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Arnold's Next Move
Aired September 04, 2003 - 15:01 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to work a crowd in Riverside, California, and try to pump up voter registration in the process. Along the way, grumbling about his absence from last night's recall debate may be echoing in his ears.
CNN's Frank Buckley is in Riverside.
Frank, what do we expect to see or hear from Schwarzenegger today?
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger expected to speak directly to this crowd here, a crowd of several hundred people.
And I'd like to give you a sense of what it looks like here. It really is the expected arrival of a movie star. That's exactly what they're expecting here, some of the people here supporting Arnold Schwarzenegger, many of the people here simply curious, expecting to hear Arnold Schwarzenegger and wanting to see him, wanting to get a picture of him. That's what we're seeing from a lot of the folks here.
I'd like to introduce you to a couple of people among those in the crowd here, two Democrats, in fact, who say that they still have an open mind and might consider voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger. We have Benida Robinson and Michael Dauber.
Benida, first to you.
You didn't vote for anyone in the governor's race last time around. Why did you come here? I noticed you had a camera here earlier. Why did you...
BENIDA ROBINSON, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I guess it has to do a little with the Hollywood factor, the star factor. But more so, I'm really interested to see what Arnold's got to say. I know Gray Davis has made quite a stir of things. And any good candidate is one worth coming down to see. So...
BUCKLEY: And, Michael, what about yourself? Why did you come?
MICHAEL DAUBER, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Well, first of all, I've had it with Davis. I've been affected by him personally. There were blackouts at the community colleges for several days.
I have an elderly aunt who was kicked out of a nursing home because of cuts to the state. And I hold Davis responsible. I'm here to see Arnold, because I believe that Arnold may have some solutions to some of these job issues and cuts. So I'm interested in that.
BUCKLEY: But we haven't heard -- and I'll direct this to both -- we variant any specific proposals, or very few, from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Does that bother you at all, when we're just over a month outside of Election Day?
DAUBER: I am bothered by it. I'm here to see if he's going to get to specifics. So that's what I'm here to listen for.
BUCKLEY: Benida, at what point do you want to hear specifics? And will you be able to vote for a person who doesn't give you some specific proposals?
ROBINSON: No, I don't have a problem not voting. I didn't vote in the last election race. And if I don't hear what I want to hear from Arnold today, I won't be voting for him.
BUCKLEY: All right, well, thank you very much to both of you.
One piece of news -- and I didn't mean to bury the lead here, Judy -- but we did just get some information from the campaign that the campaign for Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to reject a donation from the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. They say that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been saying all along that he'll not accept any money from unions, a spokesman telling me just a few moments ago that the money from the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs in the amount of $2,500 will be returned to the deputy sheriffs -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Frank Buckley at a noisy rally for Arnold Schwarzenegger there in riverside. And we're watching pictures, live pictures, of the actor as he makes his way through the crowd.
Interesting that his campaign would make public the fact of a relatively small donation, $2,500, from the deputy sheriffs, that they would make it public and say that they're not going to accept it. All right, Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing before this crowd in Riverside.
Well, two other recall candidates are face-to-face with voters as well today. In Sacramento this hour, Arianna Huffington has a rally on the steps of the state Capitol. And tonight, Governor Davis holds a town hall-style meeting in San Diego. It will be the third question-and-answer forum so far in his battle to save his job in the October 7 recall debate.
Well, the governor got a chance to defend himself during a solo performance at last night's debate. Then the top candidates for his job, minus Arnold Schwarzenegger, took on the issues and, at times, one another.
Here's a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: But I know the problems that we're dealing with pale in comparison to the problems of the people I represent. I've gotten their message. I know they're angry. This has been a humbling experience.
TOM MCCLINTOCK (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I am the one candidate who has taken the no-tax pledge.
PETER UEBERROTH (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, jobs are what's real stuff. That's how we pay the bills in Sacramento.
PETER CAMEJO, GREEN PARTY, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: A young couple goes out and buys a new home, they will be paying 20 times the rate of taxes that Warren Buffett pays as a billionaire. And I think Warren Buffett did us a service by pointing it out. And Arnold Schwarzenegger told him to shut up. I say, give the man a microphone.
LT. GOV. CRUZ BUSTAMANTE (D-CA), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm very, very proud, first of all, of the support that I've received from tribal governments.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (I), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This is nothing but legalized bribery. You have made a mockery of campaign finance laws.
