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American Morning

Five Candidates Debate in California Governor's Race

Aired September 04, 2003 - 09:03   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, ANCHOR: They're having excellent weather in California, where the political race is going on. But we've got the five political candidates facing off last night to become governor. The first in a series of debates leading up to the October 7 recall election was held last night.
CNN's Bob Franken joins us live in Los Angeles with more.

Hey, Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

You missed, of course, the most significant news of the day and that was the egg incident. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, of course, opted out of the debate was campaigning at Long Beach State College, working the crowd, when somebody in the crowd worked him with an egg to the back of his shoulder. You can see, it didn't even faze him, although it did mess up his jacket. No report that there's any connection between the egging and his refusal not to appear on a debate until the one on September 24 where the questions will be submitted in advance.

As for the debate last night, the governor, Gray Davis, was on by himself and his message was a variation of the old Brenda Lee song "I'm Sorry." He said, "I made mistakes."

His Democratic counterpart on the recall alternative ballot, of course, was Cruz Bustamante, and he was criticized by Arianna Huffington, a number of debate participants, for the $2 million he's getting from Native American gambling interests. At one point she called it legalized bribery. And he said, "Just let us know how you really feel."

The only other highlight, I suppose, was Peter Ueberroth saying that if he was elected governor, he would lock Republicans and Democrats in a room until they come up with some agreements on how to solve the California fiscal crisis.

Now the next time these people will be back in the room, presumably along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, is on the 24th. And as I said, they will be getting questions in advance -- Soledad?

O'BRIEN: All right, Bob. Thanks so much.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown joins us now for a little play- by-play this morning.

Mr. Mayor, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.

WILLIE BROWN, MAYOR, SAN FRANCISCO: Soledad, how are you?

O'BRIEN: I'm well, thank you.

Let's talk highlights and low lights from last night. Who do you think came out the strongest? Who do you think starts the day with an advantage?

BROWN: Well, I think that Mr. McClintock's message was clear. He's obviously more strident and more involved. I thought Peter Camejo was the most passionate, no question. I do not -- I don't think Mr. Bustamante hurt himself at all. I thought Ueberroth was just terrible.

O'BRIEN: The only person you didn't mention, as I said, there were five on the stage there. Arianna Huffington, how did she do?

BROWN: I thought she did very well. She spent most of her time trying to shake Cruz Bustamante. And I thought he handled that very, very well. He was a great counter puncher. He didn't take anything she said seriously. He wasn't offended by it, and he wasn't shaken.

O'BRIEN: And why do you think Ueberroth didn't do very well?

BROWN: Well, I don't think he answered any questions. It was as if he didn't understand anything. It was as if something had interfered with his ability to be the precise, pointed person that he was when he was baseball commissioner and when he headed the Olympics in Los Angeles, he just did not deport himself well. He sounded more like a man who later on today will say, "I'm out of this race."

O'BRIEN: You think so? That's an interesting prediction there.

Gray Davis spoke to journalists before the debate. He wasn't part of it. Let's first listen to a little bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GRAY DAVIS, CALIFORNIA: It's not an easy time for my wife Sharon and I, and it's not fun seeing everyone condemn you up and down 24-hour news cycle. But I know the problems that we're dealing with pale in comparison to the problems of the people I represent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

DAVIS: I've gotten their message. I know they're angry. This has been a humbling experience, but I also know they want me to fight for their future. So I have specific things I want to get done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: There's been a lot of talk, Willie, as you well know, about how the governor has said he's a changed man, he gets it from the voters. It's been a humbling experience. Humbling is a word that we've heard from him a lot. Do you think that this was effective with the folks who were listening to the debate?

BROWN: Well, I don't think Gray Davis hurt himself, just as I said about Bustamante last night. However, at some point, the business of continuing to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it" becomes not as sincere as it is on those very first occasions.

Last night I thought on a statewide basis he appeared to be very sincere. He sounded sincere, and it's clear that he has been humbled by a virtue of this experience.

Beyond that, I think he literally, by comparison, was heads and shoulders above all six persons who were on the tube last night. I also think it was a tragic error, frankly maybe even a fatal one for his candidacy, for Mr. Schwarzenegger not to be there.

O'BRIEN: I was going to ask you about that. In retrospect, you think it really hurt him? Because a lot of people wrote up that they thought this debate was -- not much came out of it. Why do you think it was a tragic error?

BROWN: Not much came out of it, but he needs time before the public in comparison to his fellow candidates. What occurred last night, Mr. Bustamante said it best, he said, "Listen, I'm not running against Gray Davis. I'm running against these other people including the person who's not here."

The public is looking at that. You only need a plurality; you only 30, 35 percent of the total vote. At this moment, Mr. Schwarzenegger is doing nothing except enhancing his celebrity status, but not his vote-getting status.

O'BRIEN: Willie Brown, the mayor of San Francisco and a Democrat, joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks.

