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American Morning
Bush Military Records
Aired February 12, 2004 - 07:07 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: A copy of a dental evaluation is the latest document that the White House is providing -- trying to prove the president fulfilled his Vietnam-era military obligation. The dental exam was done in January, 1973, at an Alabama Air National Guard base. The administration says that document proves that Mr. Bush served in the Alabama Guard while working on a political campaign.
Some Democrats say the payroll and dental records released this week do not prove anything.
Meanwhile, President Bush's military record may not be a hot button issue in this campaign. Democrat John Kerry is counting heavily on the support of veterans.
Another Kerry, former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, has been campaigning hard for his fellow Vietnam vet. Bob Kerrey, now president of the New School here in New York City, is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. Nice to see you.
BOB KERREY, FORMER DEMOCRATIC SENATOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: Do you question the president's military record?
KERREY: No, not -- I mean, some of the details of it I don't. I mean, I believe the bottom line is that he did serve honorably, so -- but there's also no question that in 1968, which was a very difficult and terrible time, that an awful rot of people joined the Guard in order not to have to go to Vietnam, and he may have gotten to the head of the line to be able to get in the Texas National Guard through the influence of his father, et cetera.
So, I mean, there are some details that are becoming important, only because you've got this perfect political storm of interest and qualifications of the commander-in-chief because of 9/11, his own drawing attention to this by saying I'm a wartime president, so pay attention to my capacity as commander-in-chief, and then John Kerry's emphasis of his military service in his own campaign.
So, you've got all three of these things converging, and suddenly you're back to this question that he thought he had laid to rest previously in previous political campaigns.
HEMMER: Well, do you still think it's a question, or do you think it is laid to rest with the dental records and the payroll records released this week?
KERREY: I don't know. I mean, honestly, I don't know. All I know is I've been in these kinds of storms before, where you think you've got something laid down, and then all of a sudden you end up with a different set of circumstances.
As I said, in a real way the president pulls this attention on this issue himself by saying I'm a wartime president. Commander-in- chief is the most important thing that I'm doing. As a consequence of that, as a consequence of Americans paying attention to that after 9/11, and then John Kerry's own primary campaign, all of a sudden something that he thought was over is not over. And the press on their own is going after it.
HEMMER: Let me take you back 12 years when you were running against Bill Clinton.
KERREY: Yes.
HEMMER: You made a bit of a history, a bit of a record about Bill Clinton's own military record. John Kerry said at the time 12 years ago that you, Bob Kerrey -- I'm quoting now -- "We do not need to divide America over who served and how."
KERREY: I hate...
HEMMER: And you chuckle there.
KERREY: I hate these computers. You know, you can go back and get these things so quick.
HEMMER: It's part of the record.
KERREY: Well, actually I didn't criticize Clinton except for one moment, and it's relevant to this in that I had been speaking at Spellman College in Atlanta. It's the first time I was back in Georgia since '68 when I went to airborne and ranger school of the Army -- two Army schools there. And I saw, especially in airborne school, there appeared to be an awful lot of people who were not qualified for elite forces.
And I commented on that to the audience, and an African-American about my age came up and said I was one of your drill sergeants, and I saw the same thing. And he said what happened was they lowered the qualifications in 1968, but his words were they swept the ghettos clean.
So, I go into a press conference, and somebody says to me, Governor Clinton said today that he wanted to serve in '68 and go to Vietnam, but because of his asthma he couldn't. And I just got angry, and I said, god, if that's the case, they'll open him up like a (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HEMMER: Listen...
KERREY: It's the only time I actually criticized his service. HEMMER: You talk about records being dug up from 12 years ago.
KERREY: Right.
HEMMER: Look at this picture that surfaced yesterday. This goes back 34 years. Jane Fonda at a rally against the Vietnam War, in the background you can see a shaded Senator John Kerry, just returned from the war and now heading up a movement that was opposed to the war. How do you think images like these will be interpreted by voters? And maybe more importantly, how will they be interpreted by veterans?
KERREY: Well, I don't know. I mean, Jane Fonda was very controversial, but she has apologized for her trip to North Vietnam, and I saw the clip that you had earlier -- or yesterday's clip of something that she had said, and she looks terrific.
And I think that the whole thing actually is apt to remind people of that terrible time, and I hope that as people are making judgments about what individuals did during that time will try to get some understanding of the context of 1968. It was a very terrible time. Bobby Kennedy had been killed. Martin Luther King had been killed.
As indicated earlier, I mean, the government was really doing a bad thing, and they had dropped the entrance requirements, and they were drafting people right and left. They allowed these exemptions that made it possible. If you were going to college you could get an exemption for a time. If you had babies, you could get an exemption.
It was a really very, very difficult and divisive time. The rhetoric of the anti-war movement offended deeply an awful lot of people who cared about their country. And it was an ugly, ugly time. And I think if you don't get in the context of that, it's very difficult to understand.
HEMMER: In the context of 2004, will you endorse Senator John Kerry for president?
KERREY: Well, I certainly will. You said earlier that I'm campaigning for him.
HEMMER: Yes.
KERREY: I'm actually not. Senator Daschle, when I went on the 9/11 Commission, asked me to stay out of the campaign. I did go to Iowa and offered testimony on his behalf. I haven't been active in the campaign so far, but I will be if he's the nominee.
HEMMER: Bob Kerrey, thanks. Good to see you. Good luck here in New York.
