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American Morning
Interview With Congressman Harold Ford
Aired January 21, 2004 - 09:10 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: How are the Democrats in Washington responding this morning to the president's message?
Well, Congressman Harold Ford joins us this morning. Nice to see you. How are you?
REP. HAROLD FORD (D), TENNESSEE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: So, as you just heard...
FORD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is on the way, it's good to hear.
O'BRIEN: Yes, whoa! Hey, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) revealing any big secrets there.
Some say not the president's best speech, even though the poll numbers say -- 76 percent said either a very good speech, pretty good speech -- all positive. What did you think of the speech?
FORD: Any time the president speaks and gives a State of the Union message, the country responds in an upbeat and positive way.
O'BRIEN: So, the numbers don't mean anything?
FORD: Well, they do. I mean, the country appreciated it. I listened to my friend and the chairman of the Committee on Intelligence share his thoughts. And I've got to tell you, I enjoyed the speech. I sat near the front. I shook the president's hand. I had a little guy-to-guy conversation on the way out. But I wish he had enumerated a little more.
O'BRIEN: Like what?
FORD: The plans before the war. As you know, administrator Bremer was here a few weeks ago and met with the United Nations Secretary-General Annan about the U.N.'s role in Iraq or proposed role in Iraq. I wish the president would have laid out for Congress and for the world what that role will be. I wish...
O'BRIEN: A lot of the criticism that the president gets is that he's got this go-it-alone approach. Now, with administrator Bremer basically saying, hey, we've gone to the U.N., we're working with the U.N., there's a good chance that Kofi Annan is going to come back and say, yes...
FORD: And those are the things...
O'BRIEN: ... you've got our experts. How are the Democrats going to argue moving forward?
FORD: Put the Democrat and Republican dichotomy aside for one moment. I think the country and the world wanted to hear some details about that plan. I know I did. I'm a supporter of not only internationalizing -- and the president took some shots at those of us last night when he said, how do you explain to England and to Bulgaria, to Italy...
O'BRIEN: The long list of countries involved.
FORD: But here's the reality: 90 percent of the money and 90 percent of the troops are American troops and American dollars. So, we can't get around that unfortunate reality. So, I would love...
O'BRIEN: But some people think now he's internationalizing. Now he is
FORD: But I would have loved to have heard a little more about that. I would have loved to have heard, as Chairman Goss touched on and you touched on our questioning, what went wrong with our intelligence? I'm a believer we're safer without Saddam Hussein. But we obviously didn't have it all right when we suggested there were weapons on the ground. What steps have been taken to improve upon that, to ensure that our intelligence involving North Korea and in other corners of the world may be accurate?
When it comes to domestic policy, he took shots at us Democrats and tried to suggest things. The reality is Iowa showed us the top Democrats in our party are for strong security, being John Edwards and John Kerry. They believe that we should reduce the tax load on small businesses and middle-class families. Both John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to do that.
So, I think it's going to be harder for the president as we move into this election season to try to stereotype the party or stereotype Democrats
O'BRIEN: But the economy, if you look at all of the economic signs, shows signs of recovery. Isn't that going to be a difficult are for Democrats to campaign on? Yes, the jobs are a problem, but many experts will say they always lag.
FORD: But the economy...
O'BRIEN: They lag in the leading economic indicators, so everything else is looking good. Hey, the jobs will follow
FORD: I'm rooting for the economy, let me be clear. But if the economy is booming and you're not working, you don't quite experience it like others. And with 10 million Americans looking for work, with 37 million Americans living below the poverty level, and 44 million without health insurance, I know sometimes people don't like numbers, but numbers don't lie. A thousand jobs created last December. I hope the president is right -- that the jobs are coming in February and March and April and May. But I have to tell you, I've listened to three of his speeches thus far. In each speech he tells me that jobs are coming and the economy is booming. I invest in the market, and I'm excited that it's moving in the right direction. But the reality is corporate profits don't necessarily translate into more jobs -- at least they haven't up to this point. Let's hope they do.
The president, I know, is hoping they do, and so are Democrats. But if they don't, I think the country will be prepared to perhaps travel another course. And they can be assured that if they elect a Democrat, that Democrat will be tough, can be trusted on national security and defense, and will do the right thing when it comes to reducing taxes for American families.
O'BRIEN: As you point out, the voters will have the final say.
FORD: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Congressman Harold Ford, nice to have you. Thanks for being with us.
FORD: Thanks for having me. Yes, ma'am.
