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American Morning

American Votes 2006; Democrats' Dilemma; Crisis In The Middle East

Aired August 09, 2006 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Takes on an emotionally charged subject and finds some unexpected support on this AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris, in this week for Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: So nice to have you. Thank you for helping us.

HARRIS: Oh, good to be here. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We appreciate it.

Let's talk about political news. An election in Connecticut could reverberate around the country this fall. Three-term Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman has lost the primary election to a newcomer. And perhaps more telling, an anti-war candidate. This morning, Senator Lieberman files to run as an independent come November. Let's get right to CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She's in Hartford.

Hey, Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

You know, primary voters don't usually turn out their incumbent politicians, but this was not a usual race and it still isn't.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY, (voice over): Call it a concession speech with asterisk. Joe Lieberman admitted defeat and went on with the race.

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand.

CROWLEY: To the great discomfort of his Democratic friends, Lieberman will run as an independent. He thinks his Democratic supporters will forgive him for ignoring the primary results and that independents and moderate Republicans will join in to give him the victory his own party did not. The asterisk was expected but still stunning enough to outshine the star.

CROWD: Bring them home! Bring them home! CROWLEY: Ned Lamont, an obscure multimillionaire businessman, accepted his party's nomination the same way he got it, riding a huge wave of anti-war sentiment.

NED LAMONT, (D) CONNECTICUT SENATE NOMINEE: We have 132,000 of our bravest troops stuck in the middle of a bloody civil war in Iraq and I'd say it's high time we bring them home to a hero's welcome.

CROWLEY: The results will be seen as a victory for the left side of the blogesphere, which discovered and fueled Lamont's anti-war campaign. And the results will be read through the prism of war, a symbol for the war, against the war story line.

DAVID LIGHTMAN, HARTFORD COURANT: It's going to be that Democrats are fervently opposed to this war. And if you support it, we don't want you.

CROWLEY: But it's more complicated than that in ways that may dilute the national implications. Lieberman is not just a politician supportive of a war gone sour. He's a one-time defender of George Bush in a party that detests him. A centrist in sharply partisan times. And, grumblers say, a senator so interested in the national scene he forgot the people who gave him the platform.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sort of my opportunity to voice that. I don't really think Joe Lieberman has really listened to me or listened to many voters.

CROWLEY: Lamont said he hoped Lieberman would reconsider his decision to keep running and unite behind Democrats. Lieberman said Lamont was a polarizing partisan. Nobody's quite sure where this is going, but they're on their way.

LAMONT: I am proud to carry the banner as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.

LIEBERMAN: Tomorrow is a brand new day. And tomorrow we launch a new campaign to unite the people of Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: Last night, those around Lieberman were downright bullish of his chances of retaining his Senate seat as an independent. But the cold light of day brings the fact that most of Lieberman's colleagues, many of whom came here to support him, no longer will. They will unite behind the Democratic nominee. Joe Lieberman is on his own.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Candy, let me ask you a question. What if it becomes more than just uniting behind the new Democratic nominee and it becomes actual calls for Lieberman not to run as an independent, Lieberman to step away? What happens then?

CROWLEY: Well, it would be hard for him to do it now. I mean they are very much going on the momentum. I mean, had they lost by double digits, where polls showed that's where he was last week, he might have rethought this, except for that I never, ever heard any hesitation either from those around him or from Lieberman himself about whether or not he would take this on.

He is convinced that there is a coalition out there that doesn't want partisan politics, that is drawn to his centrist appeal. After all, Republicans and Independents have been part of what has kept him in office for 18 years. But it is a much tougher row. They know that.

Nonetheless, they tell us that there are donors ready to donate. That there are, in are, in fact, Republicans, out of state Republicans, willing to come in an campaign for Lieberman. So I can't imagine that, at least in the short term, Lieberman's going to change his mind.

O'BRIEN: Candy Crowley for us this morning. Candy, thanks.

Candy says it's a much tougher road now. And, in fact, Senate Democrats who backed Lieberman in the primary have to decide whether they're going to stick with him or with the party's official nominee. CNN's Dana Bash is watching it all from Washington, D.C.

Hey, Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And, you know, this was the moment Senator Lieberman's Democratic colleagues in the Senate have been dreading. Already we've heard from Senator Barbara Boxer from California, someone who went up to campaign for Lieberman, that she will support Ned Lamont. And Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat who is a centrist like Joe Lieberman, a friend of Lieberman, someone with 2008 aberrations, he said the same thing. He's going to have to support Lamont. Now we expect Democratic Party leaders later this morning to issue statements saying the same thing, that Democratic voters of Connecticut voted for Lamont, so he, not Joe Lieberman, is the candidate they're going to back from here on out.

