Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Trent Lott to Speak to Press About Controversial Remarks
Aired December 13, 2002 - 13:07 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: From the resignation of a cardinal to calls for the resignation of a senator.
Republican leader Trent Lott today will address his critics over comments he made about Strom Thurmond that ignited a racially charged controversy. Lott spoke earlier from Key West, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MAJORITY LEADER: I did speak to the president. Yesterday. And the president said that -- as he should, that I have apologized what I had to say, which was the appropriate thing to do. And I'm going to expand on that even more this afternoon at the press conference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Our congressional correspondent John Karl now with more on this from Capitol Hill.
John, hello.
JOHN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello.
PHILLIPS: So, what do you think? What will he have to say, and where is he going to go from here?
KARL: Well, the big question is, will he resign? And he answered that question at that moment there. As he was walking away from the reporters in Key West, one reporter yelled out, "Will you resign?" And he said no.
And that's the same thing we're hearing from Lott's advisers, both on and off Capitol Hill. They say that he is going to be coming out and giving a forceful apology, a more expanded and an in-depth apology, an explanation of his views and try to answer whatever questions can come to him.
He's been asked, of course, by fellow Republicans up here to come out and give a fuller explanation and to take questions from the press and to answer some of the concerns that were raised, not only by his comments last week at Strom Thurmond's birthday party, but also by his own record.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about Strom Thurmond for a moment. We haven't heard from him. Granted he's 100 years old, he's in failing health. But does he need to be held accountable in any way here? KARL: Well, by the way, we've asked for his office for comment. They have had no comment.
But one thing that's very interesting about Strom Thurmond is that on a number of the issues that Trent Lott's been criticized about since this controversy erupted in terms of his voting record, Strom Thurmond was actually on the other side.
Strom Thurmond voted in favor of the Martin Luther King holiday when that vote came up in 1983. He voted in favor of the expansion of the civil -- of the Voting Rights Act in 1981.
On both those issues, Trent Lott was in a small minority, voting the other way.
So, many people up here who were angry at Trent Lott are saying that Strom Thurmond has repudiated his segregationist and racist past. The question is, has Trent Lott?
So although we haven't heard from Strom Thurmond, a lot of people are talking about that and pointing that out.
PHILLIPS: That's true. A lot of people, including Senator Harold Ford. Let's listen to what he had to say, John.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HAROLD FORD (D), TENNESSEE: The reality is a few days ago Senator Lott suggested to America that Mississippi and him voted for a segregationist candidate, Senator Thurmond. I find it very curious that Senator Thurmond has not come out to defend, explain or even associate himself with what Senator Lott said.
I'll tell you why he hasn't. He has run away and distanced himself from what he stood for some 54 years ago.
For the best interests of the country, for the party and for the Senate, Senator Lott ought to step aside as leader, allow a new leader to be elected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Tennessee Representative Harold Ford there. You know, on that note, he's talking about running away and not making comments. Do you think the situation will sort of have a domino effect?
I mean, could we see reporters digging into the past of other senators, seeing what they had to say, senators the same age as Trent Lott? Or, you know, is he the only one here that's made comments like this and had a record of these types of feelings?
KARL: Well, I think you're already starting to see some of that, especially in terms of Democratic opposition research, you know. Teams have been poring through the records of possible successors to Trent Lott. Democrats are already looking forward to the possibility that Trent Lott would step down. I'm not saying that he will, but if he does, Democrats are looking through and looking at the records of those in the Senate, those Republicans that would be possible successors. People like Bill Frist, senator from Tennessee, who was mentioned.
And by the way, I'm told the Democrats are already preparing something looking at Frist, not in terms of anything he may have said that would be racist or segregationist, I don't believe there's anything like that in the record at all.
But Democrats are looking at what Frist, as chairman of the Republican Senatorial Committee was doing in the Louisiana special election that just happened. Democrats are charging that that was a situation where Republicans were essentially using race in a way that is not a positive way.
So, you can look at Democrats will clearly be poring through the records of other Republicans to see if anybody else has any similar skeletons in the closets.
Right now, we've heard that nothing else has come out in terms of current senators. But you can bet people will be looking for it.
PHILLIPS: You know what else is interesting, John? There you are going live from the Russell building. Sort of ironic when you look at the history of Russell and the story that we're talking about right now.
Give us a little historical perspective.
KARL: Well, Richard Russell was a legendary Democratic senator from Georgia. And he was somebody who was an avowed segregationist, leader of the Southern Caucus, so-called Southern Caucus, who fought strongly against any form of civil rights bills, blocked them with filibusters in the Senate. It was a great place where these measures were stopped, largely because of people like Senator Russell. And here he is honored with a building.
And not only Senator Russell; one of his proteges was Lyndon Baines Johnson, who of course became president and became a great hero of the Civil Rights Movement by, you know, signing into law the Civil Rights Act.
But you saw in the biography of Lyndon Johnson that came out just last year or this year by Robert Caro that Johnson did things and said things in the Senate that might even make people like Trent Lott blush, in terms of issues on race.
So Democrats also have a history here. And that, by the way, was something that was pointed out by Senator John Kerry, who was the first Senator to call on Trent Lott to resign. He said, yes, we must remember that Democrats have a very spotty record in terms of their history on this, as well.
PHILLIPS: I knew I could also depend on you for a little history. Jonathan Karl, thank you so much.
All right, Senator Lott will come to the microphone in the 5 p.m. hour. CNN will provide live coverage of that.
