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CNN Live Saturday
Lott Apologizes for Supporting Thurmond's Segregationist Presidential Run
Aired December 14, 2002 - 18:09 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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tricia Lott, wife of the embattled Mississippi senator, says she stands by her husband.
Trent Lott apologized for supporting Strom Thurmond's segregationist run for the White House back in 1948.
Gary Tuchman talked to Mrs. Lott today and Gary, how did you find her? What is she saying about her husband?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, one day after he apologized at a news conference repeatedly but said he would not resign, Trent Lott is staying out of the public eye. Behind us, about a quarter mile down the beach here, along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, here in the city of Pascagoula, Miss.
But as you mentioned, his wife did talk to us today. We actually talked to her outside the door of their home, not on camera. But she said to us emotionally that, quote, "The things some people are saying about Trent are wrong," and she added, regarding the holidays coming up that "we're not planning on watching TV or reading newspapers. We're going to enjoy our grandchildren."
And she then told us that Trent Lott is not talking today because he said everything he needed to say yesterday during his news conference. It was the most unusual news conference, not the kind you see in Washington. Because here in Pascagoula, the man organizing it talking to reporters, accompanying Trent in and out, was a man wearing a tall chef's hat. He also happened to be the owner of the hotel where the new conference was held.
But this man, John Chapman, actually made dessert, southern delicacies like pecan cheesecake, for the reporters who were there covering the news conference. He also told us, as the Senate Majority Leader walked in, perhaps jokingly, perhaps seriously, "Everybody be sweet." That's not a word we hear, sweet, very much.
Either way, reporters still had a lot of questions to ask when Trent Lott ended the news conference after about 30 minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MAJORITY LEADER: I apologize for opening up old wounds and hurting many Americans who feel so deeply in this area. I take full responsibility for my remarks. I can't say it was prepared remarks; as a matter of fact, I was winging. I was too much into the moment.
But I really hope that people will find it in their heart to forgive me for that grievous mistake on that occasion. Not only about seeing (ph) the destruction by the use of moral policy of the past, I tried to and will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that we never go back to that type of society again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Lott is still receiving criticism from many Democrats and some Republicans, but so far what's good for him is he hasn't received any criticism from Senate Republicans saying that he should not pursue the leadership post. He's getting criticism, but no one is saying publicly that he should remove himself from consideration to continue being the Senate Majority Leader.
Carol, back to you.
LIN: Gary, did Mrs. Lott offer her opinion about what she thinks her husband needs to do in order to get his message, their message, out to the public?
TUCHMAN: Carol, she didn't want to talk about his strategy. She really didn't want to talk at all, but she did want to defend her husband. She says her husband's a good man and that he's just very misunderstood, that the comments were innocuous. That perhaps they were a mistake, like he said they were, but he meant absolutely nothing bad by then.
LIN: Well, she's been a political wife for quite some time. How did you find her? I mean, what is she like?
TUCHMAN: Very nice woman, very kind. It was very apparent to us when we went to the door and she started talking. Within a few seconds after she started talking to us, tears started welling up in her eyes.
LIN: Thank you very much, Gary Tuchman reporting live for us on this controversial story.
Well, that is what Trent Lott's wife had to say about his situation, but a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement calls Trent Lott a cheerleader for white supremacy. James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi back in 1962, and he says Lott's remarks will answer a question about race in America he asked the senator several years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MEREDITH, CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER: The last time I saw Senator Lott, three years ago, when he was the leader in the Senate and I visited him in his office, and I asked him point blank if he still believed in white supremacy. He didn't answer until now. Three years later, he made it absolutely clear he still does.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LIN: Republicans are worried about being painted with the same racially charged brush. Lott's apologies have been accepted by some on Capitol Hill, but critics think he has not done enough.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has more on the strategies to save a career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTT: But my choice of words were totally unacceptable and insensitive, and I apologize for that.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Debate began almost immediately over whether it was enough. A spokesman confirms that Lott's office itself arranged a conference call of some two dozen senators after the public apology to get feedback. A spokesman said Lott was unable to participate.
Sources on the call said some talked of rallying behind the senator. Publicly, thought, fewer than 10 of his colleagues have come out supporting Trent Lott, but others on the call, including two potential successors to Lott, Tennessee Senator Bill Frist and Oklahoma Senator Don Nichols, worried about the long-term negative impact of the controversy on the Republican Party.
