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American Morning

'Gimme a Minute'

Aired December 26, 2003 - 08:34   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: Now a special year-end edition of our popular, and, we like to think, highly informative feature "Gimme a Minute." Our panel of experts joined me recently to ring out the old year with one final lightning round.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Jonah Goldberg is the editor of the National Review Online,a and he's with us.

Good morning to you, Jonah.

JONAH GOLDBERG, THE NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Also with us this morning, Donna Brazile. She's a Democratic strategist.

Hey, Donna, good morning.

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hello, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: And Andy Borowitz is a humorist. He's with "The New Yorker."

Good morning to you, Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Now as you all well know, normally the way this works is we discuss the stories of the week. But this time, we're going to talk about the stories that flew under the radar, the stories that were undercovered for the year that is just about to end. So let's begin with the national scene, and which story you think was undercovered on the national scene for 2003.

Jonah, let's begin with you.

GOLDBERG: OK, Soledad, I'm going to cheat a little bit, because I think the national story is actually the international story this year, which is of course the war. And the story that got the least coverage that it deserved was actually how well things are going in Iraq. The best example of that was huge, tens of thousands of pro- American anti-terrorism marchers in downtown Baghdad that got virtually no coverage from the mainstream media, which only happened a few months ago. O'BRIEN: All right, Donna, how about you. And I'm always worried when someone starts off telling me they're going to cheat a little bit. So what do you think was the undercovered national story for 2003?

BRAZILE: Well, I'll take my case back here in America. While the stock market is rising again, so are the number of families that are living in poverty, and a number of families without health insurance. I think we put a lot of stock in the market bouncing back, but not those Americans who are still out of work and can not make ends meet.

O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz, is it international or domestic, your undercovered national story for 2003?

BOROWTIZ: It's domestic. Do I have time, or will this remain undercover? I don't know.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn to politics. And we're going to go to you, Donna, first, what do you think was the undercovered political story for 2003?

BOROWITZ: There's no question civility is long gone in Washington D.C.. The president promised to change the tone in Washington D.C. And these days, you can't cross the street or cross the aisle without somebody giving you ticket. I think civility has gone down the tubes, and Let's hope it comes back in 2004.

O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think?

GOLDBERG: In terms of politics, I think the most undercovered story was actually from the Supreme Court, in that Sandra Day O'Connor basically said she was going to look to foreign constitutions and foreign opinion polls of non-American citizens to decide what the American constitution means. That should have been a scandal, and it should have been covered more.

O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz, do you have a scandal that wasn't covered for us?

BOROWITZ: This happened last week, the emergency powers invoked by Governor Schwarzenegger included super strength and heat vision.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk culture, and the undercoverd cultural story of the year. Jonah, let's start with you.

GOLDBERG: OK. Well, it was lost in the fact that the Ben J.Lo non-marriage was covered so much. What was missed was the fact Ben Affleck cannot act, and has not made a watchable movie in years. And he should actually be counted as the fifth Baldwin brother and exiled to late TV night cable made-for-TV movies.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Jonah, how do you really feel about Ben Affleck?

Donna? BRAZILE: Well, I think The sexual content on primetime. The primetime networks have gotten dumber and dumber with all these reality shows. Now there's a show that's about to appear, who wants to be a porno star. I think that's the real undercovered story.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that might be a little over the top there, don't you think, Andy?

BOROWITZ: This wasn't covered, but Ben Affleck actually named Jonah Goldberg to the Axis of Evil.

O'BRIEN: Not a surprise there.

Let's talk a little bit about turning the tables the way we normally do. What do you think was the overcovered store of the year 2003? Donna, why don't you start?

BRAZILE: Let's see, I have so many. Let's start with Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, you know, Jessica Lynch, Laci Peterson, you name it, all of them are overcovered and overexposed this year.

O'BRIEN: She didn't leave you, Jonah, a lot of other ones? What do you think was overcovered?

GOLDBERG: Yes, let's stipulate all of Donna's, and then I would also add Hillary Clinton's political ambitions for 2008. Can we getting through 2004 first. No one really cares what she is going to do four years from now.

O'BRIEN: Even if she continues to say, I am not running, I am not running.

Andy, what do you think was the overcovered story of 2003. So far, I don't think anybody's mentioned the Hilton Sisters at all, so that's open, if you want to take that?

BOROWTIZ: No, I actually think the capture of Saddam Hussein, because you know what, in the long run, this will have little or no effect on the Michael Jackson case.

O'BRIEN: Oh, Andy, you crack me up. Andy Borowitz joining us this morning, Donna Brazile and Jonah Goldberg. As always, nice to see you guys, thanks so much and have a great holiday.

