Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'
Aired September 26, 2003 - 08:36 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: It's Friday, it's "Gimme a Minute" time here on AMERICAN MORNING. Let's get to three topics this morning.
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile back with us.
Hey, Donna, good morning.
Hey, Donna. Good morning.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Welcome to Friday.
Also, in New York now, Jonah Goldberg, editor of the National Review Online.
Nice to see you, Jonah. You're just across town right here.
And Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker" is back with us, as always. How are you, Drew? Good morning to you.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Great to be here.
HEMMER: I bet it is. He said it with such enthusiasm.
First, to Jonah, Wesley Clark makes his debate debut. How did he do?
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: I don't think he did that great. In fact, I think it's shaping up more and more that Wesley Clark's boomlet is going to be coming to an end pretty soon. It turns out he's one of President Bush's biggest boosters not too long ago, and I think the momentum is going to shift back to dean any time now.
HEMMER: Is he your guy, Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, I'm not ready to walk down the aisle with just one man right now. But I can tell you this much, he did quite well last night. But he must bone up on the issues in the future in order to avoid some of those body punches coming from the other candidates.
HEMMER: You walking down the aisle, Andy?
BOROWITZ: I don't think so. You know, I saw the debate, and I think that General Clark is still searching for his message, and Dick Gephardt is still searching for eyebrows. HEMMER: They're no Arianna, as we found out this past week in California. Next topic, NBC has the approval rating for the president at below 50 percent, at 49. A CNN poll earlier in the week had him at 50 percent. What's driving the numbers down, Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, the post September 11th glow is off, and I think while most Americans still like the president personally, they can't afford his economic policies for four more years.
HEMMER: How much of this has to do with Iraq, Jonah?
GOLDBERG: I think it has to do with Iraq. I think it has to do with media coverage. I think it has to do with the fact that the economy isn't creating enough jobs right now. To me, President Bush didn't have a great summer. It's not shocking. It's better than where Reagan was in a comparable term, right before he won 49 states. So we'll see.
HEMMER: What do poll numbers tell you, Andy?
BOROWITZ: It's interesting how the White House is spinning this. They say the president's numbers are down, but they're still higher than his grades at Yale.
BRAZILE: That's a good one, Andy.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.
There's a Democratic congressman from Georgia earlier in the week who said the positive stories in Iraq are not being told. He says too much negative headlines based on the killings of U.S. soldiers by the week.
Jonah, is there a point to be made about that, not focusing on the positive spin in Iraq?
GOLDBERG: I think that's absolutely true. And we actually saw Colin Powell last night on "David Letterman" making a lot of those points. PTA committees are being founded. Soccer leagues are being founded. Iraq is doing much better. Polls show that the Iraqis have a very optimistic view of the future, and I think the media has been decidedly negative, focusing only on the death, which it has to cover, but there's a lot of good stuff there, too.
HEMMER: How much do the headlines hurt progress, do you think, Donna?
BOROWITZ: Look, I think the media has to call it like they see it and have a very balanced view of the situation in Iraq. But it's like blaming the weatherman for creating storms. I think Congressman Marshall should just allow the media to report the facts.
HEMMER: Got about five seconds. Got a silver lining, Andy?
BOROWITZ: Yes, Starbucks construction is on track in Iraq. HEMMER: I knew you'd find one in there. Under the radar, let's kick it off with Donna now. What are you watching that we're not this week?
BOROWITZ: Well, Ambassador Bremer was back in Washington D.C. Apparently, he didn't have electricity at his home, but when he went up to Capitol Hill, he reported that we may inherit their $200 billion debt in Iraq. And I tell you, that's too much to stomach.
HEMMER: Jonah, how about you? What are you watching?
GOLDBERG: In a new book about coverage of the war in Iraq, John Burns from "The New York Times" has a scathing indictment of the behavior of journalists in Iraq, cozying up and sucking up to the Iraqi regime in order to get better access. It should be a blockbuster, but for some reason, the media's not covering it.
HEMMER: Interesting. Maybe we'll get to it next week -- Andy.
BOROWITZ: Big news. The judge who blocked the federal do not call list says that he's going to notify everybody on the list the next time they sit down for dinner.
HEMMER: That's a big table, don't you think?
BOROWITZ: It is.
HEMMER: Hey, Andy, good luck Sunday.
BOROWITZ: Browns/Bengals.
HEMMER: Up in Cleveland, no less.
BOROWITZ: Be very afraid.
HEMMER: Be very Afraid. Jonah, thanks.
Donna, great to see you. Andy, we'll talk to all three of you next week.
