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American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'
Aired August 22, 2003 - 08:43 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: Welcome back to our Friday feature, "Gimme a Minute." Our panel of pundits set to weigh-in on some of the week's top stories, and there a number to get through today.
From Washington with us today, Stephen Hayes, from "The Weekly Standard."
Good to have you, Steven. Good morning to you.
STEPHEN HAYES, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD: All right, Democratic strategist Donna Brazille. How are you?
DONNA BRAZILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Are you ready to go?
BRAZILLE: Yes.
HEMMER: New York City, actor and comedian Michael Ian Black is with us as well. Good to see you, all morning.
MICHAEL IAN BLACK, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: You got it.
HEMMER: Let's start with this issue about the U.N., the United States going for some sort of resolution that would draft more interest in more countries rather contributing to the cause in Iraq.
Donna, you up first -- which countries sign us for this deal?
BRAZILLE: Well I think the countries that should sign up are countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and essentially, people who look like the people of Iraq, who understand the culture, who can help us stabilize the situation.
HEMMER: Stephen, how do you convince those countries?
HAYES: I'm not sure you convince those countries. I think they're going to be skeptical. You already saw some skepticism from the deputy envoy from France yesterday, from Germany. I think that's a tough road to hoe to move up that way. The better solution is to get the Iraqis involved in their own security.
HEMMER: And a lot ahead.
Michael, I don't know how you find humor in this one. Give it a shot? BLACK: Well, I don't know that it's a humorous situation, and I'm not a foreign policy expert, but I did have a list of countries that I don't think will joining us in Iraq, North Korea, Liberia, Chechnya and France.
HEMMER: I would agree with you on that. They say France is a possibility.
Next topic now, Kobe Bryant right now. The judge may release some documents related to this case. Maybe now, maybe it waits until October, pending appeal.
Stephen, fair trial? Does Kobe get it if you release this information now?
HAYES: Well, it sounds like they're basically going to release the arrest warrant, which doesn't have a lot the kind of lurid details that people might expect it to have. I think those details are going to get out. They are going to be leaks. There are going to be all sorts of things, and by the time Kobe Bryant is actually on trial, we're going to know everything that happened.
HEMMER: And maybe, Donna, a lot of things we don't want to know about this.
BRAZILLE: You're right. I think the public is entitled to know, but what we may learn today may turn our stomachs tonight.
HEMMER: Michael, you a Kobe Bryant fan?
BLACK: You know, I'm a general sports fan, and you know, in a case like this, there really are no winners except possibly for Kobe Bryant's wife, Vanessa. She got a $4 million diamond when he confessed to adultery. When the details come out, what is going to have to buy her? A planet?
HEMMER: Stay tuned.
California, Arnold Schwarzenegger -- some people, Donna, say he was Reaganesque this past weekend. Not a lot of specifics given, but he is talking at least with his panel on Wednesday. What do you think? How's he doing so far?
BRAZILLE: Well, I don't think he's Reaganesque at all. He is more like a Democrat. He's pro-choice. He's for gun control. He's pro-gay rights. I don't think he's Reagan at all.
HEMMER: Stephen is he a Republican at all?
HAYES: yes. I mean, he's nominally Republican. I think the Reagan comparison is a bit of an exaggeration. The one thing he did do and I thought he did do well was he projected confidence, like he sounded like he knew what he was doing. Now whether Arnold Schwarzenegger knows how to solve the budget woes of California remains to be seen, but he sure sounded like he did.
HEMMER: Michael, would you vote for him?
BLACK: I'm not a California resident. He might get my vote. I think the guy has a lot of things going for him. Sure, he's got a funny accent, but so does Ted Kennedy. But when you think about it, his command of the English language is already far superior to that of our current president, so I think he's got a lot of things going for him.
HEMMER: The word "nuclear."
Let's get under the radar quickly here -- Stephen, start us off. What's on it for you?
HAYES: There was a great story earlier this week about a series of 500 Iraqis, Iraqi human rights activists and professors, who signed a document asking the Iraqi Governing Council to basically freeze their membership in the Arab League, because the Arab League was pro- Saddam. Not getting a lot of attention in the major media.
HEMMER: We'll follow that. Donna, what about you?
BRAZILLE: I don't think one story that I believe should be a major story this week, the civil rights community is coming back to Washington, D.C. to relive Dr. King's dream. He would be proud to know they're still fighting to keep his dream alike.
HEMMER: Yes, they would.
Michael, finish it off for us.
BLACK: Well, master illusionist David Blaine will be suspending himself in a Plexiglas box above the Thames River for six weeks, until October 9th. And my reaction to this of course was, why? Until I realized that six weeks from now the California recall election will be over, they'll have no more communication about that, and I thought to the myself, where can I get a Plexiglas box?
HEMMER: Keep working on it. And just in the nick of time, too.
Thanks to all three of you, Donna Brazille, Stephen Hayes, Michael Ian Black. Good to see you all on a Friday. Have a great weekend, OK.
