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Powell Pounces: Heated Exchange at Hearing
Aired February 12, 2004 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well it doesn't happen in Washington often, a tiff between politicians played out as it happens. In an unrelated committee hearing, Congressman Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, surprised Secretary of State Colin Powell with questions about the president's National Guard duty. Boy, did it get testy.
Joining us live from D.C. is Professor Steven Taylor, and he is also an expert in government and the workings of government.
Good morning to you.
STEVEN TAYLOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Carol. How are you doing?
COSTELLO: Did you see the exchange?
TAYLOR: Yes, I did. I did see that.
COSTELLO: Did it surprise you that it happened like that?
TAYLOR: Not really. I think that right now it's a very volatile time. We're in the midst of a campaign, so it wasn't very surprising in light of the fact that this is a campaign where these issues are being raised and they are being vigorously contested by the White House.
COSTELLO: And it's gotten so ugly. Before we go on, I'd like to play that little exchange out for our viewers. So let's run our sound here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: We count on you. The president may have been a -- may have been AWOL. The vice president said he had other priorities during Vietnam. Other high administrative officials never served. You understand war. We absolutely count on you. And we -- I think a lot of us wonder what happened between that post interview and your statement the next day when you said the president made the right decision.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: First of all, Mr. Brown, I won't dignify your comments about the president because you don't know what you are talking about. Second, let me get to the points that you were raising.
BROWN: I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean -- Mr. Secretary.
POWELL: You made reference to the president.
BROWN: Said he may have been AWOL.
POWELL: Mr. Brown, let's not -- let's not go there. We're -- you know let's just not go there. Let's not go there in this hearing. If you want to have a political fight with -- on this matter that is very controversial and I think is being dealt with by the White House fine, but let's not go there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's just so nasty. Who won do you think?
TAYLOR: Well I don't know if I can assess who won and who lost. But certainly it's -- this is an issue that is problematic for the White House.
COSTELLO: Well let me ask you this. Let me ask you this, is this just a sign of the nasty presidential campaign to come?
TAYLOR: Yes, I think it really is. I think what's happening now is that the Kerry campaign is trying to inoculate itself from what they expect might be charges made against him come this fall when there is a campaign. They are looking at what might have happened in previous campaigns in 1988 and they don't want this to happen to them. So they are taking a preemptive strike and they are bringing up issues ahead of the Republicans at this particular point.
COSTELLO: And certainly Republicans are firing back with that picture of John Kerry in the anti-war protests...
TAYLOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... with Jane Fonda. I mean Scott McClellan is calling all of this gutter politics. And says that we are engaging and trolling for trash for political gain. How will history characterize this?
TAYLOR: History will probably characterize this as very typical of a political campaign. It's beginning a little bit earlier than we might usually expect, but that's probably because the nomination process appears to be sewing up a lot earlier.
COSTELLO: Yes, I know they don't even have like a definite Democratic candidate for president.
Steven Taylor from American University joining us live from D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 12, 2004 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well it doesn't happen in Washington often, a tiff between politicians played out as it happens. In an unrelated committee hearing, Congressman Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, surprised Secretary of State Colin Powell with questions about the president's National Guard duty. Boy, did it get testy.
Joining us live from D.C. is Professor Steven Taylor, and he is also an expert in government and the workings of government.
Good morning to you.
STEVEN TAYLOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Carol. How are you doing?
COSTELLO: Did you see the exchange?
TAYLOR: Yes, I did. I did see that.
COSTELLO: Did it surprise you that it happened like that?
TAYLOR: Not really. I think that right now it's a very volatile time. We're in the midst of a campaign, so it wasn't very surprising in light of the fact that this is a campaign where these issues are being raised and they are being vigorously contested by the White House.
COSTELLO: And it's gotten so ugly. Before we go on, I'd like to play that little exchange out for our viewers. So let's run our sound here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: We count on you. The president may have been a -- may have been AWOL. The vice president said he had other priorities during Vietnam. Other high administrative officials never served. You understand war. We absolutely count on you. And we -- I think a lot of us wonder what happened between that post interview and your statement the next day when you said the president made the right decision.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: First of all, Mr. Brown, I won't dignify your comments about the president because you don't know what you are talking about. Second, let me get to the points that you were raising.
BROWN: I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean -- Mr. Secretary.
POWELL: You made reference to the president.
BROWN: Said he may have been AWOL.
POWELL: Mr. Brown, let's not -- let's not go there. We're -- you know let's just not go there. Let's not go there in this hearing. If you want to have a political fight with -- on this matter that is very controversial and I think is being dealt with by the White House fine, but let's not go there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's just so nasty. Who won do you think?
TAYLOR: Well I don't know if I can assess who won and who lost. But certainly it's -- this is an issue that is problematic for the White House.
COSTELLO: Well let me ask you this. Let me ask you this, is this just a sign of the nasty presidential campaign to come?
TAYLOR: Yes, I think it really is. I think what's happening now is that the Kerry campaign is trying to inoculate itself from what they expect might be charges made against him come this fall when there is a campaign. They are looking at what might have happened in previous campaigns in 1988 and they don't want this to happen to them. So they are taking a preemptive strike and they are bringing up issues ahead of the Republicans at this particular point.
COSTELLO: And certainly Republicans are firing back with that picture of John Kerry in the anti-war protests...
TAYLOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... with Jane Fonda. I mean Scott McClellan is calling all of this gutter politics. And says that we are engaging and trolling for trash for political gain. How will history characterize this?
TAYLOR: History will probably characterize this as very typical of a political campaign. It's beginning a little bit earlier than we might usually expect, but that's probably because the nomination process appears to be sewing up a lot earlier.
COSTELLO: Yes, I know they don't even have like a definite Democratic candidate for president.
Steven Taylor from American University joining us live from D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