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 26, 2003 - 08:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, it's "Gimme a Minute" time here on AMERICAN MORNING. Let's get to three topics this morning.
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile back with us.
Hey, Donna, good morning.
Hey, Donna. Good morning.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Welcome to Friday.
Also, in New York now, Jonah Goldberg, editor of the National Review Online.
Nice to see you, Jonah. You're just across town right here.
And Andy Borowitz of "The New Yorker" is back with us, as always. How are you, Drew? Good morning to you.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "THE NEW YORKER": Great to be here.
HEMMER: I bet it is. He said it with such enthusiasm.
First, to Jonah, Wesley Clark makes his debate debut. How did he do?
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: I don't think he did that great. In fact, I think it's shaping up more and more that Wesley Clark's boomlet is going to be coming to an end pretty soon. It turns out he's one of President Bush's biggest boosters not too long ago, and I think the momentum is going to shift back to dean any time now.
HEMMER: Is he your guy, Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, I'm not ready to walk down the aisle with just one man right now. But I can tell you this much, he did quite well last night. But he must bone up on the issues in the future in order to avoid some of those body punches coming from the other candidates.
HEMMER: You walking down the aisle, Andy?
BOROWITZ: I don't think so. You know, I saw the debate, and I think that General Clark is still searching for his message, and Dick Gephardt is still searching for eyebrows. HEMMER: They're no Arianna, as we found out this past week in California. Next topic, NBC has the approval rating for the president at below 50 percent, at 49. A CNN poll earlier in the week had him at 50 percent. What's driving the numbers down, Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, the post September 11th glow is off, and I think while most Americans still like the president personally, they can't afford his economic policies for four more years.
HEMMER: How much of this has to do with Iraq, Jonah?
GOLDBERG: I think it has to do with Iraq. I think it has to do with media coverage. I think it has to do with the fact that the economy isn't creating enough jobs right now. To me, President Bush didn't have a great summer. It's not shocking. It's better than where Reagan was in a comparable term, right before he won 49 states. So we'll see.
HEMMER: What do poll numbers tell you, Andy?
BOROWITZ: It's interesting how the White House is spinning this. They say the president's numbers are down, but they're still higher than his grades at Yale.
BRAZILE: That's a good one, Andy.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.
There's a Democratic congressman from Georgia earlier in the week who said the positive stories in Iraq are not being told. He says too much negative headlines based on the killings of U.S. soldiers by the week.
Jonah, is there a point to be made about that, not focusing on the positive spin in Iraq?
GOLDBERG: I think that's absolutely true. And we actually saw Colin Powell last night on "David Letterman" making a lot of those points. PTA committees are being founded. Soccer leagues are being founded. Iraq is doing much better. Polls show that the Iraqis have a very optimistic view of the future, and I think the media has been decidedly negative, focusing only on the death, which it has to cover, but there's a lot of good stuff there, too.
HEMMER: How much do the headlines hurt progress, do you think, Donna?
BOROWITZ: Look, I think the media has to call it like they see it and have a very balanced view of the situation in Iraq. But it's like blaming the weatherman for creating storms. I think Congressman Marshall should just allow the media to report the facts.
HEMMER: Got about five seconds. Got a silver lining, Andy?
BOROWITZ: Yes, Starbucks construction is on track in Iraq. HEMMER: I knew you'd find one in there. Under the radar, let's kick it off with Donna now. What are you watching that we're not this week?
BOROWITZ: Well, Ambassador Bremer was back in Washington D.C. Apparently, he didn't have electricity at his home, but when he went up to Capitol Hill, he reported that we may inherit their $200 billion debt in Iraq. And I tell you, that's too much to stomach.
HEMMER: Jonah, how about you? What are you watching?
GOLDBERG: In a new book about coverage of the war in Iraq, John Burns from "The New York Times" has a scathing indictment of the behavior of journalists in Iraq, cozying up and sucking up to the Iraqi regime in order to get better access. It should be a blockbuster, but for some reason, the media's not covering it.
HEMMER: Interesting. Maybe we'll get to it next week -- Andy.
BOROWITZ: Big news. The judge who blocked the federal do not call list says that he's going to notify everybody on the list the next time they sit down for dinner.
HEMMER: That's a big table, don't you think?
BOROWITZ: It is.
HEMMER: Hey, Andy, good luck Sunday.
BOROWITZ: Browns/Bengals.
HEMMER: Up in Cleveland, no less.
BOROWITZ: Be very afraid.
HEMMER: Be very Afraid. Jonah, thanks.
Donna, great to see you. Andy, we'll talk to all three of you next week.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
