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American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'
Aired April 25, 2003 - 07:43 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 start now with a panel of fast- talking pundits, have them sound off about the week's big stories, throw in a dash of sarcasm, a clock that gives them 60 seconds to be nothing but brilliant. What do you get? We're not sure either. But we called it "Gimme a Minute."
On the speed dial this morning in D.C., Jonah Goldberg, editor of the "National Review Online." Good to see you, Jonah -- good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIWE ONLINE": Hi, Bill.
HEMMER: Here in New York City, Jake Tapper, Salon.com. Good to see you again, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, SALON.COM: Hey, Bill.
HEMMER: And Andy Borowitz with "The New Yorker." His soon-to- be-published book is called "Who Moved my Soap? The CEO's guide to surviving in prison." How are you, man? Nice to see you all.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good to be here.
HEMMER: First up today -- I know Jake hasn't been on the show since January, I believe. Is that right, Jake?
TAPPER: That's correct.
HEMMER: All right, first up today: Iraq. Demonstrations this past week saying, America, thanks for our freedom, now get out of here.
How long should the U.S. stay, Jake?
TAPPER: Well, we shouldnt leave until the job is done. Unfortunately -- I don't mean to interrupt America in the midst of its ADD (ph), but in Afghanistan the job is still not done. There are not enough troops there, and the country is insecure. And it's essential, people are really watching with Iraq as opposed with Afghanistan, and we have to make sure that that country has the democracy that President Bush has promised them.
HEMMER: Yes, what about it, Jonah? How long is too long or enough?
GOLDBERG: Well, I think Jake has got it right. We have to stay there as long as we have to. And I think what a lot of people in America and a lot of people in the media won't understand is that that means we have to be undemocratic for a while, if we want to be democratic in the long run, because the rule of law in civil order are more important than having an election one time that only happens once and never again.
HEMMER: Yes, Andy, what about it? I've got to think there is something in there that you're seeing that we haven't yet.
BOROWITZ: Well, I think we've got to stay in long enough to get the water and power back on, because Jay Garner has said that he wants the Iraqi people to be in their homes tomorrow between the hours of 8:00 and 4:00, and I think they should be.
HEMMER: We will see that.
Back in this country now, some politics right now. Jonah, get us going on this. Newt Gingrich, criticism this week for the State Department and criticism for Colin Powell, saying right now they're undermining U.S. foreign policy. What's the point he's making? And is he right?
GOLDBERG: Well, it's actually a very old point that people in this town have been making for generations, which is that people at the State Department tend to go native, that the people who run the Arab desk tends to become sympathetic to the representatives of Arab governments which all tend to be tyrannical. And then, it becomes that influence is policy. And the thinking has been for a very long time that the cookie pushers become invested in stability over change.
And Newt Gingrich's point is that we're about change right now, that this has got to be transformational, that we're trying to change the region, change the world for the better, and the -- you know, the cookie pushers and the pin-stripers...
HEMMER: Yes.
GOLDBERG: ... at the State Department need to get off their butts.
HEMMER: Got it. Jake, what about it?
TAPPER: I'm not really quite sure what a cookie pusher is, but Jonah is right that the tension between the State Department and the Defense Department has been going on for years. We saw it in the Carter administration and the Reagan administration.
What's interesting about this administration is I don't think that...
HEMMER: You're running out of time.
TAPPER: ... the State Department point of view has ever been so outmanned before. The Defense Department view certainly has...
HEMMER: Speaking in sound bytes, he is not today. Sorry, Jake.
Andy, one final comment, though. I know you'll be piffy (ph). BOROWITZ: Well, I'm with Newt Gingrich on this. The State Department should stay out of foreign policy decisions. Those decisions are best made by the Bechtel Group.
HEMMER: We'll see what they're saying in San Francisco about that.
Hey, Jake, I want to give you a second shot here. Senator Rick Santorum making some comments this past week about homosexuality in the country, and whether or not at this point the Senate majority leader Bill Fritz is sticking up for him, whether or not the White House is staying out of it, a lot of questions here about whether or not this is playing into the same Trent Lott controversy.
What do you make right now whether or not this has some stickiness to it or not, Jake?
TAPPER: Well, it certainly does, you know, in the blue states that Al Gore won. But generally speaking, a majority of Americans disapprove of homosexuality. So I think that this is not going to have the same resonance that the Trent Lott episode did.