BROWN: Nice to see 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 September 4, 2003 - 09:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: They're having excellent weather in California, where the political race is going on. But we've got the five political candidates facing off last night to become governor. The first in a series of debates leading up to the October 7 recall election was held last night.
CNN's Bob Franken joins us live in Los Angeles with more.

Hey, Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

You missed, of course, the most significant news of the day and that was the egg incident. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, of course, opted out of the debate was campaigning at Long Beach State College, working the crowd, when somebody in the crowd worked him with an egg to the back of his shoulder. You can see, it didn't even faze him, although it did mess up his jacket. No report that there's any connection between the egging and his refusal not to appear on a debate until the one on September 24 where the questions will be submitted in advance.

As for the debate last night, the governor, Gray Davis, was on by himself and his message was a variation of the old Brenda Lee song "I'm Sorry." He said, "I made mistakes."

His Democratic counterpart on the recall alternative ballot, of course, was Cruz Bustamante, and he was criticized by Arianna Huffington, a number of debate participants, for the $2 million he's getting from Native American gambling interests. At one point she called it legalized bribery. And he said, "Just let us know how you really feel."

The only other highlight, I suppose, was Peter Ueberroth saying that if he was elected governor, he would lock Republicans and Democrats in a room until they come up with some agreements on how to solve the California fiscal crisis.

Now the next time these people will be back in the room, presumably along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, is on the 24th. And as I said, they will be getting questions in advance -- Soledad?

O'BRIEN: All right, Bob. Thanks so much.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown joins us now for a little play- by-play this morning.

Mr. Mayor, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.

WILLIE BROWN, MAYOR, SAN FRANCISCO: Soledad, how are you?

O'BRIEN: I'm well, thank you.

Let's talk highlights and low lights from last night. Who do you think came out the strongest? Who do you think starts the day with an advantage?

BROWN: Well, I think that Mr. McClintock's message was clear. He's obviously more strident and more involved. I thought Peter Camejo was the most passionate, no question. I do not -- I don't think Mr. Bustamante hurt himself at all. I thought Ueberroth was just terrible.

O'BRIEN: The only person you didn't mention, as I said, there were five on the stage there. Arianna Huffington, how did she do?

BROWN: I thought she did very well. She spent most of her time trying to shake Cruz Bustamante. And I thought he handled that very, very well. He was a great counter puncher. He didn't take anything she said seriously. He wasn't offended by it, and he wasn't shaken.

O'BRIEN: And why do you think Ueberroth didn't do very well?

BROWN: Well, I don't think he answered any questions. It was as if he didn't understand anything. It was as if something had interfered with his ability to be the precise, pointed person that he was when he was baseball commissioner and when he headed the Olympics in Los Angeles, he just did not deport himself well. He sounded more like a man who later on today will say, "I'm out of this race."

O'BRIEN: You think so? That's an interesting prediction there.

Gray Davis spoke to journalists before the debate. He wasn't part of it. Let's first listen to a little bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GRAY DAVIS, CALIFORNIA: It's not an easy time for my wife Sharon and I, and it's not fun seeing everyone condemn you up and down 24-hour news cycle. But I know the problems that we're dealing with pale in comparison to the problems of the people I represent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

DAVIS: I've gotten their message. I know they're angry. This has been a humbling experience, but I also know they want me to fight for their future. So I have specific things I want to get done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: There's been a lot of talk, Willie, as you well know, about how the governor has said he's a changed man, he gets it from the voters. It's been a humbling experience. Humbling is a word that we've heard from him a lot. Do you think that this was effective with the folks who were listening to the debate?

BROWN: Well, I don't think Gray Davis hurt himself, just as I said about Bustamante last night. However, at some point, the business of continuing to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it" becomes not as sincere as it is on those very first occasions.

Last night I thought on a statewide basis he appeared to be very sincere. He sounded sincere, and it's clear that he has been humbled by a virtue of this experience.

Beyond that, I think he literally, by comparison, was heads and shoulders above all six persons who were on the tube last night. I also think it was a tragic error, frankly maybe even a fatal one for his candidacy, for Mr. Schwarzenegger not to be there.

O'BRIEN: I was going to ask you about that. In retrospect, you think it really hurt him? Because a lot of people wrote up that they thought this debate was -- not much came out of it. Why do you think it was a tragic error?

BROWN: Not much came out of it, but he needs time before the public in comparison to his fellow candidates. What occurred last night, Mr. Bustamante said it best, he said, "Listen, I'm not running against Gray Davis. I'm running against these other people including the person who's not here."

The public is looking at that. You only need a plurality; you only 30, 35 percent of the total vote. At this moment, Mr. Schwarzenegger is doing nothing except enhancing his celebrity status, but not his vote-getting status.

O'BRIEN: Willie Brown, the mayor of San Francisco and a Democrat, joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks.

BROWN: Nice to see 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