamas refuses to agree to a cease-fire as a precondition for talks, while in the meantime Sharon is making little noises to his friends that he doesn't want to get rid of all the settlements, then clearly something larger in the human spirit than this sort of trip is going to be necessary to get past the situation in that region.
HARRIS: Andy?
BOROWITZ: This confirms what I felt for some time, which is that Colin Powell has the worst job in the world.
HARRIS: All right. We'll have to see how that one plays out.
Way to go, gang.
Next question now is about the furor that was kicked up this week about CBS appearing to dangle before Jessica Lynch a book deal, movie deals possibly, in order to get an interview.
John, what do you think about that?
MCWARNER: That is all about "The New York Times" still being embarrassed about the veiled racism of the Jayson Blair fiasco and wanting to just indict somebody else. Monopoly is inevitable. It's not a good thing. We must always fight it. And yes, CBS kind of has egg on its face. But that we're paying this kind of attention to that episode is just "The New York Times" trying to cast attention away from its own problems.
HARRIS: What do you think, Donna?
BRAZILE: I think CBS was shameful in trying to lure Jessica by giving her sweetness, such as a show on MTV. Look, it just shows you that corporate media giants have taken over our media outlets, and they're tainting journalism. I don't think this has anything to do with "The New York Times."
HARRIS: Andy?
BOROWITZ: I'm a little concerned. CBS now says that if Saddam Hussein comes out of hiding, he's going to have his own cartoon show on Nickelodeon. I think that's a bad idea.
HARRIS: That would be something to see.
Right now, what everyone's waiting to see, though, is Harry Potter. The books do hit the shelves midnight tonight.
Donna, start things off with you. Is this just -- have we done it too much with harry? Have we Harry Potter-ed ourselves to death here, or what?
BRAZILE: No. Boy wizard is the talk of the town. I tell you, I see kids waiting up until midnight to night to see if they can cast a spell on their parents to allow them to stay up for another two nights to finish the book.
HARRIS: John? MCWARNER: The print culture is receding. I teach at UC Berkeley. I deal with older kids all the time. It is so wonderful to see people reading these books. And notice that the books get longer and longer and people keep reading them. I see this Harry Potter media blitz as a good thing. I swell every time I see one of those mock-ups in a bookstore window.
HARRIS: I'm with you on the reading part.
Andy?
BOROWITZ: I think Harry Potter has done something very valuable, which is it has gotten people to stop talking about Hillary's book.
HARRIS: All right. That brings us now to question of what you all think may have been the under-covered story of the week.
John, we'll start with you.
MCWARNER: I wouldn't say this has been exactly under-covered, but what's going on in Benton Harbor with the tension between the African-Americans there and police forces really represents what I think is the linchpin of our problems with race today. A lot of black people say that they still feel victimized by their race. A lot of it traces to these problems with the police and African-Americans. And there's a lot to be said about those issues, but if we don't attend to that, we will not get past race.
HARRIS: Good point there, John. That explosion didn't come from nowhere -- Donna.
BRAZILE: Well, I think the Texas governor's decision to once again call the legislators back to session is going to call more lawmakers to call this time Vice President Cheney to perhaps get keys to his undisclosed location so they can hide out this time in secret.
HARRIS: No more Oklahoma runs, huh?
BRAZILE: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Andy?
BOROWITZ: A nationwide manhunt failed to turn up a single American who cared about David Beckham switching soccer teams.
HARRIS: Good point there. And we'll have to end it there.
Thanks, gang. Sure do appreciate it. Donna Brazile, John McWarner and Andy Borowitz. Have a good weekend, and we'll see you next week.
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 20, 2003 - 08:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for our Friday feature "Gimme a Minute." Our panel will weigh-in this morning's on the week's big stories with high speed brilliance, we hope.
With us in Minneapolis today, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.
Good to see you.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
And in New York, we have John McWarner, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Good to have you with us.
JOHN MCWARNER, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: Good morning.
HARRIS: And also in New York, humorist and author Andy Borowitz. His new book is titled "Who Moved My Soap: The CEOs Guide to Surviving in Prison." There you go.
Good to see you, Andy.
ANDY BOROWTIZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Hi, Leon.
HARRIS: Good to see you, Andy. Glad to have you with us.
