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American Morning
Al Gore Puts End to Speculation
Aired December 16, 2002 - 08:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get to Washington quickly right now. Al Gore has put an end to any speculation about him running for the White House in 2004. So, then, what does it mean for the party and what does it mean, 22 months away, for the other candidates, the potential candidates, we should say?
Jonathan Karl watching things in Washington, where this is keeping the city moving, isn't it -- Jonathan?
Good morning to you.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've got a lot keeping this city moving lately. Basically what this does, Bill, is it obviously makes a wide open Democratic field. The Democratic primary, the battle for the Democratic nomination for president was going to be all about Al Gore. It was going to be whether or not Al Gore deserves another chance.
Now, with him gone, you have no clear leader and one person is especially happy about all of this, and that's Joe Lieberman. Joe Lieberman's put out a statement this morning, actually, just a few minutes ago, talking about how he is, you know, praising Al Gore, thinks he's a wonderful man, great leader. And, as for Lieberman's own plans, he plans to take a look at, over the holidays, whether or not he will run for president.
Lieberman has told us in the past that he is extremely likely at least to seriously consider a run if Al Gore were to drop out. He's out. Lieberman may be, may well be, and we'll find out soon.
As for the other likely candidates, this, again, was going to be a battle about Al Gore. They were preparing to rip Al Gore apart as the leading candidate for president for the Democratic nomination. Now they've started to put out statements, fawning statements, talking about what a great leader he is. For example, I have statements from John Kerry that came out yesterday talking about his enormous gratitude for Al Gore's exemplary public service. Dick Gephardt, another potential candidate, likely candidate, called Al Gore one of the most decent public servants he has ever known and praised him for his trail blazing work.
You can expect more statements like this as the battle to beat Al Gore now, in part, becomes the battle to win Al Gore's endorsement in the Democratic primary process -- Bill.
HEMMER: So true. It all comes full circle.
Thank you, Jonathan.
Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill.
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 December 16, 2002 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get to Washington quickly right now. Al Gore has put an end to any speculation about him running for the White House in 2004. So, then, what does it mean for the party and what does it mean, 22 months away, for the other candidates, the potential candidates, we should say?
Jonathan Karl watching things in Washington, where this is keeping the city moving, isn't it -- Jonathan?
Good morning to you.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've got a lot keeping this city moving lately. Basically what this does, Bill, is it obviously makes a wide open Democratic field. The Democratic primary, the battle for the Democratic nomination for president was going to be all about Al Gore. It was going to be whether or not Al Gore deserves another chance.
Now, with him gone, you have no clear leader and one person is especially happy about all of this, and that's Joe Lieberman. Joe Lieberman's put out a statement this morning, actually, just a few minutes ago, talking about how he is, you know, praising Al Gore, thinks he's a wonderful man, great leader. And, as for Lieberman's own plans, he plans to take a look at, over the holidays, whether or not he will run for president.
Lieberman has told us in the past that he is extremely likely at least to seriously consider a run if Al Gore were to drop out. He's out. Lieberman may be, may well be, and we'll find out soon.
As for the other likely candidates, this, again, was going to be a battle about Al Gore. They were preparing to rip Al Gore apart as the leading candidate for president for the Democratic nomination. Now they've started to put out statements, fawning statements, talking about what a great leader he is. For example, I have statements from John Kerry that came out yesterday talking about his enormous gratitude for Al Gore's exemplary public service. Dick Gephardt, another potential candidate, likely candidate, called Al Gore one of the most decent public servants he has ever known and praised him for his trail blazing work.
You can expect more statements like this as the battle to beat Al Gore now, in part, becomes the battle to win Al Gore's endorsement in the Democratic primary process -- Bill.
HEMMER: So true. It all comes full circle.
Thank you, Jonathan.
Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