Political experts say the concerns are real.
AMY WALTER, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Does the senator become a lightning rod of controversy, does he become something like, for example, Newt Gingrich became for Republicans in the house? Is this what happens in the Senate?
KOCH: Many Democrats, meanwhile, like Senator John Kerry, continue to insist Lott should step aside as Majority Leader. The Congressional Black Caucus still wants Lott to be formally censured. It's a step senior Democratic senators are seriously considering.
Other leaders in the African-American community are equally unmoved by the apology.
KWEISI MFUME, NAACP PRESIDENT: So it concerns us deeply that Trent Lott really has not learned the lessons that he proclaims on this day that he.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: Senator Lott continues to insist that he will not resign either the Senate or his leadership post. And sources tell CNN that if a move to censure goes forward, that Republican senators are seriously considering censuring Democratic Senator Robert Byrd for recent comments that he made that some considered racially insensitive -- Fredricka.
LIN: Kathleen, it's Carol Lin at the CNN Center. It certainly seems like Senator Lott is doing all he can to try to counter-balance what was said the other day. He's actually going to be making a long appearance on Black Entertainment Television. Do you know when that's going to happen?
KOCH: CNN has learned that that appearance will take place tomorrow night -- excuse me, Monday night. We're not certain exactly what time Monday night, but we are told that the senator will go even further than he did in his press conference in expressing his strong commitment and strong beliefs for racial equality, against desegregation (sic).
And that it will be the first of many appearances like that that he will be making in an effort to convince people that he is not the racist that some believe that his comments portray him as.
LIN: So is he just making a speech, or is it actually a sit-down interview where he's going to have to take questions?
KOCH: It's our understanding that it will be a sit-down interview, that there will be a sort of a dialogue. Now we don't know if they -- if anyone at Black Entertainment Television will have an audience there who will also participate in bringing their questions, which I think would be quite interesting.
But the format itself remains a little unclear right now.
LIN: All right. And is the senator open to any format that BET decides upon?
KOCH: We don't know. That will certainly, I suppose, be up to the senator or to his staff.
LIN: All right. We'll find out what happens on Monday. Thank you very much, Kathleen Koch, live on Capitol Hill. We'll see you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Presidential Run>
Aired December 14, 2002 - 18:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tricia Lott, wife of the embattled Mississippi senator, says she stands by her husband.
Trent Lott apologized for supporting Strom Thurmond's segregationist run for the White House back in 1948.
Gary Tuchman talked to Mrs. Lott today and Gary, how did you find her? What is she saying about her husband?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, one day after he apologized at a news conference repeatedly but said he would not resign, Trent Lott is staying out of the public eye. Behind us, about a quarter mile down the beach here, along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, here in the city of Pascagoula, Miss.
But as you mentioned, his wife did talk to us today. We actually talked to her outside the door of their home, not on camera. But she said to us emotionally that, quote, "The things some people are saying about Trent are wrong," and she added, regarding the holidays coming up that "we're not planning on watching TV or reading newspapers. We're going to enjoy our grandchildren."
And she then told us that Trent Lott is not talking today because he said everything he needed to say yesterday during his news conference. It was the most unusual news conference, not the kind you see in Washington. Because here in Pascagoula, the man organizing it talking to reporters, accompanying Trent in and out, was a man wearing a tall chef's hat. He also happened to be the owner of the hotel where the new conference was held.
But this man, John Chapman, actually made dessert, southern delicacies like pecan cheesecake, for the reporters who were there covering the news conference. He also told us, as the Senate Majority Leader walked in, perhaps jokingly, perhaps seriously, "Everybody be sweet." That's not a word we hear, sweet, very much.
Either way, reporters still had a lot of questions to ask when Trent Lott ended the news conference after about 30 minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MAJORITY LEADER: I apologize for opening up old wounds and hurting many Americans who feel so deeply in this area. I take full responsibility for my remarks. I can't say it was prepared remarks; as a matter of fact, I was winging. I was too much into the moment.
But I really hope that people will find it in their heart to forgive me for that grievous mistake on that occasion. Not only about seeing (ph) the destruction by the use of moral policy of the past, I tried to and will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that we never go back to that type of society again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Lott is still receiving criticism from many Democrats and some Republicans, but so far what's good for him is he hasn't received any criticism from Senate Republicans saying that he should not pursue the leadership post. He's getting criticism, but no one is saying publicly that he should remove himself from consideration to continue being the Senate Majority Leader.