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 December 13, 2002 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: From the resignation of a cardinal to calls for the resignation of a senator.
Republican leader Trent Lott today will address his critics over comments he made about Strom Thurmond that ignited a racially charged controversy. Lott spoke earlier from Key West, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MAJORITY LEADER: I did speak to the president. Yesterday. And the president said that -- as he should, that I have apologized what I had to say, which was the appropriate thing to do. And I'm going to expand on that even more this afternoon at the press conference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Our congressional correspondent John Karl now with more on this from Capitol Hill.
John, hello.
JOHN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello.
PHILLIPS: So, what do you think? What will he have to say, and where is he going to go from here?
KARL: Well, the big question is, will he resign? And he answered that question at that moment there. As he was walking away from the reporters in Key West, one reporter yelled out, "Will you resign?" And he said no.
And that's the same thing we're hearing from Lott's advisers, both on and off Capitol Hill. They say that he is going to be coming out and giving a forceful apology, a more expanded and an in-depth apology, an explanation of his views and try to answer whatever questions can come to him.
He's been asked, of course, by fellow Republicans up here to come out and give a fuller explanation and to take questions from the press and to answer some of the concerns that were raised, not only by his comments last week at Strom Thurmond's birthday party, but also by his own record.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about Strom Thurmond for a moment. We haven't heard from him. Granted he's 100 years old, he's in failing health. But does he need to be held accountable in any way here? KARL: Well, by the way, we've asked for his office for comment. They have had no comment.
But one thing that's very interesting about Strom Thurmond is that on a number of the issues that Trent Lott's been criticized about since this controversy erupted in terms of his voting record, Strom Thurmond was actually on the other side.
Strom Thurmond voted in favor of the Martin Luther King holiday when that vote came up in 1983. He voted in favor of the expansion of the civil -- of the Voting Rights Act in 1981.
On both those issues, Trent Lott was in a small minority, voting the other way.
So, many people up here who were angry at Trent Lott are saying that Strom Thurmond has repudiated his segregationist and racist past. The question is, has Trent Lott?
So although we haven't heard from Strom Thurmond, a lot of people are talking about that and pointing that out.
PHILLIPS: That's true. A lot of people, including Senator Harold Ford. Let's listen to what he had to say, John.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HAROLD FORD (D), TENNESSEE: The reality is a few days ago Senator Lott suggested to America that Mississippi and him voted for a segregationist candidate, Senator Thurmond. I find it very curious that Senator Thurmond has not come out to defend, explain or even associate himself with what Senator Lott said.
I'll tell you why he hasn't. He has run away and distanced himself from what he stood for some 54 years ago.
For the best interests of the country, for the party and for the Senate, Senator Lott ought to step aside as leader, allow a new leader to be elected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Tennessee Representative Harold Ford there. You know, on that note, he's talking about running away and not making comments. Do you think the situation will sort of have a domino effect?
I mean, could we see reporters digging into the past of other senators, seeing what they had to say, senators the same age as Trent Lott? Or, you know, is he the only one here that's made comments like this and had a record of these types of feelings?
KARL: Well, I think you're already starting to see some of that, especially in terms of Democratic opposition research, you know. Teams have been poring through the records of possible successors to Trent Lott. Democrats are already looking forward to the possibility that Trent Lott would step down. I'm not saying that he will, but if he does, Democrats are looking through and looking at the records of those in the Senate, those Republicans that would be possible successors. People like Bill Frist, senator from Tennessee, who was mentioned.
And by the way, I'm told the Democrats are already preparing something looking at Frist, not in terms of anything he may have said that would be racist or segregationist, I don't believe there's anything like that in the record at all.
But Democrats are looking at what Frist, as chairman of the Republican Senatorial Committee was doing in the Louisiana special election that just happened. Democrats are charging that that was a situation where Republicans were essentially using race in a way that is not a positive way.
So, you can look at Democrats will clearly be poring through the records of other Republicans to see if anybody else has any similar skeletons in the closets.
Right now, we've heard that nothing else has come out in terms of current senators. But you can bet people will be looking for it.
PHILLIPS: You know what else is interesting, John? There you are going live from the Russell building. Sort of ironic when you look at the history of Russell and the story that we're talking about right now.
Give us a little historical perspective.
KARL: Well, Richard Russell was a legendary Democratic senator from Georgia. And he was somebody who was an avowed segregationist, leader of the Southern Caucus, so-called Southern Caucus, who fought strongly against any form of civil rights bills, blocked them with filibusters in the Senate. It was a great place where these measures were stopped, largely because of people like Senator Russell. And here he is honored with a building.
And not only Senator Russell; one of his proteges was Lyndon Baines Johnson, who of course became president and became a great hero of the Civil Rights Movement by, you know, signing into law the Civil Rights Act.
But you saw in the biography of Lyndon Johnson that came out just last year or this year by Robert Caro that Johnson did things and said things in the Senate that might even make people like Trent Lott blush, in terms of issues on race.
So Democrats also have a history here. And that, by the way, was something that was pointed out by Senator John Kerry, who was the first Senator to call on Trent Lott to resign. He said, yes, we must remember that Democrats have a very spotty record in terms of their history on this, as well.
PHILLIPS: I knew I could also depend on you for a little history. Jonathan Karl, thank you so much.
All right, Senator Lott will come to the microphone in the 5 p.m. hour. CNN will provide live coverage of that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