HEMMER: Jonah, should the White House get involved here?
GOLDBERG: No, the White House shouldn't get involved here. Look, you know, last time I checked, we fought a civil war in this country over race. We fought the civil rights movement over race. We didn't fight it over homosexuality. Just the cultural resonance of these issues is completely different.
Santorum is probably right on the constitutional issues. He's wrong on the public policy. The sodomy law should go.
HEMMER: Andy?
BOROWITZ: I really have to recuse myself on this one, because I really don't like using the words "Rick Santorum" and "sex" in the same sentence.
HEMMER: All right, we'll recuse you. Under the radar, what's under yours, Andy?
BOROWITZ: Well, I mean, of course, Tariq Aziz surrendering to the American authorities, but the big news on that is in order to remake his image, he's decided to pose naked for the cover of "Entertainment Weekly."
HEMMER: We can't wait for that one. And plaster a big tattoo there as well.
BOROWITZ: Absolutely.
HEMMER: Under your radar, Jake, what do you see?
TAPPER: Well, like Andy, I enjoy when the administration comes out and shows the nine of spades like they did with Tariq Aziz. Like, is this your card? Let's do a little magic trick.
HEMMER: Well, he was the eight of spades. Jonah...
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Eight of spades?
GOLDBERG: I'm sorry -- oh. Well, first of all, I just on the scroll down here that Alan Thicke lost five teeth in a freak hockey puck accident. That's kind of interesting.
But I would have to say this Galloway (ph) story. You know, for years, American officials -- Rumsfeld, Bush, all of those guys -- have been criticized for selling things to Saddam Hussein. Now, it turns out this MP in Britain has been selling anti-war arguments to Saddam Hussein for millions of dollars, and it's getting no coverage here.
HEMMER: Yes, I would say. Maybe we check with the Iraqi information minister, Baghdad Bob, to see what he says.
Jake, thanks. Jonah, thanks. Andy, thanks.
We'll bring our sense of humors next week, OK, men?
TAPPER: Wow!
HEMMER: You're a bit too serious this week, I think, don't you think?
Have a good weekend. Thanks, guys. Talk to you later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry to disappoint, Bob.
HEMMER: Not a problem, Baghdad Bob. See you later.
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 April 25, 2003 - 07:43 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 start now with a panel of fast- talking pundits, have them sound off about the week's big stories, throw in a dash of sarcasm, a clock that gives them 60 seconds to be nothing but brilliant. What do you get? We're not sure either. But we called it "Gimme a Minute."
On the speed dial this morning in D.C., Jonah Goldberg, editor of the "National Review Online." Good to see you, Jonah -- good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIWE ONLINE": Hi, Bill.
HEMMER: Here in New York City, Jake Tapper, Salon.com. Good to see you again, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, SALON.COM: Hey, Bill.
HEMMER: And Andy Borowitz with "The New Yorker." His soon-to- be-published book is called "Who Moved my Soap? The CEO's guide to surviving in prison." How are you, man? Nice to see you all.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Good to be here.
HEMMER: First up today -- I know Jake hasn't been on the show since January, I believe. Is that right, Jake?
TAPPER: That's correct.
HEMMER: All right, first up today: Iraq. Demonstrations this past week saying, America, thanks for our freedom, now get out of here.
How long should the U.S. stay, Jake?
TAPPER: Well, we shouldnt leave until the job is done. Unfortunately -- I don't mean to interrupt America in the midst of its ADD (ph), but in Afghanistan the job is still not done. There are not enough troops there, and the country is insecure. And it's essential, people are really watching with Iraq as opposed with Afghanistan, and we have to make sure that that country has the democracy that President Bush has promised them.
HEMMER: Yes, what about it, Jonah? How long is too long or enough?
GOLDBERG: Well, I think Jake has got it right. We have to stay there as long as we have to. And I think what a lot of people in America and a lot of people in the media won't understand is that that means we have to be undemocratic for a while, if we want to be democratic in the long run, because the rule of law in civil order are more important than having an election one time that only happens once and never again.
HEMMER: Yes, Andy, what about it? I've got to think there is something in there that you're seeing that we haven't yet.
BOROWITZ: Well, I think we've got to stay in long enough to get the water and power back on, because Jay Garner has said that he wants the Iraqi people to be in their homes tomorrow between the hours of 8:00 and 4:00, and I think they should be.
HEMMER: We will see that.