Carol, back to you.
LIN: Gary, did Mrs. Lott offer her opinion about what she thinks her husband needs to do in order to get his message, their message, out to the public?
TUCHMAN: Carol, she didn't want to talk about his strategy. She really didn't want to talk at all, but she did want to defend her husband. She says her husband's a good man and that he's just very misunderstood, that the comments were innocuous. That perhaps they were a mistake, like he said they were, but he meant absolutely nothing bad by then.
LIN: Well, she's been a political wife for quite some time. How did you find her? I mean, what is she like?
TUCHMAN: Very nice woman, very kind. It was very apparent to us when we went to the door and she started talking. Within a few seconds after she started talking to us, tears started welling up in her eyes.
LIN: Thank you very much, Gary Tuchman reporting live for us on this controversial story.
Well, that is what Trent Lott's wife had to say about his situation, but a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement calls Trent Lott a cheerleader for white supremacy. James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi back in 1962, and he says Lott's remarks will answer a question about race in America he asked the senator several years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MEREDITH, CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER: The last time I saw Senator Lott, three years ago, when he was the leader in the Senate and I visited him in his office, and I asked him point blank if he still believed in white supremacy. He didn't answer until now. Three years later, he made it absolutely clear he still does.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LIN: Republicans are worried about being painted with the same racially charged brush. Lott's apologies have been accepted by some on Capitol Hill, but critics think he has not done enough.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has more on the strategies to save a career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTT: But my choice of words were totally unacceptable and insensitive, and I apologize for that.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Debate began almost immediately over whether it was enough. A spokesman confirms that Lott's office itself arranged a conference call of some two dozen senators after the public apology to get feedback. A spokesman said Lott was unable to participate.
Sources on the call said some talked of rallying behind the senator. Publicly, thought, fewer than 10 of his colleagues have come out supporting Trent Lott, but others on the call, including two potential successors to Lott, Tennessee Senator Bill Frist and Oklahoma Senator Don Nichols, worried about the long-term negative impact of the controversy on the Republican Party.
Political experts say the concerns are real.
AMY WALTER, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Does the senator become a lightning rod of controversy, does he become something like, for example, Newt Gingrich became for Republicans in the house? Is this what happens in the Senate?
KOCH: Many Democrats, meanwhile, like Senator John Kerry, continue to insist Lott should step aside as Majority Leader. The Congressional Black Caucus still wants Lott to be formally censured. It's a step senior Democratic senators are seriously considering.
Other leaders in the African-American community are equally unmoved by the apology.
KWEISI MFUME, NAACP PRESIDENT: So it concerns us deeply that Trent Lott really has not learned the lessons that he proclaims on this day that he.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: Senator Lott continues to insist that he will not resign either the Senate or his leadership post. And sources tell CNN that if a move to censure goes forward, that Republican senators are seriously considering censuring Democratic Senator Robert Byrd for recent comments that he made that some considered racially insensitive -- Fredricka.
LIN: Kathleen, it's Carol Lin at the CNN Center. It certainly seems like Senator Lott is doing all he can to try to counter-balance what was said the other day. He's actually going to be making a long appearance on Black Entertainment Television. Do you know when that's going to happen?
KOCH: CNN has learned that that appearance will take place tomorrow night -- excuse me, Monday night. We're not certain exactly what time Monday night, but we are told that the senator will go even further than he did in his press conference in expressing his strong commitment and strong beliefs for racial equality, against desegregation (sic).
And that it will be the first of many appearances like that that he will be making in an effort to convince people that he is not the racist that some believe that his comments portray him as.
LIN: So is he just making a speech, or is it actually a sit-down interview where he's going to have to take questions?
KOCH: It's our understanding that it will be a sit-down interview, that there will be a sort of a dialogue. Now we don't know if they -- if anyone at Black Entertainment Television will have an audience there who will also participate in bringing their questions, which I think would be quite interesting.
But the format itself remains a little unclear right now.
LIN: All right. And is the senator open to any format that BET decides upon?
KOCH: We don't know. That will certainly, I suppose, be up to the senator or to his staff.
LIN: All right. We'll find out what happens on Monday. Thank you very much, Kathleen Koch, live on Capitol Hill. We'll see you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Presidential Run>
