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CNN Live Today

Interview With Dick Rosengarten

Aired August 06, 2003 - 10:48   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The king of tabloid television will unveil his political plans a few hours from now. Jerry Springer will hold a news conference this afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. Springer was once mayor of Cincinnati. He has spent the last seven months gauging voter support for a possible run for the U.S. Senate. He will be on CNN's "CROSSFIRE" today at 4:30 Eastern to talk about his decision.
Well while Jerry Springer is an interesting side show in Ohio, California is the place that is full of high drama. At issue, whether voters will recall Governor Gray Davis. And then if they do, who gets his job? Believe it or not, "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt is a real possibility.

Our guest this morning is Dick Rosengarten of "The California Political Week." He can explain this entire spectacle in three minutes. That's your challenge, Dick. Good morning.

DICK ROSENGARTEN, "CALIFORNIA POLITICAL WEEK": Good morning to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's talk about what might happen tonight. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going on "The Tonight Show" and he's going announce after a lot of speculation will or won't he.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSENGARTEN: And the guessing that is he won't run. And the story that we were hearing last night id that Arnold may drag a special surprise guest with him and that would be former L.A. Mayor Dick Riordan.

KAGAN: Oh really?

ROSENGARTEN: Yes, that's what we were hearing last night, but I don't know if that's true or not.

But this morning in a couple hours, you know, Arianna Huffington is going to make an announcement one way or another. And I suppose I'll take off my coat and tie and trips on down there to see what she has to say along with everybody else.

KAGAN: You sound so excited about that, Dick.

ROSENGARTEN: Well, you know, Arianna's a very bright and articulate woman. I've been on some other shows with here locally here and whatnot. And, look, there was a poll that was taken out of Sacramento that's probably going to be leaked today, and it shows her in second place, behind former Mayor of L.A. Riordan with about 13 percent. Riordan's at about 34, the others are much further down.

KAGAN: Well here's the thing, Dick. I mean Arianna's a very colorful woman, very interesting. But when you have other people in the race, and there could be as many as 200 people who are going to enter...

ROSENGARTEN: No, actually it's closer to 300.

KAGAN: Three hundred, OK. But let's look at some of these of the specific characters. First of all, Angelyn, a woman more known for her billboards along Sunset Boulevard than she is her political experience.

ROSENGARTEN: Yes, I mean absolutely. I mean this is the danger of the recall proponents is that, you know, you start to get people in there who are jokes. And it makes the whole recall look like it's nothing but a farce. And that's not good news for them. That certainly isn't.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: ... Georgy. This is a woman, she's giving out thong underwear as her campaign button...

(CROSSTALK)

ROSENGARTEN: It just becomes a zoo. I mean you know what they say about politics. It's show business for ugly people. So you know, this whole crowd -- but I mean I take it very seriously.

KAGAN: Of course you do.

ROSENGARTEN: And I think most people who, you know, regular reporters take it very seriously. I know this is entertainment and it's very visual for cable news and whatnot.

But it is very serious business, and what we're talking about here is booting out a governor who was just reelected nine months ago.

KAGAN: Right. And on a serious note I think heard on NPR one of his reporters citing some statistics that actually I thought was very interesting. The way it is set up now -- and I guess this is the crux of his court fight, which we'll get to in a minute.

But the way it's set up now, when the voters go into the booth, 49 percent of the voters in California can say they want to keep Gray Davis but he needs a majority. So that wouldn't be enough. That would kick it to the next part of the ballot in which somebody who gets 6 percent of the vote could become governor of California the way it is set up at the current time.

ROSENGARTEN: Yes, that's right. The Part One and Part Two and that's why he's going to court. I mean it does seem like it's unfair that Davis himself can't even be on the second part of the ballot. But that's the way it is right now and unless the California supreme court changes things, that's the way it's going to remain.

And I do have to say this: I mean, I think, while that is a very good challenge, I think the more serious challenge is that there really isn't enough time for these 58 county registrars to get ready for an October 7 election. I mean you're not going to have the same number of polling places that you would have in a November or a March election. People aren't going to know where to go. There might be voting rights violations.

That's a more serious allegation in terms of trying to postpone this thing.

KAGAN: Well, we'll be watching...

ROSENGARTEN: And I think they would do even better if they did it in either November or in March when there's a regularly scheduled election.

KAGAN: And March 2, that's when the California Democratic Primary would be and of course that's what Gray Davis is pushing for.

Dick, we're going to have you back as this thing unfolds because as you said there is a lot of color with it, a lot of color, but a lot of serious political implications as well for the people of California.

ROSENGARTEN: Oh yes, absolutely. Good talking to you again, Daryn.

KAGAN: Always great to have you here, Dick. Thank you so much.

