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American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'
Aired December 05, 2003 - 08:37 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: Well, it is Friday, so that means it's time for "Gimme a Minute," when our panelists race the clock to talk about the week's big stories and maybe some stories we missed, as well. Let's round up our usual suspects.
In Washington D.C., Democratic strategist Donna Brazile joins us.
Good morning to you, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Jonah Goldberg is the editor of the National Review Online.
He joins us, as well.
Jonah, good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning.
In New York, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker" is with us.
Andy, good morning, nice to see you.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Hi, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's get going. We're going to start this morning with developments out of Gitmo.
Donna, I want to start with you. An Australian and an American, the detainees who are considered enemy combatants actually both got the green light to meet with their lawyers. At the same time, "Time" magazine announced that 140 detainees are likely to be released. Is this an indication to you that the administration is loosening up on this issue?
BRAZILE: No, I don't think so. I think it's window dressing. Until they change their policy, the administration will just go right back to what they're doing. Look, the rule of law should apply in all cases.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think, window dressing? What's going on here?
GOLDBERG: I don't think it's window dressing. I think it's actually a bunch of different trends coming together. One our allies have been pushing this for a very long time. Two, we've had the chance to interrogate a lot of these people. And three, this is actually something that the Department of Justice under John Ashcroft has been pushing for a very long time. Remember all these detainees are won by the Defense Department and not the Department of Justice.
O'BRIEN: Andy, I want you to weigh in. You've been following this story very closely, I know.
BOROWITZ: Yes, we have to read the fine print. You know, they are releasing the detainees, but they're making them move in with Ashcroft.
O'BRIEN: On to our next topic. And, Jonah, we're going to start with you.
President Bush, as you well know, announced that he's thinking about returning to the moon, and more than that, maybe we should send a mission to Mars. Some people are saying, boy, we've got a huge deficit looming. We're also funding troops in Afghanistan, in Iraq. We don't have a lot of money to be doing this. Do you think this is the right time or the wrong time, Jonah?
GOLDBERG: Well, I'm a huge advocate of space exploration. I would actually rather go to Mars than the moon. But at the same time, I think, look, I would much rather see a stable, free Iraq with Starbucks on every corner than another trip right now.
O'BRIEN: That's your indication of when Iraq has finally been secured and stabilized?
GOLDBERG: That's right, victory, mission accomplished.
O'BRIEN: Donna, what do you think? Is it the right time?
BRAZILE: No, I don't. I agree with Jonah, we should spend our resources on things that matter right now. And look, I think this is part of a vast right wing conspiracy. We know they want more territory. They want to establish a new beachhead on the Red Planet. And who knows what will happen to the moon.
O'BRIEN: You both said you agree with Jonah, and the words vast right wing conspiracy in two short sentences. All right, Andy, you want to go to the moon or to Mars?
BOROWITZ: Why spend so much money to find out what mars is like when we could just ask Dennis Kucinich.
O'BRIEN: All right, moving on to our next topic here. We all know this story. The former ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife was exposed as her role in a CIA operative in a column that was written by Bob Novak, he's now posing with said wife in "Vanity Fair." Do you think it's fair for those who are complaining that, boy, he certainly was complaining about a loss of privacy, and here he is in this magazine? Donna, why don't we start with you.
BRAZILE: Well, I think it's right up Joe Wilson's alley to continue this story. But I hope he exposed the official who exposed his wife, and not see more pictures of Joe and his wife.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, do you think we're getting a little hypocrisy here?
GOLDBERG: Well, yes, because remember, it's not so much an issue of privacy. The argument was from Joe Wilson was that his wife had been put in mortal danger by being exposed as a spy. And I guess al Qaeda has a rule that says they're not allowed to assassinate anybody in their picture appears in "Vanity Fair."
O'BRIEN: Maybe they don't read "Vanity Fair," maybe that was the thought.
Andy, what do you think?
BOROWITZ: The only people who are more publicity hungry than Joe Wilson are Paris Wilson and the Cat in the Hat.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, give us a look at the undercovered story of the week. What do you think it was?
GOLDBERG: Well, the woman who claimed to have been trampled in Wal-Mart, it turns out that she has a long history of faking injuries in Wal-Marts and has done it 16 times before. Maybe we aren't nearly as materialistic as everyone is freaking out about.
O'BRIEN: Coincidence? You don't think so. All right, Donna, what do you think we didn't cover?
BRAZILE: Man, I have to tell you, listening to that story, I'm going to stay out of Wal-Mart.
Congress is on a spending spree, and next week when they return, Santa Claus is going to get loaded up with a lot of pork barrel spending. I hope Santa's able to get down the chimney with all of this pork.
O'BRIEN: Oh, nice concerns there for Santa, Donna. And finally, Andy, you're going to have the last word this morning. What do you think was the undercovered story this week?
BOROWITZ: Well, Soledad, in a sign that President Bush is serious about sending Americans to the moon, this week, he added the moon to the axis of evil.
O'BRIEN: And that is our final word this morning. It's nice to see you guys. Andy, thank you, Jonah and Donna as well. Have a great weekend you guys.
