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American Morning
Election Express
Aired December 08, 2003 - 09:45 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: To get on board this bus, you're going to need an election ticket. This is CNN's Election Express. And inside, it's got everything you need to cover the presidential election. The big question, of course, is the hosts inside.
Which sides are they sitting on? Let's introduce you to Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala.
Hey, guys, good morning.
TUCKER CARLSON, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: What a lovely bus.
CARLSON: Well, thank you. We have everything on this bus you need to cover a campaign.
O'BRIEN: Fantastic. Give me the tour.
CARLSON: Well, we've got satellite uplinks connected to some sort of dish on the roof.
O'BRIEN: Meaning you'll be doing your show from here live?
CARLSON: That's exactly right. We can edit video on this computer. We can invade Canada on this bus, not that we would. This bus can do virtually anything, and we have pastries.
O'BRIEN: Fantastic. Coffee?
CARLSON: This is our pastry center, this is our refrigerator. We have coffee. Would you like a cup?
O'BRIEN: I would love a cup, but keep giving me the tour.
CARLSON: Fantastic.
O'BRIEN: Now the idea is that you're going to host the shows from here, various shows. What shows will be doing broadcasts from here?
CARLSON: "CROSSFIRE," "INSIDE POLITICS."
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're great, thanks.
CARLSON: Here you go.
A lot of CNN's political programming will originate here, and we have great coffee.
The point is that at this point in a campaign you really need to go to the candidates. They're on the road full time.
O'BRIEN: Eleven months to go.
CARLSON: Purely retail campaigning. We want to be where they are.
We're leaving tonight after our show, "CROSSFIRE" at 4:30, up to New Hampshire where the last of the DNC-sponsored debates is. Al Sharpton will be on the bus tomorrow. We'll have Senator John Edwards, and then from there, we will have General Wesley Clark. Everyone's going to be on this bus.
O'BRIEN: Only candidates, or are you hoping to get voters?
CARLSON: We're going to get voters, we're going to get everybody. But first, you have got to see our studio.
O'BRIEN: OK. It's right in the back of the bus.
O'BRIEN: And with that, hey, Paul, good morning. I'm liking the bus.
PAUL BEGALA, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST": Welcome to the bus.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
BEGALA: You want to come with?
O'BRIEN: I sure do. It's nice and toasty in here. It's pretty cold outside.
BEGALA: This is where we're going to do the interviews.
O'BRIEN: This is the studio.
BEGALA: This is the studio.
This bus, I'm told was entirely made out of empty bottles of Jim Beam whiskey. So we've had to rehab it quite a bit to make it...
We do still have the padded roof.
CARLSON: The padded ceiling.
O'BRIEN: I like that.
CARLSON: There were mirrors on the ceiling, but we took those off.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm so glad to hear that.
Now tell me, how many folks with actually be on here at one time?
CARLSON: Twenty two, our producers are saying, 22 people comfortably sitting down, not that we will.
O'BRIEN: What's your goal? I mean, immediately out of the box, you mentioned Al Sharpton on "CROSSFIRE" today. But what comes up right off that? You've got catch New Hampshire.
BEGALA: We'll go to New Hampshire. There's a big debate Tuesday night in Durham. We'll be there to cover it, but before that, we're going to have General Wesley Clark. He's getting on the bus. Guy more familiar with driving a tank. We may let him get behind the wheel and wheel around a little bit in New Hampshire to find some voters.
But we want to be, as Tucker said, where the politicians are and where the voters are. I love being in Washington. It's often the nerve center. But now, the nerve center has moved, moving to Iowa, moving to New Hampshire.
CARLSON: That's right. It really is hard to know what's going on. If you're not there. And the primary season is so compressed, as you know now, everything will be decided by the first week in March pretty much, that things can change quickly on the ground, and it's not always clear if you're sitting in a studio in Washington what's happening. So we hope to find out.
O'BRIEN: Have your finger on the pulse of America.
CARLSON: Amen.
O'BRIEN: You guys have parking permits for this? I don't know if you knew, you saw the cops outside.
CARLSON: Soledad, we're journalists, we don't do the permit thing.
BEGALA: We don't need no stinking permits.
Absolutely. This things is going to be huge. This is our urban assault vehicle.
CARLSON: And who's going to say no to the former Hank Williams, now CNN election vehicle? Nobody.
O'BRIEN: I completely agree. Looks like we're ready. You've got Sharpton today on CROSSFIRE. Will be the -- well, outside of me...
BEGALA: Well, you're the first.
O'BRIEN: Although I think I'm interviewing you guys, so I don't think I count as the guest.
CARLSON: And you're not running for anything.
O'BRIEN: And I'm not running for anything today.
BEGALA: Where are you on Medicare reform? CARLSON: Where is Al Sharpton on Medicare reform? We're going to find out.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well you guys, congratulations, loving the bus. It looks great, because I came in earlier this morning, it was getting cleaned and...
CARLSON: It looked a little different. The sawhorses are gone.
O'BRIEN: Yes, they did a terrific job.
BEGALA: We actually do have roadies, and they worked all night.
O'BRIEN: You guys have roadies.
CARLSON: They've retired from the Allman Brothers, they've come to us.
O'BRIEN: You're scaring me, both of you. Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala, nice to see you guys. Good look with the bus. We look forward to catching up on your reports as you travel across the country. Appreciate it.
