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American Morning

Bush Distances From Lott Controversy

Aired December 16, 2002 - 09:32   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning to the growing political problems facing Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. With an ambitious agenda plan, President Bush has a lot at stake here. Any cloud over the Republican leader could seriously undermine all the initiatives White House hopes to roll out this January.
Let's turn to John King for the very latest on the White House perspective on all of this. He joins us from the lawn.

Good morning.

JOHN KING, SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT : Good morning to you, Paula. White House aides are being told by senior officials here to stay away from this one, let Senate Republicans sort it out. But you are absolutely right, behind the scenes here, there is a great deal of anxiety that the controversy over Senator Lott is not only hurting just Senator Lott, but the entire Republican Party and perhaps the fate of the president's agenda.

The official line here at the White House is that the president still believes there is no reason for Senator Lott to step aside as the Senate Republican and soon to be Senate Majority Leader. But behind the scenes here, some officials privately say they do not like the way Lott has handled this. And with now growing calls for a new leadership vote, the White House is acknowledging there is a distinct possibility that somebody else could be leading the Senate Republicans when the Congress does convene in January.

White House officials say they are being told not to get involved in the speculation. Some senior officials here, though, saying that if there is a new Senate Republican leader, the preference here would probably be Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee. He led the Republican campaign committee for the Senate in the last election, very close relations here with the White House, a fresh face, an emphasis on health care issues, he is a heart surgeon. He would probably be the White House favorite, but, again, some officials say, that other officials say they are under strict orders not to get into the handicapping of this, if you will.

Other candidates could be Don Nickles, who called yesterday for a new leadership vote. He said Senator Lott has been weakened by all this. And Senator Lott's two deputies right now are Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. They could be possibilities as well, although Senators McConnell and Santorum are leading the charge, saying Senator Lott has apologized and he should be forgiven. Senator Lott obviously goes on Black Entertainment Television tonight, yet another chance for him to try to put this behind him. But it is now inevitable that there will be a meeting of the 51 Senate Republicans to decide Senator Lott's fate. If at that meeting five senators demand a vote, then Senator Lott could see his leadership position slip away.

ZAHN: John, very quickly here, while the White House is being told stay as far away as possible, what really is, you're describing going on behind the scenes? How much contact is there between the Bush administration and lets say the three top leaders in the Republican party?

KING: Well, we know Senator Don Nickles when he decided to call for a new leadership vote, he called Karl Rove, the president's top adviser, Saturday night, and told him he was going to do that. There are no indications at all that he was encouraged to do that by the White House, some officials say quite to the contrary, but certainly the White House did not lay down the law, if you will, and they to block Senator Nickles from doing that.

What we're told here at the White House is that this is a decision for the Senate to make, but we also are being told that the White House will not mount a campaign to protect Senator Lott or to help Senator Lott. One sign of that is late last week, Senator Lott asked for help from Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell, the two most prominent African-Americans in this administration, They both refused to issue statements on his behalf, one sign here that the White House might have to accept Senator Lott as the leader in January if he survives, but they are not going to rush his defense.

ZAHN: All right, John, thanks so much. Appreciate that live report from the White House this morning.

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 - 09:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning to the growing political problems facing Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. With an ambitious agenda plan, President Bush has a lot at stake here. Any cloud over the Republican leader could seriously undermine all the initiatives White House hopes to roll out this January.
Let's turn to John King for the very latest on the White House perspective on all of this. He joins us from the lawn.

Good morning.

JOHN KING, SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT : Good morning to you, Paula. White House aides are being told by senior officials here to stay away from this one, let Senate Republicans sort it out. But you are absolutely right, behind the scenes here, there is a great deal of anxiety that the controversy over Senator Lott is not only hurting just Senator Lott, but the entire Republican Party and perhaps the fate of the president's agenda.

The official line here at the White House is that the president still believes there is no reason for Senator Lott to step aside as the Senate Republican and soon to be Senate Majority Leader. But behind the scenes here, some officials privately say they do not like the way Lott has handled this. And with now growing calls for a new leadership vote, the White House is acknowledging there is a distinct possibility that somebody else could be leading the Senate Republicans when the Congress does convene in January.

White House officials say they are being told not to get involved in the speculation. Some senior officials here, though, saying that if there is a new Senate Republican leader, the preference here would probably be Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee. He led the Republican campaign committee for the Senate in the last election, very close relations here with the White House, a fresh face, an emphasis on health care issues, he is a heart surgeon. He would probably be the White House favorite, but, again, some officials say, that other officials say they are under strict orders not to get into the handicapping of this, if you will.

Other candidates could be Don Nickles, who called yesterday for a new leadership vote. He said Senator Lott has been weakened by all this. And Senator Lott's two deputies right now are Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. They could be possibilities as well, although Senators McConnell and Santorum are leading the charge, saying Senator Lott has apologized and he should be forgiven. Senator Lott obviously goes on Black Entertainment Television tonight, yet another chance for him to try to put this behind him. But it is now inevitable that there will be a meeting of the 51 Senate Republicans to decide Senator Lott's fate. If at that meeting five senators demand a vote, then Senator Lott could see his leadership position slip away.

ZAHN: John, very quickly here, while the White House is being told stay as far away as possible, what really is, you're describing going on behind the scenes? How much contact is there between the Bush administration and lets say the three top leaders in the Republican party?

KING: Well, we know Senator Don Nickles when he decided to call for a new leadership vote, he called Karl Rove, the president's top adviser, Saturday night, and told him he was going to do that. There are no indications at all that he was encouraged to do that by the White House, some officials say quite to the contrary, but certainly the White House did not lay down the law, if you will, and they to block Senator Nickles from doing that.

What we're told here at the White House is that this is a decision for the Senate to make, but we also are being told that the White House will not mount a campaign to protect Senator Lott or to help Senator Lott. One sign of that is late last week, Senator Lott asked for help from Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell, the two most prominent African-Americans in this administration, They both refused to issue statements on his behalf, one sign here that the White House might have to accept Senator Lott as the leader in January if he survives, but they are not going to rush his defense.

ZAHN: All right, John, thanks so much. Appreciate that live report from the White House this morning.

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