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 August 22, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our Friday feature, "Gimme a Minute." Our panel of pundits set to weigh-in on some of the week's top stories, and there a number to get through today.
From Washington with us today, Stephen Hayes, from "The Weekly Standard."
Good to have you, Steven. Good morning to you.
STEPHEN HAYES, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD: All right, Democratic strategist Donna Brazille. How are you?
DONNA BRAZILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Are you ready to go?
BRAZILLE: Yes.
HEMMER: New York City, actor and comedian Michael Ian Black is with us as well. Good to see you, all morning.
MICHAEL IAN BLACK, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: You got it.
HEMMER: Let's start with this issue about the U.N., the United States going for some sort of resolution that would draft more interest in more countries rather contributing to the cause in Iraq.
Donna, you up first -- which countries sign us for this deal?
BRAZILLE: Well I think the countries that should sign up are countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and essentially, people who look like the people of Iraq, who understand the culture, who can help us stabilize the situation.
HEMMER: Stephen, how do you convince those countries?
HAYES: I'm not sure you convince those countries. I think they're going to be skeptical. You already saw some skepticism from the deputy envoy from France yesterday, from Germany. I think that's a tough road to hoe to move up that way. The better solution is to get the Iraqis involved in their own security.
HEMMER: And a lot ahead.
Michael, I don't know how you find humor in this one. Give it a shot? BLACK: Well, I don't know that it's a humorous situation, and I'm not a foreign policy expert, but I did have a list of countries that I don't think will joining us in Iraq, North Korea, Liberia, Chechnya and France.
HEMMER: I would agree with you on that. They say France is a possibility.
Next topic now, Kobe Bryant right now. The judge may release some documents related to this case. Maybe now, maybe it waits until October, pending appeal.
Stephen, fair trial? Does Kobe get it if you release this information now?
HAYES: Well, it sounds like they're basically going to release the arrest warrant, which doesn't have a lot the kind of lurid details that people might expect it to have. I think those details are going to get out. They are going to be leaks. There are going to be all sorts of things, and by the time Kobe Bryant is actually on trial, we're going to know everything that happened.
HEMMER: And maybe, Donna, a lot of things we don't want to know about this.
BRAZILLE: You're right. I think the public is entitled to know, but what we may learn today may turn our stomachs tonight.
HEMMER: Michael, you a Kobe Bryant fan?
BLACK: You know, I'm a general sports fan, and you know, in a case like this, there really are no winners except possibly for Kobe Bryant's wife, Vanessa. She got a $4 million diamond when he confessed to adultery. When the details come out, what is going to have to buy her? A planet?
HEMMER: Stay tuned.
California, Arnold Schwarzenegger -- some people, Donna, say he was Reaganesque this past weekend. Not a lot of specifics given, but he is talking at least with his panel on Wednesday. What do you think? How's he doing so far?
BRAZILLE: Well, I don't think he's Reaganesque at all. He is more like a Democrat. He's pro-choice. He's for gun control. He's pro-gay rights. I don't think he's Reagan at all.
HEMMER: Stephen is he a Republican at all?
HAYES: yes. I mean, he's nominally Republican. I think the Reagan comparison is a bit of an exaggeration. The one thing he did do and I thought he did do well was he projected confidence, like he sounded like he knew what he was doing. Now whether Arnold Schwarzenegger knows how to solve the budget woes of California remains to be seen, but he sure sounded like he did.
HEMMER: Michael, would you vote for him?
BLACK: I'm not a California resident. He might get my vote. I think the guy has a lot of things going for him. Sure, he's got a funny accent, but so does Ted Kennedy. But when you think about it, his command of the English language is already far superior to that of our current president, so I think he's got a lot of things going for him.
HEMMER: The word "nuclear."
Let's get under the radar quickly here -- Stephen, start us off. What's on it for you?
HAYES: There was a great story earlier this week about a series of 500 Iraqis, Iraqi human rights activists and professors, who signed a document asking the Iraqi Governing Council to basically freeze their membership in the Arab League, because the Arab League was pro- Saddam. Not getting a lot of attention in the major media.
HEMMER: We'll follow that. Donna, what about you?
BRAZILLE: I don't think one story that I believe should be a major story this week, the civil rights community is coming back to Washington, D.C. to relive Dr. King's dream. He would be proud to know they're still fighting to keep his dream alike.
HEMMER: Yes, they would.
Michael, finish it off for us.
BLACK: Well, master illusionist David Blaine will be suspending himself in a Plexiglas box above the Thames River for six weeks, until October 9th. And my reaction to this of course was, why? Until I realized that six weeks from now the California recall election will be over, they'll have no more communication about that, and I thought to the myself, where can I get a Plexiglas box?
HEMMER: Keep working on it. And just in the nick of time, too.
Thanks to all three of you, Donna Brazille, Stephen Hayes, Michael Ian Black. Good to see you all on a Friday. Have a great weekend, OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