Now something that you were talking to Candy about. Senior Democrats had told us that there had been some quiet talk among Lieberman's colleagues about trying to convince him not to take this step. But the margin was close enough that Senator Lieberman probably -- that there was probably no effort to do that. And, in fact, in talking to sources close to Senator Lieberman and people who, perhaps, works have taken that step, it doesn't appear that that happened.

But certainly, Soledad, there is consternation among some Democrats that this keep a high-profile intra-party battle that centers around Iraq going through Election Day. And this is really something that Democrats are not looking forward to, especially since they have taken such pains to try to rally around a unified position when it comes to the Iraq War, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: OK. So what does this all mean for the mid-term elections and for the 2008 elections, specifically?

BASH: Well, you know, it should be said that Connecticut has about the highest anti-war, anti-Bush sentiment in the nation right now. Nevertheless, as you just alluded to, this certainly was a test case. The entire political world was watching. A test of the power of Iraq as a decisive issue this election year and the power of the anti-war movement within the Democratic Party.

But interestingly, Soledad, Democrats have been watching what has been happening in Connecticut for months now and many have already tried to learn a lesson from it. And that is, to be more vocal about their concerns about Iraq. Hillary Clinton, for example, voted for the war. She has been lumped with Senator Lieberman as a war supporter. But she's already been more vocal in her criticism of the Bush administration on Iraq. Remember, she called last week for Donald Rumsfeld to be fired.

And Republicans, I can tell you, they're already licking their chops. They are sending around this talking points memo to their supporters, to talk radio hosts. We're going to hear from the Republican National Committee chairman later on. Essentially the headline of this is, defining the defeat-ocrats. They think this plays right into their story this election year, that Democrats are being taken over by the left wing of their party. And from their perspective, that's not good for the country.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks. And Candy Crowley, of course, and Dana Bash are part of the best political team on TV.

Senator Joe Lieberman's going to join us live at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Just a few minutes from now. Ned Lamont, the victor last night, is going to be our guest at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time.

Let's turn to Georgia now where Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has lost the primary runoff to Hank Johnson, a former county commissioner. During a post-election rally, McKinney played the song "Dear Mr. President." It's an anti-Bush anthem by the singer Pink. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY, (D) GEORGIA: Tell you about hard work, minimum wage with a baby on the way. Let me tell you about hard work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: She drew national headlines, of course, after she had that confrontation with Capitol Hill Police officers. In her concession speech last night, McKinney complained about electronic balloting. Listen to what she had to say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MCKINNEY: Electronic voting machines are a threat to our democracy. So let the word go out. We aren't going to tolerate any more stolen elections!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McKinney covered a lot of ground in that concession speech. She was beaten, though, 59 percent to 41 percent.

Tony.

HARRIS: A search is underway now for two missing coalition soldiers after a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter went down west of Baghdad. Four other crew members were found. And news of the crash comes amid growing opposition to the war in Iraq. A new CNN poll just released this morning by the Opinion Research Corporation shows 60 percent of Americans are opposed to the war, 61 percent favor a proposal to withdrawal some troops by the end of the year. Now that doesn't mean they want to withdraw all troops by year's end. Only a quarter of the people polled want that to happen. And they are almost evenly divided on whether the U.S. will win the war. Forty-seven percent say "yes" the U.S. will win, 48 percent say "no."

Diplomats are still trying to hash out the details of the United Nations resolution on the Middle East. But it looks like there will be no vote of any kind before tomorrow. And while those negotiations drag on, southern Lebanon remains a very active war zone. We have reports from both sides of the border this morning. John Vause is in Jerusalem, Karl Penhaul is in Tyre, Lebanon.

Karl, let's begin with you. Good morning.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

And we just want to show you some pictures of what's happening actually right now. There's a bombardment by Israeli artillery on positions about five and six miles south of where we are. Perhaps even a little less. But the target of the barrages of artillery is predominantly that hilly ridge line that you can see there.

And along some of the villages along that ridge line, Lebanese intelligence officers told me that there have actually been Israeli commandos on the ground sporadically trying to push into those villages. That Lebanese intelligence officer, however, does tell me that Hezbollah forces have repelled them on multiple occasions. But for that reason, the artillery bombardment goes on.

