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American Morning
New Congress
Aired January 06, 2003 - 08:35 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: I want to get to Washington again right now. Congress back in session this week. Republicans are going to start the year with a new leader in the Senate.
Our Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill with a quick preview for us.
Good morning. Happy New Year to you.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
A lot of new faces in leadership here in the Congress. As a matter of fact, five of the top eight leadership positions in both Houses have new players occupying them.
Now, the most dramatic change is here in the Senate where Trent Lott is out, and Bill Frist is in. Senator Frist will have his first meeting with his leadership team today. They will discuss strategy on how to repair the damage caused by the Lott controversy and their number one agenda item, and that is the president's stimulus plan.
Now the early indications are the Democrats are not ready to play ball with the Republicans on economic stimulus.
Nancy Pelosi, the new Democratic leader in the House today will unveil the Democratic alternative to the president's plan, and that alternative will cost a fraction of what the president's plan will cost, about $125 billion, 1 percent of GDP. And Democrats on both sides of the Hill, Bill, have found virtually nothing to say positive about the president's plan and, of course, it hasn't even been officially unveiled yet. It will be unveiled tomorrow.
HEMMER: Jonathan, Paula and I are sitting here trying to count how many Democrats are lining up for the White House challenge in '04. We are putting seven on our list right now. Given that number, how will the Democrats then challenge the White House with so many wrestling right now for the frontrunning position?
KARL: Well, there are seven, and there are potentially more, and many of them are right here in the United States Senate. Look at those that look either like they are going to run or have already announced here in the Senate. You have got, of course, Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards. There are also Chris Dodd, Joe Biden potentially running, Bob Graham from Florida.
You potentially have seven United States senators, Democratic senators, running for president, including their leader here in the Senate. So, of course, seriously going to complicate Democratic efforts. I mean, Tom Daschle is going to have to find a way to lead the Democrats in the Senate and also talk about his own plans for running for president. He has not announced he will run yet, but, Bill, he's made it clear that he's leaning towards running. So it's going to be a very interesting time here in the Senate, to say the least.
HEMMER: No question about it. Thanks for solving our pop quiz this morning, too, Jonathan. Job well done. Jonathan Karl in D.C.
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 January 6, 2003 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get to Washington again right now. Congress back in session this week. Republicans are going to start the year with a new leader in the Senate.
Our Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl on Capitol Hill with a quick preview for us.
Good morning. Happy New Year to you.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
A lot of new faces in leadership here in the Congress. As a matter of fact, five of the top eight leadership positions in both Houses have new players occupying them.
Now, the most dramatic change is here in the Senate where Trent Lott is out, and Bill Frist is in. Senator Frist will have his first meeting with his leadership team today. They will discuss strategy on how to repair the damage caused by the Lott controversy and their number one agenda item, and that is the president's stimulus plan.
Now the early indications are the Democrats are not ready to play ball with the Republicans on economic stimulus.
Nancy Pelosi, the new Democratic leader in the House today will unveil the Democratic alternative to the president's plan, and that alternative will cost a fraction of what the president's plan will cost, about $125 billion, 1 percent of GDP. And Democrats on both sides of the Hill, Bill, have found virtually nothing to say positive about the president's plan and, of course, it hasn't even been officially unveiled yet. It will be unveiled tomorrow.
HEMMER: Jonathan, Paula and I are sitting here trying to count how many Democrats are lining up for the White House challenge in '04. We are putting seven on our list right now. Given that number, how will the Democrats then challenge the White House with so many wrestling right now for the frontrunning position?
KARL: Well, there are seven, and there are potentially more, and many of them are right here in the United States Senate. Look at those that look either like they are going to run or have already announced here in the Senate. You have got, of course, Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards. There are also Chris Dodd, Joe Biden potentially running, Bob Graham from Florida.
You potentially have seven United States senators, Democratic senators, running for president, including their leader here in the Senate. So, of course, seriously going to complicate Democratic efforts. I mean, Tom Daschle is going to have to find a way to lead the Democrats in the Senate and also talk about his own plans for running for president. He has not announced he will run yet, but, Bill, he's made it clear that he's leaning towards running. So it's going to be a very interesting time here in the Senate, to say the least.
HEMMER: No question about it. Thanks for solving our pop quiz this morning, too, Jonathan. Job well done. Jonathan Karl in D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