ROSENGARTEN: OK, thanks.

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 August 6, 2003 - 10:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The king of tabloid television will unveil his political plans a few hours from now. Jerry Springer will hold a news conference this afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. Springer was once mayor of Cincinnati. He has spent the last seven months gauging voter support for a possible run for the U.S. Senate. He will be on CNN's "CROSSFIRE" today at 4:30 Eastern to talk about his decision.
Well while Jerry Springer is an interesting side show in Ohio, California is the place that is full of high drama. At issue, whether voters will recall Governor Gray Davis. And then if they do, who gets his job? Believe it or not, "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt is a real possibility.

Our guest this morning is Dick Rosengarten of "The California Political Week." He can explain this entire spectacle in three minutes. That's your challenge, Dick. Good morning.

DICK ROSENGARTEN, "CALIFORNIA POLITICAL WEEK": Good morning to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's talk about what might happen tonight. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going on "The Tonight Show" and he's going announce after a lot of speculation will or won't he.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSENGARTEN: And the guessing that is he won't run. And the story that we were hearing last night id that Arnold may drag a special surprise guest with him and that would be former L.A. Mayor Dick Riordan.

KAGAN: Oh really?

ROSENGARTEN: Yes, that's what we were hearing last night, but I don't know if that's true or not.

But this morning in a couple hours, you know, Arianna Huffington is going to make an announcement one way or another. And I suppose I'll take off my coat and tie and trips on down there to see what she has to say along with everybody else.

KAGAN: You sound so excited about that, Dick.

ROSENGARTEN: Well, you know, Arianna's a very bright and articulate woman. I've been on some other shows with here locally here and whatnot. And, look, there was a poll that was taken out of Sacramento that's probably going to be leaked today, and it shows her in second place, behind former Mayor of L.A. Riordan with about 13 percent. Riordan's at about 34, the others are much further down.

KAGAN: Well here's the thing, Dick. I mean Arianna's a very colorful woman, very interesting. But when you have other people in the race, and there could be as many as 200 people who are going to enter...

ROSENGARTEN: No, actually it's closer to 300.

KAGAN: Three hundred, OK. But let's look at some of these of the specific characters. First of all, Angelyn, a woman more known for her billboards along Sunset Boulevard than she is her political experience.

ROSENGARTEN: Yes, I mean absolutely. I mean this is the danger of the recall proponents is that, you know, you start to get people in there who are jokes. And it makes the whole recall look like it's nothing but a farce. And that's not good news for them. That certainly isn't.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: ... Georgy. This is a woman, she's giving out thong underwear as her campaign button...

(CROSSTALK)

ROSENGARTEN: It just becomes a zoo. I mean you know what they say about politics. It's show business for ugly people. So you know, this whole crowd -- but I mean I take it very seriously.

KAGAN: Of course you do.

ROSENGARTEN: And I think most people who, you know, regular reporters take it very seriously. I know this is entertainment and it's very visual for cable news and whatnot.

But it is very serious business, and what we're talking about here is booting out a governor who was just reelected nine months ago.

KAGAN: Right. And on a serious note I think heard on NPR one of his reporters citing some statistics that actually I thought was very interesting. The way it is set up now -- and I guess this is the crux of his court fight, which we'll get to in a minute.

But the way it's set up now, when the voters go into the booth, 49 percent of the voters in California can say they want to keep Gray Davis but he needs a majority. So that wouldn't be enough. That would kick it to the next part of the ballot in which somebody who gets 6 percent of the vote could become governor of California the way it is set up at the current time.

ROSENGARTEN: Yes, that's right. The Part One and Part Two and that's why he's going to court. I mean it does seem like it's unfair that Davis himself can't even be on the second part of the ballot. But that's the way it is right now and unless the California supreme court changes things, that's the way it's going to remain.

And I do have to say this: I mean, I think, while that is a very good challenge, I think the more serious challenge is that there really isn't enough time for these 58 county registrars to get ready for an October 7 election. I mean you're not going to have the same number of polling places that you would have in a November or a March election. People aren't going to know where to go. There might be voting rights violations.

That's a more serious allegation in terms of trying to postpone this thing.

KAGAN: Well, we'll be watching...

ROSENGARTEN: And I think they would do even better if they did it in either November or in March when there's a regularly scheduled election.

KAGAN: And March 2, that's when the California Democratic Primary would be and of course that's what Gray Davis is pushing for.

Dick, we're going to have you back as this thing unfolds because as you said there is a lot of color with it, a lot of color, but a lot of serious political implications as well for the people of California.

ROSENGARTEN: Oh yes, absolutely. Good talking to you again, Daryn.

KAGAN: Always great to have you here, Dick. Thank you so much.

ROSENGARTEN: OK, thanks.

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