BUSTAMANTE: Tell me how you really feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: Well, just a taste of last night's debate.
And two California reporters join us now to talk about what happened, Michael Finnegan of "The Los Angeles Times" and Beth Fouhy of the Associated Press.
Hello to both of you.
Beth, let me start with you.
Did last night's debate change the shape of this race?
BETH FOUHY, ASSOCIATED PRESS: I don't think it's really easy to say, Judy.
But what I will say is that it was a really great night for voters in California. Here you had this incredible two-hour, televised throughout the state, debate, very substantive, all about issues. You saw five candidates on one part of the debate, Governor Davis on the other, all of them talking about the issues that Californians care about. That's not something you generally see in politics and particularly not here in this state.
WOODRUFF: That's for sure.
Michael Finnegan, in your mind, did anything change, do you think, as a result of last night?
MICHAEL FINNEGAN, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": I don't know that anything changed.
I mean, the most remarkable thing, besides just the candid exchange on the issues between all the candidates, was the absence of Schwarzenegger, which kind of left an open question for a lot of voters in California, which is whether or not he's qualified for governor. He's sort of tried to shape his campaign on broad themes, like he's -- he would be a good leader for California. But whether he can make the transition from show business to government and politics, last night was an opportunity that he could have started to answer that question for a lot of people. But that kind of remains open.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: Go ahead.
FOUHY: I was going to say, it definitely helped the rest of the field, the five that were on the stage after Governor Davis, particularly the lesser-known candidates, Tom McClintock, Arianna Huffington. These are candidates, Peter Camejo, who have not really had a chance to break through because of all the hoopla around Schwarzenegger's candidacy.
But what we saw, especially with those excerpts that you just played before our interview segment, they were talking about issues. They sounded very credible. They sounded like they were very well versed in the problems of California. These people got a forum, which they previously haven't had in this race.
WOODRUFF: And, Michael, just a question on Arnold here. Has he been hurt by the perception that he really is under wraps and being kept away from tough questions?
FINNEGAN: Well, it's hard to say whether or not he's been hurt or not. But it's clear that it's something that is a significant part of the conversation at this point.
People talk about a lack of specific policy positions from Schwarzenegger and wanting to know more about how exactly he would govern California. That's become a significant part of the conversation about his candidacy.
WOODRUFF: And, Beth, from your perspective, how do you see -- how much longer can Schwarzenegger -- we know he's planning to participate in this debate on the 24th of September, the California Broadcasters. But beyond that, how much can he remain to sort of do his own events here?
FOUHY: Well, the campaign operatives with Schwarzenegger are very comfortable with how he's been doing lately. He's still doing well in all the recent polls. He thrives on the kind of events that he's doing today, these plunging into the crowds, these adoring crowds. He's very funny, very glib. They're comfortable with that right now.
And I think when they feel that he's ready to go out and tackle issues, they'll put him out there. The funny thing is, is, when he did his press conference a couple of weeks ago, he was very good. He was very smooth. So I think that we won't be shocked to see that he'll do just as well the next time we see him in a debate forum.
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEGAN: Yes.
I was going to say, a big part of his situation is basically risk, that the more he says and the more sort of exposure he has out there, as a candidate who is trying to stake ground in the political center, the more he says, the more he could lose support on the left or on the right.
WOODRUFF: Let me ask you both quickly, finally, about Governor Davis. How did he do last night and what shape is he in?
Michael and then Beth.
FINNEGAN: Well, he got an opportunity to sort of lay out his own point of view on this overall situation in a free forum that everybody could -- where he wouldn't have to pay for the advertising. So, in that sense, it was very good. And he was able to make his case as best he can.
WOODRUFF: Beth, did he help or hurt himself?
FOUHY: Well, he is, by all accounts, doing very well in these sort of town hall forums, where he's talking directly to voters.
He shows a side of himself that voters haven't seen, that he has empathy. And they feel like they're being heard. He's saying that he realizes now he wants to connect more with voters. And I think, should he beat this recall, we'll see him do more of this, going out and talking directly to voters.
WOODRUFF: All right, Beth Fouhy, Michael Finnegan, thanks to you both.
And I was not able to hear the end of Beth there. I hope we were able to restore the audio.
