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American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'
Aired July 25, 2003 - 07:33 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to our Friday feature, Give Me A Minute, in which our panel of pundits weighs in on some of the week's top stories. Our advice, as always, is say what you want, but say it fast.
In Washington this morning, Jonah Goldberg. He is the editor of the "National Review" online.
Good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, "NATIONAL REVIEW" ONLINE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Democratic strategist Donna Brazile joins us, as well.
Good morning, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hello.
Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And in New York, Andy Borowitz from "The New Yorker." He is also the author of "Who Moved My Soap: The CEO's Guide To Surviving In Prison."
Good morning to you, Andy.
Nice to see you.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, let's begin with you.
Yesterday, as you well know, the photos of Uday and Qusay released, very controversial, not only here in the United States, but in the Middle East as well.
Was it the right thing to do, do you think?
GOLDBERG: Absolutely. In fact, I don't understand the controversy, all due respect to your question of the day, Jack. It's all part of de-Baathification, just like with de-Nazification. We released photos of the dead members of the S.S., the dead leaders of Germany. We also released photos from the Holocaust to prove these things really happened. And I just think it's vital and it had to be done, as gruesome as it is.
O'BRIEN: Donna, some people say but what about the precedent that's being started.
BRAZILE: Well, this administration had no choice. Its credibility is so low that when it, when they find the weapons of mass destruction, they may pass them out and tell us to smell it. I think that'll be quite deadly.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, you want to weigh in on this?
HOROWITZ: I agree. I'm still more troubled by the decision to broadcast images of Anna Nicole Smith, I must say.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's take a look at this one.
Donna, Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, as you well know, says it is his fault that the 16 words appeared in the president's State of the Union address. I'm talking, of course, about the words that asserted that Iraq tried to buy nuclear material in Africa. Sort of because of other news of the day was relegated to the back burner.
Do you think that now it's over. This debate just ends here?
BRAZILE: No, as long as they continue to pass the buck around the White House and no one takes full responsibility, this scandal will continue to grow.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think? Is it finally going to end?
GOLDBERG: I kind of hope it will, but I do think Donna is right that the White House has terribly mishandled this whole thing. The reality is is that those 16 words never had anything really serious to do with moving this country to war. Congress had already voted to authorize the war before they ever heard those 16 words. It was always a silly argument.
O'BRIEN: Andy, what do you think? Is it going to be relegated to the back page only as long as there's other news and then it'll make its way back to the front pages again soon?
HOROWITZ: Oh, no. I think there are going to be congressional hearings to determine who the heck Hadley is.
O'BRIEN: OK, finally, I want to talk about this new show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" that was on cable and did incredibly well on Bravo and then moved over to network, making its debut there, edited down a little bit.
Jonah, huge hit. Do you think it's going to change the landscape for network television?
GOLDBERG: I don't think so. I think actually "Will and Grace" has done more to mainstream gays than this will. After all, the gay guys in this show are actually incredibly stereotypically gay and so they don't really do much to shatter the stereotypes. I'm just hoping that CNN will let me launch my show "Straight Eye for the Queer Guy."
O'BRIEN: And, Donna, what do you think?
BRAZILE: Well, I didn't watch it last night, but I understand from my gay boyfriends that it was such a great hit that they are waiting now for five straight guys to help them move even farther in society.
O'BRIEN: All right, and, Andy, want to weigh in on that?
HOROWITZ: I just thought that the guy they picked wasn't much of a challenge. I'd like to see them make over Jack Cafferty.
O'BRIEN: Oh, maybe we'll submit his name. That's a good idea.
HOROWITZ: It would great.
O'BRIEN: OK, finally, let's start with what we missed, stories that sort of flew in under the radar.
Andy, let's start with you.
HOROWITZ: Well, there's democracy is moving forward in Iraq. The governing council set August 2nd as the date of their first sex scandal.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. OK.
And, Donna, what have you got?
BRAZILE: Well, this week a powerful House chairman went to the floor and cried out for an apology from the Democrats. They gave him napkins, but they said, you know what? Until you give us control of the House, we're not accepting your apology.
O'BRIEN: They weren't buying it at all.
OK, and, Jonah, let's have you wrap it up for us this morning.
GOLDBERG: Yes, I think the media is actually missing a very big story about the discontent among conservatives with the Bush administration right now. Across sort of the ideological spectrum on the right, conservatives are grumbling about a host of domestic policies and about a certain drift to the middle as this administration heads into an election year. And I think it's going to be a much bigger issue in the days to come or the weeks to come.
O'BRIEN: We will continue to follow that.
Jonah Goldberg and Donna Brazile and Andy Borowitz, thanks to all of you for joining us this morning.
Nice to see you.
HOROWITZ: Thank you.
