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CNN Crossfire
One Week and Counting
Aired October 26, 2004 - 16:30 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CROSSFIRE. On the left, James Carville and Paul Begala; on the right, Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson.
In the CROSSFIRE: from the battleground, sharp words, as the president warns Wisconsin voters Kerry will hurt the recovering economy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My opponent promises to raise your taxes.
(BOOING)
BUSH: And, unfortunately for our small business owners, that's a promise most politicians tend to keep.
ANNOUNCER: Also in Wisconsin, the challenger on an explosive issue, pointing to tons of missing explosives in Iraq as an example of Bush's failure as commander in chief.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush has not offered a single world of explanation. His silence confirms what I have been saying for months. President Bush rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.
ANNOUNCER: And Bill Clinton is back on the road in Florida working to get voters fired up -- all this with one week of intense campaigning to go.
Today on CROSSFIRE.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from the George Washington University, James Carville and, sitting in on the right, Joe Watkins.
JAMES CARVILLE, CO-HOST: Welcome to CROSSFIRE.
It's toe to toe, as John Kerry is taking a fight to George Bush in the last seven days of the race. And now that President Clinton is back in the campaign, you can expect things to get really hot.
It is so hot, we had to bring in a special guest, Republican strategist and Philadelphia-based talk show host and Bob Novak look- alike Joe Watkins.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Can you imagine, Joe, people sitting there at home waiting to see Bob Novak, and there you are? You're better looking and you're less ornery.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: First up, let's go to the best political briefing in television, the CROSSFIRE "Political Alert."
JOE WATKINS, GUEST CO-HOST: Hide the french fries. Bill Clinton is back in the campaign.
The former president is in Florida today, after joining Kerry in Philadelphia yesterday. Bush adviser Karl Rove says they had to roll Clinton out of the hospital room and onto the campaign trail to help Senator Kerry with his core constituencies. John Kerry just isn't getting black Americans, Democrats' most loyal voters, fired up. Clinton, who is recovering from heart surgery, had to introduce Kerry to black ministers around the country during a conference call.
What's the problem here? The senator took the black vote for granted early in his run. And Kerry is finding out that President Bush, according to one poll, has doubled his support among black Americans since 2000.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, President Clinton was feeling good, raring to go. I talked to him any number of times. In fact, I talked to him the morning before he went out to campaign. And Senator Kerry did very well, extremely well with the black vote in the primaries. And I guarantee he's going to do as well, if not better, as Al Gore did come November 2.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: We will see. We will see. We will see.
CARVILLE: All right, we'll see. The proof will be in the pudding, or in the exit poll, I should say.
All right, and we're all blank here. So remember the debates when Senator Kerry said the war in Iraq would cost $200 million and Republicans said it was inaccurate, that he shouldn't say that because the war wouldn't cost $200 million. As much as it pains me to say this, and as surprised as you may be, the Republicans were right.
Senator Kerry, you were wrong. The war isn't $200 million, as you claimed. Today, we find out that they're asking for another $70 million, which would bring it to $225 million and add to the hundreds of millions they already spent. So, the next time someone says at the war cost $200 million, tell them, oh, no, this fiasco is going to cost a lot more than that. And, Senator Kerry, you shouldn't say it cost $200 million, when you knew full well it was going to cost a lot more with these clowns running it.
(APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Well, this is the same exact war that John Edwards and John Kerry said that they would have done, if they had it to do over again. They would have done the exact same thing if they had to do it over again.
And not only that. When they had the chance to support our soldiers who were in harm's way, they voted against the $87 billion to fund our soldiers.
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: No, they didn't. No, they didn't. They said that they would vote for it if we paid for it. The president said he would veto that. He would only vote it if the children paid for it. And Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards believe, they're fiscal conservatives. They believe it's pay as you go, not let the next generation pay for something. And that is what the facts are.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Kerry and Edwards need to stop demoralizing our troops and support our troops who are in harm's way.
(BELL RINGING)
WATKINS: In John Kerry's stop in Green Bay today, he tried to make the case that he's the right leader for the war on terrorism. The trouble is, most Americans aren't buying Kerry's as firm, strong or decisive.
For proof, just look at the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll. When asked were asked which candidate would handle terrorism better, 57 percent of them said President Bush.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: John Kerry has only convinced 39 percent that he can handle the job. Similar results when you ask which man is the stronger and more decisive leader. Again, 57 percent believe it is the president. Only 38 percent think it is Kerry.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: So, even if it seems like Kerry has trouble making up his mind where he stands on the issues, American voters haven't had any trouble making up their minds.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: You know, they're not going to go have any trouble making up their minds on November the 2nd. And this thing is not going to be particularly close.
WATKINS: Well, that's the final poll.
CARVILLE: That's it. Yes.
WATKINS: We'll see. We have seven days to see. And we will see.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: It's the only poll that counts. That's the only poll that counts.
WATKINS: That's the poll the counts, absolutely. .
CARVILLE: He's going to do well in that poll.
Here we go right here. David Smith, CEO of Sinclair Broadcasting, whose family and company has given over $100,000 to Republicans since 1999, he wouldn't let his company run the names of those killed in Iraq on a "Nightline" program because he was scared it would hurt Bush politically. He wanted to run the critically savage and grotesquely inaccurate film "Stolen Honor" for one hour on his station and was once arrested for committing unnatural acts while driving with a prostitute.