BOROWITZ: Good to be here.
HARRIS: All right, we're going to start off with you, Donna. The question first off this morning is about the peace process in the Middle East. As you know, Secretary of State Colin Powell is there, urging all sides to keep talking. Meanwhile, Hamas says you can talk all you want to, we're still making bombs. What influence does the U.S. really have if the bombs keep coming?
BOROWITZ: Well, first of all, if the administration had stayed the course we would be further along in the process. But luckily, Secretary Powell has not only the stature, but the stamina to keep the trains running on time, and perhaps run over Hamas during this course.
HARRIS: John?
MCWARNER: It's vastly unclear to me how this is anything to more than symbolic. If Hamas refuses to agree to a cease-fire as a precondition for talks, while in the meantime Sharon is making little noises to his friends that he doesn't want to get rid of all the settlements, then clearly something larger in the human spirit than this sort of trip is going to be necessary to get past the situation in that region.
HARRIS: Andy?
BOROWITZ: This confirms what I felt for some time, which is that Colin Powell has the worst job in the world.
HARRIS: All right. We'll have to see how that one plays out.
Way to go, gang.
Next question now is about the furor that was kicked up this week about CBS appearing to dangle before Jessica Lynch a book deal, movie deals possibly, in order to get an interview.
John, what do you think about that?
MCWARNER: That is all about "The New York Times" still being embarrassed about the veiled racism of the Jayson Blair fiasco and wanting to just indict somebody else. Monopoly is inevitable. It's not a good thing. We must always fight it. And yes, CBS kind of has egg on its face. But that we're paying this kind of attention to that episode is just "The New York Times" trying to cast attention away from its own problems.
HARRIS: What do you think, Donna?
BRAZILE: I think CBS was shameful in trying to lure Jessica by giving her sweetness, such as a show on MTV. Look, it just shows you that corporate media giants have taken over our media outlets, and they're tainting journalism. I don't think this has anything to do with "The New York Times."
HARRIS: Andy?
BOROWITZ: I'm a little concerned. CBS now says that if Saddam Hussein comes out of hiding, he's going to have his own cartoon show on Nickelodeon. I think that's a bad idea.
HARRIS: That would be something to see.
Right now, what everyone's waiting to see, though, is Harry Potter. The books do hit the shelves midnight tonight.
Donna, start things off with you. Is this just -- have we done it too much with harry? Have we Harry Potter-ed ourselves to death here, or what?
BRAZILE: No. Boy wizard is the talk of the town. I tell you, I see kids waiting up until midnight to night to see if they can cast a spell on their parents to allow them to stay up for another two nights to finish the book.
HARRIS: John? MCWARNER: The print culture is receding. I teach at UC Berkeley. I deal with older kids all the time. It is so wonderful to see people reading these books. And notice that the books get longer and longer and people keep reading them. I see this Harry Potter media blitz as a good thing. I swell every time I see one of those mock-ups in a bookstore window.
HARRIS: I'm with you on the reading part.
Andy?
BOROWITZ: I think Harry Potter has done something very valuable, which is it has gotten people to stop talking about Hillary's book.
HARRIS: All right. That brings us now to question of what you all think may have been the under-covered story of the week.
John, we'll start with you.
MCWARNER: I wouldn't say this has been exactly under-covered, but what's going on in Benton Harbor with the tension between the African-Americans there and police forces really represents what I think is the linchpin of our problems with race today. A lot of black people say that they still feel victimized by their race. A lot of it traces to these problems with the police and African-Americans. And there's a lot to be said about those issues, but if we don't attend to that, we will not get past race.
HARRIS: Good point there, John. That explosion didn't come from nowhere -- Donna.
BRAZILE: Well, I think the Texas governor's decision to once again call the legislators back to session is going to call more lawmakers to call this time Vice President Cheney to perhaps get keys to his undisclosed location so they can hide out this time in secret.
HARRIS: No more Oklahoma runs, huh?
BRAZILE: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Andy?
BOROWITZ: A nationwide manhunt failed to turn up a single American who cared about David Beckham switching soccer teams.
HARRIS: Good point there. And we'll have to end it there.
Thanks, gang. Sure do appreciate it. Donna Brazile, John McWarner and Andy Borowitz. Have a good weekend, and we'll see you next week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
