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Inside Politics
Aristide Leaves Haiti; Edwards, Kerry Head for Super Tuesday Showdown
Aired February 29, 2004 - 10:00 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.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: INSIDE POLITICS today: one more debate, two more days, then the Super Tuesday showdown. The latest on the candidates' Tuesday's delegate grab, who stays and who could go.
The campaigner in chief is ready to run hard. Details on President Bush and his multi-million-dollar ad campaign.
And live from the red carpet in Hollywood, the Academy Award winners, politically speaking, of course.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, this is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
MESERVE: Hello. I'm Jeanne Meserve, in Washington. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Politics doesn't take weekends off, and neither do we. And a special welcome today, as well, to our international viewers.
The latest from the campaign trail just ahead. But first, a government of people in Haiti.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's own attorney confirms that the President has left the embattled country. President Bush remains in the Maryland mountains at Camp David, but there has been plenty of activity by members of his administration right here in Washington.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has word from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Suzanne, what's the latest?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeanne, this is a deal, we are told by senior administration officials, that was brokered overnight and involves Secretary Powell. We are told that Aristide, of course, was cooperative, and that this is a positive development, the Bush administration believes. But they are still concerned about the situation on the ground.
They are nervous about that. And that is one of the reasons why that there are discussions that are happening now in Washington involving the Pentagon, involving the White House and the State Department. The possibility of sending some type of military presence to Haiti, possibly as early as later today as a stabilization force.
Now, what we are told is that no decisions have been made, but essentially this would be several hundred Marines that would be sent by air, they would get there very quickly. They would be able too -- essentially their mission would be two-fold, support the repatriation of Haitians, and also, we are told, provide support for an international peacekeeping force.
It is unclear whether or not this means there would actually be U.S. boots on the ground. It could be logistical support, training, that type of thing, providing equipment. But these are active discussions that are going on right now, and it could happen as early as later today -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: Suzanne, thank you.
And turning now to the situation on the ground in Haiti, CNN's Lucia Newman is in Port-au-Prince.
Lucia, fill us in.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hello, Jeanne.
Well, the prime minister, Neptune, did read a statement from President Aristide saying he was leaving he country to "avoid bloodshed and to respect the constitution." At any moment, we expect that the President of the supreme court will be sworn in. That is, according to the constitution, what happens when the President is unable to fulfill his duties.
In the meantime, the U.S. ambassador here did say just a short while ago that he suspects a very rapid arrival of a multinational force to help restore order here to improve the situation in this country. President Aristide felt that his resignation was a patriotic gesture.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) the possibility for change, but at the moment it is a very unstable situation here. We're hearing a lot of gunfire. People out on the streets, barricades, cars on fire. Ambulances are being heard all over the city. So it is expected that it will be necessary for this multinational force to get here as soon as possible -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: Lucia Newman, in Port-au-Prince, thank you. And thank you to our international viewers for joining us now.
On to politics and the countdown to the biggest day of all on the presidential nominating calendar. Super Tuesday is less than 48 hours away. And here's what is at stake: 1,151 delegates, 10 states are part of the mix, including some political heavy weights like California, New York and Ohio, plus Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, which holds the only caucus, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.
And now the delegate count. John Kerry leads the pack with 754. John Edwards has 220. Howard Dean has 175 delegates. Al Sharpton 16, and Dennis Kucinich nine. It takes 2,162 delegates to win the nomination.
About an hour from now, the Democrats meet face to face again in another debate the 17th. This one in New York. It is sponsored by CBS and The New York Times.
Senator John Kerry goes into the forum with two key endorsements. He picked up the support of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and his son, former Housing and Urban Development secretary, Andrew Cuomo, yesterday. Kerry continues to focus on President Bush. Before arriving in New York, he campaigned in Indianapolis, and he had this to say about the president's plan to make his tax cuts permanent in the face of a projected $750 billion deficit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's an irresponsible fiscal policy. And it's one more reason why we need a change in Washington so we restore a fiscal sanity to the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Kerry's closest rival, Senator John Edwards, is still hoping to pull some surprises Tuesday. And so to New York now, where CNN's Kelly Wallace is hot on the campaign trail with the North Carolina Democrat -- Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Edwards' strategy, stick to the same game plan. Try to draw contrasts with John Kerry, like did he Thursday night on issues such as trade and they're backgrounds.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I need to be strong and show the country that I am ready to be President, and that there are real differences between John Kerry and John Edwards.
WALLACE: But during Thursday's 90-minute debate on CNN, Edwards seemed less forceful than he did during the previous one in Wisconsin, passing up several chances to take on his Democratic rival. Not so, says the Senator himself.
EDWARDS: I think I was at least as forceful or more so. No, I think the distinctions were made very clearly.
WALLACE: The Senator from North Carolina is running out of time, though, to catch up to the Senator from Massachusetts. But that said, Edwards told reporters this week's Super Tuesday won't be his last stop in the race for the nomination regardless of how he does.
EDWARDS: Oh, I'm in this race for the long haul, absolutely. Yes. What I need to do is continue to win delegates.
WALLACE: Edwards will spend as much time as possible in Ohio, Georgia, and New York, states hard hit by job losses, hoping to pull off an upset somewhere. And he's reaching out to organizers for Howard Dean, holding a conference call Saturday with supporters in 12 states. On Friday, Dean's Minnesota organization recommended its activist back Edwards. EDWARDS: The people who have built that organization weren't just building a political organization, they have been engaged in community building. It's a powerful presence here. I think it will make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: As for the former Vermont governor himself, Senator Edwards says he continues to talk to Howard Dean regularly. But privately, though, a senior Edwards advisers saying it is very unlikely that Howard Dean will endorse John Edwards or any other candidate during the primary season -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: So Kelly, they are about to debate again. Are aides saying Edwards has to do something differently this time around?
WALLACE: I just talked to a senior adviser who says, number one, look for a little more of the forcefulness that we saw from John Edwards in Wisconsin, a little more we saw there than we did in Los Angeles. Also, we are told to look for John Edwards to really draw out the differences he says there are in the approach these two men, John Kerry and John Edwards, will take to basic problems, saying he approaches a problem from an everyday American, from a Washington outsider. John Kerry, he will say, more of a Washington insider.
Also something else. When it comes to the experience, John Edwards, is he ready to be President? Look for him to make the case that John Kerry has a wonderful resume, but that it comes down to vision. What are you going to lead, what are you going to do to take this country into the future? So those are some of the three big things we should look for in this morning's debate -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: OK. Good. Kelly, thanks so much.
Hear all about it. It is time for the headlines in the Sunday edition of our "Campaign News Daily."
John Edwards claims he has the right stuff to bring Independents and dissatisfied Republicans into the Democratic column. But Al Sharpton says that is a flawed strategy. Sharpton says the last thing Democrats need to be doing in this election is trying to act like Republicans.
Independent candidate Ralph Nader has concluded his first week of campaigning now that he's in the race. And he celebrated a birthday. Turning 70, he got a cake in the shape of a Ford Pinto, a target of Nader's consumer group. On HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Nader took shots at both the Democrats and Republicans of what he calls their corporate bosses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you go into the White House, it's a corporate prison. They are not in charge. They can't deliver unless the people of this country organize and break the grid of corporate rule in Washington. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Dennis Kucinich says John Kerry is trying to out "Rambo" President Bush. Kucinich said Kerry's commitment to add 40,000 regular Army troops implies the U.S. will be in Iraq that much longer. Kucinich says his position is to bring the troops home now.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has left Haiti. Are peacekeepers on the way there to the struggle for power? We're following developments.
Plus, he may be at Camp David now, but President Bush steps up his reelection bid for the New round of ads. I'll talk strategy with campaign spokesman Terry Holt next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: Let's update you now on the developing news from Haiti. Under intense international pressure, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has left his country. Just yesterday, the White House issued a strongly-worded statement, blaming the president for violence in his embattled homeland. There are reports Mr. Aristide left Port-au- Prince in a small jet at about 6:45 local time this morning. Officials say 50 people have die in the violence so far.
President Bush remains at Camp David, and has said nothing official yet. But administration officials are talking.
The latest from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Well, senior administration officials tell us this was a deal that was brokered overnight. Secretary Powell intimately involved in those discussions and negotiations. We are told that Aristide was cooperative, that he realized the best thing for him to do is to go.
This, as you know, is a culmination of really a heavy international pressure. Pressure also from the White House for him to step down. It was just yesterday that the White House publicly abandoning support for Aristide by releasing this statement saying that they did not believe that he was fit to actually govern the Haitian people, that they thought, for the most part, that the crisis was really Aristide's own making. And then, of course, just within the last 12 to 24 hours, this deal that was brokered.
One of the reasons why White House officials are not giving us details is because they want to wait for Aristide to arrive at his final destination before they go ahead and let us know how this all unfolded. But one of the things that they say is that they are still concerned about the situation on the ground inside Haiti, just how dangerous that situation is. And, Jeanne, that is one of the reasons why right now there are discussions taking place here in Washington involving the Pentagon, the White House, and the State Department about a possible plan to send about several hundred Marines by air to Haiti as early as possibly later today. Now, we are told there are no decisions that have been made. This is something that has to come by invitation from the Haitian government. They say this is not an invasion force. And essentially, what the mission would be would be to help the repatriation of Haitians, as well as supporting an international peacekeeping force.
