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American Morning
Weekend Fallout in Battle for California
Aired August 25, 2003 - 07:08 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It was a tumultuous weekend in the California recall. A poll in the "Los Angeles Times" shows that the state's lieutenant governor, Democrat Cruz Bustamante, is leading Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It also found that the fever to recall Governor Gray Davis is cooling a little bit.
All this, as the field got a little bit smaller.
Let's get details now from CNN's Bob Franken, who is in Los Angeles for us this morning.
Hey -- Bob. Good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I think tumultuous just about captures it. According to the "L.A. Times" poll, Bustamante -- Cruz Bustamante, the lieutenant governor, is ahead of Arnold Schwarzenegger by 13 percentage points -- 35 to 22 percent. Now, this is completely different from another poll by the Public Policy Institute of California that had been released just a couple of days earlier, which showed Schwarzenegger had 23 to 18 percent. So go figure.
The problem that the Republicans have by everybody's account is that there are just too many of them in the race, so Bill Simon pulled out over the weekend. He was the man who had run and lost to Gray Davis the last time around. But Simon only had picked up 6 percent in that same poll. So, even with his numbers, Schwarzenegger still trailed Bustamante.
Now, as far as Bustamante is concerned, he's cautioning everybody that you can't really hang too much in what really has turned into a rollercoaster campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GOV. CRUZ BUSTAMANTE (D), CALIFORNIA: Ups and downs will always occur in a campaign, so I'd tell my folks, you just keep your nose to the grindstone, we keep moving forward, we do the best job we can, and make sure that we're the best candidate, you know, when we're compared to Arnold and Peter and Tom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, Schwarzenegger is adding a very important person to his staff. Mike Murphy (ph) is somebody that people who have covered campaigns will know. Michael Murphy (ph) was a person who was one of the brain trusts in the McCain campaign, which got such traction for a while. He's going to be joining the Schwarzenegger campaign, which is trying to regain traction, at least in the polls -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: So, then, what do the latest poll numbers mean for Gray Davis, do you think, Bob?
FRANKEN: Sometimes he's the forgotten man in all of these discussions about the recall alternatives. But, of course, the fundamental question is: Should he be recalled?
Now, the Gray Davis campaign is quite pleased with what they're seeing in this "L.A. Times" poll. They're saying that a result that shows that 50 percent of likely voters want him recalled, 45 percent oppose the recall, with 5 percent undecided, that's an improvement. And, in fact, it is. It's an improvement over what had been closer to 60 percent.
A lot of people underestimate Gray Davis. It's happened to him all of his career, and his people are hoping that that's what's been happening again.
O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's Bob Franken joining us this morning from Los Angeles bright and early there. All right, Bob, thanks a lot.
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 August 25, 2003 - 07:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It was a tumultuous weekend in the California recall. A poll in the "Los Angeles Times" shows that the state's lieutenant governor, Democrat Cruz Bustamante, is leading Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It also found that the fever to recall Governor Gray Davis is cooling a little bit.
All this, as the field got a little bit smaller.
Let's get details now from CNN's Bob Franken, who is in Los Angeles for us this morning.
Hey -- Bob. Good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I think tumultuous just about captures it. According to the "L.A. Times" poll, Bustamante -- Cruz Bustamante, the lieutenant governor, is ahead of Arnold Schwarzenegger by 13 percentage points -- 35 to 22 percent. Now, this is completely different from another poll by the Public Policy Institute of California that had been released just a couple of days earlier, which showed Schwarzenegger had 23 to 18 percent. So go figure.
The problem that the Republicans have by everybody's account is that there are just too many of them in the race, so Bill Simon pulled out over the weekend. He was the man who had run and lost to Gray Davis the last time around. But Simon only had picked up 6 percent in that same poll. So, even with his numbers, Schwarzenegger still trailed Bustamante.
Now, as far as Bustamante is concerned, he's cautioning everybody that you can't really hang too much in what really has turned into a rollercoaster campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GOV. CRUZ BUSTAMANTE (D), CALIFORNIA: Ups and downs will always occur in a campaign, so I'd tell my folks, you just keep your nose to the grindstone, we keep moving forward, we do the best job we can, and make sure that we're the best candidate, you know, when we're compared to Arnold and Peter and Tom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, Schwarzenegger is adding a very important person to his staff. Mike Murphy (ph) is somebody that people who have covered campaigns will know. Michael Murphy (ph) was a person who was one of the brain trusts in the McCain campaign, which got such traction for a while. He's going to be joining the Schwarzenegger campaign, which is trying to regain traction, at least in the polls -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: So, then, what do the latest poll numbers mean for Gray Davis, do you think, Bob?
FRANKEN: Sometimes he's the forgotten man in all of these discussions about the recall alternatives. But, of course, the fundamental question is: Should he be recalled?
Now, the Gray Davis campaign is quite pleased with what they're seeing in this "L.A. Times" poll. They're saying that a result that shows that 50 percent of likely voters want him recalled, 45 percent oppose the recall, with 5 percent undecided, that's an improvement. And, in fact, it is. It's an improvement over what had been closer to 60 percent.
A lot of people underestimate Gray Davis. It's happened to him all of his career, and his people are hoping that that's what's been happening again.
O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's Bob Franken joining us this morning from Los Angeles bright and early there. All right, Bob, thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