Now that Lebanese intelligence officer thinks that that bombardment could be softening up position. It could be a prelude to some kind of Israeli ground attack on that position, to try and take the high ground there. Now, obviously, if the Israeli was able to move tanks and artillery guns that far forward, then it would put them in a commanding position because it would put those guns well within range of the city of Tyre itself and also this long coastal plain which is where we've seen multiple launches of Hezbollah rockets and missiles over the last few days, Tony. HARRIS: And that is the view from Tyre, Lebanon. CNN's Karl Penhaul there. Smoke in the background, as you can see in that live picture. Karl, thank you.

Let's move now to Israel. A decision could be made today on whether to expand the ground war in southern Lebanon. CNN's John Vause is live in Jerusalem right now.

John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, the Israeli security cabinet still meeting. They've been meeting about the last four hours. We are expecting a vote to be taken today whether or not the Israeli ground offensive will be expanded all the way to the Litani River, about 13 miles north of the Israel/Lebanon border.

Before it meeting began, it was believed that most of the 12 members of the security cabinet were, in fact, in favor of expanding the ground offensive. But the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, concerned about the high number of Israeli casualties estimated between 300 to 500. Apparently he wanted to be convinced of the cost benefit to this. That the benefits would be worth the loss of Israeli lives.

Also military sources saying that basically that all of southern Lebanon has now become some kind of missile firing range and the only way to cleanse that area, in their words, is with a massive ground operation. One other factor playing into all of this, while support among Israelis for the war remains relatively high, there is growing impatience among many here that this war just has not going to plan. That it is now taking way too long.

Tony.

HARRIS: OK. So, John, is Israel, in effect, trying to race the diplomatic clock here before the U.N. calls for a cease-fire?

VAUSE: Well, the concern among many Israeli officials is that if the U.N. does past that draft resolution calling for a cease-fire, particularly if its been amended, to take into account the concerns of the Arab countries, which will call for an immediate withdrawal of the Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, that will give Hezbollah a chance to re-arm, a chance to regroup and essentially all of the gains, which whatever has been made in the last four weeks, and that in itself is debatable. But all of those gains would be lost. So, yes, they are trying to get as much done before that U.N. Security Council vote happens.

Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's John Vause for us in Jerusalem. John, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thirteen minutes past the hour. Let's get a check of the forecast with Chad, who's at the CNN Center this morning.

Hey, Chad. (WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Senator Joe Lieberman is going to join us live. We're going to get his reaction to his big defeat in the primary. Also ask him what role his position on Iraq has played.

HARRIS: Also, has someone been bugging royal phones? Allegations of wiretapping of Prince Charles' official residence.

And later, controversial director Oliver Stone's new movie, "World Trade Center." We'll tell you why it's getting surprising reviews from some conservative groups. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

The nation's largest oil field may not be down for the count just yet. BP reportedly trying to come up with a way to output about 50 percent of its capacity while the company replaces those corroded. pipelines. BP shut down the field on Sunday after finding corrosion and a leak.

If you're heading to Logan Airport in Boston this morning, this news might make your commute a little bit easier. A highway ramp on the big dig has re-opened. The eastbound highway ramp was closed, you'll remember, after part of the ceiling in a nearby tunnel collapsed and killed a 39-year-old woman.

Two men accused of going on a serial shooting spree in Phoenix have now been formally charged. Each faces 32 criminal counts, including two counts of murder.

And three people under arrest for possibly eavesdropping on Prince Charles' staff. One of the men held is an editor from a London tabloid.

HARRIS: As we've been reporting, a big upset last night for Senator Joe Lieberman. He lost the Democratic primary to a political newcomer opposed to the Iraq War. Joining us now to look at last night's outcome, CNN's senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield. He joins us from Hartford, Connecticut.

Jeff, good to see you this morning. We count on you in times like this to put things like this into perspective. Six years ago, Joe Lieberman was his party's choice to be vice president. And at least, for the moment, he's out? Explain, please.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's not out completely because he announced in quite vigorous terms last night that he's going to run as an independent. And a lot of people think he can win. But I think, when you talk about putting this in perspective, the setting sin (ph) of people like me is to try to make big, national news from this. And while it will have an impact, it's not often that three-term Democratic incumbents lose or incumbent senators. Remember the special circumstances. Lieberman stayed with the president on Iraq War more than any other Democrat. Praised not just the original decision, but said the policy was working as late as last November. He alienated people in Connecticut. The teachers' unions backed his opponent because of his position on vouchers. Black politicians opposed him because of various questions about affirmative action.

Back in 2000, he ran for senator and vice president. People thought he was putting his own career first. And don't forget that Lieberman's opponent, Ned Lamont, put $4 million of his own money into this. So the idea that this is going to have a massive, broad impact is less true than we think.