And his company record fits perfectly and dovetails with the Bush administration. To wit, it is laden and debt and has failed to produce a penny of value to the shareholders in the last 10 years. Well, add another Republican trait to his record, that of being a liar. He says in today's "Washington Post" this is all a misunderstanding, that he really isn't a Republican activist. No thanks, Mr. Smith. We don't want you or your kind. Stay right where you are.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Well, one thing I can say for Mr. Smith is that he's no Michael Moore. Democrats certainly know how to make money with inaccuracies.
After all, Michael Moore has the distinction of being the first American in history to profit from making a movie that demonizes the commander in chief while the commander in chief is in office.
CARVILLE: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Oh, really?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Talk about gross and inaccurate.
CARVILLE: They never demonized Clinton while he was in office? Oh, my God.
WATKINS: Nobody ever made a movie about it and profited from it.
CARVILLE: I will tell you what. Michael Moore is not losing money for his shareholders. I will guarantee you that. Michael Moore is not running himself and his shareholders into debt.
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Michael Moore isn't getting arrested for committing unnatural acts with a prostitute. I will promise you that.
(BELL RINGING)
WATKINS: Well, Michael Moore is clearly, clearly, clearly on the side of the liberals. And his movie was a gross distortion of this president's record, grossly inaccurate.
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Well, you know what? He might be on the side of liberals, but he's a hell of a lot better than this Smith clown or whoever they got running this company into a ditch.
WATKINS: As President Bush and John Kerry -- as President Bush and John Kerry make their final pitches, what can each man do to seal the deal? And what impact, if any, will former President Clinton have on the closing days of the campaign?
And if you think the campaign has been frightening, you won't want to miss the October surprise we have in store for you later on CROSSFIRE.
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Join Carville, Begala, Carlson and Novak in the CROSSFIRE. For free tickets to CROSSFIRE at the George Washington University, call 202-994-8CNN or visit our Web site. Now you can step into the CROSSFIRE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE.
Both presidential candidates hit the high points today, John Kerry talking about homeland security and the war on terror, George Bush trying to say the economy is OK. They have only got a week to nail this thing down. What do they need to do?
Today in the CROSSFIRE, Republican brilliant strategist Charlie Brook -- Charlie Black.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: I'm sorry, Charlie. I misread it.
And senior Kerry adviser, the brilliant and charming Tad Devine.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Hello, Tad. You are up first.
TAD DEVINE, SENIOR JOHN KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Joe, good to be with you.
WATKINS: You know, Karl Rove said yesterday they had to roll Bill Clinton out of the hospital...
DEVINE: Off his gurney, I think he said, right. Yes.
WATKINS: Right, yes, to campaign for Senator Kerry. And what does that say? They had to take this poor man out of the hospital to energize the Kerry campaign.
I mean, Kerry has been known to be wooden. He's the guy that says, bring it on. But he's having trouble energizing his base. Why is this?
DEVINE: No, he's not having trouble at all.
We welcome President Clinton. And I'll tell you why. When he was president, this country created 23 million jobs.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: Incomes were rising. Health care was expanding. And look at the difference in what's happened in America in the last four years. Everything that was right was going up and now everything that is wrong is going up. That's the difference.
WATKINS: Well, what John Kerry wants to bring up are taxes, obviously. That's how hopes to change -- he wants to raise taxes, right?
(APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: What he's going to do, Joe, is roll back the taxes on the wealthiest Americans, people making more than $200,000 a year, where they were when Bill Clinton was president.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: How is he going pay for his $1.25 trillion health care plan without taxing everybody?
DEVINE: I'll tell you. He's going to pay for it by rolling back the taxes on people who make more than $200,000 a year. CHARLIE BLACK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Small businesses.
DEVINE: To where they were when Bill Clinton was president. You know what we're going to get? An economy like we had in the '90s, an economy that worked.
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: That's what we're going to get.
CARVILLE: Charlie, of course, there is no economic argument to make, because this president hasn't created a single job.
Let's go to the war in Iraq, where they're just asking for another $70 million for this fiasco. And I said that Paul Wolfowitz was the biggest idiot to serve in the U.S. government in my lifetime. And now let's go back and see what he said: "On a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $5 and $100 billion -- $100 billion -- over the course of the next two or three years. We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction relatively soon."
Now, I don't understand. Why are we asking for another $70 billion to add to the money we already have to bring it to $225 billion when this idiot was telling us that we could get it out of oil revenues? Why doesn't the president fire this goofball?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLACK: What he said was, the reconstruction could be financed largely with oil revenues.
You know what? The majority of the reconstruction so far has been financed by Iraqi oil revenues.
CARVILLE: How much oil revenues have they given us? Why are we paying $225 billion?
BLACK: Less than $10 billion of that has gone for reconstruction so far. This is for security to finish the job.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Why are we paying $225 billion if they have got $100 billion in oil revenues?
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: James, John Kerry can't decide to save his life whether he wants to finish the job in Iraq and Afghanistan.
CARVILLE: Paul Wolfowitz is going to get it done.
BLACK: If Kerry wants to finish the job in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is going to cost another $70 billion. If he is critical of that, what does he want to do, pull out? You can't tell where he is from one day to the next. The American people want the strength and determination that you saw in that poll. Bush has a 20-point lead on leadership.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: I want to know why don't we get the 100 -- why don't we get $100 billion from the oil revenues that this administration told us that we were going to get when we went to war?