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 September 4, 2003 - 15:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to work a crowd in Riverside, California, and try to pump up voter registration in the process. Along the way, grumbling about his absence from last night's recall debate may be echoing in his ears.
CNN's Frank Buckley is in Riverside.
Frank, what do we expect to see or hear from Schwarzenegger today?
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger expected to speak directly to this crowd here, a crowd of several hundred people.
And I'd like to give you a sense of what it looks like here. It really is the expected arrival of a movie star. That's exactly what they're expecting here, some of the people here supporting Arnold Schwarzenegger, many of the people here simply curious, expecting to hear Arnold Schwarzenegger and wanting to see him, wanting to get a picture of him. That's what we're seeing from a lot of the folks here.
I'd like to introduce you to a couple of people among those in the crowd here, two Democrats, in fact, who say that they still have an open mind and might consider voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger. We have Benida Robinson and Michael Dauber.
Benida, first to you.
You didn't vote for anyone in the governor's race last time around. Why did you come here? I noticed you had a camera here earlier. Why did you...
BENIDA ROBINSON, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I guess it has to do a little with the Hollywood factor, the star factor. But more so, I'm really interested to see what Arnold's got to say. I know Gray Davis has made quite a stir of things. And any good candidate is one worth coming down to see. So...
BUCKLEY: And, Michael, what about yourself? Why did you come?
MICHAEL DAUBER, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Well, first of all, I've had it with Davis. I've been affected by him personally. There were blackouts at the community colleges for several days.
I have an elderly aunt who was kicked out of a nursing home because of cuts to the state. And I hold Davis responsible. I'm here to see Arnold, because I believe that Arnold may have some solutions to some of these job issues and cuts. So I'm interested in that.
BUCKLEY: But we haven't heard -- and I'll direct this to both -- we variant any specific proposals, or very few, from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Does that bother you at all, when we're just over a month outside of Election Day?
DAUBER: I am bothered by it. I'm here to see if he's going to get to specifics. So that's what I'm here to listen for.
BUCKLEY: Benida, at what point do you want to hear specifics? And will you be able to vote for a person who doesn't give you some specific proposals?
ROBINSON: No, I don't have a problem not voting. I didn't vote in the last election race. And if I don't hear what I want to hear from Arnold today, I won't be voting for him.
BUCKLEY: All right, well, thank you very much to both of you.
One piece of news -- and I didn't mean to bury the lead here, Judy -- but we did just get some information from the campaign that the campaign for Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to reject a donation from the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. They say that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been saying all along that he'll not accept any money from unions, a spokesman telling me just a few moments ago that the money from the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs in the amount of $2,500 will be returned to the deputy sheriffs -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Frank Buckley at a noisy rally for Arnold Schwarzenegger there in riverside. And we're watching pictures, live pictures, of the actor as he makes his way through the crowd.
Interesting that his campaign would make public the fact of a relatively small donation, $2,500, from the deputy sheriffs, that they would make it public and say that they're not going to accept it. All right, Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing before this crowd in Riverside.
Well, two other recall candidates are face-to-face with voters as well today. In Sacramento this hour, Arianna Huffington has a rally on the steps of the state Capitol. And tonight, Governor Davis holds a town hall-style meeting in San Diego. It will be the third question-and-answer forum so far in his battle to save his job in the October 7 recall debate.
Well, the governor got a chance to defend himself during a solo performance at last night's debate. Then the top candidates for his job, minus Arnold Schwarzenegger, took on the issues and, at times, one another.
Here's a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: But I know the problems that we're dealing with pale in comparison to the problems of the people I represent. I've gotten their message. I know they're angry. This has been a humbling experience.
TOM MCCLINTOCK (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I am the one candidate who has taken the no-tax pledge.
PETER UEBERROTH (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, jobs are what's real stuff. That's how we pay the bills in Sacramento.
PETER CAMEJO, GREEN PARTY, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: A young couple goes out and buys a new home, they will be paying 20 times the rate of taxes that Warren Buffett pays as a billionaire. And I think Warren Buffett did us a service by pointing it out. And Arnold Schwarzenegger told him to shut up. I say, give the man a microphone.
LT. GOV. CRUZ BUSTAMANTE (D-CA), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm very, very proud, first of all, of the support that I've received from tribal governments.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (I), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This is nothing but legalized bribery. You have made a mockery of campaign finance laws.
