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American Morning
Gimme a Minute
Aired January 30, 2004 - 08:33 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: Every Friday around this time we let our three experts sound off about the news of the week. We've go to make it fast, though, because it's "Gimme a Minute."
Joining us this morning from Washington, D.C. is Jonah Goldberg. He's the editor of the "National Review Online."
Good morning, Jonah. Nice to see you.
JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And making a guest appearance this week -- drum roll, please -- Democratic consultant Victor Kamber is joining us.
Hi, Victor. Nice to see you.
VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In New York, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker" is with us as well.
Good morning to you, Andy.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's get going. Jonah, we're going to begin with you this morning. Tough, tough, tough, tough week for Howard Dean. Financial problems reported, also his campaign manager, Joe Trippi, up and quit. What do you think he has to do, Jonah, to recover? Can he recover? Maybe that's a better question.
GOLDBERG: Well, maybe he just has to buy some ruby slippers and start clicking his heels together. I think he's in real trouble. His new strategy, which is not to compete next week, is a real hail Mary pass. Basically, he's just going to go for the latte town liberals and hope that he can score up delegates there. But I think he's basically a dead man walking.
O'BRIEN: Victor, ruby slippers?
KAMBER: No, he just needs to stay competitive next week. He doesn't have to win. He has set his goals on Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin. If he stays competitive next week and puts his resources there, things could happen.
O'BRIEN: Andy, what do you think? BOROWITZ: I wouldn't count him out. He just brought on James Brown as an anger management coach.
O'BRIEN: Did you see that picture the other day?
BOROWITZ: Bad.
O'BRIEN: My goodness.
All right. Well, Victor, let's start with you for our next question. Senator McCain and David Kay, the former U.S. weapons chief, are both calling for an independent review of what exactly went wrong when it came to the intelligence that the White House was getting. They say an independent review; the White House says, no, we have enough analysis going on already. What do you think should happen here?
KAMBER: Clearly, we need a blue ribbon panel. Either our intelligence community is screwed up, or the president and his administration cherry-picked intelligence and didn't give the American public the truth. I think the American public deserves the truth. And, frankly, a blue ribbon bipartisan panel -- this shouldn't be political. This should be, frankly, let's find the truth.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think, and what about the timing? Because, of course, there's the whole other question of whether you do it now or you wait.
GOLDBERG: Yes. I mean, look, I think it's an incredibly complex problem for the White House politically, but I think Victor is basically right. If...
KAMBER: Unbelievable.
GOLDBERG: No, really. If the intelligence, you know...
O'BRIEN: Stop time suddenly. Let's write this down.
GOLDBERG: Look, if you want me to get partisan, I will say that the Democrats make the problem more difficult for the president and more difficult to get to the truth by hurling all of the accusations. But at the end of the day, Bush has to rise above it. They have to have a commission. It's a real disaster if -- that's where I come down.
O'BRIEN: And, Andy, are you going to join in the love fest? I'm just curious.
BOROWITZ: Well, you know, the White House is now saying maybe Saddam didn't have WMD, but he did log on to WebMD, which is of some concern.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, let's start with you for the next question again. A spokesman for the American military says that they are hopeful Osama bin Laden will be caught in Afghanistan by the end of the year. Why do you think they put a timeline on it, and why make it public?
GOLDBERG: Yes, frankly, I don't know. I applaud their optimism. I applaud their go-get-it-ness (ph). But, you know, look, they shouldn't do it. It's a bad PR move, enough promises, just get the guy.
O'BRIEN: Victor, do you think this is all about optimism and go- get-it-ness (ph)? Which I'm not sure that's actually real English.
GOLDBERG: I don't think it's a word, either. We'll just let that one go.
KAMBER: I have a feeling there may be some politics involved here. There also may be a way to shake out supporters of Osama bin Laden, scare them into thinking that they need to participate because -- or they'll be dragged under. It is a mistake. I just hope it's not the political thing that has driven it.
O'BRIEN: Andy, go-get-it-ness (ph)?
BOROWITZ: I think they may find him. He is in a region that's more sparsely populated than a Kucinich rally, so I think there's a chance.
O'BRIEN: Let's go to the under-covered story of the week. And, Victor, were going to start with you. What do you think we missed? What was missed overall?
KAMBER: Well, there's a quiet story that's a wonderful story for a change about our military. As they come out of the service, the building trades unions in the United States have worked with the military to create a program called Helmets to Hard Hats. And it's a way for our military to transition into the construction industry to keep their public service -- painters, glazers, floor coverers, steam fitters, pipe fitters -- to earn decent monies, to have a career. It's a wonderful story that hasn't been played up, and it's working. Many, many military men and women are getting the kind of careers that they deserve after serving their country.
O'BRIEN: That's nice to hear.
Jonah, do you have a wonderful heartwarming story for us, too?
GOLDBERG: Alas, no. It's not really an outrageous story either. "The New York Times" has decided to assign a full-time reporter to cover the likes of, well, me, the conservative movement. They're going to have a guy out there, David Kirkpatrick (ph), who is going to talk about these strange creatures called "conservatives." And I'm just delighted to find out "The New York Times" realizes that they exist and are worth covering.
O'BRIEN: You get to read about yourself in the paper, won't you?
Andy Borowitz, the bell has gone off. But, please, what do you think was under-covered for the week? BOROWITZ: Well, after claiming that he was building Joe-mentum in New Hampshire, Senator Joseph Lieberman today admitted that he's going Joe-where (ph).
O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz wrapping it up for us this morning. Thanks, guys. Andy Borowitz this morning, Jonah Goldberg and Victor Kamber, our guests on "Gimme a Minute" this morning, thanks.
GOLDBERG: Thank you.