Beyond that, it is not clear whether or not this is going to mean U.S. boots on the ground. It could be logistics. It could be providing support, training, supplies, that kind of thing. But again, have to emphasize there's no decision that has been made about this, but if they do make a decision, it could happen at early as later today -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: A developing situation. Suzanne, we'll be checking back in with you throughout the day.
And now back to politics. Ten states will host contests Super Tuesday. How are senators Edwards and Kerry faring?
Kerry is ahead of Edwards in the Super Tuesday states; three to one in California. And by the same margin in New York State, where nearly two-thirds of the Empire State vote is for Kerry.
Senator Edwards trails Kerry by 10 points in Georgia, according to the latest American Research Group poll. The candidates face off Tuesday, but their advisers are going to face off right now.
In Chicago, David Axelrod, he's a senior strategist for the Edwards campaign. And in Washington, Tad Devine, a senior adviser for the Kerry campaign.
Thank you both for coming in.
David Axelrod, look at these poll numbers. You have you to ask, if Senator Edwards doesn't one somewhere inn Tuesday, is he out?
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR STRATEGIST, EDWARDS CAMPAIGN: Well, we've been looking at poll numbers throughout this primary season, Jeanne, and they have been wrong more than they've been right. In Wisconsin, we were 37 points behind in one poll, the Friday before the election, and we closed to within six points. So we learned not to pay too much attention to polls.
Senator Edwards has proven himself to be a very fast closer in these races. We think we're going to win some races on Tuesday. And we're going to be looking forward to seeing Senator Kerry in Texas, and Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi on the 9th of March.
MESERVE: Tad Devine, let me ask you, do you want to see Senator Edwards out of this race at this point? You have a president who is starting to gear up. He's going to start to run advertisements. Is it time for the Democratic nominee to be settled at this point?
TAD DEVINE, SENIOR ADVISER, KERRY CAMPAIGN: Well, I think that's a decision Senator Edwards should make. It's not really for us to tell him what to do. We're going to continue what we have been doing. John Kerry is going to reach out and complete in every single contest. He is going to accumulate delegates, he's going to get his message out, he's going to talk about issues like jobs and health care and education, and introduce himself to people all across this country. And what Senator Edwards and his campaign does, that's really their decision, and we'll respect it.
MESERVE: Mr. Axelrod, what about this debate this morning? This is really John Edwards' last chance to get out there in a big way before the voters that are going to cast ballots on Tuesday. What does he have to do today?
AXELROD: Well, I think that people are going to see two distinct approaches, and that's important for us. You know, Senator Kerry is a good man, but there are differences between them. And I'm not just talking about the fact that Senator Kerry voted for every trade treaty that came before him and Senator Edwards has voted against many of them, because they didn't include the safeguards for American workers that were necessary.
There are many other differences. But the largest difference is this: the American people want a president who fights for their jobs, fights to boost the middle class from the depth of his own experience, and not because someone hand him a poll and told him it was a good idea for the political moment.
They want someone who is going to challenge the politics of Washington, not someone who has been part of the fabric of Washington for decades. And I think those are the kinds of distinctions that are going to be apparent not just in this debate, but in the next 48 hours of campaigning. I think it's going to make a difference on Tuesday.
MESERVE: Has Senator Kerry been blurring the distinctions? There's been a lot written in the last week about how he is appropriating some of Senator Edwards' message, particularly on the job issues.
DEVINE: Well, I don't think he's necessarily blurred the distinctions. I think there are some issues where there are real distinctions, like, for example, health care, where John Kerry has outlined a very ambitious plan and John Edwards has a far less ambitious plan. And then there are phony distinctions, like trade, where John Edwards says there's a huge difference.
But, you know, the fact is these two guys have served together in the Senate. The single biggest piece of trade legislation that has come up is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for China, and they both voted the same way. So, you know, we can have real differences, and there are some. And we're happy to talk about them or phony differences. And I think trade is one of them.
MESERVE: Mr. Axelrod, do you think Senator Edwards' arguments have been neutralized somewhat by the stances that Senator Kerry has been taking? AXELROD: Well, let me say this, John Kerry is a superb politician, and Tad Devine is a great consultant. I think they've run a great campaign. And, yes, I think they've gone a long way to blur those distinctions.
And let me say, to the extent that we've pushed them to take different positions and to move to where Senator Edwards has been all his life, I think that that's positive for everybody. Positive for the Democratic Party. But there is no question that that's what they have tried to do.
John Kerry voted for every trade treaty that came before him in the United States Senate. And Tad picks one to describe them as having the same position. They don't have the same position. They haven't had the same position.
But, you know, that is what politicians do, is they try and blur those distinctions when the distinctions don't work to their advantage. And they have done -- I think they have done a good job of it. I think voters are smarter than that. But I think they have done a pretty good job of it.
MESERVE: The National Journal this week ranked Democratic senators for their liberal records. Senator Kerry was number one, Senator Edwards was number four. Tad Devine, is this going to be an effective tool that the Republicans can use against Senator Kerry or Senator Edwards?
DEVINE: Well, I think it will be a tool, but I don't think it will be effective. I mean...
MESERVE: Why not?
DEVINE: Well, because John Kerry has a record of being a moderate Democrat on a broad range of issues. He broke with the leadership of his own party in the '80s to support Gramm-Rudman- Hollings, for example. He's a real hawk when it comes to cutting the deficit.
He supported welfare reform with tough work requirements in it. He supports fiscal discipline, as opposed to the irresponsible fiscal course the nation is on today. So I think they will raise those issues, but we'll rebut them.
MESERVE: And we have to leave it there. Tad Devine, David Axelrod, thank you both for joining us today.
AXELROD: Thanks, Jeanne.
MESERVE: Now go have some brunch.
Up next, President Bush as campaigner in chief. He's on the road again this week. An update on his reelection push from the spokesman of Bush-Cheney 2004.
Plus, an Academy Award preview from the red carpet. WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm bill Schneider. Not those Academy Awards, our own Academy Awards. I'll have them for you when INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: President Bush's reelection campaign unveiled plans this week for the first big media buy of campaign 2004. Bush-Cheney will be spending more than $4 million on commercials that will air primarily on national cable networks. They start running next week.
To discuss the overall strategy, Terry Holt. He's the campaign's press secretary.
Thanks a lot for coming in on a Sunday morning.
TERRY HOLT, PRESS SECRETARY, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN: Thank you. Good to be here.
MESERVE: Tell me about these ads. What is the tone going to be? What's the substance going to be?
HOLT: Well, after thousands of spots and millions of dollars, angry, reckless rhetoric, we're going to talk about what the president has provided the nation, steady leadership in times of change. We're going to talk about what is at stake in the future, and set up the choice for the voters in election.
MESERVE: At what point do you turn your focus on the Democratic nominee?
HOLT: Well, we're not going to talk about your strategy here this morning.
MESERVE: Oh, sure you are.
HOLT: But I'll tell you what, we are going to try to talk about what is at stake in this election, the economy, and the war on terror, and who is better prepared to fight it, and who has been clearer about their record. Because, frankly, the other side has taken both sides of both issues.
MESERVE: Well, right there you seem to be raising something that could be part of the Republican strategy, flip-flopping on the part, you would say, flip-flopping on the part of Senator Kerry. You've spoken about it already.
HOLT: Well, Senator Kerry has had a certain degree of unclear messages he sent about his issues. He's talked about cutting taxes when he's raised them many, many times. He's talked about strengthening the national defense, but he's cut defense spending 38 times in his career. So there's a disconnect between the facts and the rhetoric in the Kerry record.
MESERVE: As you know, Senator Kerry has been saying quite a few things about President Bush. One of the things he's been saying is he's a divider. He talked about this gay marriage issue in particular. On gay marriage, is the president trying to change the terms of the debate to take the focus off the issues the Democrats have been speaking about?
HOLT: Well, obviously, the issue was thrust upon the national stage with the San Francisco and the Boston situations, where a few judges have made big decisions for everybody in America. I think the president is really trying to reset the stage in terms of what everybody else in America says, that marriage is between a man and a woman is very, very important.
MESERVE: Besides that cultural issue, what are some of the other issues that this campaign is going to be stressing? I presume you're not going to want to talk about what the Democrats are, jobs, for instance, something that has not worked to the president's advantage thus far in the political debate?
HOLT: Well, the president is talking about strengthening the economy and keeping the economy on track to recovery. And it's going to be a choice between who has done things to get the economy out of recession, as the president has done, versus someone who has talked about increasing taxes. And that choice is going to be very important to the voters.
MESERVE: Is it enough to talk about past accomplishments? Does the president have to look forward and talk about future goals?
HOLT: Absolutely.
MESERVE: And what are those going to be? Can you lay those out for us?
HOLT: Well, I think the president said on Monday night in his speech that we need to start talking about an ownership society, where you have more control over your health care, you have more control over your retirement, where you have more control of your own money. The government takes all of your tax dollars and wastes them isn't the right way to go. We need to give consumers their money back so that they can keep the economy growing.
MESERVE: I want to take you back one more time to that ad campaign. Those ads run on cable channels like this one, I presume.
HOLT: Absolutely.
