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American Morning
Fresh GOP Face
Aired December 23, 2002 - 07:03 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now more on our top story, a change at the top for the Senate Republicans. Bill Frist of Tennessee is expected to be voted in today as majority leader, replacing Trent Lott.
National correspondent Bruce Morton joins us live from Capitol Hill with a preview.
Good morning -- Bruce.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
The Senate makes a little history today. In its 200 plus years of existence, this will be the first time it has ever elected a majority leader on the telephone. That's because it's in the Christmas recess, of course. Senators are scattered around the country in their home states.
So, the Republicans are all going to get together and elect Mr. Frist, who has no known opposition. He may not have been everybody's first choice, but nobody has spoken out against him.
This all started, of course, 18 days ago when the former majority leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, said some things at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party which sounded like an endorsement of segregation. Lott's fortunes rose and fell.
And talking to the Associated Press yesterday, he seemed to imply that there was something of a conspiracy here in Washington to get him. Here's what he said: "There are some people in Washington who have been trying to nail me for a long time. When you're from Mississippi and you're a conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that don't like that. I fell into their trap, and so I have only myself to blame."
Later in the day, Lott spoke for cameras.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I regret anybody that, you know, felt like they should take advantage of the opportunity to be critical of innocent people in my state, and but there again, I'm not going to dwell on any kind of positive (ph). I'm going to try to find a way to move this in a positive direction. Do I -- you know, do I have hurt feelings? Yes. But to whom shall I ascribe them to but myself in the end?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: So, now the torch has passed to a new generation. Bill Frist, a surgeon from Tennessee, got very good marks from his colleagues, because he was chairman of the Senate Campaign Committee in the last election cycle, and the Republicans, of course, won the Senate.
How will he do as majority leader? He's a good spokesman, people like him. You can hear a couple of concerns. One, that he may be more President Bush's man than the Senate's. And the other, how good is he at the extremely complicated labyrinth and snaky rules by which the Senate is governed? Any one senator can block anything, it takes 60 votes to pass most bills and so on. He come to look back at those complicated heart transplants he used to do as the good, old days -- Paula.
ZAHN: Well, Bruce, a lot has been made of what he was able to do as a surgeon. I guess he is a guy that routinely, you know, sends off e-mails at 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning. I guess he gets by with no sleep at all. So, everybody, you know, admires his stamina. And yet, you have colleagues like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison saying that he comes to this job with less experience legislatively than any other majority leader in history. What kind of a learning curve does he face?
MORTON: It's very hard. She's quite right about that, of course. You know, Bob Dole was in the Senate for a long time before he became leader; so was Trent Lott. Howard Baker, an old Republican leader, once said trying to get legislation through the Senate was like trying to push a wet noodle.
And the rules are bent (ph) so that it's hard to get things get done. The people who wrote the Constitution wanted this to be a place where legislation could come to a stop, there would be deliberation, there would be thought. Boy, did they do a good job.
ZAHN: Bruce Morton, glad to have you with us on Capitol Hill for a change -- appreciate that live report.
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 23, 2002 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now more on our top story, a change at the top for the Senate Republicans. Bill Frist of Tennessee is expected to be voted in today as majority leader, replacing Trent Lott.
National correspondent Bruce Morton joins us live from Capitol Hill with a preview.
Good morning -- Bruce.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
The Senate makes a little history today. In its 200 plus years of existence, this will be the first time it has ever elected a majority leader on the telephone. That's because it's in the Christmas recess, of course. Senators are scattered around the country in their home states.
So, the Republicans are all going to get together and elect Mr. Frist, who has no known opposition. He may not have been everybody's first choice, but nobody has spoken out against him.
This all started, of course, 18 days ago when the former majority leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, said some things at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party which sounded like an endorsement of segregation. Lott's fortunes rose and fell.
And talking to the Associated Press yesterday, he seemed to imply that there was something of a conspiracy here in Washington to get him. Here's what he said: "There are some people in Washington who have been trying to nail me for a long time. When you're from Mississippi and you're a conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that don't like that. I fell into their trap, and so I have only myself to blame."
Later in the day, Lott spoke for cameras.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I regret anybody that, you know, felt like they should take advantage of the opportunity to be critical of innocent people in my state, and but there again, I'm not going to dwell on any kind of positive (ph). I'm going to try to find a way to move this in a positive direction. Do I -- you know, do I have hurt feelings? Yes. But to whom shall I ascribe them to but myself in the end?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: So, now the torch has passed to a new generation. Bill Frist, a surgeon from Tennessee, got very good marks from his colleagues, because he was chairman of the Senate Campaign Committee in the last election cycle, and the Republicans, of course, won the Senate.
How will he do as majority leader? He's a good spokesman, people like him. You can hear a couple of concerns. One, that he may be more President Bush's man than the Senate's. And the other, how good is he at the extremely complicated labyrinth and snaky rules by which the Senate is governed? Any one senator can block anything, it takes 60 votes to pass most bills and so on. He come to look back at those complicated heart transplants he used to do as the good, old days -- Paula.
ZAHN: Well, Bruce, a lot has been made of what he was able to do as a surgeon. I guess he is a guy that routinely, you know, sends off e-mails at 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning. I guess he gets by with no sleep at all. So, everybody, you know, admires his stamina. And yet, you have colleagues like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison saying that he comes to this job with less experience legislatively than any other majority leader in history. What kind of a learning curve does he face?
MORTON: It's very hard. She's quite right about that, of course. You know, Bob Dole was in the Senate for a long time before he became leader; so was Trent Lott. Howard Baker, an old Republican leader, once said trying to get legislation through the Senate was like trying to push a wet noodle.
And the rules are bent (ph) so that it's hard to get things get done. The people who wrote the Constitution wanted this to be a place where legislation could come to a stop, there would be deliberation, there would be thought. Boy, did they do a good job.
ZAHN: Bruce Morton, glad to have you with us on Capitol Hill for a change -- appreciate that live report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
