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Texas Showdown

Aired May 13, 2003 - 13:35   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess you could call it the case of the disappearing lawmakers. More than 50 house Democrats are no-shows at the Texas legislature in Austin. They skipped town to avoid a scheduled vote on redrawing the state's Congressional districts in a way that would favor the GOP. Turns out, they're hiding out in Ardmore, Oklahoma, just over the border. Texas rangers tracked them down yesterday, but there were jurisdictional issues, and so they didn't put the bracelets on them and send them to jail or whatever, or bring them to the session.
Now, before they were found, a bulletin was posted on the Texas Department of Public Safety Web site, sort of an amber alert, I guess, if you will, asking citizens to help them in locating the legislature. The lawmakers are refusing to leave Oklahoma. they're at a Holiday Inn there mostly, hoping to effectively kill the legislation which must be voted on by Thursday in order to pass the session.

Joining me now to talk about this political showdown, entertaining as it is, there is a serious undertone to it, is Ken Herman with the "Austin American Statesman" newspaper.

Good to have you with us, Ken.

KEN HERMAN, "AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN": Good to be here. And don't overlook the entertainment value of this.

O'BRIEN: Yes, well, let's talk about the entertainment value about this. Is it a stunt, is it a prank, is this for real?

HERMAN: Well, it's for real. And for the Democrats, they have found out something that I'm sure is very unsettling to them, that the fact is, they are more powerful when they are gone then when they are here at the capitol. And they have succeeded in bringing the Texas house of representatives, and thereby, the legislature, to a halt.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of a backhanded compliment. You leave town and suddenly you've got clout.

HERMAN: And suddenly people are looking for, lawmakers are looking for you, law enforcement is looking for you, reporters are looking for you. They've made themselves feel very wanted.

O'BRIEN: All right, you got to show the deck of cards here. Of course, I guess this is going to be used, and reused and modified for many years to come. The missing legislator. And it just so happens, 50-some odd of them. And maybe some would say odd is the right way to describe this story. I've heard them called "the filthy 50," "the killer D's" -- you'll have to explain where that comes from -- or "collectively Waldo," as in "Where's Waldo?"

HERMAN: Yes, it's been fodder for a lot of material here. Killer D's stems from a somewhat similar incident in 1979 when some Democratic senators hid away in a small apartment here in Austin, and they were knows as the "Killer D's."

In addition to the deck of cards, last night we had milk cartons showing up on the House with some pictures of the missing legislatures.

O'BRIEN: All right, and we should point out, there is a provision in Texas law, which states that if a member of the legislature doesn't show up, the rangers can come and get you, and arrest you and bring you to this chamber seen here, right?

HERMAN: Absolutely. The technical phrase is a call was put on the House. Two things happen: everyone in the chamber must remain in the chamber until it's over. So theoretically, the ones who are here, largely the Republicans, were supposed to spend all night here, though they kind of relaxed the rules. One of the members came to me while this was going on yesterday and asked me if the rules allowed for conjugal visits. We're still researching that.

And the ones who are gone are indeed subject to under arrest, and being brought back to the hours. We actually had one democrat who was here in town and planning to show up this morning. She came out of her apartment, and indeed, law enforcement arrested her, for want of a better phrase, and she was escorted to the capital and taken to the chamber to participate. They still, however, five votes short of a quorum, so really, there's a whole lot of nothing going on behind me at the capital.

O'BRIEN: All right, I mean, let's face it, redistricting if you want to call it that, gerrymandering, if you're on the other side of it, whatever you may call it, it's all part of American politics. Are they overreacting a little bit to this? Is this really that much worse than any previous attempts to redistrict?

HERMAN: We have an extraordinary situation here. And again, this is classic eye of the beholder stuff as to who's the good guys and who's the bad. In 2001, after the census, like all legislatures, the Texas legislatures was supposed to redraw congressional boundaries, a crucial task. At that point, the Democrats still had a majority in the Texas house. The Republicans knew, however, that this year, which is the next time they met, they would have a majority and they could do whatever they wanted. So nothing was done in 2001. They refused to approve a redistricting bill. It went to the courts. The courts drew a map. The map still gives the Democrats a 17-15 majority in the Texas congressional delegation. This is a state where there's not a single Democrat in statewide office. Both chambers are controlled by the Republicans. There's little doubt this is a Republican state.

Republicans now say we're just doing the people's will, this is a Republican state, we should have a Republican majority in Congress. The Democrats say no, we have a court-ordered plan, it's legal, we know it's legal, it was drawn by a court, why are you tinkering with it? It is pure power politics at its finest, and if you don't enjoy this kind of fight, you don't enjoy politics.

O'BRIEN: I should say so. Final thought from you, is it likely the Democrats will succeed in their efforts here?

HERMAN: The Democrats were still at the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, and dined at Denny's last night. They are facing the ultimate challenge, and I'm not sure it's ever been accomplished. For them to succeed, what has to happen, unprecedented maybe in American history, is for about three more days, 53 Democrats have to remain unified. Once again, I'm not sure it's ever happened.

O'BRIEN: That would be in the history books if they succeed at that, let's hope they all get a Grand Slam Breakfast at that Denny's. Ken Herman, with "The Austin American Statesman" newspaper, thanks very much for shedding light on Texas politics, and it puts new meaning on the term "hardball" there, don't they?

HERMAN: We enjoy entertaining the rest of the nation whenever we can.