MESERVE: But also on sports channels. I'm curious about that. I presume you are targeting there what is called the NASCAR dads. Don't the Republicans have the NASCAR dads already?
HOLT: Well, America is a sports country. And we love NASCAR. We love football. We love golf.
I think it's important to get as far around the television dial as you can to get your message out. And that's certainly what we're going to do in this campaign.
MESERVE: But certainly you will be broadening it beyond that.
HOLT: We'd love to have those NASCAR dads behind us.
MESERVE: And a lot of other people, too, I'm sure.
HOLT: Yes. Thank you.
MESERVE: Terry Holt, thanks a lot for joining us today.
And on deck, it's time for a walk on the red carpet. Not for Hollywood's "A" list, but for IP's annual political Academy Awards. The envelope, please. The winners coming up next.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: The only thing that can sink John Kerry now is an Al Gore endorsement. And then...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: The best of the late-night laughs. This is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: CNN continues to following the breaking news from the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's attorney confirms the leader has fled the country just one day after saying his departure was out of the question. Aristide's temporary replacement says he has now taken over control. CNN's Lucia Newman is in Port-au-Prince -- Lucia.
NEWMAN: Hello, Jeanne. Indeed, Boniface Alexandre, the president of Haiti's supreme court has been sworn in as the temporary president to lead a new transitional government. He has a reputation for honesty in this country, which means that he is accepted certainly by the opposition. The constitution does call, however, for the national legislature to approve his appointment, but the legislature doesn't even work at this moment, which kind of gives you an idea of just how chaotic the situation here is both legally and out on the streets.
There are a lot of fires, black smoke billowing all over the capital here. There are people celebrating, but there are also armed gangs of Aristide supporters out there on the streets. So a very tense situation still at this moment, Jeanne.
The U.S. ambassador, James Foley, did confirm that a multinational peacekeeping force would be sent very, very soon, he said, to try and restore order. We are told that some of these peacekeepers could come as early as today.
There is still, though, a lot of -- it's very fluid, the situation here. Nobody is really in control, even though the supreme court president has been sworn in as the president at this hour, Jeanne.
MESERVE: Lucia Newman, thank for the latest.
And U.S. officials tell CNN the Pentagon is considering using military force to help stabilize the situation, possibly as soon as later today, but only if U.S. troops are invited. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now on the telephone. Barbara, what can you tell us?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeanne, that is exactly the critical point. Officials telling CNN that they will only go to Haiti if there is an invitation, indeed, from whatever government is in existence there. Officials saying there's a difference between being invited in and invading. And they are not going to invade. They will only go if they are invited.
If U.S. troops do go to Haiti, they will have two missions, basically. One will be to assist in the repatriation, if you will, of Haitians. Haitians perhaps trying to escape to the United States by sea will be sent back by the Coast Guard to Haiti, and U.S. troops will be assisting in that mission. But, also, in this international peacekeeping force, in providing some sort of security and stability within the country. Not clear at this point if U.S. troops would actually be on the ground as part of that peacekeeping force or assisting with logistics, supplies, transportation, but what is on the table for discussion is, indeed, the possibility of several hundred Marines becoming very involved in this situation in the hours and days ahead -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: Stay with CNN for more on this evolving situation. Thank you, Barbara Starr.
And now, senior political analyst Bill Schneider is treading the red carpet very early this morning. Who cares about best picture when he has this week's award winning story behind the story. And Bill, I love the glasses.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you, Jeanne. I'm here in Hollywood for this glittering occasion. The California primary, the Academy Awards? No, folks, something even bigger. Everyone here is breathless with excitement as we reveal which political stars are going to win this year's coveted awards from the Academy of Political Arts and Sciences. And rest assured, at our award ceremony, there will be no mortifying acceptance speeches, no tacky musical numbers and no nitwit political statements.
Well, actually maybe a few.
So let's get started. Lights, camera, politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The Academy of Political Arts and Sciences is proud to bestow the award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role to -- the envelope, please -- the Reverend Al Sharpton. What a performer! Sharpton could be dramatic. REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you're a bigot, but I think that is insensitive and I think you ought to apologize.
SCHNEIDER: And he could be funny.
SHARPTON: Well, I think the first thing going through my head will be to make sure that Bush has all of his stuff out.
SCHNEIDER: The award for best sound effects, no contest here, goes to Howard Dean.
HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Take back the White House! Yeaaaghh!
SCHNEIDER: While we're on that picture, let's give the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role, to Dr. Judith Steinberg Dean. Notice how believable she is when discussing her husband's over the top performance.
DR. JUDITH STEINBERG DEAN: I thought it looked kind of silly but -- but I thought it was OK.
SCHNEIDER: Best costume design? Can't beat President Bush landing on the aircraft carrier in his flight suit.
Best cinematography, the capture of Saddam Hussein. They got him on camera in this memorable moment in cinematography.
And now for the big awards. Best performance by an actress. The award goes to Kathleen Blanco, who won the run-off for governor of Louisiana. After Democrats lost control of state houses in Kentucky and Mississippi, a woman saved the Democrats.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: It's our time, ladies.
SCHNEIDER: Best performance by an actor? The award goes to Arnold Schwarzenegger, for "The Running Man." What drama, like this heart stopping moment on "The Tonight Show."
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm going to run for governor of the state of California.
SCHNEIDER: What line readings.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Hasta la vista, baby.
SCHNEIDER: And what a finish.
SCHWARZENEGGER: You have given me your trust, by voting for me.
SCHNEIDER: And now for the big prize, the best picture of the year. And the award goes to "Howard's End." It was a stunning saga that went from triumph for tragedy. Big endorsements, big money, big press coverage, but all too soon. There were big mistakes.
H. DEAN: White folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals in the back ought to be voting with us.
SCHNEIDER: Bad timing.
H. DEAN: Americans are no safer today from these serious threats than they were the day before Saddam Hussein was captured.
SCHNEIDER: And overwrought ambition.
H. DEAN: We are going to Oregon, Washington, and Michigan...
SCHNEIDER: A sad ending. But what an exciting picture it was, a triumph of political drama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: They say politics is show business for ugly people, but what could be more glamorous than winning the New Hampshire primary? So eat your heart out, Hollywood. We know who the real winners are. And Jeanne, let me tell you something, you look marvelous.
MESERVE: Speaking of which, the designers all vie to dress the stars. Dare I ask, who dressed you today?
SCHNEIDER: Well, these, my outfit? Let me show you my shoes here. They were designed especially for me by Hush Puppy.
MESERVE: And they are stunning. Have to say. Bill, thanks a lot. Love the look.
SCHNEIDER: Pleasure.
MESERVE: And when we continue, Senators Kerry and Edwards may be working hard to point out the differences in their campaigns, but we're citing some comparisons between them.
And political dynasty of one Democratic family. Who can claim the closer tie to the Kennedy clan? We'll tell you just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: As the race for the Democratic nomination narrows down, the leading contenders seem to be laying claim to the party's storied past. Our Candy Crowley compare Kennedys and Kerrys, as well as Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the trail, two sons of America lay claim to the same family that once dominated Democratic politics, and an era once called Camelot.
KERRY: If the qualification is sort of where you are born, or whether you can feel things, we would have never had a great president in Franklin Roosevelt. We would have never had a great president in John Kennedy. CROWLEY: In ways both subtle and not, the two make their case on the biggest difference between them, who they are and from whence they come.
EDWARDS: I grew up the son of a mill worker.
KERRY: When I came back from Vietnam, I spent a lot of my years fighting for those people to be able to get ahead.
CROWLEY: Beyond his initials, which he's been known to point out, John Forbes Kerry of Massachusetts has a heroic tale of military exploits, much like the PT-109 stories of JFK lore. Kerry has a pedigree with JFK-like bloodlines. Their social circles overlapped enough that a teenage J.F. Kerry once sailed with J.F. Kennedy, his political hero. Both JFKs were Ivy League educated and well versed.
KERRY: This administration set up an equation. They have a theological and a ideological hatred for Aristide. They always have. And they approached this so that the insurgents were empowered by this administration.
CROWLEY: The Massachusetts senator also shares the Kennedy state but lacks the Kennedy touch. This JFK has the demeanor and speaking style of a Boston patrician, enhanced by decades in the Senate, the world's most deliberative body, which is to say that Kerry can take a while to get to the point.
KERRY: ... a long way to do it. My regret is this president chose the wrong way, rushed to war, is now spending billions of American taxpayers dollars that we didn't need to spend this way, had he built a legitimate coalition, and has put our troops at greater risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cast the same vote, Senator. Is that the way you see it?
EDWARDS: That's the longest answer I ever heard to a yes or no question.
CROWLEY: Eight years ago, national Democratic circles were buzzing over a Senate candidate, the next RFK, a Southern Bobby Kennedy. With charm, youthful good looks, and despite being a have, able to reach out and touch a cord in the have-nots.
EDWARDS: Tonight there will be some 10-year-old little girl going to bed somewhere in America hungry, worried that tomorrow is going to be colder than today because she doesn't have the clothes to keep her warm.