KAMBER: Thank 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 January 30, 2004 - 08:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Every Friday around this time we let our three experts sound off about the news of the week. We've go to make it fast, though, because it's "Gimme a Minute."
Joining us this morning from Washington, D.C. is Jonah Goldberg. He's the editor of the "National Review Online."
Good morning, Jonah. Nice to see you.
JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And making a guest appearance this week -- drum roll, please -- Democratic consultant Victor Kamber is joining us.
Hi, Victor. Nice to see you.
VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In New York, Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker" is with us as well.
Good morning to you, Andy.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's get going. Jonah, we're going to begin with you this morning. Tough, tough, tough, tough week for Howard Dean. Financial problems reported, also his campaign manager, Joe Trippi, up and quit. What do you think he has to do, Jonah, to recover? Can he recover? Maybe that's a better question.
GOLDBERG: Well, maybe he just has to buy some ruby slippers and start clicking his heels together. I think he's in real trouble. His new strategy, which is not to compete next week, is a real hail Mary pass. Basically, he's just going to go for the latte town liberals and hope that he can score up delegates there. But I think he's basically a dead man walking.
O'BRIEN: Victor, ruby slippers?
KAMBER: No, he just needs to stay competitive next week. He doesn't have to win. He has set his goals on Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin. If he stays competitive next week and puts his resources there, things could happen.
O'BRIEN: Andy, what do you think? BOROWITZ: I wouldn't count him out. He just brought on James Brown as an anger management coach.
O'BRIEN: Did you see that picture the other day?
BOROWITZ: Bad.
O'BRIEN: My goodness.
All right. Well, Victor, let's start with you for our next question. Senator McCain and David Kay, the former U.S. weapons chief, are both calling for an independent review of what exactly went wrong when it came to the intelligence that the White House was getting. They say an independent review; the White House says, no, we have enough analysis going on already. What do you think should happen here?
KAMBER: Clearly, we need a blue ribbon panel. Either our intelligence community is screwed up, or the president and his administration cherry-picked intelligence and didn't give the American public the truth. I think the American public deserves the truth. And, frankly, a blue ribbon bipartisan panel -- this shouldn't be political. This should be, frankly, let's find the truth.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think, and what about the timing? Because, of course, there's the whole other question of whether you do it now or you wait.
GOLDBERG: Yes. I mean, look, I think it's an incredibly complex problem for the White House politically, but I think Victor is basically right. If...
KAMBER: Unbelievable.
GOLDBERG: No, really. If the intelligence, you know...
O'BRIEN: Stop time suddenly. Let's write this down.
GOLDBERG: Look, if you want me to get partisan, I will say that the Democrats make the problem more difficult for the president and more difficult to get to the truth by hurling all of the accusations. But at the end of the day, Bush has to rise above it. They have to have a commission. It's a real disaster if -- that's where I come down.
O'BRIEN: And, Andy, are you going to join in the love fest? I'm just curious.
BOROWITZ: Well, you know, the White House is now saying maybe Saddam didn't have WMD, but he did log on to WebMD, which is of some concern.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, let's start with you for the next question again. A spokesman for the American military says that they are hopeful Osama bin Laden will be caught in Afghanistan by the end of the year. Why do you think they put a timeline on it, and why make it public?
GOLDBERG: Yes, frankly, I don't know. I applaud their optimism. I applaud their go-get-it-ness (ph). But, you know, look, they shouldn't do it. It's a bad PR move, enough promises, just get the guy.
O'BRIEN: Victor, do you think this is all about optimism and go- get-it-ness (ph)? Which I'm not sure that's actually real English.
GOLDBERG: I don't think it's a word, either. We'll just let that one go.
KAMBER: I have a feeling there may be some politics involved here. There also may be a way to shake out supporters of Osama bin Laden, scare them into thinking that they need to participate because -- or they'll be dragged under. It is a mistake. I just hope it's not the political thing that has driven it.
O'BRIEN: Andy, go-get-it-ness (ph)?
BOROWITZ: I think they may find him. He is in a region that's more sparsely populated than a Kucinich rally, so I think there's a chance.
O'BRIEN: Let's go to the under-covered story of the week. And, Victor, were going to start with you. What do you think we missed? What was missed overall?
KAMBER: Well, there's a quiet story that's a wonderful story for a change about our military. As they come out of the service, the building trades unions in the United States have worked with the military to create a program called Helmets to Hard Hats. And it's a way for our military to transition into the construction industry to keep their public service -- painters, glazers, floor coverers, steam fitters, pipe fitters -- to earn decent monies, to have a career. It's a wonderful story that hasn't been played up, and it's working. Many, many military men and women are getting the kind of careers that they deserve after serving their country.
O'BRIEN: That's nice to hear.
Jonah, do you have a wonderful heartwarming story for us, too?
GOLDBERG: Alas, no. It's not really an outrageous story either. "The New York Times" has decided to assign a full-time reporter to cover the likes of, well, me, the conservative movement. They're going to have a guy out there, David Kirkpatrick (ph), who is going to talk about these strange creatures called "conservatives." And I'm just delighted to find out "The New York Times" realizes that they exist and are worth covering.
O'BRIEN: You get to read about yourself in the paper, won't you?
Andy Borowitz, the bell has gone off. But, please, what do you think was under-covered for the week? BOROWITZ: Well, after claiming that he was building Joe-mentum in New Hampshire, Senator Joseph Lieberman today admitted that he's going Joe-where (ph).
O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz wrapping it up for us this morning. Thanks, guys. Andy Borowitz this morning, Jonah Goldberg and Victor Kamber, our guests on "Gimme a Minute" this morning, thanks.
GOLDBERG: Thank you.
KAMBER: Thank 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.
