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American Morning

'Gimme a Minute'

Aired July 18, 2003 - 08:32   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Our Friday feature "Gimme a Minute," we put some of the week's top stories before our panel of pundits. Talk fast or get the bell. In Washington, Jonah Goldberg, editor of The National Review Online.
Good morning, Jonah.

JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning, sir.

HEMMER: It's Friday.

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

Hey, Donna.

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: And in New York, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker," also the author of "Who Moved My Soap: The CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison."

Andy, I'm sorry, by the way -- last week I got the title of your book wrong.

ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": But you pronounced my name correctly.

HEMMER: OK, am I forgiven?

BOROWITZ: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Great, let's get it going.

Donna, to you first, 16 words, State of the Union Address, people say some say it should end there. Others say, what else is there? Your thoughts initially.

BRAZILE: Well, the Bush administration wants us to believe that it's not the size of the phrase that matters, it's the entire speech. I still believe that size matters in this if it's a big lie.

HEMMER: Jonah, did the United States go to war with Iraq based on 16 words?

GOLDBERG: Well, no. I mean, bush's case, the case of the hawk, so to speak, was much larger than that. Everyone sort of concedes that. And I was going to say this morning that I didn't think the story had much else -- any place else to go. George Tenet's taking the blame. Tony Blair sort of reframed the issue. But now with this dead scientist, the conspiracy theorists are going to be coming out of the woodwork for awhile.

HEMMER: That is for sure.

Andy, what's in a word, or two, or 16?

BOROWITZ: I think in the State of the Union Address, every president should be allowed to say 16 words that are totally untrue, and it's our job to guess which 16 they are.

HEMMER: Have we guessed correctly?

BOROWITZ: I don't know. I want to hear about the scientist. That scares me.

HEMMER: All right, thanks.

Let's move on right now. About a week ago, Donald Rumsfeld formally told CNN's Jamie McIntyre it wasn't a guerrilla war. Head of CENTCOM, the new man in charge right now, says indeed it is.

Jonah, first to you. What's it matter right now, the phrasing as this conflict continues in Iraq?

GOLDBERG: I agree. It is sort of a semantic battle. And I give some benefit of the doubt to Rumsfeld, because there's a political meaning for guerrilla war, which conjures images of Vietnam, and there's a highly technical military definition of guerrilla tactics, which is what General Abuzaid (ph), used which sort of rekindled this whole thing. But I do agree that, look, General Abuzaid is going to be off Don Rumsfeld's Christmas card list for a while.

HEMMER: Yes, I think that's so.

Donna, what about the reversal?

BRAZILE: Well, once again, this points out how poorly planned our post-war plans are in Iraq. Here's the point, Osama bin Laden is still loose, and clearly the Iraqis are taking a chapter from his 1980 Soviet-style book.

HEMMER: Five seconds left Andy.

BOROWITZ: Oh, my gosh. I have nothing to say except...

HEMMER: Two, one.

BOROWITZ: I have no time. I'm sorry. I'll pass on this round.

HEMMER: It's tough to find humor in that anyway, wouldn't you agree?

BOROWITZ: Well, not really, but I have no time. HEMMER: All right, well, we'll save it for next week. Jimmy Hoffa, they're digging for his body, Donna. Do we care now, a mystery that's about 30 years old?

BRAZILE: For law enforcement officials it's an unsolved mystery, but for the Hoffa family, they just want this matter to come to a close.

HEMMER: Jonah?

GOLDBERG: I always assumed they couldn't find him because Jimmy Hoffa was on an island with Elvis and Bruce Lee in the South Pacific, and Osama bin Laden.

Look, it's an interesting story, and they should keep looking for him.

HEMMER: Yes, they're still digging -- Andy.

BOROWITZ: You know, I think after the events of the last few weeks, the American people are just eager to find something.

HEMMER: Something, somewhere, somehow.

BOROWITZ: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Under the radar -- Jonah, what's on your radar?

BOROWITZ: The Bush administration last week in the wee hours of Friday, basically decided to cave entirely to sort of feminist groups on the issue of Title IX, which is destroying many men's sports across this country, because they didn't want to seem like they were anti- soccer mom.

HEMMER: I'm assuming that's not under your radar, huh, Donna?

BRAZILE: No, it's not. My radar is the budget deficit is growing by leaps and bounds, and this week we learned that one official in the Bush administration called it worrisome. The other one said it's manageable. I just believe the Bush administration once again has given us conflicting stories.

HEMMER: Got it.

Andy, final word, and we won't cut you off.

BOROWITZ: OK, April 9th is the new Iraqi national holiday. On that day, there will be no mail service, also no water, power or plumbing.

HEMMER: Can't wait for that one-year anniversary. Thanks, all three of you. Enjoy your weekend, OK.

Donna, Jonah and Andy, talk to you again next Friday. "Gimme a Minute."