CROWLEY: Unlike R.F. Kennedy, J.R. Edwards comes by his populism naturally. A multimillionaire now, Edwards had a modest upbringing in a small mill town. And exactly like New York Senator Bobby Kennedy, Senator John Edwards was a freshman senator when he decided to run for president. A brash career jump, which sometimes shows.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.S. has a proposal I think on the table for Aristide to stay in office, but put a prime minister in that's acceptable to opponents. How do you view the situation?
EDWARDS: I think for the time being that's the correct approach. For the time being, that is the correct approach, that's what we should be doing.
CROWLEY: John Edwards or John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee. Either way, expect to hear mention of the name Kennedy.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Claremont, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: And we stayed up late to bring you the best of the late night laughs. That's straight ahead. Plus, what does Rosie O'Donnell's wedding have to do with the race for the White House? You know, but it's one of our hot topics this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And now a campaign flashback to March 9, 1988. The first super Tuesday. Southern states including Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee joined forces, holding contests on the same day in order to boost their role in selecting the presidential nominee. Governor Michael Dukakis led the day winning eight of the 20 state contests. Senator Al Gore won six. Reverend Jesse Jackson won five, and Congressman Richard Gephardt only carried one state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: Updating breaking news this morning. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has resigned. In a statement read on Haitian TV by the prime minister, Aristide said he was quitting to prevent bloodshed. The chief justice of the Haitian supreme court says he has replaced Aristide temporarily, as the Haitian constitution requires. The U.S. is considering sending several hundred troops to help secure the country if Haiti invites them. They would be U.S. Marines airlifted in, and they could arrive as early as today. Twenty thousand Americans live in Haiti. A senior administration official said it is likely a multinational peacekeeping force will be sent to Haiti soon.
And now back to domestic politics, to talk more about the Democratic race for the White House and some hot button issues, we have with us today Republican strategist Greg Mueller and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile. Thank you both for coming in.
GREG MUELLER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
MESERVE: So let's talk Tuesday, of course, super Tuesday looming ahead of us. Donna, from your perspective, what does John Edwards have to do on Tuesday to stay in this race?
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, unless he wins Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, possibly Minnesota, it's quitting time. John Edwards did not make up any ground during the debate. John Kerry is still the frontrunner. He must win. He cannot come in second and claim a victory. Unless he wins a couple of states, not just one state but a couple of states, there's no way he's going to be able to catch up with John Kerry's delegate total.
MESERVE: Is there going to be a lot of pressure on him to get out?
BRAZILE: I believe that John Edwards will do the right thing after super Tuesday and close this race, and begin looking vice- presidential.
MESERVE: The president has already launched an attack against the Democrats, but the Democrats have been firing back at him. How much has that sort of fouled the Republican strategy, that the Democrats haven't been going at one another and instead have been concentrating their fire right at the White House?
MUELLER: Well, there are two things that have been happening, Jeanne. One is, they had been beating on the president now for about a year, and eventually that takes a little bit of its toll, and the Bush team, as you just reported, is just coming onboard now with their ads, right at the right time.
But one thing that has emerged in this campaign is John Kerry, who we are all presuming is going to win on super Tuesday, positioned himself to the far left. He's now -- he's got liberalism kind of on parade. He has got Kennedy campaigning everywhere with him since Iowa. Cuomo is endorsing him today. I'm not quite sure that they want to run a New England, old-fashioned, Dukakis-like Democrat against George Bush on foreign policy and the economy right now.
MESERVE: How upset and worried are the Democrats about the fact that the Republicans are already starting advertising? Here we are, months ahead of the convention, and they are putting up $4.4 million in ads?
BRAZILE: Well, they have to do something with their money. They have raised more money than many third world countries. I'm sure President Aristide would have loved to have...
MESERVE: Well, it is pretty frightening if you are a Democrat, isn't it?
BRAZILE: ... $100 million. Well, no, Democrats (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind the poll and behind in money. We need enough money just to respond to the Republican negative attack. And I think that the Democratic Party will be able to respond.
We are prepared to defend our record and defend John Kerry's record. Look, John Kerry is not in the liberal extreme wing of the Democratic Party. He's in the mainstream wing of the Democratic Party. When you look at his votes that made him the, quote/unquote, most liberal senator, well, look what he did. He voted to extend unemployment benefits for those who lost their jobs under George Bush. He also voted to stop the Labor Department from removing certain workers from overtime pay. Those issues are in the mainstream. If you want to run an old school, 1988 campaign against John Kerry, you'll have to really come up with some new ideas.
MUELLER: But Donna, even you admitted, I've seen you on television, you do a great job, but he is to the far left of Al Gore. And he has got a problem. The Clinton-Gore centrist kind of campaign days seem to be over the way John Kerry is campaigning. And you have to have money to be able to compete with the president. And when you don't have a consensus candidate this early, that raises really big problems for the Democrats.
BRAZILE: You know what's interesting, Greg, is that Al Gore would have voted against this war. John Kerry voted for this war in Iraq. I don't know if that is not...
(CROSSTALK)
MUELLER: The problem, though, is John Kerry has flip-flopped so many times, we want to know will the real John Kerry please stand up. He has flip-flopped all over the place. He wouldn't give -- he wouldn't vote with the president in the war in Iraq to give $87 billion to protect our troops there. He's even flip-flopped on his own fund-raising principles, having accused certain companies of being Benedict Arnolds, but then we found out in "The Washington Post" this week just who one of his major contributors is, Benedict Arnold.
BRAZILE: Well, you want to talk about misleading the nation? Misleading the nation on war, misleading the nation on Leave No Child Behind and not funding it, misleading the nation on jobs and job creation, the tax cuts that have blown a hole in the deficit.
MUELLER: But Donna...
(CROSSTALK)
MUELLER: Donna, the numbers just came in on Friday. They were 4.1 percent. The economy is steam rolling. Unemployment continues to go down at record levels. The president has captured Saddam Hussein. He's in a very good position, Jeanne.
MESERVE: But those aren't the issues that he raised this week. The issue he raised this week was gay marriage. What's it all about? Is this an effort to divert attention from those issues that appear to be working for the Democrats at this time?
MUELLER: Well, I think there are a couple of issues going on. One of the things is, he didn't raise it, it was raised by some rogue kind of dictatorial judges that decided that they were going to just do this. Even Bill Lockyer out there, the attorney general who is a Democrat, is fighting them.
Look, this is a base plus issue for the president. There's a new poll out today, a CBS poll shows a growing support for both the president's position on gay marriage and the constitutional amendment. I think if it's any indication, John Kerry called a political time-out in the debate. Said this is what Republicans want us to be arguing over, because they are not comfortable talking about it. It divides them and united them.
BRAZILE: Democrats can talk about cultural issues, social issues. We know this is the mother of all wedge issues. But look, the fact of the matter is...
MESERVE: Is it going to work?
BRAZILE: Well, I think it will backfire, because once again the Republicans will go too far, will divide the American people. And they know that 38 states have outlawed gay marriage; 38 states said no to gay marriage. And the fact of the matter is, that the only time we amend our constitution is to expand rights. We don't amend our constitution to deny people their basic rights, so I think it's a mistake.
MUELLER: But even Bill Clinton, Jeanne, signed the Defense of Marriage Act. This is a dividing issue for Democrats, and it's a base plus issue. It reaches across party lines to blue collar union Catholics.
MESERVE: And as fun as this is, I'm afraid I have to call a stop to it. Greg Mueller, Donna Brazile, thank you both...
BRAZILE: Thank you.
MUELLER: Thank you, Jeanne.
MESERVE: ... for joining us on this Sunday morning.
And see who the joke is on now.
We've saved the best laughs for last. Our weekly edition of late night laughs comes off the presses next. It's must see (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: The race for the White House continues to provide plenty of fodder for the late night television hosts. Here's a sampling from this past week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": It really kind of looks like now that John Kerry is on his way to the presidential nomination. The only thing that can sink John Kerry now is an Al Gore endorsement.
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": John Kerry began receiving Secret Service protection, a three-car detail of heavily armed agents and a bulletproof limousine pulled up in front of his house and stayed there all night. See, that's what you get when you're the front- runner. You get the -- yeah. Dennis Kucinich got a whistle and a can of mace. OK?
CRAIG KILBORN, HOST, "LATE LATE SHOW": True story. The Red Cross visited Saddam Hussein in prison and gave him a newspaper to read. Saddam opens the paper and says to himself, wow, I'm still beating Kucinich.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Party insiders believe the fall campaign will -- believe the fall campaign will proceed smoothly without any -- major distractions to -- oh my God, it can't be!
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've decided to run as an independent candidate for president.
STEWART: He's back! Oh, sweet -- oh!
LENO: Have you heard this rumor that President Bush may be dumping Dick Cheney from the ticket, did you hear about this? He doesn't want to drop Cheney, but he felt two guys running together on the same ticket might look too gay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: And before we go, we want to bring you a late-breaking presidential endorsement. This is one you won't find in the editorial section. It is in the funnies. "Doonesbury" has made his choice for president. The comic strip often lampoons politicians and the political process, but it has never endorsed a presidential candidate, until today. Mike Doonesbury's choice for 2004, President George W. Bush. He's shown here with Zonker, chanting "four more years."
And that's INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, just two days before super Tuesday. Coming up in 30 minutes, "RELIABLE SOURCES." And at noon Eastern, on "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer interviews Democratic presidential candidate, Senator John Edwards. "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" continues right now.