BLACK: You will get that to cover the reconstruction costs.
CARVILLE: When is it coming? When is the check coming? We do we get the check?
BLACK: We're talking about security costs, military and police costs.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Question for you.
DEVINE: Yes.
WATKINS: John Kerry and John Edwards have been out on the campaign trail for months now. And the whole time, they have been belittling this president. They have been belittling, really undermining what they're trying to do in the war in Iraq. They have been belittling our soldiers. They have been belittling the current leader of Iraq.
How could John Kerry ever hope, if he ever got his wish to become commander in chief, to lead the very soldiers that he has shown so little confidence in, the same soldiers that he's really been telling we should retreat and defeat?
DEVINE: He'll lead them the way they should be led, by restoring respect for America in the world.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: You know, this president has turned his back -- this president -- this president has turned his back on our allies.
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: And you know what we need? We need allies who can share the burden and take the burden and take the target off the back of our troops in Iraq.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: So the way to do that is with a global test, right? We've got to pass the global test first?
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: Let me tell you. John Kerry has made it clear.
WATKINS: Go to France? Go to France first and say...
DEVINE: John Kerry has made it clear. He'll defend this nation as president the way he defended it as a young man.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: And I'll tell you. He will hunt down and kill the terrorists. That's his pledge to the American people.
BLACK: France and Germany already said, count them out. I don't know..
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: And they've got wolves in their ads. We should be afraid of Wolfowitz, not the wolves, OK? Let me tell you, that's the problem.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Let me show you what a senior, very senior administration official said today. Vice President Cheney was on the campaign trail. And I think that he -- this is a great civics lesson that we got and we can latch onto this. Can we show this, please?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it has been a remarkable success story to date when you look at what's been accomplished overall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARVILLE: Now, the vice president says that today, what we're doing is a remarkable success story.
So let me get this straight here is that he believes that everything is going -- is a remarkable success. It is going great. So, if you think it's going great, you should vote for this administration. If you think that it ain't going too good, maybe we need to make a change and you should vote for John Kerry. Didn't he do a great service for the American people by framing this issue for us?
BLACK: Well, he can't frame it. He doesn't know which end of the frame he's on about it.
(CROSSTALK) CARVILLE: No, we're talking about the vice president.
BLACK: What the vice president is talking about...
CARVILLE: Well, we just heard what he said.
BLACK: You said John Kerry.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: No, I said the vice president did a remarkable thing.
BLACK: We successfully deposed Saddam Hussein. We freed 25 million people.
CARVILLE: Right. Right.
BLACK: Even though your guy said it couldn't be done, we gave sovereignty to Iraq at the end of June.
CARVILLE: Right. Right. Right.
BLACK: They're going to have elections in January.
CARVILLE: And there's no violence over there.
BLACK: The head of the U.N. election effort over there said yesterday it is going happen. They will have elections.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Where is that 380 tons of explosives?
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Well, it wasn't there, according to NBC.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Which is another point.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: The story today, the reporter said they never looked for it.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Kerry needs to apologize for jumping on that, because the NBC guy was there and he said it wasn't there.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: You're wrong.
(CROSSTALK) CARVILLE: The AP story today said that...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: got there. They never looked for it. You have got to get current, man, when you come over here.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: That talking point is wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: That's not what the guy said in person on the air.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: You all have got to come up with something better than that.
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: Maybe Wolfowitz said...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Maybe Wolfowitz knows. Yes, maybe Wolfowitz knows. It's where the $100 billion is. That's where it is.
DEVINE: Yes, they're with the flowers that were going to welcome our troops when we entered Iraq, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: For weeks now, Kerry and Edwards have been saying that the president is a liar and untruthful in his remarks.
DEVINE: I've never hear either one of those say that word.
WATKINS: They have claimed again and again that the president has not been truthful with the American people.
DEVINE: Well, that's for sure.
WATKINS: Now, yet and still, the polls show that the American people by huge margins trust George Bush. They think George Bush is a truthful and honest leader, much more so than they think that John Kerry is.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: So don't you think that Kerry would be better served spending the final days of the campaign not tearing down the president, but just talk about what he hopes to do, like tax and spend? DEVINE: He has been talking about what he hopes to do. He hopes to turn around the record of this administration. They took the greatest surplus in history and turned it into record deficits.
They took it -- he's the first president since Herbert Hoover not to create jobs, record job loss, record health care loss.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: He's created over one million jobs in the last...
DEVINE: Let me tell you, so many records -- so many records in this administration. He doesn't belong in the Oval Office. He belongs in "The Guinness Book of World Records," OK? That's where he belongs.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: This president is a champion for small business and his tax cuts have put people back to work.
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: Who went back to work? We lost 1.6 million private sector jobs. Who is working?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: We also got hit by the terrorists on September 11.
BLACK: Right.
WATKINS: We lost millions with that.
DEVINE: Do you agree with the secretary of treasury that job loss is a myth in the Bush administration?
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: Job loss is a myth? That's what he said in Ohio. A myth?
BLACK: We've got more economic growth right now than when Bill Clinton ran for reelection. You have lower interest rates, lower inflation.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: We're on a growth spurt. We have been gaining jobs every month.
CARVILLE: Really? We have?
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE) BLACK: Since we came out of the Clinton recession which Bush inherited.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: We lost jobs over the last three months. We're not creating jobs to the extent to keep up with it.