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 26, 2003 - 08:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now a special year-end edition of our popular, and, we like to think, highly informative feature "Gimme a Minute." Our panel of experts joined me recently to ring out the old year with one final lightning round.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Jonah Goldberg is the editor of the National Review Online,a and he's with us.

Good morning to you, Jonah.

JONAH GOLDBERG, THE NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Also with us this morning, Donna Brazile. She's a Democratic strategist.

Hey, Donna, good morning.

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hello, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: And Andy Borowitz is a humorist. He's with "The New Yorker."

Good morning to you, Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Now as you all well know, normally the way this works is we discuss the stories of the week. But this time, we're going to talk about the stories that flew under the radar, the stories that were undercovered for the year that is just about to end. So let's begin with the national scene, and which story you think was undercovered on the national scene for 2003.

Jonah, let's begin with you.

GOLDBERG: OK, Soledad, I'm going to cheat a little bit, because I think the national story is actually the international story this year, which is of course the war. And the story that got the least coverage that it deserved was actually how well things are going in Iraq. The best example of that was huge, tens of thousands of pro- American anti-terrorism marchers in downtown Baghdad that got virtually no coverage from the mainstream media, which only happened a few months ago. O'BRIEN: All right, Donna, how about you. And I'm always worried when someone starts off telling me they're going to cheat a little bit. So what do you think was the undercovered national story for 2003?

BRAZILE: Well, I'll take my case back here in America. While the stock market is rising again, so are the number of families that are living in poverty, and a number of families without health insurance. I think we put a lot of stock in the market bouncing back, but not those Americans who are still out of work and can not make ends meet.

O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz, is it international or domestic, your undercovered national story for 2003?

BOROWTIZ: It's domestic. Do I have time, or will this remain undercover? I don't know.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn to politics. And we're going to go to you, Donna, first, what do you think was the undercovered political story for 2003?

BOROWITZ: There's no question civility is long gone in Washington D.C.. The president promised to change the tone in Washington D.C. And these days, you can't cross the street or cross the aisle without somebody giving you ticket. I think civility has gone down the tubes, and Let's hope it comes back in 2004.

O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think?

GOLDBERG: In terms of politics, I think the most undercovered story was actually from the Supreme Court, in that Sandra Day O'Connor basically said she was going to look to foreign constitutions and foreign opinion polls of non-American citizens to decide what the American constitution means. That should have been a scandal, and it should have been covered more.

O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz, do you have a scandal that wasn't covered for us?

BOROWITZ: This happened last week, the emergency powers invoked by Governor Schwarzenegger included super strength and heat vision.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk culture, and the undercoverd cultural story of the year. Jonah, let's start with you.

GOLDBERG: OK. Well, it was lost in the fact that the Ben J.Lo non-marriage was covered so much. What was missed was the fact Ben Affleck cannot act, and has not made a watchable movie in years. And he should actually be counted as the fifth Baldwin brother and exiled to late TV night cable made-for-TV movies.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Jonah, how do you really feel about Ben Affleck?

Donna? BRAZILE: Well, I think The sexual content on primetime. The primetime networks have gotten dumber and dumber with all these reality shows. Now there's a show that's about to appear, who wants to be a porno star. I think that's the real undercovered story.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that might be a little over the top there, don't you think, Andy?

BOROWITZ: This wasn't covered, but Ben Affleck actually named Jonah Goldberg to the Axis of Evil.

O'BRIEN: Not a surprise there.

Let's talk a little bit about turning the tables the way we normally do. What do you think was the overcovered store of the year 2003? Donna, why don't you start?

BRAZILE: Let's see, I have so many. Let's start with Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, you know, Jessica Lynch, Laci Peterson, you name it, all of them are overcovered and overexposed this year.

O'BRIEN: She didn't leave you, Jonah, a lot of other ones? What do you think was overcovered?

GOLDBERG: Yes, let's stipulate all of Donna's, and then I would also add Hillary Clinton's political ambitions for 2008. Can we getting through 2004 first. No one really cares what she is going to do four years from now.

O'BRIEN: Even if she continues to say, I am not running, I am not running.

Andy, what do you think was the overcovered story of 2003. So far, I don't think anybody's mentioned the Hilton Sisters at all, so that's open, if you want to take that?

BOROWTIZ: No, I actually think the capture of Saddam Hussein, because you know what, in the long run, this will have little or no effect on the Michael Jackson case.

O'BRIEN: Oh, Andy, you crack me up. Andy Borowitz joining us this morning, Donna Brazile and Jonah Goldberg. As always, nice to see you guys, thanks so much and have a great holiday.

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