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CNN Live At Daybreak
Jesse Helms Expected to Announce Retirement From Senate
Aired August 22, 2001 - 07:42 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.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans in the Senate are now facing two major slots to fill. On the heels of Senator Strom Thurmond's decision to retire comes Jesse Helms. CNN has learned the five-term Republican from North Carolina will not seek reelection next year. The 79-year-old Helms has battled serious health problems in recent years.
Joining us for more on this, John Wagner, Washington correspondent for the Raleigh, North Carolina, "News and Observer" -- hometown stuff.
John Wagner, thanks for being here.
JOHN WAGNER, "NEWS AND OBSERVER": Well, thanks for having me.
MCEDWARDS: First of all, is there any doubt that that's what he's going to announce tonight?
WAGNER: Well, he's certainly been unpredictable throughout the course of his career, but I think there would be a lot of shocked people tonight when he goes on the air and announces his decision officially.
MCEDWARDS: Right. Now how poetic is this? I mean he's going to go on the air, as you mentioned, WRAL TV, which is the very station he started in giving...
WAGNER: Right.
MCEDWARDS: ... political commentary.
WAGNER: It is fairly poetic. He's apparently going to spend about eight minutes. It will be taped, but it will be on the same station where he did get his start. He really was a pioneer in the field of political commentary.
MCEDWARDS: OK, John, so why now?
WAGNER: Well he -- he's going to be 80 years old next month or in October, rather, and I think his family has just been urging him for quite some time to consider retiring. There have been a lot of his long-time allies in politics who'd like to see him give it another go, but I think he just feels it's time.
MCEDWARDS: And why has he been such a hero in his home state because that's not overstating it, is it, I mean this man's a hero?
WAGNER: Well, he is in some quarters. He is probably one of the most beloved and reviled politicians at the same time. I think one of his -- one of the large parts of his appeal is that he is very consistent. If you talk to voters in North Carolina, whether they agree with him or disagree with him on everything, they admire the fact that he is consistent throughout the years and will take a stand.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, and this is the interesting thing. I mean this man was a segregationist. I mean in the '60s he spoke out supporting someone who ran a lunch counter that was segregated. So why haven't people in the state sort of cast him off along with that past?
WAGNER: Well, he has never -- you know he's won five elections but he's never received more than 55 percent of the vote in the state so he has remained popular with a portion of the voters but is quite unpopular with other segments of the electorate.
MCEDWARDS: And I understand the polls were showing he might have been in for a tough run if he continued, right?
WAGNER: That's true, though he has always done better on Election Day than the polls indicate. A lot of people will vote for him but not indicate that to pollsters.
MCEDWARDS: Many people in the party believe that Elizabeth Dole should return and that she should run. Would she win the nomination, do you think?
WAGNER: I don't think she would be unopposed in the primary. There are certainly a lot of people in the party who are trying to get her to run. Activists and a group of business leaders have gotten together to draft her, but there are several other potentially attractive candidates out there. A congressman from Winston-Salem, Richard Burr, and former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot are also taking a hard look at the race.
MCEDWARDS: And if -- just if indeed hypothetically, if Elizabeth Dole did get through the nomination process, how do you think that the public there would respond to her?
WAGNER: Well, there will be a real debate over whether she is a resident of North Carolina. She hasn't really lived there for several decades now, and Democrats are already starting to hammer away at that fact and portray her as a carpetbagger.
MCEDWARDS: All right, John Wagner, we've got to leave it there. Thanks very much for your thoughts this morning.
WAGNER: Thanks for having me.
MCEDWARDS: Appreciate it.
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