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Aired February 29, 2004 - 10:00 ET
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JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: INSIDE POLITICS today: one more debate, two more days, then the Super Tuesday showdown. The latest on the candidates' Tuesday's delegate grab, who stays and who could go.
The campaigner in chief is ready to run hard. Details on President Bush and his multi-million-dollar ad campaign.
And live from the red carpet in Hollywood, the Academy Award winners, politically speaking, of course.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, this is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
MESERVE: Hello. I'm Jeanne Meserve, in Washington. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. Politics doesn't take weekends off, and neither do we. And a special welcome today, as well, to our international viewers.
The latest from the campaign trail just ahead. But first, a government of people in Haiti.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's own attorney confirms that the President has left the embattled country. President Bush remains in the Maryland mountains at Camp David, but there has been plenty of activity by members of his administration right here in Washington.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has word from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Suzanne, what's the latest?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeanne, this is a deal, we are told by senior administration officials, that was brokered overnight and involves Secretary Powell. We are told that Aristide, of course, was cooperative, and that this is a positive development, the Bush administration believes. But they are still concerned about the situation on the ground.
They are nervous about that. And that is one of the reasons why that there are discussions that are happening now in Washington involving the Pentagon, involving the White House and the State Department. The possibility of sending some type of military presence to Haiti, possibly as early as later today as a stabilization force.
Now, what we are told is that no decisions have been made, but essentially this would be several hundred Marines that would be sent by air, they would get there very quickly. They would be able too -- essentially their mission would be two-fold, support the repatriation of Haitians, and also, we are told, provide support for an international peacekeeping force.
It is unclear whether or not this means there would actually be U.S. boots on the ground. It could be logistical support, training, that type of thing, providing equipment. But these are active discussions that are going on right now, and it could happen as early as later today -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: Suzanne, thank you.
And turning now to the situation on the ground in Haiti, CNN's Lucia Newman is in Port-au-Prince.
Lucia, fill us in.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hello, Jeanne.
Well, the prime minister, Neptune, did read a statement from President Aristide saying he was leaving he country to "avoid bloodshed and to respect the constitution." At any moment, we expect that the President of the supreme court will be sworn in. That is, according to the constitution, what happens when the President is unable to fulfill his duties.
In the meantime, the U.S. ambassador here did say just a short while ago that he suspects a very rapid arrival of a multinational force to help restore order here to improve the situation in this country. President Aristide felt that his resignation was a patriotic gesture.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) the possibility for change, but at the moment it is a very unstable situation here. We're hearing a lot of gunfire. People out on the streets, barricades, cars on fire. Ambulances are being heard all over the city. So it is expected that it will be necessary for this multinational force to get here as soon as possible -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: Lucia Newman, in Port-au-Prince, thank you. And thank you to our international viewers for joining us now.
On to politics and the countdown to the biggest day of all on the presidential nominating calendar. Super Tuesday is less than 48 hours away. And here's what is at stake: 1,151 delegates, 10 states are part of the mix, including some political heavy weights like California, New York and Ohio, plus Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, which holds the only caucus, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.
And now the delegate count. John Kerry leads the pack with 754. John Edwards has 220. Howard Dean has 175 delegates. Al Sharpton 16, and Dennis Kucinich nine. It takes 2,162 delegates to win the nomination.
About an hour from now, the Democrats meet face to face again in another debate the 17th. This one in New York. It is sponsored by CBS and The New York Times.
Senator John Kerry goes into the forum with two key endorsements. He picked up the support of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and his son, former Housing and Urban Development secretary, Andrew Cuomo, yesterday. Kerry continues to focus on President Bush. Before arriving in New York, he campaigned in Indianapolis, and he had this to say about the president's plan to make his tax cuts permanent in the face of a projected $750 billion deficit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's an irresponsible fiscal policy. And it's one more reason why we need a change in Washington so we restore a fiscal sanity to the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Kerry's closest rival, Senator John Edwards, is still hoping to pull some surprises Tuesday. And so to New York now, where CNN's Kelly Wallace is hot on the campaign trail with the North Carolina Democrat -- Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Edwards' strategy, stick to the same game plan. Try to draw contrasts with John Kerry, like did he Thursday night on issues such as trade and they're backgrounds.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I need to be strong and show the country that I am ready to be President, and that there are real differences between John Kerry and John Edwards.
WALLACE: But during Thursday's 90-minute debate on CNN, Edwards seemed less forceful than he did during the previous one in Wisconsin, passing up several chances to take on his Democratic rival. Not so, says the Senator himself.
EDWARDS: I think I was at least as forceful or more so. No, I think the distinctions were made very clearly.
WALLACE: The Senator from North Carolina is running out of time, though, to catch up to the Senator from Massachusetts. But that said, Edwards told reporters this week's Super Tuesday won't be his last stop in the race for the nomination regardless of how he does.
EDWARDS: Oh, I'm in this race for the long haul, absolutely. Yes. What I need to do is continue to win delegates.
WALLACE: Edwards will spend as much time as possible in Ohio, Georgia, and New York, states hard hit by job losses, hoping to pull off an upset somewhere. And he's reaching out to organizers for Howard Dean, holding a conference call Saturday with supporters in 12 states. On Friday, Dean's Minnesota organization recommended its activist back Edwards. EDWARDS: The people who have built that organization weren't just building a political organization, they have been engaged in community building. It's a powerful presence here. I think it will make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: As for the former Vermont governor himself, Senator Edwards says he continues to talk to Howard Dean regularly. But privately, though, a senior Edwards advisers saying it is very unlikely that Howard Dean will endorse John Edwards or any other candidate during the primary season -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: So Kelly, they are about to debate again. Are aides saying Edwards has to do something differently this time around?
WALLACE: I just talked to a senior adviser who says, number one, look for a little more of the forcefulness that we saw from John Edwards in Wisconsin, a little more we saw there than we did in Los Angeles. Also, we are told to look for John Edwards to really draw out the differences he says there are in the approach these two men, John Kerry and John Edwards, will take to basic problems, saying he approaches a problem from an everyday American, from a Washington outsider. John Kerry, he will say, more of a Washington insider.
Also something else. When it comes to the experience, John Edwards, is he ready to be President? Look for him to make the case that John Kerry has a wonderful resume, but that it comes down to vision. What are you going to lead, what are you going to do to take this country into the future? So those are some of the three big things we should look for in this morning's debate -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: OK. Good. Kelly, thanks so much.
Hear all about it. It is time for the headlines in the Sunday edition of our "Campaign News Daily."
John Edwards claims he has the right stuff to bring Independents and dissatisfied Republicans into the Democratic column. But Al Sharpton says that is a flawed strategy. Sharpton says the last thing Democrats need to be doing in this election is trying to act like Republicans.
Independent candidate Ralph Nader has concluded his first week of campaigning now that he's in the race. And he celebrated a birthday. Turning 70, he got a cake in the shape of a Ford Pinto, a target of Nader's consumer group. On HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Nader took shots at both the Democrats and Republicans of what he calls their corporate bosses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you go into the White House, it's a corporate prison. They are not in charge. They can't deliver unless the people of this country organize and break the grid of corporate rule in Washington. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Dennis Kucinich says John Kerry is trying to out "Rambo" President Bush. Kucinich said Kerry's commitment to add 40,000 regular Army troops implies the U.S. will be in Iraq that much longer. Kucinich says his position is to bring the troops home now.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has left Haiti. Are peacekeepers on the way there to the struggle for power? We're following developments.
Plus, he may be at Camp David now, but President Bush steps up his reelection bid for the New round of ads. I'll talk strategy with campaign spokesman Terry Holt next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: Let's update you now on the developing news from Haiti. Under intense international pressure, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has left his country. Just yesterday, the White House issued a strongly-worded statement, blaming the president for violence in his embattled homeland. There are reports Mr. Aristide left Port-au- Prince in a small jet at about 6:45 local time this morning. Officials say 50 people have die in the violence so far.
President Bush remains at Camp David, and has said nothing official yet. But administration officials are talking.
The latest from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Well, senior administration officials tell us this was a deal that was brokered overnight. Secretary Powell intimately involved in those discussions and negotiations. We are told that Aristide was cooperative, that he realized the best thing for him to do is to go.
This, as you know, is a culmination of really a heavy international pressure. Pressure also from the White House for him to step down. It was just yesterday that the White House publicly abandoning support for Aristide by releasing this statement saying that they did not believe that he was fit to actually govern the Haitian people, that they thought, for the most part, that the crisis was really Aristide's own making. And then, of course, just within the last 12 to 24 hours, this deal that was brokered.
One of the reasons why White House officials are not giving us details is because they want to wait for Aristide to arrive at his final destination before they go ahead and let us know how this all unfolded. But one of the things that they say is that they are still concerned about the situation on the ground inside Haiti, just how dangerous that situation is. And, Jeanne, that is one of the reasons why right now there are discussions taking place here in Washington involving the Pentagon, the White House, and the State Department about a possible plan to send about several hundred Marines by air to Haiti as early as possibly later today. Now, we are told there are no decisions that have been made. This is something that has to come by invitation from the Haitian government. They say this is not an invasion force. And essentially, what the mission would be would be to help the repatriation of Haitians, as well as supporting an international peacekeeping force.