O'BRIEN: We 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 January 21, 2004 - 09:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: How are the Democrats in Washington responding this morning to the president's message?
Well, Congressman Harold Ford joins us this morning. Nice to see you. How are you?
REP. HAROLD FORD (D), TENNESSEE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: So, as you just heard...
FORD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is on the way, it's good to hear.
O'BRIEN: Yes, whoa! Hey, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) revealing any big secrets there.
Some say not the president's best speech, even though the poll numbers say -- 76 percent said either a very good speech, pretty good speech -- all positive. What did you think of the speech?
FORD: Any time the president speaks and gives a State of the Union message, the country responds in an upbeat and positive way.
O'BRIEN: So, the numbers don't mean anything?
FORD: Well, they do. I mean, the country appreciated it. I listened to my friend and the chairman of the Committee on Intelligence share his thoughts. And I've got to tell you, I enjoyed the speech. I sat near the front. I shook the president's hand. I had a little guy-to-guy conversation on the way out. But I wish he had enumerated a little more.
O'BRIEN: Like what?
FORD: The plans before the war. As you know, administrator Bremer was here a few weeks ago and met with the United Nations Secretary-General Annan about the U.N.'s role in Iraq or proposed role in Iraq. I wish the president would have laid out for Congress and for the world what that role will be. I wish...
O'BRIEN: A lot of the criticism that the president gets is that he's got this go-it-alone approach. Now, with administrator Bremer basically saying, hey, we've gone to the U.N., we're working with the U.N., there's a good chance that Kofi Annan is going to come back and say, yes...
FORD: And those are the things...
O'BRIEN: ... you've got our experts. How are the Democrats going to argue moving forward?
FORD: Put the Democrat and Republican dichotomy aside for one moment. I think the country and the world wanted to hear some details about that plan. I know I did. I'm a supporter of not only internationalizing -- and the president took some shots at those of us last night when he said, how do you explain to England and to Bulgaria, to Italy...
O'BRIEN: The long list of countries involved.
FORD: But here's the reality: 90 percent of the money and 90 percent of the troops are American troops and American dollars. So, we can't get around that unfortunate reality. So, I would love...
O'BRIEN: But some people think now he's internationalizing. Now he is
FORD: But I would have loved to have heard a little more about that. I would have loved to have heard, as Chairman Goss touched on and you touched on our questioning, what went wrong with our intelligence? I'm a believer we're safer without Saddam Hussein. But we obviously didn't have it all right when we suggested there were weapons on the ground. What steps have been taken to improve upon that, to ensure that our intelligence involving North Korea and in other corners of the world may be accurate?
When it comes to domestic policy, he took shots at us Democrats and tried to suggest things. The reality is Iowa showed us the top Democrats in our party are for strong security, being John Edwards and John Kerry. They believe that we should reduce the tax load on small businesses and middle-class families. Both John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to do that.
So, I think it's going to be harder for the president as we move into this election season to try to stereotype the party or stereotype Democrats
O'BRIEN: But the economy, if you look at all of the economic signs, shows signs of recovery. Isn't that going to be a difficult are for Democrats to campaign on? Yes, the jobs are a problem, but many experts will say they always lag.
FORD: But the economy...
O'BRIEN: They lag in the leading economic indicators, so everything else is looking good. Hey, the jobs will follow
FORD: I'm rooting for the economy, let me be clear. But if the economy is booming and you're not working, you don't quite experience it like others. And with 10 million Americans looking for work, with 37 million Americans living below the poverty level, and 44 million without health insurance, I know sometimes people don't like numbers, but numbers don't lie. A thousand jobs created last December. I hope the president is right -- that the jobs are coming in February and March and April and May. But I have to tell you, I've listened to three of his speeches thus far. In each speech he tells me that jobs are coming and the economy is booming. I invest in the market, and I'm excited that it's moving in the right direction. But the reality is corporate profits don't necessarily translate into more jobs -- at least they haven't up to this point. Let's hope they do.
The president, I know, is hoping they do, and so are Democrats. But if they don't, I think the country will be prepared to perhaps travel another course. And they can be assured that if they elect a Democrat, that Democrat will be tough, can be trusted on national security and defense, and will do the right thing when it comes to reducing taxes for American families.
O'BRIEN: As you point out, the voters will have the final say.
FORD: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Congressman Harold Ford, nice to have you. Thanks for being with us.
FORD: Thanks for having me. Yes, ma'am.
O'BRIEN: We 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.
