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CNN Live Today

Interview With Don Yaeger

Aired September 25, 2003 - 11:47   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is no secret that President Bush is a big sports fan. Part ownership of the Texas Rangers in the late '80s and early '90s helped make him a bigger than life figure in Texas and that helped set the stage for his run for governor in 1994. You know how that story plays out after that.
Well, I bet you did not know the president usually has a game on when he's working on a big speech. Mr. Bush put on his game face to mark "Sports Illustrated"'s 50th anniversary. Don Yaeger is an associate editor with the magazine and he's joining us from Tampa this morning to talk about his presidential interview. Don, good morning.

DON YAEGER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Morning, Daryn. Thank you.

KAGAN: Well regular readers of "Sports; Olympics; World Affairs Illustrated" know that as part of this big celebration, every week, every issue you highlight a different state, the magazine is. So President Bush is interviewed as part of the Texas feature in this week's magazine.

YAEGER: Yes. We're doing 50 weeks of 50 states, sports in all 50 states. And this week was Texas. And as part of each special section, we are doing a portion of that special section, which is an interview with a celebrity from that state about how sports shaped their life.

KAGAN: But I got to ask you. How did you get the interview? The guy's a little bit busy.

YAEGER: Yes, it was kind of shocking to me as well. We had actually had a request in for some time. And then a few months ago I was in an event where Ari Fleischer was at the same event. It was an event the president was attending.

And I cornered Ari Fleischer and did what all the other reporters do, and gave him a card and tried to convince him why it was a great interview. And fortunately a couple days later they called and put me on hold. And it came up a couple weeks ago.

KAGAN: Good. Ari Fleischer, the former press spokesman for the White House. A big Yankees fan himself. So he understands the sports world.

Let's talk about what President Bush talks about in this interview. One, he says, I think some people will be surprised that he does not consider himself to be a great athlete. YAEGER: No, in fact he talks about the fact that he peaked as an athlete in Little League which is a funny admission. But as a Little Leaguer, he was pretty proud of the fact that he was a pretty great catcher.

But, yes, that was his -- that was probably about the highlight of his athletic career.

KAGAN: And you ask him to play Monday morning quarterback about his stint as a baseball owner. His best and worst moves as owner of the Texas Rangers.

YAEGER: There was no question it was his work that tried to get the people of Arlington in Texas to build a new sports stadium. The ballpark in Arlington really kind of set the stage for all the great ballparks you see around the country today and really kind of changed the dynamic financially of major league baseball. Because it changed the numbers.

The worst move, obviously, you trade Sammy Sosa. And you're not -- that's not soon forgotten.

KAGAN: Didn't quite work out the way that was planned.

YAEGER: No, no, I don't think so.

KAGAN: Absolutely not. And finally, he shared that he does watch quite a bit of sports almost every day.

YAEGER: It was kind of interesting. As we were sitting there, he -- it was an afternoon interview, and earlier that morning he had given a major speech to the Urban League in Philadelphia. And in giving that speech, he had prepared it the night before working with his staff. I asked him about watching sports.

And he said, yes, as a matter of fact, the night before, as he was supposed to be working on this speech, he spent quite a bit of time glancing over the shoulder of his staff to watch the Yankees-Red Sox which were on TV that night.

So, you know, clearly, I think sports is a pretty major part of his life.

KAGAN: Clearly. Well, Don, good get. Getting the president to participate in this week's "Sports Illustrated." Don Yaeger with "SI." And once again they're featuring a different state in each issue. Thanks for that. Appreciate it.

YAEGER: Thanks.

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 25, 2003 - 11:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is no secret that President Bush is a big sports fan. Part ownership of the Texas Rangers in the late '80s and early '90s helped make him a bigger than life figure in Texas and that helped set the stage for his run for governor in 1994. You know how that story plays out after that.
Well, I bet you did not know the president usually has a game on when he's working on a big speech. Mr. Bush put on his game face to mark "Sports Illustrated"'s 50th anniversary. Don Yaeger is an associate editor with the magazine and he's joining us from Tampa this morning to talk about his presidential interview. Don, good morning.

DON YAEGER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Morning, Daryn. Thank you.

KAGAN: Well regular readers of "Sports; Olympics; World Affairs Illustrated" know that as part of this big celebration, every week, every issue you highlight a different state, the magazine is. So President Bush is interviewed as part of the Texas feature in this week's magazine.

YAEGER: Yes. We're doing 50 weeks of 50 states, sports in all 50 states. And this week was Texas. And as part of each special section, we are doing a portion of that special section, which is an interview with a celebrity from that state about how sports shaped their life.

KAGAN: But I got to ask you. How did you get the interview? The guy's a little bit busy.

YAEGER: Yes, it was kind of shocking to me as well. We had actually had a request in for some time. And then a few months ago I was in an event where Ari Fleischer was at the same event. It was an event the president was attending.

And I cornered Ari Fleischer and did what all the other reporters do, and gave him a card and tried to convince him why it was a great interview. And fortunately a couple days later they called and put me on hold. And it came up a couple weeks ago.

KAGAN: Good. Ari Fleischer, the former press spokesman for the White House. A big Yankees fan himself. So he understands the sports world.

Let's talk about what President Bush talks about in this interview. One, he says, I think some people will be surprised that he does not consider himself to be a great athlete. YAEGER: No, in fact he talks about the fact that he peaked as an athlete in Little League which is a funny admission. But as a Little Leaguer, he was pretty proud of the fact that he was a pretty great catcher.

But, yes, that was his -- that was probably about the highlight of his athletic career.

KAGAN: And you ask him to play Monday morning quarterback about his stint as a baseball owner. His best and worst moves as owner of the Texas Rangers.

YAEGER: There was no question it was his work that tried to get the people of Arlington in Texas to build a new sports stadium. The ballpark in Arlington really kind of set the stage for all the great ballparks you see around the country today and really kind of changed the dynamic financially of major league baseball. Because it changed the numbers.

The worst move, obviously, you trade Sammy Sosa. And you're not -- that's not soon forgotten.

KAGAN: Didn't quite work out the way that was planned.

YAEGER: No, no, I don't think so.

KAGAN: Absolutely not. And finally, he shared that he does watch quite a bit of sports almost every day.

YAEGER: It was kind of interesting. As we were sitting there, he -- it was an afternoon interview, and earlier that morning he had given a major speech to the Urban League in Philadelphia. And in giving that speech, he had prepared it the night before working with his staff. I asked him about watching sports.

And he said, yes, as a matter of fact, the night before, as he was supposed to be working on this speech, he spent quite a bit of time glancing over the shoulder of his staff to watch the Yankees-Red Sox which were on TV that night.

So, you know, clearly, I think sports is a pretty major part of his life.

KAGAN: Clearly. Well, Don, good get. Getting the president to participate in this week's "Sports Illustrated." Don Yaeger with "SI." And once again they're featuring a different state in each issue. Thanks for that. Appreciate it.

YAEGER: Thanks.

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