Beyond that, it is not clear whether or not this is going to mean U.S. boots on the ground. It could be logistics. It could be providing support, training, supplies, that kind of thing. But again, have to emphasize there's no decision that has been made about this, but if they do make a decision, it could happen at early as later today -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: A developing situation. Suzanne, we'll be checking back in with you throughout the day.
And now back to politics. Ten states will host contests Super Tuesday. How are senators Edwards and Kerry faring?
Kerry is ahead of Edwards in the Super Tuesday states; three to one in California. And by the same margin in New York State, where nearly two-thirds of the Empire State vote is for Kerry.
Senator Edwards trails Kerry by 10 points in Georgia, according to the latest American Research Group poll. The candidates face off Tuesday, but their advisers are going to face off right now.
In Chicago, David Axelrod, he's a senior strategist for the Edwards campaign. And in Washington, Tad Devine, a senior adviser for the Kerry campaign.
Thank you both for coming in.
David Axelrod, look at these poll numbers. You have you to ask, if Senator Edwards doesn't one somewhere inn Tuesday, is he out?
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR STRATEGIST, EDWARDS CAMPAIGN: Well, we've been looking at poll numbers throughout this primary season, Jeanne, and they have been wrong more than they've been right. In Wisconsin, we were 37 points behind in one poll, the Friday before the election, and we closed to within six points. So we learned not to pay too much attention to polls.
Senator Edwards has proven himself to be a very fast closer in these races. We think we're going to win some races on Tuesday. And we're going to be looking forward to seeing Senator Kerry in Texas, and Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi on the 9th of March.
MESERVE: Tad Devine, let me ask you, do you want to see Senator Edwards out of this race at this point? You have a president who is starting to gear up. He's going to start to run advertisements. Is it time for the Democratic nominee to be settled at this point?
TAD DEVINE, SENIOR ADVISER, KERRY CAMPAIGN: Well, I think that's a decision Senator Edwards should make. It's not really for us to tell him what to do. We're going to continue what we have been doing. John Kerry is going to reach out and complete in every single contest. He is going to accumulate delegates, he's going to get his message out, he's going to talk about issues like jobs and health care and education, and introduce himself to people all across this country. And what Senator Edwards and his campaign does, that's really their decision, and we'll respect it.
MESERVE: Mr. Axelrod, what about this debate this morning? This is really John Edwards' last chance to get out there in a big way before the voters that are going to cast ballots on Tuesday. What does he have to do today?
AXELROD: Well, I think that people are going to see two distinct approaches, and that's important for us. You know, Senator Kerry is a good man, but there are differences between them. And I'm not just talking about the fact that Senator Kerry voted for every trade treaty that came before him and Senator Edwards has voted against many of them, because they didn't include the safeguards for American workers that were necessary.
There are many other differences. But the largest difference is this: the American people want a president who fights for their jobs, fights to boost the middle class from the depth of his own experience, and not because someone hand him a poll and told him it was a good idea for the political moment.
They want someone who is going to challenge the politics of Washington, not someone who has been part of the fabric of Washington for decades. And I think those are the kinds of distinctions that are going to be apparent not just in this debate, but in the next 48 hours of campaigning. I think it's going to make a difference on Tuesday.
MESERVE: Has Senator Kerry been blurring the distinctions? There's been a lot written in the last week about how he is appropriating some of Senator Edwards' message, particularly on the job issues.
DEVINE: Well, I don't think he's necessarily blurred the distinctions. I think there are some issues where there are real distinctions, like, for example, health care, where John Kerry has outlined a very ambitious plan and John Edwards has a far less ambitious plan. And then there are phony distinctions, like trade, where John Edwards says there's a huge difference.
But, you know, the fact is these two guys have served together in the Senate. The single biggest piece of trade legislation that has come up is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for China, and they both voted the same way. So, you know, we can have real differences, and there are some. And we're happy to talk about them or phony differences. And I think trade is one of them.
MESERVE: Mr. Axelrod, do you think Senator Edwards' arguments have been neutralized somewhat by the stances that Senator Kerry has been taking? AXELROD: Well, let me say this, John Kerry is a superb politician, and Tad Devine is a great consultant. I think they've run a great campaign. And, yes, I think they've gone a long way to blur those distinctions.
And let me say, to the extent that we've pushed them to take different positions and to move to where Senator Edwards has been all his life, I think that that's positive for everybody. Positive for the Democratic Party. But there is no question that that's what they have tried to do.
John Kerry voted for every trade treaty that came before him in the United States Senate. And Tad picks one to describe them as having the same position. They don't have the same position. They haven't had the same position.
But, you know, that is what politicians do, is they try and blur those distinctions when the distinctions don't work to their advantage. And they have done -- I think they have done a good job of it. I think voters are smarter than that. But I think they have done a pretty good job of it.
MESERVE: The National Journal this week ranked Democratic senators for their liberal records. Senator Kerry was number one, Senator Edwards was number four. Tad Devine, is this going to be an effective tool that the Republicans can use against Senator Kerry or Senator Edwards?
DEVINE: Well, I think it will be a tool, but I don't think it will be effective. I mean...
MESERVE: Why not?
DEVINE: Well, because John Kerry has a record of being a moderate Democrat on a broad range of issues. He broke with the leadership of his own party in the '80s to support Gramm-Rudman- Hollings, for example. He's a real hawk when it comes to cutting the deficit.
He supported welfare reform with tough work requirements in it. He supports fiscal discipline, as opposed to the irresponsible fiscal course the nation is on today. So I think they will raise those issues, but we'll rebut them.
MESERVE: And we have to leave it there. Tad Devine, David Axelrod, thank you both for joining us today.
AXELROD: Thanks, Jeanne.
MESERVE: Now go have some brunch.
Up next, President Bush as campaigner in chief. He's on the road again this week. An update on his reelection push from the spokesman of Bush-Cheney 2004.
Plus, an Academy Award preview from the red carpet. WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm bill Schneider. Not those Academy Awards, our own Academy Awards. I'll have them for you when INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: President Bush's reelection campaign unveiled plans this week for the first big media buy of campaign 2004. Bush-Cheney will be spending more than $4 million on commercials that will air primarily on national cable networks. They start running next week.
To discuss the overall strategy, Terry Holt. He's the campaign's press secretary.
Thanks a lot for coming in on a Sunday morning.
TERRY HOLT, PRESS SECRETARY, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN: Thank you. Good to be here.
MESERVE: Tell me about these ads. What is the tone going to be? What's the substance going to be?
HOLT: Well, after thousands of spots and millions of dollars, angry, reckless rhetoric, we're going to talk about what the president has provided the nation, steady leadership in times of change. We're going to talk about what is at stake in the future, and set up the choice for the voters in election.
MESERVE: At what point do you turn your focus on the Democratic nominee?
HOLT: Well, we're not going to talk about your strategy here this morning.
MESERVE: Oh, sure you are.
HOLT: But I'll tell you what, we are going to try to talk about what is at stake in this election, the economy, and the war on terror, and who is better prepared to fight it, and who has been clearer about their record. Because, frankly, the other side has taken both sides of both issues.
MESERVE: Well, right there you seem to be raising something that could be part of the Republican strategy, flip-flopping on the part, you would say, flip-flopping on the part of Senator Kerry. You've spoken about it already.
HOLT: Well, Senator Kerry has had a certain degree of unclear messages he sent about his issues. He's talked about cutting taxes when he's raised them many, many times. He's talked about strengthening the national defense, but he's cut defense spending 38 times in his career. So there's a disconnect between the facts and the rhetoric in the Kerry record.
MESERVE: As you know, Senator Kerry has been saying quite a few things about President Bush. One of the things he's been saying is he's a divider. He talked about this gay marriage issue in particular. On gay marriage, is the president trying to change the terms of the debate to take the focus off the issues the Democrats have been speaking about?
HOLT: Well, obviously, the issue was thrust upon the national stage with the San Francisco and the Boston situations, where a few judges have made big decisions for everybody in America. I think the president is really trying to reset the stage in terms of what everybody else in America says, that marriage is between a man and a woman is very, very important.
MESERVE: Besides that cultural issue, what are some of the other issues that this campaign is going to be stressing? I presume you're not going to want to talk about what the Democrats are, jobs, for instance, something that has not worked to the president's advantage thus far in the political debate?
HOLT: Well, the president is talking about strengthening the economy and keeping the economy on track to recovery. And it's going to be a choice between who has done things to get the economy out of recession, as the president has done, versus someone who has talked about increasing taxes. And that choice is going to be very important to the voters.
MESERVE: Is it enough to talk about past accomplishments? Does the president have to look forward and talk about future goals?
HOLT: Absolutely.
MESERVE: And what are those going to be? Can you lay those out for us?
HOLT: Well, I think the president said on Monday night in his speech that we need to start talking about an ownership society, where you have more control over your health care, you have more control over your retirement, where you have more control of your own money. The government takes all of your tax dollars and wastes them isn't the right way to go. We need to give consumers their money back so that they can keep the economy growing.
MESERVE: I want to take you back one more time to that ad campaign. Those ads run on cable channels like this one, I presume.
HOLT: Absolutely.
MESERVE: But also on sports channels. I'm curious about that. I presume you are targeting there what is called the NASCAR dads. Don't the Republicans have the NASCAR dads already?
