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American Morning
Democrats Debate
Aired September 25, 2003 - 07:10 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the second half of the debate double header. In a nightcap, the 10 Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination will face off today here in New York.
CNN's Jonathan Karl joins us live from Washington with more.
And first, Jon, everybody is wondering what the heck this mystery is surrounding General Wesley Clark and the Clintons. Can you answer that question, put an end to all of the rumors?
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, there has been so much buzz about this. You know, the conspiracy theory is that Wesley Clark is really the stalking horse for the presidential candidacy of Senator Hillary Clinton. People point to the fact that Clark's campaign has a lot of former Clinton people. Former President Bill Clinton has said very nice things about the general.
But both Clintons were out in force yesterday -- Hillary publicly, the former President Bill Clinton privately -- saying no, Wesley Clark is not their candidate. The Clintons, both of them, will remain completely neutral in this presidential campaign there. You know, until there is a Democratic nominee, they will endorse nobody. Obviously, they will vigorously support whoever the nominee is. And, no, Hillary Clinton says she is no way running.
So, this debate tonight is...
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you about that, Jonathan.
KARL: Yes.
COSTELLO: I mean, that's the big rumor out there, that Hillary Clinton is going to jump in the race and Wesley Clark is going to be her running mate.
KARL: Well, you know, it's hard to see how many more ways Hillary Clinton can deny that report, that rumor. She has said -- she has been absolutely adamant that she is not running. So, unless she somehow pulls some kind of a maneuver to get back on what she has said, it's hard to see that happening.
And Clark looks very much like a guy who wants to be president. He's had a very interesting start. This is going to be a test for him tonight, a big test for him, the first time he's on the stage with the nine other candidates.
But, you know, also keep in mind about tonight, there are 10 candidates on the stage. There is one moderator. There are three panelists and only two hours for debate. That means each candidate is going to have about 9 or 10 minutes.
COSTELLO: OK.
KARL: Not much time to break through.
COSTELLO: OK, the earlier debates were, well, relatively civil. But lately, the candidates have been coming out publicly and slamming one another. So, should we expect a more hostile tone at today's debate?
KARL: Well, certainly if recent weeks are any gauge, you should expect a more hostile tone. But who knows? Again, that format is a cumbersome format. We'll see how rough it gets.
But Democrats -- and these guys have been going at each other. For the first few months, for several months of this campaign the firepower was aimed on George Bush. That has changed. This is a wide open Democratic field. They are taking shots at themselves.
I mean, when you have Dick Gephardt pointing to Howard Dean and saying he's like Newt Gingrich, it doesn't get any tougher than that in a Democratic primary situation.
Howard Dean has been bearing the brunt of these attacks, but they've been going back and forth. And already, Clark, only in this for a week, has been attacked by his fellow Democrats.
There you see John Kerry. He's raised questions about whether or not Clark was actually for the war or against the war. Clark had said that he would have voted to authorize the president to go to war against Iraq as a way to pressure Saddam Hussein. The next day, he reversed that position.
So, there is going to be a lot of back and forth, a lot of questions on that. And I would imagine a lot of attacks tonight, but, again, nobody gets that much time to talk.
COSTELLO: That's true. There's too many candidates. And hopefully, a lot of attention will be paid to this debate, as was paid to the California debate yesterday. We'll see.
KARL: Yes, yes. Well, no Arnold Schwarzenegger in this, not even a Sylvester Stallone, but, you know, we've got a big four-star general now.
COSTELLO: That's right. Jonathan Karl, thanks very much, live from Washington.
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 September 25, 2003 - 07:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the second half of the debate double header. In a nightcap, the 10 Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination will face off today here in New York.
CNN's Jonathan Karl joins us live from Washington with more.
And first, Jon, everybody is wondering what the heck this mystery is surrounding General Wesley Clark and the Clintons. Can you answer that question, put an end to all of the rumors?
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, there has been so much buzz about this. You know, the conspiracy theory is that Wesley Clark is really the stalking horse for the presidential candidacy of Senator Hillary Clinton. People point to the fact that Clark's campaign has a lot of former Clinton people. Former President Bill Clinton has said very nice things about the general.
But both Clintons were out in force yesterday -- Hillary publicly, the former President Bill Clinton privately -- saying no, Wesley Clark is not their candidate. The Clintons, both of them, will remain completely neutral in this presidential campaign there. You know, until there is a Democratic nominee, they will endorse nobody. Obviously, they will vigorously support whoever the nominee is. And, no, Hillary Clinton says she is no way running.
So, this debate tonight is...
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you about that, Jonathan.
KARL: Yes.
COSTELLO: I mean, that's the big rumor out there, that Hillary Clinton is going to jump in the race and Wesley Clark is going to be her running mate.
KARL: Well, you know, it's hard to see how many more ways Hillary Clinton can deny that report, that rumor. She has said -- she has been absolutely adamant that she is not running. So, unless she somehow pulls some kind of a maneuver to get back on what she has said, it's hard to see that happening.
And Clark looks very much like a guy who wants to be president. He's had a very interesting start. This is going to be a test for him tonight, a big test for him, the first time he's on the stage with the nine other candidates.
But, you know, also keep in mind about tonight, there are 10 candidates on the stage. There is one moderator. There are three panelists and only two hours for debate. That means each candidate is going to have about 9 or 10 minutes.
COSTELLO: OK.
KARL: Not much time to break through.
COSTELLO: OK, the earlier debates were, well, relatively civil. But lately, the candidates have been coming out publicly and slamming one another. So, should we expect a more hostile tone at today's debate?
KARL: Well, certainly if recent weeks are any gauge, you should expect a more hostile tone. But who knows? Again, that format is a cumbersome format. We'll see how rough it gets.
But Democrats -- and these guys have been going at each other. For the first few months, for several months of this campaign the firepower was aimed on George Bush. That has changed. This is a wide open Democratic field. They are taking shots at themselves.
I mean, when you have Dick Gephardt pointing to Howard Dean and saying he's like Newt Gingrich, it doesn't get any tougher than that in a Democratic primary situation.
Howard Dean has been bearing the brunt of these attacks, but they've been going back and forth. And already, Clark, only in this for a week, has been attacked by his fellow Democrats.
There you see John Kerry. He's raised questions about whether or not Clark was actually for the war or against the war. Clark had said that he would have voted to authorize the president to go to war against Iraq as a way to pressure Saddam Hussein. The next day, he reversed that position.
So, there is going to be a lot of back and forth, a lot of questions on that. And I would imagine a lot of attacks tonight, but, again, nobody gets that much time to talk.
COSTELLO: That's true. There's too many candidates. And hopefully, a lot of attention will be paid to this debate, as was paid to the California debate yesterday. We'll see.
KARL: Yes, yes. Well, no Arnold Schwarzenegger in this, not even a Sylvester Stallone, but, you know, we've got a big four-star general now.
COSTELLO: That's right. Jonathan Karl, thanks very much, live from Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
