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Pelosi Comes Out Tough in First Dugout

Aired January 03, 2003 - 14:31   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: On Capitol Hill, the new House minority leader got a feel for one of the perks, or maybe it's a pit fall of her (UNINTELLIGIBLE) position. It's called the dugout, and it gives the lawmaker a chance to vent his or her opinions on the issues of the day.
CNN's Jonathan Karl was at this one. He joins us now with the highlights -- how did it go?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she insisted that this was simply going to be a get to know you session with the reporters, not the real traditional dugout we see where it is right in the middle of a congressional session and a lot of back and forth, but very quickly, Congresswoman Pelosi, in her new role as the new leader of the Democrats in the House came out on the attack, attacking the president for his plan that will be announced on Tuesday for an economic stimulus program. The president's economic stimulus program is said to include some specific incentives to help investors in a reduction in the tax on dividends, corporate dividends, and from reading the reports, Pelosi said she was not satisfied at all with what was coming out of the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: The speculation that I see doesn't indicate that there's much stimulus in the package. I think what you see is the administration, perhaps, using the term "stimulus" as a Trojan horse to wheel in some favorite tax breaks for the high end that they are so fond of. And, so -- but it remains to be seen what the president will do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: And we will know what the president will do on Tuesday when the White House announces that economic growth package, but a little bit of preemption, Nancy Pelosi said that the Democrats will have their own economic stimulus plan that they will unveil not on Tuesday, but on Monday -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. What about Trent Lott? Any more on his fate?

KARL: Yes, there is some more on his fate. This is a story that was first reported in "Roll Call," but Trent Lott has something of a soft landing. Obviously, he is no longer the Republican leader in the Senate, and he was left without much of a position to go to, but he now has a new position, and that will be chairman of the Rules Committee, the incoming chairman of that committee, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who was one of Lott's strongest defenders last month, has said -- has told people privately, we have learned, and confirmed this "Roll Call" story, that he will step aside to make room for Trent Lott to take chairmanship of that committee. It is something of a soft landing, gives him something to do, some authority now that he is no longer the majority leader.

PHILLIPS: John Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you.

Well, Pelosi's predecessor in the House hierarchy is expected to file papers putting his presidential ambitions into motion. That was heralded, maybe even hastened by a premature fax from an over-eager aide. CNN's Candy Crowley now live from D.C. with that. I just want to know if this aide is in big trouble, Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I doubt it. Mistakes happen, and also it was not like she was telling the world something, at least the political world, something it didn't already know.

Gephardt and his aides have been talking openly about running again this time around. But it keeps us happy that sometimes you go find the news and then sometimes it finds you by fax.

So this is going to be the second time around for Gephardt, who is a Missouri Democrat. He first ran for the presidency in 1988. He has been in the House for more than a quarter of a century and earned a reputation for straight shooting and hard working. He has been the good soldier, he has helped fill the coffers of his party and campaigned endlessly beside his colleagues, but now he wants to be the general. He brings to the table an impeccable personal reputation, a solid organization, the good will of organized labor, and a face that's familiar in the critical first states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but he has got some baggage, as well.

Gephardt has described one day in particular as the worst of his political life. It was 1995, the day as outgoing majority leader, Gephardt had to hand over the gavel to incoming Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and since that time, Gephardt as minority leader has failed in four elections to lead Democrats back to majority status.

And another primary problem both politically and literally for Gephardt may be another picture -- it is this one. Gephardt standing behind the president in the White House as Mr. Bush announced agreement with House leaders on the Iraq resolution. Some of Gephardt's Capitol Hill colleagues were surprised, and hardcore Democrats -- and those are the kind that turn out in Iowa in dead of winter for a caucus, and in the snows of New Hampshire for a primary were furious.

Again, as you say, Kyra, we do expect that he will file this exploratory committee on Monday.

PHILLIPS: So you have a very experienced politician here, and then yesterday you and I were talking about John Edwards. How do you put those two together? Can you even compare those two? CROWLEY: Well, their resumes are vastly different. One is basically a career politician, and the other is the so-called fresh face that we talked about, so here you have got the old hand and the fresh face. Is -- will voters come out and look at Dick Gephardt and say, Wow, here's a guy who's been around. He really knows how it works, he really has the experience to be president, that's the kind of guy we want, or are they going to look at him and say, Yesterday's news? You just don't know. At this point in time, the betting is that if you have got a Richard Gephardt, or, for that matter, a Tom Daschle or a Bob Kerry with years and years of experience in Washington up against someone, John Edwards in this case, who has four years of experience, that maybe in the post-9/11 world, experience is going to look pretty good.

PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, thank you.

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 January 3, 2003 - 14:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: On Capitol Hill, the new House minority leader got a feel for one of the perks, or maybe it's a pit fall of her (UNINTELLIGIBLE) position. It's called the dugout, and it gives the lawmaker a chance to vent his or her opinions on the issues of the day.
CNN's Jonathan Karl was at this one. He joins us now with the highlights -- how did it go?

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she insisted that this was simply going to be a get to know you session with the reporters, not the real traditional dugout we see where it is right in the middle of a congressional session and a lot of back and forth, but very quickly, Congresswoman Pelosi, in her new role as the new leader of the Democrats in the House came out on the attack, attacking the president for his plan that will be announced on Tuesday for an economic stimulus program. The president's economic stimulus program is said to include some specific incentives to help investors in a reduction in the tax on dividends, corporate dividends, and from reading the reports, Pelosi said she was not satisfied at all with what was coming out of the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: The speculation that I see doesn't indicate that there's much stimulus in the package. I think what you see is the administration, perhaps, using the term "stimulus" as a Trojan horse to wheel in some favorite tax breaks for the high end that they are so fond of. And, so -- but it remains to be seen what the president will do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: And we will know what the president will do on Tuesday when the White House announces that economic growth package, but a little bit of preemption, Nancy Pelosi said that the Democrats will have their own economic stimulus plan that they will unveil not on Tuesday, but on Monday -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. What about Trent Lott? Any more on his fate?

KARL: Yes, there is some more on his fate. This is a story that was first reported in "Roll Call," but Trent Lott has something of a soft landing. Obviously, he is no longer the Republican leader in the Senate, and he was left without much of a position to go to, but he now has a new position, and that will be chairman of the Rules Committee, the incoming chairman of that committee, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who was one of Lott's strongest defenders last month, has said -- has told people privately, we have learned, and confirmed this "Roll Call" story, that he will step aside to make room for Trent Lott to take chairmanship of that committee. It is something of a soft landing, gives him something to do, some authority now that he is no longer the majority leader.

PHILLIPS: John Karl on Capitol Hill, thank you.

Well, Pelosi's predecessor in the House hierarchy is expected to file papers putting his presidential ambitions into motion. That was heralded, maybe even hastened by a premature fax from an over-eager aide. CNN's Candy Crowley now live from D.C. with that. I just want to know if this aide is in big trouble, Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I doubt it. Mistakes happen, and also it was not like she was telling the world something, at least the political world, something it didn't already know.

Gephardt and his aides have been talking openly about running again this time around. But it keeps us happy that sometimes you go find the news and then sometimes it finds you by fax.

So this is going to be the second time around for Gephardt, who is a Missouri Democrat. He first ran for the presidency in 1988. He has been in the House for more than a quarter of a century and earned a reputation for straight shooting and hard working. He has been the good soldier, he has helped fill the coffers of his party and campaigned endlessly beside his colleagues, but now he wants to be the general. He brings to the table an impeccable personal reputation, a solid organization, the good will of organized labor, and a face that's familiar in the critical first states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but he has got some baggage, as well.

Gephardt has described one day in particular as the worst of his political life. It was 1995, the day as outgoing majority leader, Gephardt had to hand over the gavel to incoming Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and since that time, Gephardt as minority leader has failed in four elections to lead Democrats back to majority status.

And another primary problem both politically and literally for Gephardt may be another picture -- it is this one. Gephardt standing behind the president in the White House as Mr. Bush announced agreement with House leaders on the Iraq resolution. Some of Gephardt's Capitol Hill colleagues were surprised, and hardcore Democrats -- and those are the kind that turn out in Iowa in dead of winter for a caucus, and in the snows of New Hampshire for a primary were furious.

Again, as you say, Kyra, we do expect that he will file this exploratory committee on Monday.

PHILLIPS: So you have a very experienced politician here, and then yesterday you and I were talking about John Edwards. How do you put those two together? Can you even compare those two? CROWLEY: Well, their resumes are vastly different. One is basically a career politician, and the other is the so-called fresh face that we talked about, so here you have got the old hand and the fresh face. Is -- will voters come out and look at Dick Gephardt and say, Wow, here's a guy who's been around. He really knows how it works, he really has the experience to be president, that's the kind of guy we want, or are they going to look at him and say, Yesterday's news? You just don't know. At this point in time, the betting is that if you have got a Richard Gephardt, or, for that matter, a Tom Daschle or a Bob Kerry with years and years of experience in Washington up against someone, John Edwards in this case, who has four years of experience, that maybe in the post-9/11 world, experience is going to look pretty good.

PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com