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 December 5, 2003 - 08:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is Friday, so that means it's time for "Gimme a Minute," when our panelists race the clock to talk about the week's big stories and maybe some stories we missed, as well. Let's round up our usual suspects.
In Washington D.C., Democratic strategist Donna Brazile joins us.
Good morning to you, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Jonah Goldberg is the editor of the National Review Online.
He joins us, as well.
Jonah, good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning.
In New York, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker" is with us.
Andy, good morning, nice to see you.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Hi, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's get going. We're going to start this morning with developments out of Gitmo.
Donna, I want to start with you. An Australian and an American, the detainees who are considered enemy combatants actually both got the green light to meet with their lawyers. At the same time, "Time" magazine announced that 140 detainees are likely to be released. Is this an indication to you that the administration is loosening up on this issue?
BRAZILE: No, I don't think so. I think it's window dressing. Until they change their policy, the administration will just go right back to what they're doing. Look, the rule of law should apply in all cases.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think, window dressing? What's going on here?
GOLDBERG: I don't think it's window dressing. I think it's actually a bunch of different trends coming together. One our allies have been pushing this for a very long time. Two, we've had the chance to interrogate a lot of these people. And three, this is actually something that the Department of Justice under John Ashcroft has been pushing for a very long time. Remember all these detainees are won by the Defense Department and not the Department of Justice.
O'BRIEN: Andy, I want you to weigh in. You've been following this story very closely, I know.
BOROWITZ: Yes, we have to read the fine print. You know, they are releasing the detainees, but they're making them move in with Ashcroft.
O'BRIEN: On to our next topic. And, Jonah, we're going to start with you.
President Bush, as you well know, announced that he's thinking about returning to the moon, and more than that, maybe we should send a mission to Mars. Some people are saying, boy, we've got a huge deficit looming. We're also funding troops in Afghanistan, in Iraq. We don't have a lot of money to be doing this. Do you think this is the right time or the wrong time, Jonah?
GOLDBERG: Well, I'm a huge advocate of space exploration. I would actually rather go to Mars than the moon. But at the same time, I think, look, I would much rather see a stable, free Iraq with Starbucks on every corner than another trip right now.
O'BRIEN: That's your indication of when Iraq has finally been secured and stabilized?
GOLDBERG: That's right, victory, mission accomplished.
O'BRIEN: Donna, what do you think? Is it the right time?
BRAZILE: No, I don't. I agree with Jonah, we should spend our resources on things that matter right now. And look, I think this is part of a vast right wing conspiracy. We know they want more territory. They want to establish a new beachhead on the Red Planet. And who knows what will happen to the moon.
O'BRIEN: You both said you agree with Jonah, and the words vast right wing conspiracy in two short sentences. All right, Andy, you want to go to the moon or to Mars?
BOROWITZ: Why spend so much money to find out what mars is like when we could just ask Dennis Kucinich.
O'BRIEN: All right, moving on to our next topic here. We all know this story. The former ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife was exposed as her role in a CIA operative in a column that was written by Bob Novak, he's now posing with said wife in "Vanity Fair." Do you think it's fair for those who are complaining that, boy, he certainly was complaining about a loss of privacy, and here he is in this magazine? Donna, why don't we start with you.
BRAZILE: Well, I think it's right up Joe Wilson's alley to continue this story. But I hope he exposed the official who exposed his wife, and not see more pictures of Joe and his wife.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, do you think we're getting a little hypocrisy here?
GOLDBERG: Well, yes, because remember, it's not so much an issue of privacy. The argument was from Joe Wilson was that his wife had been put in mortal danger by being exposed as a spy. And I guess al Qaeda has a rule that says they're not allowed to assassinate anybody in their picture appears in "Vanity Fair."
O'BRIEN: Maybe they don't read "Vanity Fair," maybe that was the thought.
Andy, what do you think?
BOROWITZ: The only people who are more publicity hungry than Joe Wilson are Paris Wilson and the Cat in the Hat.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, give us a look at the undercovered story of the week. What do you think it was?
GOLDBERG: Well, the woman who claimed to have been trampled in Wal-Mart, it turns out that she has a long history of faking injuries in Wal-Marts and has done it 16 times before. Maybe we aren't nearly as materialistic as everyone is freaking out about.
O'BRIEN: Coincidence? You don't think so. All right, Donna, what do you think we didn't cover?
BRAZILE: Man, I have to tell you, listening to that story, I'm going to stay out of Wal-Mart.
Congress is on a spending spree, and next week when they return, Santa Claus is going to get loaded up with a lot of pork barrel spending. I hope Santa's able to get down the chimney with all of this pork.
O'BRIEN: Oh, nice concerns there for Santa, Donna. And finally, Andy, you're going to have the last word this morning. What do you think was the undercovered story this week?
BOROWITZ: Well, Soledad, in a sign that President Bush is serious about sending Americans to the moon, this week, he added the moon to the axis of evil.
O'BRIEN: And that is our final word this morning. It's nice to see you guys. Andy, thank you, Jonah and Donna as well. Have a great weekend you guys.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