Back in this country now, some politics right now. Jonah, get us going on this. Newt Gingrich, criticism this week for the State Department and criticism for Colin Powell, saying right now they're undermining U.S. foreign policy. What's the point he's making? And is he right?
GOLDBERG: Well, it's actually a very old point that people in this town have been making for generations, which is that people at the State Department tend to go native, that the people who run the Arab desk tends to become sympathetic to the representatives of Arab governments which all tend to be tyrannical. And then, it becomes that influence is policy. And the thinking has been for a very long time that the cookie pushers become invested in stability over change.
And Newt Gingrich's point is that we're about change right now, that this has got to be transformational, that we're trying to change the region, change the world for the better, and the -- you know, the cookie pushers and the pin-stripers...
HEMMER: Yes.
GOLDBERG: ... at the State Department need to get off their butts.
HEMMER: Got it. Jake, what about it?
TAPPER: I'm not really quite sure what a cookie pusher is, but Jonah is right that the tension between the State Department and the Defense Department has been going on for years. We saw it in the Carter administration and the Reagan administration.
What's interesting about this administration is I don't think that...
HEMMER: You're running out of time.
TAPPER: ... the State Department point of view has ever been so outmanned before. The Defense Department view certainly has...
HEMMER: Speaking in sound bytes, he is not today. Sorry, Jake.
Andy, one final comment, though. I know you'll be piffy (ph). BOROWITZ: Well, I'm with Newt Gingrich on this. The State Department should stay out of foreign policy decisions. Those decisions are best made by the Bechtel Group.
HEMMER: We'll see what they're saying in San Francisco about that.
Hey, Jake, I want to give you a second shot here. Senator Rick Santorum making some comments this past week about homosexuality in the country, and whether or not at this point the Senate majority leader Bill Fritz is sticking up for him, whether or not the White House is staying out of it, a lot of questions here about whether or not this is playing into the same Trent Lott controversy.
What do you make right now whether or not this has some stickiness to it or not, Jake?
TAPPER: Well, it certainly does, you know, in the blue states that Al Gore won. But generally speaking, a majority of Americans disapprove of homosexuality. So I think that this is not going to have the same resonance that the Trent Lott episode did.
HEMMER: Jonah, should the White House get involved here?
GOLDBERG: No, the White House shouldn't get involved here. Look, you know, last time I checked, we fought a civil war in this country over race. We fought the civil rights movement over race. We didn't fight it over homosexuality. Just the cultural resonance of these issues is completely different.
Santorum is probably right on the constitutional issues. He's wrong on the public policy. The sodomy law should go.
HEMMER: Andy?
BOROWITZ: I really have to recuse myself on this one, because I really don't like using the words "Rick Santorum" and "sex" in the same sentence.
HEMMER: All right, we'll recuse you. Under the radar, what's under yours, Andy?
BOROWITZ: Well, I mean, of course, Tariq Aziz surrendering to the American authorities, but the big news on that is in order to remake his image, he's decided to pose naked for the cover of "Entertainment Weekly."
HEMMER: We can't wait for that one. And plaster a big tattoo there as well.
BOROWITZ: Absolutely.
HEMMER: Under your radar, Jake, what do you see?
TAPPER: Well, like Andy, I enjoy when the administration comes out and shows the nine of spades like they did with Tariq Aziz. Like, is this your card? Let's do a little magic trick.
HEMMER: Well, he was the eight of spades. Jonah...
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Eight of spades?
GOLDBERG: I'm sorry -- oh. Well, first of all, I just on the scroll down here that Alan Thicke lost five teeth in a freak hockey puck accident. That's kind of interesting.
But I would have to say this Galloway (ph) story. You know, for years, American officials -- Rumsfeld, Bush, all of those guys -- have been criticized for selling things to Saddam Hussein. Now, it turns out this MP in Britain has been selling anti-war arguments to Saddam Hussein for millions of dollars, and it's getting no coverage here.
HEMMER: Yes, I would say. Maybe we check with the Iraqi information minister, Baghdad Bob, to see what he says.
Jake, thanks. Jonah, thanks. Andy, thanks.
We'll bring our sense of humors next week, OK, men?
TAPPER: Wow!
HEMMER: You're a bit too serious this week, I think, don't you think?
Have a good weekend. Thanks, guys. Talk to you later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry to disappoint, Bob.
HEMMER: Not a problem, Baghdad Bob. See you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