BUSTAMANTE: Tell me how you really feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: Well, just a taste of last night's debate.
And two California reporters join us now to talk about what happened, Michael Finnegan of "The Los Angeles Times" and Beth Fouhy of the Associated Press.
Hello to both of you.
Beth, let me start with you.
Did last night's debate change the shape of this race?
BETH FOUHY, ASSOCIATED PRESS: I don't think it's really easy to say, Judy.
But what I will say is that it was a really great night for voters in California. Here you had this incredible two-hour, televised throughout the state, debate, very substantive, all about issues. You saw five candidates on one part of the debate, Governor Davis on the other, all of them talking about the issues that Californians care about. That's not something you generally see in politics and particularly not here in this state.
WOODRUFF: That's for sure.
Michael Finnegan, in your mind, did anything change, do you think, as a result of last night?
MICHAEL FINNEGAN, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": I don't know that anything changed.
I mean, the most remarkable thing, besides just the candid exchange on the issues between all the candidates, was the absence of Schwarzenegger, which kind of left an open question for a lot of voters in California, which is whether or not he's qualified for governor. He's sort of tried to shape his campaign on broad themes, like he's -- he would be a good leader for California. But whether he can make the transition from show business to government and politics, last night was an opportunity that he could have started to answer that question for a lot of people. But that kind of remains open.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODRUFF: Go ahead.
FOUHY: I was going to say, it definitely helped the rest of the field, the five that were on the stage after Governor Davis, particularly the lesser-known candidates, Tom McClintock, Arianna Huffington. These are candidates, Peter Camejo, who have not really had a chance to break through because of all the hoopla around Schwarzenegger's candidacy.
But what we saw, especially with those excerpts that you just played before our interview segment, they were talking about issues. They sounded very credible. They sounded like they were very well versed in the problems of California. These people got a forum, which they previously haven't had in this race.
WOODRUFF: And, Michael, just a question on Arnold here. Has he been hurt by the perception that he really is under wraps and being kept away from tough questions?
FINNEGAN: Well, it's hard to say whether or not he's been hurt or not. But it's clear that it's something that is a significant part of the conversation at this point.
People talk about a lack of specific policy positions from Schwarzenegger and wanting to know more about how exactly he would govern California. That's become a significant part of the conversation about his candidacy.
WOODRUFF: And, Beth, from your perspective, how do you see -- how much longer can Schwarzenegger -- we know he's planning to participate in this debate on the 24th of September, the California Broadcasters. But beyond that, how much can he remain to sort of do his own events here?
FOUHY: Well, the campaign operatives with Schwarzenegger are very comfortable with how he's been doing lately. He's still doing well in all the recent polls. He thrives on the kind of events that he's doing today, these plunging into the crowds, these adoring crowds. He's very funny, very glib. They're comfortable with that right now.
And I think when they feel that he's ready to go out and tackle issues, they'll put him out there. The funny thing is, is, when he did his press conference a couple of weeks ago, he was very good. He was very smooth. So I think that we won't be shocked to see that he'll do just as well the next time we see him in a debate forum.
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEGAN: Yes.
I was going to say, a big part of his situation is basically risk, that the more he says and the more sort of exposure he has out there, as a candidate who is trying to stake ground in the political center, the more he says, the more he could lose support on the left or on the right.
WOODRUFF: Let me ask you both quickly, finally, about Governor Davis. How did he do last night and what shape is he in?
Michael and then Beth.
FINNEGAN: Well, he got an opportunity to sort of lay out his own point of view on this overall situation in a free forum that everybody could -- where he wouldn't have to pay for the advertising. So, in that sense, it was very good. And he was able to make his case as best he can.
WOODRUFF: Beth, did he help or hurt himself?
FOUHY: Well, he is, by all accounts, doing very well in these sort of town hall forums, where he's talking directly to voters.
He shows a side of himself that voters haven't seen, that he has empathy. And they feel like they're being heard. He's saying that he realizes now he wants to connect more with voters. And I think, should he beat this recall, we'll see him do more of this, going out and talking directly to voters.
WOODRUFF: All right, Beth Fouhy, Michael Finnegan, thanks to you both.
And I was not able to hear the end of Beth there. I hope we were able to restore the audio.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