It will, I think, embolden Republicans, as they've already begun arguing, to saying, look, the McGovern wing of the Democratic Party -- this is what Republican Mitch McConnell already said -- is back. They don't seem to understand why it's important to take the offensive on the war on terror. I think you're going to hear that from Republican Chairman Ken Mehlman today.

HARRIS: Hey, Jeff, you mentioned a point I want to follow-up on, that he stayed with the president to long. As he was making this play as this bridge builder, being bipartisan, do you think he had a sense at some point that this had the potential to kind of blow up in this face in his home state?

GREENFIELD: I think that one of the things that cost Lieberman the primary was that he was very complacent. I mean when you look at polls six months out and saw Lieberman leading by 50 points against an unknown opponent, as so many politicians and journalists do, they look at those numbers as though they're wholly writ.

And I think he miscalculated how much people, particularly in a blue state like Connecticut, wanted to say something about the war. And the extent to which his opponent could mount an effective campaign. And the extent to which Lieberman, as I said, had alienated a lot of Democrats on a lot of different issues. I just think it's to much for granted.

HARRIS: Let's talk about moving forward. Listen to this sound bite. You heard it last night. Let's play it for everyone this morning and then let's get your response to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: For the sake of our state, our country, and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Jeff, he lost the primary. Isn't that an awfully presumptuous statement to make? I am going to move forward regardless. GREENFIELD: Well, one of the reasons why Joe Lieberman, I believe, lost this primary was his statement early on that he was going to run as an independent if he lost. He had to do that because of Connecticut's weird filing. The deadline's today. But, you know, look, New England is a place that tends to elect independence more than any other places. The guy that Lieberman beat 18 years ago for senator, two years later got elected governor of Connecticut as an independent. So this is a region that's almost uniquely favorable to independent campaigns and I think Lieberman has a very good chance to win in the fall.

HARRIS: That's good. That's good. CNN's senior analyst Jeff Greenfield for us this morning. Jeff, thank you.

GREENFIELD: OK.

O'BRIEN: We're going to have more on Lieberman's big loss in just a moment. Senator Lieberman's going to be our guest. We'll ask him what role he thinks Iraq played in the other guy's victory.

Also, we'll meet a 10-year-old boy who's now being hailed as a hero when he woke up all his neighbors in the middle of the night. We'll tell what you he did just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: How about this? Offers of assistance for the BP pipeline problem.

Andy, if we can get some help, some more manpower, material, get this thing back online quicker is a good thing.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, how about some more oil? It's nice, Tony, to have some friends with more crude oil. That's what's going on here this morning. Both Mexico and Saudi Arabia have pledged to help and fill any shortfalls in oil supply caused by BP's Alaska pipeline shutdown. This is good news. So the whole question of whether the Saudis have excess capacity, well, apparently they do have a little bit of extra oil jingling around there. The price of oil again stable at around $76 a barrel.

Other news, Tony Snow, the president's press secretary, saying that the president would, in fact, release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if need in this situation. And Energy Secretary Bodman says that up to half of the pipeline may not have to go off- line. So all kinds of good news there in that situation.

Switching over to Pixar. This is the latest high-profile company to be caught up in -- yes, Woody -- the stock option scandal.

O'BRIEN: What number are we up to now?

SERWER: We're up to about number 87 or 93. I mean, it's almost hard to keep track of. But there are dozens and dozens. Getting to 100, Soledad. This company may have improperly back dated options going four years between 1997 and 2003. John Lasseter, the high profile creative chief, may have received these. Same with Edwin Catmull, co-founder of the company.

Steve Jobs, however, apparently not involved in this. He's the CEO of that company before it was bought by Walt Disney earlier this year, though he is having some problems with the other company that he heads up, which is Apple Computer. And so we're going to be watching that.

And then, of course, the Federal Reserve did not raise . . .

HARRIS: Which is what you predicted.

O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. What was that?

SERWER: Say it again, Soledad.

Thank you, Tony.

The Federal Reserve did not . . .

O'BRIEN: Could that be the exact opposite of what you predicted yesterday?

SERWER: It's the exact opposite, Soledad. The exact . . .

O'BRIEN: Interesting. Interesting.

SERWER: We're keeping track here.

HARRIS: All right, Andy, thank you.

O'BRIEN: We forewarned you we were going to give you a hard time.

SERWER: That's the way it goes.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Andy.

SERWER: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Senator Joe Lieberman's going to be our guest in just a few moments. Does he think voters penalized him for his support of the war in Iraq. We're going to check in with him in just a few moments.

And Oliver Stone's got a new movie out. It's called the "World Trade Center." It opens, in fact, nationwide today. We'll tell you about the surprising response it's getting. That's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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