HOLT: Well, America is a sports country. And we love NASCAR. We love football. We love golf.
I think it's important to get as far around the television dial as you can to get your message out. And that's certainly what we're going to do in this campaign.
MESERVE: But certainly you will be broadening it beyond that.
HOLT: We'd love to have those NASCAR dads behind us.
MESERVE: And a lot of other people, too, I'm sure.
HOLT: Yes. Thank you.
MESERVE: Terry Holt, thanks a lot for joining us today.
And on deck, it's time for a walk on the red carpet. Not for Hollywood's "A" list, but for IP's annual political Academy Awards. The envelope, please. The winners coming up next.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: The only thing that can sink John Kerry now is an Al Gore endorsement. And then...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: The best of the late-night laughs. This is INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: CNN continues to following the breaking news from the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's attorney confirms the leader has fled the country just one day after saying his departure was out of the question. Aristide's temporary replacement says he has now taken over control. CNN's Lucia Newman is in Port-au-Prince -- Lucia.
NEWMAN: Hello, Jeanne. Indeed, Boniface Alexandre, the president of Haiti's supreme court has been sworn in as the temporary president to lead a new transitional government. He has a reputation for honesty in this country, which means that he is accepted certainly by the opposition. The constitution does call, however, for the national legislature to approve his appointment, but the legislature doesn't even work at this moment, which kind of gives you an idea of just how chaotic the situation here is both legally and out on the streets.
There are a lot of fires, black smoke billowing all over the capital here. There are people celebrating, but there are also armed gangs of Aristide supporters out there on the streets. So a very tense situation still at this moment, Jeanne.
The U.S. ambassador, James Foley, did confirm that a multinational peacekeeping force would be sent very, very soon, he said, to try and restore order. We are told that some of these peacekeepers could come as early as today.
There is still, though, a lot of -- it's very fluid, the situation here. Nobody is really in control, even though the supreme court president has been sworn in as the president at this hour, Jeanne.
MESERVE: Lucia Newman, thank for the latest.
And U.S. officials tell CNN the Pentagon is considering using military force to help stabilize the situation, possibly as soon as later today, but only if U.S. troops are invited. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now on the telephone. Barbara, what can you tell us?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jeanne, that is exactly the critical point. Officials telling CNN that they will only go to Haiti if there is an invitation, indeed, from whatever government is in existence there. Officials saying there's a difference between being invited in and invading. And they are not going to invade. They will only go if they are invited.
If U.S. troops do go to Haiti, they will have two missions, basically. One will be to assist in the repatriation, if you will, of Haitians. Haitians perhaps trying to escape to the United States by sea will be sent back by the Coast Guard to Haiti, and U.S. troops will be assisting in that mission. But, also, in this international peacekeeping force, in providing some sort of security and stability within the country. Not clear at this point if U.S. troops would actually be on the ground as part of that peacekeeping force or assisting with logistics, supplies, transportation, but what is on the table for discussion is, indeed, the possibility of several hundred Marines becoming very involved in this situation in the hours and days ahead -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: Stay with CNN for more on this evolving situation. Thank you, Barbara Starr.
And now, senior political analyst Bill Schneider is treading the red carpet very early this morning. Who cares about best picture when he has this week's award winning story behind the story. And Bill, I love the glasses.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you, Jeanne. I'm here in Hollywood for this glittering occasion. The California primary, the Academy Awards? No, folks, something even bigger. Everyone here is breathless with excitement as we reveal which political stars are going to win this year's coveted awards from the Academy of Political Arts and Sciences. And rest assured, at our award ceremony, there will be no mortifying acceptance speeches, no tacky musical numbers and no nitwit political statements.
Well, actually maybe a few.
So let's get started. Lights, camera, politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The Academy of Political Arts and Sciences is proud to bestow the award for best performance by an actor in a supporting role to -- the envelope, please -- the Reverend Al Sharpton. What a performer! Sharpton could be dramatic. REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you're a bigot, but I think that is insensitive and I think you ought to apologize.
SCHNEIDER: And he could be funny.
SHARPTON: Well, I think the first thing going through my head will be to make sure that Bush has all of his stuff out.
SCHNEIDER: The award for best sound effects, no contest here, goes to Howard Dean.
HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Take back the White House! Yeaaaghh!
SCHNEIDER: While we're on that picture, let's give the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role, to Dr. Judith Steinberg Dean. Notice how believable she is when discussing her husband's over the top performance.
DR. JUDITH STEINBERG DEAN: I thought it looked kind of silly but -- but I thought it was OK.
SCHNEIDER: Best costume design? Can't beat President Bush landing on the aircraft carrier in his flight suit.
Best cinematography, the capture of Saddam Hussein. They got him on camera in this memorable moment in cinematography.
And now for the big awards. Best performance by an actress. The award goes to Kathleen Blanco, who won the run-off for governor of Louisiana. After Democrats lost control of state houses in Kentucky and Mississippi, a woman saved the Democrats.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: It's our time, ladies.
SCHNEIDER: Best performance by an actor? The award goes to Arnold Schwarzenegger, for "The Running Man." What drama, like this heart stopping moment on "The Tonight Show."
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm going to run for governor of the state of California.
SCHNEIDER: What line readings.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Hasta la vista, baby.
SCHNEIDER: And what a finish.
SCHWARZENEGGER: You have given me your trust, by voting for me.
SCHNEIDER: And now for the big prize, the best picture of the year. And the award goes to "Howard's End." It was a stunning saga that went from triumph for tragedy. Big endorsements, big money, big press coverage, but all too soon. There were big mistakes.
H. DEAN: White folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals in the back ought to be voting with us.
SCHNEIDER: Bad timing.
H. DEAN: Americans are no safer today from these serious threats than they were the day before Saddam Hussein was captured.
SCHNEIDER: And overwrought ambition.
H. DEAN: We are going to Oregon, Washington, and Michigan...
SCHNEIDER: A sad ending. But what an exciting picture it was, a triumph of political drama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: They say politics is show business for ugly people, but what could be more glamorous than winning the New Hampshire primary? So eat your heart out, Hollywood. We know who the real winners are. And Jeanne, let me tell you something, you look marvelous.
MESERVE: Speaking of which, the designers all vie to dress the stars. Dare I ask, who dressed you today?
SCHNEIDER: Well, these, my outfit? Let me show you my shoes here. They were designed especially for me by Hush Puppy.
MESERVE: And they are stunning. Have to say. Bill, thanks a lot. Love the look.
SCHNEIDER: Pleasure.
MESERVE: And when we continue, Senators Kerry and Edwards may be working hard to point out the differences in their campaigns, but we're citing some comparisons between them.
And political dynasty of one Democratic family. Who can claim the closer tie to the Kennedy clan? We'll tell you just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: As the race for the Democratic nomination narrows down, the leading contenders seem to be laying claim to the party's storied past. Our Candy Crowley compare Kennedys and Kerrys, as well as Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the trail, two sons of America lay claim to the same family that once dominated Democratic politics, and an era once called Camelot.
KERRY: If the qualification is sort of where you are born, or whether you can feel things, we would have never had a great president in Franklin Roosevelt. We would have never had a great president in John Kennedy. CROWLEY: In ways both subtle and not, the two make their case on the biggest difference between them, who they are and from whence they come.
EDWARDS: I grew up the son of a mill worker.
KERRY: When I came back from Vietnam, I spent a lot of my years fighting for those people to be able to get ahead.
CROWLEY: Beyond his initials, which he's been known to point out, John Forbes Kerry of Massachusetts has a heroic tale of military exploits, much like the PT-109 stories of JFK lore. Kerry has a pedigree with JFK-like bloodlines. Their social circles overlapped enough that a teenage J.F. Kerry once sailed with J.F. Kennedy, his political hero. Both JFKs were Ivy League educated and well versed.
KERRY: This administration set up an equation. They have a theological and a ideological hatred for Aristide. They always have. And they approached this so that the insurgents were empowered by this administration.
CROWLEY: The Massachusetts senator also shares the Kennedy state but lacks the Kennedy touch. This JFK has the demeanor and speaking style of a Boston patrician, enhanced by decades in the Senate, the world's most deliberative body, which is to say that Kerry can take a while to get to the point.
KERRY: ... a long way to do it. My regret is this president chose the wrong way, rushed to war, is now spending billions of American taxpayers dollars that we didn't need to spend this way, had he built a legitimate coalition, and has put our troops at greater risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cast the same vote, Senator. Is that the way you see it?
EDWARDS: That's the longest answer I ever heard to a yes or no question.
CROWLEY: Eight years ago, national Democratic circles were buzzing over a Senate candidate, the next RFK, a Southern Bobby Kennedy. With charm, youthful good looks, and despite being a have, able to reach out and touch a cord in the have-nots.
EDWARDS: Tonight there will be some 10-year-old little girl going to bed somewhere in America hungry, worried that tomorrow is going to be colder than today because she doesn't have the clothes to keep her warm.
CROWLEY: Unlike R.F. Kennedy, J.R. Edwards comes by his populism naturally. A multimillionaire now, Edwards had a modest upbringing in a small mill town. And exactly like New York Senator Bobby Kennedy, Senator John Edwards was a freshman senator when he decided to run for president. A brash career jump, which sometimes shows.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.S. has a proposal I think on the table for Aristide to stay in office, but put a prime minister in that's acceptable to opponents. How do you view the situation?