KERREY: Nice to see you, too.
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 February 12, 2004 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A copy of a dental evaluation is the latest document that the White House is providing -- trying to prove the president fulfilled his Vietnam-era military obligation. The dental exam was done in January, 1973, at an Alabama Air National Guard base. The administration says that document proves that Mr. Bush served in the Alabama Guard while working on a political campaign.
Some Democrats say the payroll and dental records released this week do not prove anything.
Meanwhile, President Bush's military record may not be a hot button issue in this campaign. Democrat John Kerry is counting heavily on the support of veterans.
Another Kerry, former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, has been campaigning hard for his fellow Vietnam vet. Bob Kerrey, now president of the New School here in New York City, is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. Nice to see you.
BOB KERREY, FORMER DEMOCRATIC SENATOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: Do you question the president's military record?
KERREY: No, not -- I mean, some of the details of it I don't. I mean, I believe the bottom line is that he did serve honorably, so -- but there's also no question that in 1968, which was a very difficult and terrible time, that an awful rot of people joined the Guard in order not to have to go to Vietnam, and he may have gotten to the head of the line to be able to get in the Texas National Guard through the influence of his father, et cetera.
So, I mean, there are some details that are becoming important, only because you've got this perfect political storm of interest and qualifications of the commander-in-chief because of 9/11, his own drawing attention to this by saying I'm a wartime president, so pay attention to my capacity as commander-in-chief, and then John Kerry's emphasis of his military service in his own campaign.
So, you've got all three of these things converging, and suddenly you're back to this question that he thought he had laid to rest previously in previous political campaigns.
HEMMER: Well, do you still think it's a question, or do you think it is laid to rest with the dental records and the payroll records released this week?
KERREY: I don't know. I mean, honestly, I don't know. All I know is I've been in these kinds of storms before, where you think you've got something laid down, and then all of a sudden you end up with a different set of circumstances.
As I said, in a real way the president pulls this attention on this issue himself by saying I'm a wartime president. Commander-in- chief is the most important thing that I'm doing. As a consequence of that, as a consequence of Americans paying attention to that after 9/11, and then John Kerry's own primary campaign, all of a sudden something that he thought was over is not over. And the press on their own is going after it.
HEMMER: Let me take you back 12 years when you were running against Bill Clinton.
KERREY: Yes.
HEMMER: You made a bit of a history, a bit of a record about Bill Clinton's own military record. John Kerry said at the time 12 years ago that you, Bob Kerrey -- I'm quoting now -- "We do not need to divide America over who served and how."
KERREY: I hate...
HEMMER: And you chuckle there.
KERREY: I hate these computers. You know, you can go back and get these things so quick.
HEMMER: It's part of the record.
KERREY: Well, actually I didn't criticize Clinton except for one moment, and it's relevant to this in that I had been speaking at Spellman College in Atlanta. It's the first time I was back in Georgia since '68 when I went to airborne and ranger school of the Army -- two Army schools there. And I saw, especially in airborne school, there appeared to be an awful lot of people who were not qualified for elite forces.
And I commented on that to the audience, and an African-American about my age came up and said I was one of your drill sergeants, and I saw the same thing. And he said what happened was they lowered the qualifications in 1968, but his words were they swept the ghettos clean.
So, I go into a press conference, and somebody says to me, Governor Clinton said today that he wanted to serve in '68 and go to Vietnam, but because of his asthma he couldn't. And I just got angry, and I said, god, if that's the case, they'll open him up like a (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HEMMER: Listen...
KERREY: It's the only time I actually criticized his service. HEMMER: You talk about records being dug up from 12 years ago.
KERREY: Right.
HEMMER: Look at this picture that surfaced yesterday. This goes back 34 years. Jane Fonda at a rally against the Vietnam War, in the background you can see a shaded Senator John Kerry, just returned from the war and now heading up a movement that was opposed to the war. How do you think images like these will be interpreted by voters? And maybe more importantly, how will they be interpreted by veterans?
KERREY: Well, I don't know. I mean, Jane Fonda was very controversial, but she has apologized for her trip to North Vietnam, and I saw the clip that you had earlier -- or yesterday's clip of something that she had said, and she looks terrific.
And I think that the whole thing actually is apt to remind people of that terrible time, and I hope that as people are making judgments about what individuals did during that time will try to get some understanding of the context of 1968. It was a very terrible time. Bobby Kennedy had been killed. Martin Luther King had been killed.
As indicated earlier, I mean, the government was really doing a bad thing, and they had dropped the entrance requirements, and they were drafting people right and left. They allowed these exemptions that made it possible. If you were going to college you could get an exemption for a time. If you had babies, you could get an exemption.
It was a really very, very difficult and divisive time. The rhetoric of the anti-war movement offended deeply an awful lot of people who cared about their country. And it was an ugly, ugly time. And I think if you don't get in the context of that, it's very difficult to understand.
HEMMER: In the context of 2004, will you endorse Senator John Kerry for president?
KERREY: Well, I certainly will. You said earlier that I'm campaigning for him.
HEMMER: Yes.
KERREY: I'm actually not. Senator Daschle, when I went on the 9/11 Commission, asked me to stay out of the campaign. I did go to Iowa and offered testimony on his behalf. I haven't been active in the campaign so far, but I will be if he's the nominee.
HEMMER: Bob Kerrey, thanks. Good to see you. Good luck here in New York.
KERREY: Nice to see you, too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