What do you think we're going to find first, Charlie, the $100 billion in oil revenues or the 370 tons of explosives that they let go? If we were looking, which one...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: ... come up with?
BLACK: Yes, I think we'll find it right after John Kerry apologizes for making up a story about meeting with the U.N. Security Council that he told in the second debate.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLACK: A meeting that did not happen. I'm waiting for the apology.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: I'm asking you, what do you think? Guess, the $100 in oil revenue or the 370 tons of explosives that we let go?
DEVINE: Ask Wolfowitz. That's the only thing we can do.
CARVILLE: I can tell you what. They're toast.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Next in "Rapid Fire," John Kerry is having a hard time energizing one group. You won't believe who they are.
And should the Geneva Convention not apply to some prisoners of war? Wolf Blitzer has the latest on what the Justice Department is saying after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in New York.
Coming up at the top of the hour, will there be a January surprise? Reports the Bush administration may seek more money and more troops for Iraq. Some of the non-Iraqi insurgents captured in Iraq are being detained outside Iraq -- why the U.S. Justice Department is defending the move. He was Kobe Bryant's coach last year. Phil Jackson will join us to talk about that.
All those stories, much more, only minutes away on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Now back to CROSSFIRE.
CARVILLE: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE. It's "Rapid Fire" time, where we give questions and answers faster than the Bush administration can hand out tax breaks to their rich friends.
Joining me and Joe are Charlie Black, Republican strategist, and Tad Devine, senior adviser to the Kerry campaign.
Can you believe I pronounced Black right? That's a very difficult word.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: But you got brilliant right the first time.
CARVILLE: I got brilliant right.
(LAUGHTER)
WATKINS: Tad.
DEVINE: Yes, sir.
WATKINS: Kerry once said that he wanted to be the country's second black president. Now, this is coming from a guy -- can you imagine that? -- this is coming from a guy who took months to hire anybody black in his presidential campaign. How does he get that done?
DEVINE: He does it by standing up for African-Americans, which he'll do as president. African-Americans have suffered because of the policies of this president. And John Kerry will fight for them every single day. That's how he does it.
(APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: A million new African-American homeowners, that's suffering?
DEVINE: Yes.
WATKINS: Are you kidding?
DEVINE: Yes, 500,000 lost jobs, health care costs skyrocketing. You better believe it's suffering. It's suffering on a profound scale. And a president who wants to undo affirmative action, remember that?
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: The University of Michigan case, undo affirmative action? That's George Bush's record, OK?
CARVILLE: Hey, Charlie, let me ask, what is a more devastating case against the president, the fact that he hasn't created a single job or the fact that health care costs have gone up 40 percent? Which one do you think is going to hurt him the most on Election Day?
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLACK: Well, the -- the health care costs have gone up largely because of the trial lawyers, which you guys have one on the ticket and you refuse to do anything about medical malpractice costs.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: We're gaining jobs at about 150,000 a month. We're recovering from the Clinton recession which Bush inherited, which was aggravated by 9/11.
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: I see. OK. It's going good.
WATKINS: Tad, isn't it a sad commentary when a man recovering from heart surgery is more dynamic on the stump than the candidate?
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: No, it is not.
You know, listen, no one is going to compete with Bill Clinton in terms of charisma. He's an unbelievable candidate. But I will tell you this. John Kerry is prepared to lead this country in a new direction, give it a fresh start. And Bill Clinton understands, that's what we need.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: What do you think it is going hurt President Bush more, the fact that they haven't found any weapons in Iraq or the fact that Iraq is getting more violent by the day and we've been there forever and the thing is going to hell in a handbasket?
(APPLAUSE)
BLACK: Well, the point is, you know every day where President Bush stands on Iraq.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: You don't know what -- one day, Kerry wants to get out and the next day, he wants to finish the job. Kerry wouldn't finish the job in Iraq.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: He couldn't get out of it if he wanted to.
BLACK: We're killing terrorists over there.
WATKINS: Eighty-thousand people showed up in Philadelphia to see Bill Clinton and Senator Kerry.
DEVINE: You love Bill Clinton, don't you?
WATKINS: I do, indeed.
How many of those people do you think actually showed up to see John Kerry?
DEVINE: Eighty-thousand.
(LAUGHTER)
(BELL RINGING)
WATKINS: Hey, we want to thank Charlie and Tad for coming out today and for being on CROSSFIRE. Give them a round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Good.
Politics and Halloween can be a scary mix, especially when the candidates keep showing up at your door. Could these masks predict a surprise for any of the candidates?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATKINS: We were going to tell you about how Halloween masks can help predict who is going to win next week. But, instead, we thought it would be a better idea to invite a couple special guests to join us to celebrate James' birthday.
Come on out.
CARVILLE: Oh.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: How are you? All right.
WATKINS (singing): Happy birthday to you.
WATKINS AND AUDIENCE (singing): Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, dear James.
AUDIENCE (singing): Happy birthday to you.
CARVILLE: All right.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Thank you. Thank you so much.
My 60th birthday was yesterday. Thank everybody at CROSSFIRE, the whole thing.
President Bush, Senator Kerry, thank you for dropping by.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: From the left, I'm James Carville. That's it for CROSSFIRE.
WATKINS: And from the right, I'm Joe Watkins. Join the CROSSFIRE crew again tomorrow for another edition of CROSSFIRE.
"WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" starts right now.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
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Aired October 26, 2004 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CROSSFIRE. On the left, James Carville and Paul Begala; on the right, Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson.
In the CROSSFIRE: from the battleground, sharp words, as the president warns Wisconsin voters Kerry will hurt the recovering economy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My opponent promises to raise your taxes.
(BOOING)
BUSH: And, unfortunately for our small business owners, that's a promise most politicians tend to keep.
ANNOUNCER: Also in Wisconsin, the challenger on an explosive issue, pointing to tons of missing explosives in Iraq as an example of Bush's failure as commander in chief.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush has not offered a single world of explanation. His silence confirms what I have been saying for months. President Bush rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.
ANNOUNCER: And Bill Clinton is back on the road in Florida working to get voters fired up -- all this with one week of intense campaigning to go.
Today on CROSSFIRE.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from the George Washington University, James Carville and, sitting in on the right, Joe Watkins.
JAMES CARVILLE, CO-HOST: Welcome to CROSSFIRE.
It's toe to toe, as John Kerry is taking a fight to George Bush in the last seven days of the race. And now that President Clinton is back in the campaign, you can expect things to get really hot.
It is so hot, we had to bring in a special guest, Republican strategist and Philadelphia-based talk show host and Bob Novak look- alike Joe Watkins.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Can you imagine, Joe, people sitting there at home waiting to see Bob Novak, and there you are? You're better looking and you're less ornery.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: First up, let's go to the best political briefing in television, the CROSSFIRE "Political Alert."
JOE WATKINS, GUEST CO-HOST: Hide the french fries. Bill Clinton is back in the campaign.
The former president is in Florida today, after joining Kerry in Philadelphia yesterday. Bush adviser Karl Rove says they had to roll Clinton out of the hospital room and onto the campaign trail to help Senator Kerry with his core constituencies. John Kerry just isn't getting black Americans, Democrats' most loyal voters, fired up. Clinton, who is recovering from heart surgery, had to introduce Kerry to black ministers around the country during a conference call.
What's the problem here? The senator took the black vote for granted early in his run. And Kerry is finding out that President Bush, according to one poll, has doubled his support among black Americans since 2000.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, President Clinton was feeling good, raring to go. I talked to him any number of times. In fact, I talked to him the morning before he went out to campaign. And Senator Kerry did very well, extremely well with the black vote in the primaries. And I guarantee he's going to do as well, if not better, as Al Gore did come November 2.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: We will see. We will see. We will see.
CARVILLE: All right, we'll see. The proof will be in the pudding, or in the exit poll, I should say.
All right, and we're all blank here. So remember the debates when Senator Kerry said the war in Iraq would cost $200 million and Republicans said it was inaccurate, that he shouldn't say that because the war wouldn't cost $200 million. As much as it pains me to say this, and as surprised as you may be, the Republicans were right.
Senator Kerry, you were wrong. The war isn't $200 million, as you claimed. Today, we find out that they're asking for another $70 million, which would bring it to $225 million and add to the hundreds of millions they already spent. So, the next time someone says at the war cost $200 million, tell them, oh, no, this fiasco is going to cost a lot more than that. And, Senator Kerry, you shouldn't say it cost $200 million, when you knew full well it was going to cost a lot more with these clowns running it.
(APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Well, this is the same exact war that John Edwards and John Kerry said that they would have done, if they had it to do over again. They would have done the exact same thing if they had to do it over again.
And not only that. When they had the chance to support our soldiers who were in harm's way, they voted against the $87 billion to fund our soldiers.
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: No, they didn't. No, they didn't. They said that they would vote for it if we paid for it. The president said he would veto that. He would only vote it if the children paid for it. And Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards believe, they're fiscal conservatives. They believe it's pay as you go, not let the next generation pay for something. And that is what the facts are.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Kerry and Edwards need to stop demoralizing our troops and support our troops who are in harm's way.
(BELL RINGING)
WATKINS: In John Kerry's stop in Green Bay today, he tried to make the case that he's the right leader for the war on terrorism. The trouble is, most Americans aren't buying Kerry's as firm, strong or decisive.
For proof, just look at the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll. When asked were asked which candidate would handle terrorism better, 57 percent of them said President Bush.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: John Kerry has only convinced 39 percent that he can handle the job. Similar results when you ask which man is the stronger and more decisive leader. Again, 57 percent believe it is the president. Only 38 percent think it is Kerry.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: So, even if it seems like Kerry has trouble making up his mind where he stands on the issues, American voters haven't had any trouble making up their minds.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: You know, they're not going to go have any trouble making up their minds on November the 2nd. And this thing is not going to be particularly close.
WATKINS: Well, that's the final poll.
CARVILLE: That's it. Yes.
WATKINS: We'll see. We have seven days to see. And we will see.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: It's the only poll that counts. That's the only poll that counts.
WATKINS: That's the poll the counts, absolutely. .
CARVILLE: He's going to do well in that poll.
Here we go right here. David Smith, CEO of Sinclair Broadcasting, whose family and company has given over $100,000 to Republicans since 1999, he wouldn't let his company run the names of those killed in Iraq on a "Nightline" program because he was scared it would hurt Bush politically. He wanted to run the critically savage and grotesquely inaccurate film "Stolen Honor" for one hour on his station and was once arrested for committing unnatural acts while driving with a prostitute.