EDWARDS: I think for the time being that's the correct approach. For the time being, that is the correct approach, that's what we should be doing.
CROWLEY: John Edwards or John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee. Either way, expect to hear mention of the name Kennedy.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Claremont, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: And we stayed up late to bring you the best of the late night laughs. That's straight ahead. Plus, what does Rosie O'Donnell's wedding have to do with the race for the White House? You know, but it's one of our hot topics this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And now a campaign flashback to March 9, 1988. The first super Tuesday. Southern states including Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee joined forces, holding contests on the same day in order to boost their role in selecting the presidential nominee. Governor Michael Dukakis led the day winning eight of the 20 state contests. Senator Al Gore won six. Reverend Jesse Jackson won five, and Congressman Richard Gephardt only carried one state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: Updating breaking news this morning. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has resigned. In a statement read on Haitian TV by the prime minister, Aristide said he was quitting to prevent bloodshed. The chief justice of the Haitian supreme court says he has replaced Aristide temporarily, as the Haitian constitution requires. The U.S. is considering sending several hundred troops to help secure the country if Haiti invites them. They would be U.S. Marines airlifted in, and they could arrive as early as today. Twenty thousand Americans live in Haiti. A senior administration official said it is likely a multinational peacekeeping force will be sent to Haiti soon.
And now back to domestic politics, to talk more about the Democratic race for the White House and some hot button issues, we have with us today Republican strategist Greg Mueller and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile. Thank you both for coming in.
GREG MUELLER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
MESERVE: So let's talk Tuesday, of course, super Tuesday looming ahead of us. Donna, from your perspective, what does John Edwards have to do on Tuesday to stay in this race?
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, unless he wins Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, possibly Minnesota, it's quitting time. John Edwards did not make up any ground during the debate. John Kerry is still the frontrunner. He must win. He cannot come in second and claim a victory. Unless he wins a couple of states, not just one state but a couple of states, there's no way he's going to be able to catch up with John Kerry's delegate total.
MESERVE: Is there going to be a lot of pressure on him to get out?
BRAZILE: I believe that John Edwards will do the right thing after super Tuesday and close this race, and begin looking vice- presidential.
MESERVE: The president has already launched an attack against the Democrats, but the Democrats have been firing back at him. How much has that sort of fouled the Republican strategy, that the Democrats haven't been going at one another and instead have been concentrating their fire right at the White House?
MUELLER: Well, there are two things that have been happening, Jeanne. One is, they had been beating on the president now for about a year, and eventually that takes a little bit of its toll, and the Bush team, as you just reported, is just coming onboard now with their ads, right at the right time.
But one thing that has emerged in this campaign is John Kerry, who we are all presuming is going to win on super Tuesday, positioned himself to the far left. He's now -- he's got liberalism kind of on parade. He has got Kennedy campaigning everywhere with him since Iowa. Cuomo is endorsing him today. I'm not quite sure that they want to run a New England, old-fashioned, Dukakis-like Democrat against George Bush on foreign policy and the economy right now.
MESERVE: How upset and worried are the Democrats about the fact that the Republicans are already starting advertising? Here we are, months ahead of the convention, and they are putting up $4.4 million in ads?
BRAZILE: Well, they have to do something with their money. They have raised more money than many third world countries. I'm sure President Aristide would have loved to have...
MESERVE: Well, it is pretty frightening if you are a Democrat, isn't it?
BRAZILE: ... $100 million. Well, no, Democrats (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind the poll and behind in money. We need enough money just to respond to the Republican negative attack. And I think that the Democratic Party will be able to respond.
We are prepared to defend our record and defend John Kerry's record. Look, John Kerry is not in the liberal extreme wing of the Democratic Party. He's in the mainstream wing of the Democratic Party. When you look at his votes that made him the, quote/unquote, most liberal senator, well, look what he did. He voted to extend unemployment benefits for those who lost their jobs under George Bush. He also voted to stop the Labor Department from removing certain workers from overtime pay. Those issues are in the mainstream. If you want to run an old school, 1988 campaign against John Kerry, you'll have to really come up with some new ideas.
MUELLER: But Donna, even you admitted, I've seen you on television, you do a great job, but he is to the far left of Al Gore. And he has got a problem. The Clinton-Gore centrist kind of campaign days seem to be over the way John Kerry is campaigning. And you have to have money to be able to compete with the president. And when you don't have a consensus candidate this early, that raises really big problems for the Democrats.
BRAZILE: You know what's interesting, Greg, is that Al Gore would have voted against this war. John Kerry voted for this war in Iraq. I don't know if that is not...
(CROSSTALK)
MUELLER: The problem, though, is John Kerry has flip-flopped so many times, we want to know will the real John Kerry please stand up. He has flip-flopped all over the place. He wouldn't give -- he wouldn't vote with the president in the war in Iraq to give $87 billion to protect our troops there. He's even flip-flopped on his own fund-raising principles, having accused certain companies of being Benedict Arnolds, but then we found out in "The Washington Post" this week just who one of his major contributors is, Benedict Arnold.
BRAZILE: Well, you want to talk about misleading the nation? Misleading the nation on war, misleading the nation on Leave No Child Behind and not funding it, misleading the nation on jobs and job creation, the tax cuts that have blown a hole in the deficit.
MUELLER: But Donna...
(CROSSTALK)
MUELLER: Donna, the numbers just came in on Friday. They were 4.1 percent. The economy is steam rolling. Unemployment continues to go down at record levels. The president has captured Saddam Hussein. He's in a very good position, Jeanne.
MESERVE: But those aren't the issues that he raised this week. The issue he raised this week was gay marriage. What's it all about? Is this an effort to divert attention from those issues that appear to be working for the Democrats at this time?
MUELLER: Well, I think there are a couple of issues going on. One of the things is, he didn't raise it, it was raised by some rogue kind of dictatorial judges that decided that they were going to just do this. Even Bill Lockyer out there, the attorney general who is a Democrat, is fighting them.
Look, this is a base plus issue for the president. There's a new poll out today, a CBS poll shows a growing support for both the president's position on gay marriage and the constitutional amendment. I think if it's any indication, John Kerry called a political time-out in the debate. Said this is what Republicans want us to be arguing over, because they are not comfortable talking about it. It divides them and united them.
BRAZILE: Democrats can talk about cultural issues, social issues. We know this is the mother of all wedge issues. But look, the fact of the matter is...
MESERVE: Is it going to work?
BRAZILE: Well, I think it will backfire, because once again the Republicans will go too far, will divide the American people. And they know that 38 states have outlawed gay marriage; 38 states said no to gay marriage. And the fact of the matter is, that the only time we amend our constitution is to expand rights. We don't amend our constitution to deny people their basic rights, so I think it's a mistake.
MUELLER: But even Bill Clinton, Jeanne, signed the Defense of Marriage Act. This is a dividing issue for Democrats, and it's a base plus issue. It reaches across party lines to blue collar union Catholics.
MESERVE: And as fun as this is, I'm afraid I have to call a stop to it. Greg Mueller, Donna Brazile, thank you both...
BRAZILE: Thank you.
MUELLER: Thank you, Jeanne.
MESERVE: ... for joining us on this Sunday morning.
And see who the joke is on now.
We've saved the best laughs for last. Our weekly edition of late night laughs comes off the presses next. It's must see (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MESERVE: The race for the White House continues to provide plenty of fodder for the late night television hosts. Here's a sampling from this past week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": It really kind of looks like now that John Kerry is on his way to the presidential nomination. The only thing that can sink John Kerry now is an Al Gore endorsement.
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": John Kerry began receiving Secret Service protection, a three-car detail of heavily armed agents and a bulletproof limousine pulled up in front of his house and stayed there all night. See, that's what you get when you're the front- runner. You get the -- yeah. Dennis Kucinich got a whistle and a can of mace. OK?
CRAIG KILBORN, HOST, "LATE LATE SHOW": True story. The Red Cross visited Saddam Hussein in prison and gave him a newspaper to read. Saddam opens the paper and says to himself, wow, I'm still beating Kucinich.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Party insiders believe the fall campaign will -- believe the fall campaign will proceed smoothly without any -- major distractions to -- oh my God, it can't be!
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've decided to run as an independent candidate for president.
STEWART: He's back! Oh, sweet -- oh!
LENO: Have you heard this rumor that President Bush may be dumping Dick Cheney from the ticket, did you hear about this? He doesn't want to drop Cheney, but he felt two guys running together on the same ticket might look too gay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: And before we go, we want to bring you a late-breaking presidential endorsement. This is one you won't find in the editorial section. It is in the funnies. "Doonesbury" has made his choice for president. The comic strip often lampoons politicians and the political process, but it has never endorsed a presidential candidate, until today. Mike Doonesbury's choice for 2004, President George W. Bush. He's shown here with Zonker, chanting "four more years."
And that's INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY, just two days before super Tuesday. Coming up in 30 minutes, "RELIABLE SOURCES." And at noon Eastern, on "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer interviews Democratic presidential candidate, Senator John Edwards. "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" continues right now.
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