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American Morning
Ted Kennedy Backs President Bush's Medicare Overhaul Plan
Aired June 25, 2003 - 07:14 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is getting some unexpected help in Congress. It's coming from Senator Ted Kennedy of all people. The Massachusetts Democrat is expected to support the Medicare overhaul that's being pushed by the White House.
Jonathan Karl is in our Washington bureau to explain why and what might be in it for Senator Kennedy.
Good morning.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
This is really remarkable, because conservatives, Republicans simply don't like Senator Kennedy. Not only is he the most prominent liberal of our time, for conservatives he is the very symbol of liberalism.
But what's happened here is not only Senator Kennedy's supporting the bill, but last night he was in the office of Senate Republican leader Bill Frist working on the final details of the bill. Every step along the way he has been there. When this bill is signed by the president, it will have Ted Kennedy's fingerprints on it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The president of the United States, George Bush.
KARL (voice-over): Is this the president's best friend in Congress? Already Ted Kennedy has handed President Bush a big victory on education. Now, the liberal stalwart is poised to help the conservative president pass prescription drug coverage for Medicare.
(on camera): People may look back at the first Bush term, maybe the only Bush term, but they'll look back at his four years here and see that his two big domestic achievements, aside from his tax cut, were made possible because of you.
KENNEDY: Well, I'd rather have it that the parents look back and think that the child was making some progress, and that will be good. And our seniors will look and say, I've been able to afford the prescription drugs that my doctor recommended. And that, I think, will be value and worthwhile in and of itself.
KARL (voice-over): Democrats were gearing up for a major battle on prescription drugs when Kennedy, someone revered by liberals as the leading expert on health care, shocked fellow Democrats by accepting a more modest drug benefit and some limited involvement of private insurance companies.
KENNEDY: There were a number of those that believed that this was not enough, and my belief that it was an important down payment and we ought to build on it.
KARL: Kennedy's support for the bill has put Democratic presidential candidates in a box.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the bill is not a particularly good bill, but out of respect for Senator Kennedy, it's hard to really completely trash his position.
KARL: But Kennedy says helping seniors pay for their drugs won't deprive Democrats of an issue.
KENNEDY: The winners in this proposal are going to be our senior citizens. And after that, there's going to be enough credit to go around.
KARL: Having Kennedy's support has also made some Republicans uneasy.
SEN. RICK SENTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Having Ted Kennedy on the bandwagon here makes it very uncomfortable for some of the people in the wagon, because the feeling is, well, if he is for this bill, what's wrong with it?
KARL: Some conservatives fear Kennedy will get the last laugh when the president signs into law the biggest expansion of the federal government since the 1960s.
(on camera): Now, the president used to have his applause line about his friends at the Crawford coffee house.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told the folks at the coffee shop in Crawford, Texas, that Ted Kennedy was all right. They nearly fell out.
KENNEDY: I haven't heard him use it recently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARL: Well, as Yogi Berra used to say, "It's not over until it's over."
Senator Kennedy is a major supporter of the bill in the Senate to get prescription drugs for seniors. But over in the House of Representatives, Republicans have pursued their own bill, not a bipartisan bill, but largely a Republican bill. At the end of the day, those two are going to have to come together. Senator Kennedy does not like that Republican bill over in the House. So, Daryn, this battle may go on for much of the summer before the president gets a chance to really sign this into law.
KAGAN: And it will be interesting to track. Jonathan, thank you for that.
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 June 25, 2003 - 07:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is getting some unexpected help in Congress. It's coming from Senator Ted Kennedy of all people. The Massachusetts Democrat is expected to support the Medicare overhaul that's being pushed by the White House.
Jonathan Karl is in our Washington bureau to explain why and what might be in it for Senator Kennedy.
Good morning.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
This is really remarkable, because conservatives, Republicans simply don't like Senator Kennedy. Not only is he the most prominent liberal of our time, for conservatives he is the very symbol of liberalism.
But what's happened here is not only Senator Kennedy's supporting the bill, but last night he was in the office of Senate Republican leader Bill Frist working on the final details of the bill. Every step along the way he has been there. When this bill is signed by the president, it will have Ted Kennedy's fingerprints on it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The president of the United States, George Bush.
KARL (voice-over): Is this the president's best friend in Congress? Already Ted Kennedy has handed President Bush a big victory on education. Now, the liberal stalwart is poised to help the conservative president pass prescription drug coverage for Medicare.
(on camera): People may look back at the first Bush term, maybe the only Bush term, but they'll look back at his four years here and see that his two big domestic achievements, aside from his tax cut, were made possible because of you.
KENNEDY: Well, I'd rather have it that the parents look back and think that the child was making some progress, and that will be good. And our seniors will look and say, I've been able to afford the prescription drugs that my doctor recommended. And that, I think, will be value and worthwhile in and of itself.
KARL (voice-over): Democrats were gearing up for a major battle on prescription drugs when Kennedy, someone revered by liberals as the leading expert on health care, shocked fellow Democrats by accepting a more modest drug benefit and some limited involvement of private insurance companies.
KENNEDY: There were a number of those that believed that this was not enough, and my belief that it was an important down payment and we ought to build on it.
KARL: Kennedy's support for the bill has put Democratic presidential candidates in a box.
HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the bill is not a particularly good bill, but out of respect for Senator Kennedy, it's hard to really completely trash his position.
KARL: But Kennedy says helping seniors pay for their drugs won't deprive Democrats of an issue.
KENNEDY: The winners in this proposal are going to be our senior citizens. And after that, there's going to be enough credit to go around.
KARL: Having Kennedy's support has also made some Republicans uneasy.
SEN. RICK SENTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Having Ted Kennedy on the bandwagon here makes it very uncomfortable for some of the people in the wagon, because the feeling is, well, if he is for this bill, what's wrong with it?
KARL: Some conservatives fear Kennedy will get the last laugh when the president signs into law the biggest expansion of the federal government since the 1960s.
(on camera): Now, the president used to have his applause line about his friends at the Crawford coffee house.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told the folks at the coffee shop in Crawford, Texas, that Ted Kennedy was all right. They nearly fell out.
KENNEDY: I haven't heard him use it recently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARL: Well, as Yogi Berra used to say, "It's not over until it's over."
Senator Kennedy is a major supporter of the bill in the Senate to get prescription drugs for seniors. But over in the House of Representatives, Republicans have pursued their own bill, not a bipartisan bill, but largely a Republican bill. At the end of the day, those two are going to have to come together. Senator Kennedy does not like that Republican bill over in the House. So, Daryn, this battle may go on for much of the summer before the president gets a chance to really sign this into law.
KAGAN: And it will be interesting to track. Jonathan, thank you for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