And his company record fits perfectly and dovetails with the Bush administration. To wit, it is laden and debt and has failed to produce a penny of value to the shareholders in the last 10 years. Well, add another Republican trait to his record, that of being a liar. He says in today's "Washington Post" this is all a misunderstanding, that he really isn't a Republican activist. No thanks, Mr. Smith. We don't want you or your kind. Stay right where you are.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Well, one thing I can say for Mr. Smith is that he's no Michael Moore. Democrats certainly know how to make money with inaccuracies.
After all, Michael Moore has the distinction of being the first American in history to profit from making a movie that demonizes the commander in chief while the commander in chief is in office.
CARVILLE: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Oh, really?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Talk about gross and inaccurate.
CARVILLE: They never demonized Clinton while he was in office? Oh, my God.
WATKINS: Nobody ever made a movie about it and profited from it.
CARVILLE: I will tell you what. Michael Moore is not losing money for his shareholders. I will guarantee you that. Michael Moore is not running himself and his shareholders into debt.
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Michael Moore isn't getting arrested for committing unnatural acts with a prostitute. I will promise you that.
(BELL RINGING)
WATKINS: Well, Michael Moore is clearly, clearly, clearly on the side of the liberals. And his movie was a gross distortion of this president's record, grossly inaccurate.
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Well, you know what? He might be on the side of liberals, but he's a hell of a lot better than this Smith clown or whoever they got running this company into a ditch.
WATKINS: As President Bush and John Kerry -- as President Bush and John Kerry make their final pitches, what can each man do to seal the deal? And what impact, if any, will former President Clinton have on the closing days of the campaign?
And if you think the campaign has been frightening, you won't want to miss the October surprise we have in store for you later on CROSSFIRE.
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Join Carville, Begala, Carlson and Novak in the CROSSFIRE. For free tickets to CROSSFIRE at the George Washington University, call 202-994-8CNN or visit our Web site. Now you can step into the CROSSFIRE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE.
Both presidential candidates hit the high points today, John Kerry talking about homeland security and the war on terror, George Bush trying to say the economy is OK. They have only got a week to nail this thing down. What do they need to do?
Today in the CROSSFIRE, Republican brilliant strategist Charlie Brook -- Charlie Black.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: I'm sorry, Charlie. I misread it.
And senior Kerry adviser, the brilliant and charming Tad Devine.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Hello, Tad. You are up first.
TAD DEVINE, SENIOR JOHN KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Joe, good to be with you.
WATKINS: You know, Karl Rove said yesterday they had to roll Bill Clinton out of the hospital...
DEVINE: Off his gurney, I think he said, right. Yes.
WATKINS: Right, yes, to campaign for Senator Kerry. And what does that say? They had to take this poor man out of the hospital to energize the Kerry campaign.
I mean, Kerry has been known to be wooden. He's the guy that says, bring it on. But he's having trouble energizing his base. Why is this?
DEVINE: No, he's not having trouble at all.
We welcome President Clinton. And I'll tell you why. When he was president, this country created 23 million jobs.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: Incomes were rising. Health care was expanding. And look at the difference in what's happened in America in the last four years. Everything that was right was going up and now everything that is wrong is going up. That's the difference.
WATKINS: Well, what John Kerry wants to bring up are taxes, obviously. That's how hopes to change -- he wants to raise taxes, right?
(APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: What he's going to do, Joe, is roll back the taxes on the wealthiest Americans, people making more than $200,000 a year, where they were when Bill Clinton was president.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: How is he going pay for his $1.25 trillion health care plan without taxing everybody?
DEVINE: I'll tell you. He's going to pay for it by rolling back the taxes on people who make more than $200,000 a year. CHARLIE BLACK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Small businesses.
DEVINE: To where they were when Bill Clinton was president. You know what we're going to get? An economy like we had in the '90s, an economy that worked.
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: That's what we're going to get.
CARVILLE: Charlie, of course, there is no economic argument to make, because this president hasn't created a single job.
Let's go to the war in Iraq, where they're just asking for another $70 million for this fiasco. And I said that Paul Wolfowitz was the biggest idiot to serve in the U.S. government in my lifetime. And now let's go back and see what he said: "On a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $5 and $100 billion -- $100 billion -- over the course of the next two or three years. We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction relatively soon."
Now, I don't understand. Why are we asking for another $70 billion to add to the money we already have to bring it to $225 billion when this idiot was telling us that we could get it out of oil revenues? Why doesn't the president fire this goofball?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLACK: What he said was, the reconstruction could be financed largely with oil revenues.
You know what? The majority of the reconstruction so far has been financed by Iraqi oil revenues.
CARVILLE: How much oil revenues have they given us? Why are we paying $225 billion?
BLACK: Less than $10 billion of that has gone for reconstruction so far. This is for security to finish the job.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Why are we paying $225 billion if they have got $100 billion in oil revenues?
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: James, John Kerry can't decide to save his life whether he wants to finish the job in Iraq and Afghanistan.
CARVILLE: Paul Wolfowitz is going to get it done.
BLACK: If Kerry wants to finish the job in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is going to cost another $70 billion. If he is critical of that, what does he want to do, pull out? You can't tell where he is from one day to the next. The American people want the strength and determination that you saw in that poll. Bush has a 20-point lead on leadership.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: I want to know why don't we get the 100 -- why don't we get $100 billion from the oil revenues that this administration told us that we were going to get when we went to war?
BLACK: You will get that to cover the reconstruction costs.