O'BRIEN: We appreciate it. 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 May 13, 2003 - 13:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess you could call it the case of the disappearing lawmakers. More than 50 house Democrats are no-shows at the Texas legislature in Austin. They skipped town to avoid a scheduled vote on redrawing the state's Congressional districts in a way that would favor the GOP. Turns out, they're hiding out in Ardmore, Oklahoma, just over the border. Texas rangers tracked them down yesterday, but there were jurisdictional issues, and so they didn't put the bracelets on them and send them to jail or whatever, or bring them to the session.
Now, before they were found, a bulletin was posted on the Texas Department of Public Safety Web site, sort of an amber alert, I guess, if you will, asking citizens to help them in locating the legislature. The lawmakers are refusing to leave Oklahoma. they're at a Holiday Inn there mostly, hoping to effectively kill the legislation which must be voted on by Thursday in order to pass the session.

Joining me now to talk about this political showdown, entertaining as it is, there is a serious undertone to it, is Ken Herman with the "Austin American Statesman" newspaper.

Good to have you with us, Ken.

KEN HERMAN, "AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN": Good to be here. And don't overlook the entertainment value of this.

O'BRIEN: Yes, well, let's talk about the entertainment value about this. Is it a stunt, is it a prank, is this for real?

HERMAN: Well, it's for real. And for the Democrats, they have found out something that I'm sure is very unsettling to them, that the fact is, they are more powerful when they are gone then when they are here at the capitol. And they have succeeded in bringing the Texas house of representatives, and thereby, the legislature, to a halt.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of a backhanded compliment. You leave town and suddenly you've got clout.

HERMAN: And suddenly people are looking for, lawmakers are looking for you, law enforcement is looking for you, reporters are looking for you. They've made themselves feel very wanted.

O'BRIEN: All right, you got to show the deck of cards here. Of course, I guess this is going to be used, and reused and modified for many years to come. The missing legislator. And it just so happens, 50-some odd of them. And maybe some would say odd is the right way to describe this story. I've heard them called "the filthy 50," "the killer D's" -- you'll have to explain where that comes from -- or "collectively Waldo," as in "Where's Waldo?"

HERMAN: Yes, it's been fodder for a lot of material here. Killer D's stems from a somewhat similar incident in 1979 when some Democratic senators hid away in a small apartment here in Austin, and they were knows as the "Killer D's."

In addition to the deck of cards, last night we had milk cartons showing up on the House with some pictures of the missing legislatures.

O'BRIEN: All right, and we should point out, there is a provision in Texas law, which states that if a member of the legislature doesn't show up, the rangers can come and get you, and arrest you and bring you to this chamber seen here, right?

HERMAN: Absolutely. The technical phrase is a call was put on the House. Two things happen: everyone in the chamber must remain in the chamber until it's over. So theoretically, the ones who are here, largely the Republicans, were supposed to spend all night here, though they kind of relaxed the rules. One of the members came to me while this was going on yesterday and asked me if the rules allowed for conjugal visits. We're still researching that.

And the ones who are gone are indeed subject to under arrest, and being brought back to the hours. We actually had one democrat who was here in town and planning to show up this morning. She came out of her apartment, and indeed, law enforcement arrested her, for want of a better phrase, and she was escorted to the capital and taken to the chamber to participate. They still, however, five votes short of a quorum, so really, there's a whole lot of nothing going on behind me at the capital.

O'BRIEN: All right, I mean, let's face it, redistricting if you want to call it that, gerrymandering, if you're on the other side of it, whatever you may call it, it's all part of American politics. Are they overreacting a little bit to this? Is this really that much worse than any previous attempts to redistrict?

HERMAN: We have an extraordinary situation here. And again, this is classic eye of the beholder stuff as to who's the good guys and who's the bad. In 2001, after the census, like all legislatures, the Texas legislatures was supposed to redraw congressional boundaries, a crucial task. At that point, the Democrats still had a majority in the Texas house. The Republicans knew, however, that this year, which is the next time they met, they would have a majority and they could do whatever they wanted. So nothing was done in 2001. They refused to approve a redistricting bill. It went to the courts. The courts drew a map. The map still gives the Democrats a 17-15 majority in the Texas congressional delegation. This is a state where there's not a single Democrat in statewide office. Both chambers are controlled by the Republicans. There's little doubt this is a Republican state.

Republicans now say we're just doing the people's will, this is a Republican state, we should have a Republican majority in Congress. The Democrats say no, we have a court-ordered plan, it's legal, we know it's legal, it was drawn by a court, why are you tinkering with it? It is pure power politics at its finest, and if you don't enjoy this kind of fight, you don't enjoy politics.

O'BRIEN: I should say so. Final thought from you, is it likely the Democrats will succeed in their efforts here?

HERMAN: The Democrats were still at the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, and dined at Denny's last night. They are facing the ultimate challenge, and I'm not sure it's ever been accomplished. For them to succeed, what has to happen, unprecedented maybe in American history, is for about three more days, 53 Democrats have to remain unified. Once again, I'm not sure it's ever happened.

O'BRIEN: That would be in the history books if they succeed at that, let's hope they all get a Grand Slam Breakfast at that Denny's. Ken Herman, with "The Austin American Statesman" newspaper, thanks very much for shedding light on Texas politics, and it puts new meaning on the term "hardball" there, don't they?

HERMAN: We enjoy entertaining the rest of the nation whenever we can.

O'BRIEN: We appreciate it. 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