GOLDBERG: Nice to see you.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
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 25, 2003 - 07:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to our Friday feature, Give Me A Minute, in which our panel of pundits weighs in on some of the week's top stories. Our advice, as always, is say what you want, but say it fast.
In Washington this morning, Jonah Goldberg. He is the editor of the "National Review" online.
Good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, "NATIONAL REVIEW" ONLINE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Democratic strategist Donna Brazile joins us, as well.
Good morning, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hello.
Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And in New York, Andy Borowitz from "The New Yorker." He is also the author of "Who Moved My Soap: The CEO's Guide To Surviving In Prison."
Good morning to you, Andy.
Nice to see you.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, let's begin with you.
Yesterday, as you well know, the photos of Uday and Qusay released, very controversial, not only here in the United States, but in the Middle East as well.
Was it the right thing to do, do you think?
GOLDBERG: Absolutely. In fact, I don't understand the controversy, all due respect to your question of the day, Jack. It's all part of de-Baathification, just like with de-Nazification. We released photos of the dead members of the S.S., the dead leaders of Germany. We also released photos from the Holocaust to prove these things really happened. And I just think it's vital and it had to be done, as gruesome as it is.
O'BRIEN: Donna, some people say but what about the precedent that's being started.
BRAZILE: Well, this administration had no choice. Its credibility is so low that when it, when they find the weapons of mass destruction, they may pass them out and tell us to smell it. I think that'll be quite deadly.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, you want to weigh in on this?
HOROWITZ: I agree. I'm still more troubled by the decision to broadcast images of Anna Nicole Smith, I must say.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's take a look at this one.
Donna, Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, as you well know, says it is his fault that the 16 words appeared in the president's State of the Union address. I'm talking, of course, about the words that asserted that Iraq tried to buy nuclear material in Africa. Sort of because of other news of the day was relegated to the back burner.
Do you think that now it's over. This debate just ends here?
BRAZILE: No, as long as they continue to pass the buck around the White House and no one takes full responsibility, this scandal will continue to grow.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think? Is it finally going to end?
GOLDBERG: I kind of hope it will, but I do think Donna is right that the White House has terribly mishandled this whole thing. The reality is is that those 16 words never had anything really serious to do with moving this country to war. Congress had already voted to authorize the war before they ever heard those 16 words. It was always a silly argument.
O'BRIEN: Andy, what do you think? Is it going to be relegated to the back page only as long as there's other news and then it'll make its way back to the front pages again soon?
HOROWITZ: Oh, no. I think there are going to be congressional hearings to determine who the heck Hadley is.
O'BRIEN: OK, finally, I want to talk about this new show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" that was on cable and did incredibly well on Bravo and then moved over to network, making its debut there, edited down a little bit.
Jonah, huge hit. Do you think it's going to change the landscape for network television?
GOLDBERG: I don't think so. I think actually "Will and Grace" has done more to mainstream gays than this will. After all, the gay guys in this show are actually incredibly stereotypically gay and so they don't really do much to shatter the stereotypes. I'm just hoping that CNN will let me launch my show "Straight Eye for the Queer Guy."
O'BRIEN: And, Donna, what do you think?
BRAZILE: Well, I didn't watch it last night, but I understand from my gay boyfriends that it was such a great hit that they are waiting now for five straight guys to help them move even farther in society.
O'BRIEN: All right, and, Andy, want to weigh in on that?
HOROWITZ: I just thought that the guy they picked wasn't much of a challenge. I'd like to see them make over Jack Cafferty.
O'BRIEN: Oh, maybe we'll submit his name. That's a good idea.
HOROWITZ: It would great.
O'BRIEN: OK, finally, let's start with what we missed, stories that sort of flew in under the radar.
Andy, let's start with you.
HOROWITZ: Well, there's democracy is moving forward in Iraq. The governing council set August 2nd as the date of their first sex scandal.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. OK.
And, Donna, what have you got?
BRAZILE: Well, this week a powerful House chairman went to the floor and cried out for an apology from the Democrats. They gave him napkins, but they said, you know what? Until you give us control of the House, we're not accepting your apology.
O'BRIEN: They weren't buying it at all.
OK, and, Jonah, let's have you wrap it up for us this morning.
GOLDBERG: Yes, I think the media is actually missing a very big story about the discontent among conservatives with the Bush administration right now. Across sort of the ideological spectrum on the right, conservatives are grumbling about a host of domestic policies and about a certain drift to the middle as this administration heads into an election year. And I think it's going to be a much bigger issue in the days to come or the weeks to come.
O'BRIEN: We will continue to follow that.
Jonah Goldberg and Donna Brazile and Andy Borowitz, thanks to all of you for joining us this morning.
Nice to see you.
HOROWITZ: Thank you.
GOLDBERG: Nice to see you.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