CARVILLE: When is it coming? When is the check coming? We do we get the check?
BLACK: We're talking about security costs, military and police costs.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Question for you.
DEVINE: Yes.
WATKINS: John Kerry and John Edwards have been out on the campaign trail for months now. And the whole time, they have been belittling this president. They have been belittling, really undermining what they're trying to do in the war in Iraq. They have been belittling our soldiers. They have been belittling the current leader of Iraq.
How could John Kerry ever hope, if he ever got his wish to become commander in chief, to lead the very soldiers that he has shown so little confidence in, the same soldiers that he's really been telling we should retreat and defeat?
DEVINE: He'll lead them the way they should be led, by restoring respect for America in the world.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: You know, this president has turned his back -- this president -- this president has turned his back on our allies.
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: And you know what we need? We need allies who can share the burden and take the burden and take the target off the back of our troops in Iraq.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: So the way to do that is with a global test, right? We've got to pass the global test first?
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: Let me tell you. John Kerry has made it clear.
WATKINS: Go to France? Go to France first and say...
DEVINE: John Kerry has made it clear. He'll defend this nation as president the way he defended it as a young man.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: And I'll tell you. He will hunt down and kill the terrorists. That's his pledge to the American people.
BLACK: France and Germany already said, count them out. I don't know..
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: And they've got wolves in their ads. We should be afraid of Wolfowitz, not the wolves, OK? Let me tell you, that's the problem.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Let me show you what a senior, very senior administration official said today. Vice President Cheney was on the campaign trail. And I think that he -- this is a great civics lesson that we got and we can latch onto this. Can we show this, please?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it has been a remarkable success story to date when you look at what's been accomplished overall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARVILLE: Now, the vice president says that today, what we're doing is a remarkable success story.
So let me get this straight here is that he believes that everything is going -- is a remarkable success. It is going great. So, if you think it's going great, you should vote for this administration. If you think that it ain't going too good, maybe we need to make a change and you should vote for John Kerry. Didn't he do a great service for the American people by framing this issue for us?
BLACK: Well, he can't frame it. He doesn't know which end of the frame he's on about it.
(CROSSTALK) CARVILLE: No, we're talking about the vice president.
BLACK: What the vice president is talking about...
CARVILLE: Well, we just heard what he said.
BLACK: You said John Kerry.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: No, I said the vice president did a remarkable thing.
BLACK: We successfully deposed Saddam Hussein. We freed 25 million people.
CARVILLE: Right. Right.
BLACK: Even though your guy said it couldn't be done, we gave sovereignty to Iraq at the end of June.
CARVILLE: Right. Right. Right.
BLACK: They're going to have elections in January.
CARVILLE: And there's no violence over there.
BLACK: The head of the U.N. election effort over there said yesterday it is going happen. They will have elections.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Where is that 380 tons of explosives?
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Well, it wasn't there, according to NBC.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Which is another point.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: The story today, the reporter said they never looked for it.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Kerry needs to apologize for jumping on that, because the NBC guy was there and he said it wasn't there.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: You're wrong.
(CROSSTALK) CARVILLE: The AP story today said that...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: got there. They never looked for it. You have got to get current, man, when you come over here.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: That talking point is wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: That's not what the guy said in person on the air.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: You all have got to come up with something better than that.
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: Maybe Wolfowitz said...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Maybe Wolfowitz knows. Yes, maybe Wolfowitz knows. It's where the $100 billion is. That's where it is.
DEVINE: Yes, they're with the flowers that were going to welcome our troops when we entered Iraq, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: For weeks now, Kerry and Edwards have been saying that the president is a liar and untruthful in his remarks.
DEVINE: I've never hear either one of those say that word.
WATKINS: They have claimed again and again that the president has not been truthful with the American people.
DEVINE: Well, that's for sure.
WATKINS: Now, yet and still, the polls show that the American people by huge margins trust George Bush. They think George Bush is a truthful and honest leader, much more so than they think that John Kerry is.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: So don't you think that Kerry would be better served spending the final days of the campaign not tearing down the president, but just talk about what he hopes to do, like tax and spend? DEVINE: He has been talking about what he hopes to do. He hopes to turn around the record of this administration. They took the greatest surplus in history and turned it into record deficits.
They took it -- he's the first president since Herbert Hoover not to create jobs, record job loss, record health care loss.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: He's created over one million jobs in the last...
DEVINE: Let me tell you, so many records -- so many records in this administration. He doesn't belong in the Oval Office. He belongs in "The Guinness Book of World Records," OK? That's where he belongs.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: This president is a champion for small business and his tax cuts have put people back to work.
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: Who went back to work? We lost 1.6 million private sector jobs. Who is working?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: We also got hit by the terrorists on September 11.
BLACK: Right.
WATKINS: We lost millions with that.
DEVINE: Do you agree with the secretary of treasury that job loss is a myth in the Bush administration?
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: Job loss is a myth? That's what he said in Ohio. A myth?
BLACK: We've got more economic growth right now than when Bill Clinton ran for reelection. You have lower interest rates, lower inflation.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: We're on a growth spurt. We have been gaining jobs every month.
CARVILLE: Really? We have?
(CROSSTALK)
(APPLAUSE) BLACK: Since we came out of the Clinton recession which Bush inherited.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: We lost jobs over the last three months. We're not creating jobs to the extent to keep up with it.