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 December 8, 2003 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: To get on board this bus, you're going to need an election ticket. This is CNN's Election Express. And inside, it's got everything you need to cover the presidential election. The big question, of course, is the hosts inside.
Which sides are they sitting on? Let's introduce you to Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala.
Hey, guys, good morning.
TUCKER CARLSON, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: What a lovely bus.
CARLSON: Well, thank you. We have everything on this bus you need to cover a campaign.
O'BRIEN: Fantastic. Give me the tour.
CARLSON: Well, we've got satellite uplinks connected to some sort of dish on the roof.
O'BRIEN: Meaning you'll be doing your show from here live?
CARLSON: That's exactly right. We can edit video on this computer. We can invade Canada on this bus, not that we would. This bus can do virtually anything, and we have pastries.
O'BRIEN: Fantastic. Coffee?
CARLSON: This is our pastry center, this is our refrigerator. We have coffee. Would you like a cup?
O'BRIEN: I would love a cup, but keep giving me the tour.
CARLSON: Fantastic.
O'BRIEN: Now the idea is that you're going to host the shows from here, various shows. What shows will be doing broadcasts from here?
CARLSON: "CROSSFIRE," "INSIDE POLITICS."
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're great, thanks.
CARLSON: Here you go.
A lot of CNN's political programming will originate here, and we have great coffee.
The point is that at this point in a campaign you really need to go to the candidates. They're on the road full time.
O'BRIEN: Eleven months to go.
CARLSON: Purely retail campaigning. We want to be where they are.
We're leaving tonight after our show, "CROSSFIRE" at 4:30, up to New Hampshire where the last of the DNC-sponsored debates is. Al Sharpton will be on the bus tomorrow. We'll have Senator John Edwards, and then from there, we will have General Wesley Clark. Everyone's going to be on this bus.
O'BRIEN: Only candidates, or are you hoping to get voters?
CARLSON: We're going to get voters, we're going to get everybody. But first, you have got to see our studio.
O'BRIEN: OK. It's right in the back of the bus.
O'BRIEN: And with that, hey, Paul, good morning. I'm liking the bus.
PAUL BEGALA, "CROSSFIRE" CO-HOST": Welcome to the bus.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
BEGALA: You want to come with?
O'BRIEN: I sure do. It's nice and toasty in here. It's pretty cold outside.
BEGALA: This is where we're going to do the interviews.
O'BRIEN: This is the studio.
BEGALA: This is the studio.
This bus, I'm told was entirely made out of empty bottles of Jim Beam whiskey. So we've had to rehab it quite a bit to make it...
We do still have the padded roof.
CARLSON: The padded ceiling.
O'BRIEN: I like that.
CARLSON: There were mirrors on the ceiling, but we took those off.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm so glad to hear that.
Now tell me, how many folks with actually be on here at one time?
CARLSON: Twenty two, our producers are saying, 22 people comfortably sitting down, not that we will.
O'BRIEN: What's your goal? I mean, immediately out of the box, you mentioned Al Sharpton on "CROSSFIRE" today. But what comes up right off that? You've got catch New Hampshire.
BEGALA: We'll go to New Hampshire. There's a big debate Tuesday night in Durham. We'll be there to cover it, but before that, we're going to have General Wesley Clark. He's getting on the bus. Guy more familiar with driving a tank. We may let him get behind the wheel and wheel around a little bit in New Hampshire to find some voters.
But we want to be, as Tucker said, where the politicians are and where the voters are. I love being in Washington. It's often the nerve center. But now, the nerve center has moved, moving to Iowa, moving to New Hampshire.
CARLSON: That's right. It really is hard to know what's going on. If you're not there. And the primary season is so compressed, as you know now, everything will be decided by the first week in March pretty much, that things can change quickly on the ground, and it's not always clear if you're sitting in a studio in Washington what's happening. So we hope to find out.
O'BRIEN: Have your finger on the pulse of America.
CARLSON: Amen.
O'BRIEN: You guys have parking permits for this? I don't know if you knew, you saw the cops outside.
CARLSON: Soledad, we're journalists, we don't do the permit thing.
BEGALA: We don't need no stinking permits.
Absolutely. This things is going to be huge. This is our urban assault vehicle.
CARLSON: And who's going to say no to the former Hank Williams, now CNN election vehicle? Nobody.
O'BRIEN: I completely agree. Looks like we're ready. You've got Sharpton today on CROSSFIRE. Will be the -- well, outside of me...
BEGALA: Well, you're the first.
O'BRIEN: Although I think I'm interviewing you guys, so I don't think I count as the guest.
CARLSON: And you're not running for anything.
O'BRIEN: And I'm not running for anything today.
BEGALA: Where are you on Medicare reform? CARLSON: Where is Al Sharpton on Medicare reform? We're going to find out.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well you guys, congratulations, loving the bus. It looks great, because I came in earlier this morning, it was getting cleaned and...
CARLSON: It looked a little different. The sawhorses are gone.
O'BRIEN: Yes, they did a terrific job.
BEGALA: We actually do have roadies, and they worked all night.
O'BRIEN: You guys have roadies.
CARLSON: They've retired from the Allman Brothers, they've come to us.
O'BRIEN: You're scaring me, both of you. Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala, nice to see you guys. Good look with the bus. We look forward to catching up on your reports as you travel across the country. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
