Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Campaign at Full Throttle Ahead of Tuesday Voting

Aired February 02, 2004 - 06:01   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, nothing is as exciting as the Super Bowl, but the candidates are sure trying hard. Al Sharpton gives a rousing speech in church, and the nasty barbs are starting to fly.
Let's head live to South Carolina and the CNN Election Express. Bob Franken is on the phone.

Good morning -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning. A big football sound here, because we were disappointed last night.

COSTELLO: I bet so. Well, tell us, what are the candidates doing today?

FRANKEN: Well, the candidates are scrambling all over the map. As you know, this is different from what we've seen in weeks past, but this is a multi-state primary. It's where the nitty-gritty of the campaign really is under way. There is a battle for delegates going on. Nearly 270 of them are at stake in the vote tomorrow, by the way. Up to 2,000-plus are needed at the convention.

Now, there is a whole variety of states. South Carolina has its own semi-favorite son, John Edwards, who has a commanding lead in the polls here. John Kerry is the main man in the polls in most of the states.

Wesley Clark is putting up a bit of a fight in Oklahoma.

And if Edwards would win here and Kerry would do well elsewhere and Dean would do as badly as he's showing in the polls, you can see how the dynamic of the campaign goes. Dean says he's in it no matter how poorly he does on Tuesday.

And there is Joe Lieberman, who says that he's in it no matter how poorly he does on Tuesday. And by all indications, except for Delaware, he is going to do poorly.

COSTELLO: Well, I understand that Howard Dean came out with some nastiness against John Kerry, and Al Sharpton gave one rousing speech in a church there that sort of got people on their feet and clapping.

FRANKEN: Well, starting with Al Sharpton, he is the man who could really be the kingmaker here. There is a huge African-American voting segment in South Carolina. It's the first time that that has been a factor in any of the races, and Al Sharpton has a tremendous amount of appeal in that sector.

Depending on how well he does and depending on whose votes he would siphon, he could have an influence on the outcome of this race. And then he would, of course, claim a mandate to go on to some of the races that continue, even though he is normally considered not to have a slight chance at all to be a factor in the ultimate race.

As far as what you call the nastiness is concerned -- others would just call it hard campaigning and dealing with facts, it all depends on your perspective -- there is a controversy that has come up around Senator John Kerry over the weekend after a "Washington Post" article that pointed out that he was the senator who had received more "special interest" -- quote-unquote -- money over a 15-year period. Special interest, of course, one person's special interest is another person's advocacy.

In any case, that was exacerbated by a "Newsweek" article, which brought up old charges that he had gotten some favors and campaign contributions in return for a favor from one of the figures in the Clinton campaign contribution scandal, Johnny Chung. That was something that had come up years ago, but when you become a presidential candidate it comes up again.

It caused Howard Dean to say, in effect, that John Kerry was a hypocrite, or claiming that he would be the man to go up against President Bush and all of his love of special interests. Dean said that he would become (AUDIO GAP).

COSTELLO: All right, well, we'll keep following in that, and we'll let you get back to business there. Bob Franken live from the CNN Election Express in Charleston, South Carolina.

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 February 2, 2004 - 06:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, nothing is as exciting as the Super Bowl, but the candidates are sure trying hard. Al Sharpton gives a rousing speech in church, and the nasty barbs are starting to fly.
Let's head live to South Carolina and the CNN Election Express. Bob Franken is on the phone.

Good morning -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning. A big football sound here, because we were disappointed last night.

COSTELLO: I bet so. Well, tell us, what are the candidates doing today?

FRANKEN: Well, the candidates are scrambling all over the map. As you know, this is different from what we've seen in weeks past, but this is a multi-state primary. It's where the nitty-gritty of the campaign really is under way. There is a battle for delegates going on. Nearly 270 of them are at stake in the vote tomorrow, by the way. Up to 2,000-plus are needed at the convention.

Now, there is a whole variety of states. South Carolina has its own semi-favorite son, John Edwards, who has a commanding lead in the polls here. John Kerry is the main man in the polls in most of the states.

Wesley Clark is putting up a bit of a fight in Oklahoma.

And if Edwards would win here and Kerry would do well elsewhere and Dean would do as badly as he's showing in the polls, you can see how the dynamic of the campaign goes. Dean says he's in it no matter how poorly he does on Tuesday.

And there is Joe Lieberman, who says that he's in it no matter how poorly he does on Tuesday. And by all indications, except for Delaware, he is going to do poorly.

COSTELLO: Well, I understand that Howard Dean came out with some nastiness against John Kerry, and Al Sharpton gave one rousing speech in a church there that sort of got people on their feet and clapping.

FRANKEN: Well, starting with Al Sharpton, he is the man who could really be the kingmaker here. There is a huge African-American voting segment in South Carolina. It's the first time that that has been a factor in any of the races, and Al Sharpton has a tremendous amount of appeal in that sector.

Depending on how well he does and depending on whose votes he would siphon, he could have an influence on the outcome of this race. And then he would, of course, claim a mandate to go on to some of the races that continue, even though he is normally considered not to have a slight chance at all to be a factor in the ultimate race.

As far as what you call the nastiness is concerned -- others would just call it hard campaigning and dealing with facts, it all depends on your perspective -- there is a controversy that has come up around Senator John Kerry over the weekend after a "Washington Post" article that pointed out that he was the senator who had received more "special interest" -- quote-unquote -- money over a 15-year period. Special interest, of course, one person's special interest is another person's advocacy.

In any case, that was exacerbated by a "Newsweek" article, which brought up old charges that he had gotten some favors and campaign contributions in return for a favor from one of the figures in the Clinton campaign contribution scandal, Johnny Chung. That was something that had come up years ago, but when you become a presidential candidate it comes up again.

It caused Howard Dean to say, in effect, that John Kerry was a hypocrite, or claiming that he would be the man to go up against President Bush and all of his love of special interests. Dean said that he would become (AUDIO GAP).

COSTELLO: All right, well, we'll keep following in that, and we'll let you get back to business there. Bob Franken live from the CNN Election Express in Charleston, South Carolina.

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