What do you think we're going to find first, Charlie, the $100 billion in oil revenues or the 370 tons of explosives that they let go? If we were looking, which one...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: ... come up with?
BLACK: Yes, I think we'll find it right after John Kerry apologizes for making up a story about meeting with the U.N. Security Council that he told in the second debate.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLACK: A meeting that did not happen. I'm waiting for the apology.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: I'm asking you, what do you think? Guess, the $100 in oil revenue or the 370 tons of explosives that we let go?
DEVINE: Ask Wolfowitz. That's the only thing we can do.
CARVILLE: I can tell you what. They're toast.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Next in "Rapid Fire," John Kerry is having a hard time energizing one group. You won't believe who they are.
And should the Geneva Convention not apply to some prisoners of war? Wolf Blitzer has the latest on what the Justice Department is saying after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in New York.
Coming up at the top of the hour, will there be a January surprise? Reports the Bush administration may seek more money and more troops for Iraq. Some of the non-Iraqi insurgents captured in Iraq are being detained outside Iraq -- why the U.S. Justice Department is defending the move. He was Kobe Bryant's coach last year. Phil Jackson will join us to talk about that.
All those stories, much more, only minutes away on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Now back to CROSSFIRE.
CARVILLE: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE. It's "Rapid Fire" time, where we give questions and answers faster than the Bush administration can hand out tax breaks to their rich friends.
Joining me and Joe are Charlie Black, Republican strategist, and Tad Devine, senior adviser to the Kerry campaign.
Can you believe I pronounced Black right? That's a very difficult word.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: But you got brilliant right the first time.
CARVILLE: I got brilliant right.
(LAUGHTER)
WATKINS: Tad.
DEVINE: Yes, sir.
WATKINS: Kerry once said that he wanted to be the country's second black president. Now, this is coming from a guy -- can you imagine that? -- this is coming from a guy who took months to hire anybody black in his presidential campaign. How does he get that done?
DEVINE: He does it by standing up for African-Americans, which he'll do as president. African-Americans have suffered because of the policies of this president. And John Kerry will fight for them every single day. That's how he does it.
(APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: A million new African-American homeowners, that's suffering?
DEVINE: Yes.
WATKINS: Are you kidding?
DEVINE: Yes, 500,000 lost jobs, health care costs skyrocketing. You better believe it's suffering. It's suffering on a profound scale. And a president who wants to undo affirmative action, remember that?
(CROSSTALK)
DEVINE: The University of Michigan case, undo affirmative action? That's George Bush's record, OK?
CARVILLE: Hey, Charlie, let me ask, what is a more devastating case against the president, the fact that he hasn't created a single job or the fact that health care costs have gone up 40 percent? Which one do you think is going to hurt him the most on Election Day?
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLACK: Well, the -- the health care costs have gone up largely because of the trial lawyers, which you guys have one on the ticket and you refuse to do anything about medical malpractice costs.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: We're gaining jobs at about 150,000 a month. We're recovering from the Clinton recession which Bush inherited, which was aggravated by 9/11.
(APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: I see. OK. It's going good.
WATKINS: Tad, isn't it a sad commentary when a man recovering from heart surgery is more dynamic on the stump than the candidate?
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
DEVINE: No, it is not.
You know, listen, no one is going to compete with Bill Clinton in terms of charisma. He's an unbelievable candidate. But I will tell you this. John Kerry is prepared to lead this country in a new direction, give it a fresh start. And Bill Clinton understands, that's what we need.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: What do you think it is going hurt President Bush more, the fact that they haven't found any weapons in Iraq or the fact that Iraq is getting more violent by the day and we've been there forever and the thing is going to hell in a handbasket?
(APPLAUSE)
BLACK: Well, the point is, you know every day where President Bush stands on Iraq.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: You don't know what -- one day, Kerry wants to get out and the next day, he wants to finish the job. Kerry wouldn't finish the job in Iraq.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: He couldn't get out of it if he wanted to.
BLACK: We're killing terrorists over there.
WATKINS: Eighty-thousand people showed up in Philadelphia to see Bill Clinton and Senator Kerry.
DEVINE: You love Bill Clinton, don't you?
WATKINS: I do, indeed.
How many of those people do you think actually showed up to see John Kerry?
DEVINE: Eighty-thousand.
(LAUGHTER)
(BELL RINGING)
WATKINS: Hey, we want to thank Charlie and Tad for coming out today and for being on CROSSFIRE. Give them a round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
WATKINS: Good.
Politics and Halloween can be a scary mix, especially when the candidates keep showing up at your door. Could these masks predict a surprise for any of the candidates?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATKINS: We were going to tell you about how Halloween masks can help predict who is going to win next week. But, instead, we thought it would be a better idea to invite a couple special guests to join us to celebrate James' birthday.
Come on out.
CARVILLE: Oh.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: How are you? All right.
WATKINS (singing): Happy birthday to you.
WATKINS AND AUDIENCE (singing): Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, dear James.
AUDIENCE (singing): Happy birthday to you.
CARVILLE: All right.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARVILLE: Thank you. Thank you so much.
My 60th birthday was yesterday. Thank everybody at CROSSFIRE, the whole thing.
President Bush, Senator Kerry, thank you for dropping by.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: From the left, I'm James Carville. That's it for CROSSFIRE.
WATKINS: And from the right, I'm Joe Watkins. Join the CROSSFIRE crew again tomorrow for another edition of CROSSFIRE.
"WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" starts right now.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
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