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American Morning

Senator Jesse Helms Not to Seek Another Term

Aired August 22, 2001 - 09:12   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: An icon of conservative politics is getting ready to call it quits. North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms is expected to announce tonight that he won't run for reelection.

CNN congressional correspondent Kate Snow joins us now from Capitol Hill. And she's got the details -- Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Leon, the announcement coming at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time tonight on a station in North Carolina, a TV station where he used to work at one time.

There's been a lot of speculation about Jesse Helms and the fact that he probably wouldn't seek a sixth term. He is, after all, 79 years old. He is suffering from a series of health problems now. He was first elected to the Senate back in 1972. So he has served now for almost 30 years. And for much of that time, he served on the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate. He chaired it from 1995 until just recently, when the Democrats took over the Senate.

Helms has a reputation beyond Washington, D.C. His hometown paper early on gave him the nickname of "Senator No." He is known for being firmly conservative and being strong on his positions. Now, critics call him an obstructionist. In fact, he also been called a racist. He's been called an isolationist. But his supporters have a very different view of Jesse Helms. He is something of a hero to conservatives.

He is strongly anti-abortion. He is pro-school prayer. He fought for cuts to arts funding when he thought that the art was objectionable, as in the case of Robert Mapplethorpe. He also is a staunch anti-communist and author of the bill the Helms-Burton Bill, which codified the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Now, Helms's departure in North Carolina will create a big opening down there -- already speculation and talk about who would try to replace Jesse Helms. One of the four Republicans who are talked about is Elizabeth Dole, who, of course, is the former president of the American Red Cross and also the wife of the former presidential candidate. She has acknowledged that she is considering getting into this race.

And there is certainly an effort under way in North Carolina to try to recruit her -- in fact, some political consultants telling CNN that they would like to see everyone else drop out if she in fact decides to run for the race.

And one final note, Leon, on a sort of personal note: Jesse Helms often talks about Elizabeth Dole. In fact, he says he takes credit for introducing -- or helping to introduce Elizabeth Dole to her husband Bob -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: Aha. And you've got to think that his endorsement of her is going to go a long way in that state, too.

SNOW: That is probably true.

HARRIS: All right, Kate Snow, thank you very much. We will talk with you later on.

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