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 July 18, 2003 - 08:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Our Friday feature "Gimme a Minute," we put some of the week's top stories before our panel of pundits. Talk fast or get the bell. In Washington, Jonah Goldberg, editor of The National Review Online.
Good morning, Jonah.

JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning, sir.

HEMMER: It's Friday.

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

Hey, Donna.

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: And in New York, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker," also the author of "Who Moved My Soap: The CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison."

Andy, I'm sorry, by the way -- last week I got the title of your book wrong.

ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": But you pronounced my name correctly.

HEMMER: OK, am I forgiven?

BOROWITZ: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Great, let's get it going.

Donna, to you first, 16 words, State of the Union Address, people say some say it should end there. Others say, what else is there? Your thoughts initially.

BRAZILE: Well, the Bush administration wants us to believe that it's not the size of the phrase that matters, it's the entire speech. I still believe that size matters in this if it's a big lie.

HEMMER: Jonah, did the United States go to war with Iraq based on 16 words?

GOLDBERG: Well, no. I mean, bush's case, the case of the hawk, so to speak, was much larger than that. Everyone sort of concedes that. And I was going to say this morning that I didn't think the story had much else -- any place else to go. George Tenet's taking the blame. Tony Blair sort of reframed the issue. But now with this dead scientist, the conspiracy theorists are going to be coming out of the woodwork for awhile.

HEMMER: That is for sure.

Andy, what's in a word, or two, or 16?

BOROWITZ: I think in the State of the Union Address, every president should be allowed to say 16 words that are totally untrue, and it's our job to guess which 16 they are.

HEMMER: Have we guessed correctly?

BOROWITZ: I don't know. I want to hear about the scientist. That scares me.

HEMMER: All right, thanks.

Let's move on right now. About a week ago, Donald Rumsfeld formally told CNN's Jamie McIntyre it wasn't a guerrilla war. Head of CENTCOM, the new man in charge right now, says indeed it is.

Jonah, first to you. What's it matter right now, the phrasing as this conflict continues in Iraq?

GOLDBERG: I agree. It is sort of a semantic battle. And I give some benefit of the doubt to Rumsfeld, because there's a political meaning for guerrilla war, which conjures images of Vietnam, and there's a highly technical military definition of guerrilla tactics, which is what General Abuzaid (ph), used which sort of rekindled this whole thing. But I do agree that, look, General Abuzaid is going to be off Don Rumsfeld's Christmas card list for a while.

HEMMER: Yes, I think that's so.

Donna, what about the reversal?

BRAZILE: Well, once again, this points out how poorly planned our post-war plans are in Iraq. Here's the point, Osama bin Laden is still loose, and clearly the Iraqis are taking a chapter from his 1980 Soviet-style book.

HEMMER: Five seconds left Andy.

BOROWITZ: Oh, my gosh. I have nothing to say except...

HEMMER: Two, one.

BOROWITZ: I have no time. I'm sorry. I'll pass on this round.

HEMMER: It's tough to find humor in that anyway, wouldn't you agree?

BOROWITZ: Well, not really, but I have no time. HEMMER: All right, well, we'll save it for next week. Jimmy Hoffa, they're digging for his body, Donna. Do we care now, a mystery that's about 30 years old?

BRAZILE: For law enforcement officials it's an unsolved mystery, but for the Hoffa family, they just want this matter to come to a close.

HEMMER: Jonah?

GOLDBERG: I always assumed they couldn't find him because Jimmy Hoffa was on an island with Elvis and Bruce Lee in the South Pacific, and Osama bin Laden.

Look, it's an interesting story, and they should keep looking for him.

HEMMER: Yes, they're still digging -- Andy.

BOROWITZ: You know, I think after the events of the last few weeks, the American people are just eager to find something.

HEMMER: Something, somewhere, somehow.

BOROWITZ: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Under the radar -- Jonah, what's on your radar?

BOROWITZ: The Bush administration last week in the wee hours of Friday, basically decided to cave entirely to sort of feminist groups on the issue of Title IX, which is destroying many men's sports across this country, because they didn't want to seem like they were anti- soccer mom.

HEMMER: I'm assuming that's not under your radar, huh, Donna?

BRAZILE: No, it's not. My radar is the budget deficit is growing by leaps and bounds, and this week we learned that one official in the Bush administration called it worrisome. The other one said it's manageable. I just believe the Bush administration once again has given us conflicting stories.

HEMMER: Got it.

Andy, final word, and we won't cut you off.

BOROWITZ: OK, April 9th is the new Iraqi national holiday. On that day, there will be no mail service, also no water, power or plumbing.

HEMMER: Can't wait for that one-year anniversary. Thanks, all three of you. Enjoy your weekend, OK.

Donna, Jonah and Andy, talk to you again next Friday. "Gimme a Minute."

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