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American Morning
'Gimme a Minute'; Senator John Kerry Criticizes President Bush
Aired May 28, 2004 - 08:31 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: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer has the day off. Anderson Cooper is doing double duty, filling in for us, and also doing your show at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time here on CNN, called "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for the plug. There you go.
O'BRIEN: Well, John Kerry may have dipped his toe in the water yesterday, but he still seems a little reluctant to attack the president. Democrats divided about his strategy. This morning, we talk about that with our political commentators on "Gimme a Minute."
COOPER: Also medicine may be making advances all the time, but more and more people are turning to alternative medicine. It is not just supplements. One of the most popular alternatives is prayer. We've got a medical report on that, coming up.
O'BRIEN: But, before we get to any of that, you know what we like to do on Fridays. We cook up the week's big stories and serve them up in a little tasty dish that we like to call "Gimme a Minute." Continue with this analogy. Our expert chefs this morning, Donna Brazile, a CNN political contributor, Democratic strategist.
Hey, Donna, good morning. Do you like being called a chef in the morning?
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: I like to stir it up myself.
O'BRIEN: That I will give you. That I know. Jonah Goldberg of the National Review Online also with us.
Hey, Jonah. Good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
And from Los Angeles, pinch hitting this week for us is political comedian Will Durst.
Hey, Will, nice to see you. Good morning.
WILL DURST, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Good morning. I brought my stash (ph), so whatever I can do.
O'BRIEN: All right, then let's get going.
Donna, we're going to begin with you this morning. We heard Al Gore lashing out at the administration. Some people said it was a little bit of a rant, saying that the president had made the world less safe, and he was calling for all sorts of resignations.
The day after, John Kerry, after being relatively low key on the issue, we sort of hear him doing something similar, calling for the -- saying the administration made the world a less safe place. So it sounds as if Senator Kerry is stealing a page from Al Gore's book. Do you think that's true?
BRAZILE: Well, I think Senator Kerry has a new recipe for keeping America safe and secure, and Al Gore just stirred up what most people knew in this country, that this administration has failed to stir the imagination of the world. He called for resignation. I agree.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think? Do you think that's going to work, to take a page out of Al Gore's book?
GOLDBERG: I'm not sure I agree with all that analysis. I think what's happening is that basically Al Gore is channeling Howard Dean this week, and not by accident. The Democratic Party is deeply split. One is hugely antiwar, from the Dean sort of Nader-ite crowd, and the other part wants to stay the course, but with different management, and Kerry needs both of those to go.
O'BRIEN: Will Durst, weigh in on this for me. And don't even worry about the bell, because I always miss the bell.
DURST: Well, I think what Gore is doing, is he's the designated pitbull or designated chihuahua, whichever one you want. You can almost hear the toenails on the linoleum. But I think Kerry's best chance -- if you noticed, every time he shuts up, his poll numbers rise. So I think his best way to get elected is to slip into a coma for the next four or five months.
O'BRIEN: You think that might work. Interesting strategy there.
Next question for you, Jonah, this one's for you. Insurgents, as you well know, continue to do attacks in Najaf. We've seen a deal, and then a deal that's maybe not so much of a deal. We saw the member of the IGC who was narrowly missed being killed. Her son was killed, bodyguards killed as well. June 30th handover -- do you think that date can still hold?
GOLDBERG: I think it's going to hold, and I think it has to hold. Bush is too committed to it. The coalition is too committed to it. I think Bush is doing the right thing with these speeches. He needs to do more of them. It can't just be a one shot. He needs to communicate with the American people, and Democrats won't be satisfied with anything except Bush's resignation, so he should ignore them.
O'BRIEN: Donna, we hear Jonah say going to hold, has to hold, but should it hold?
BRAZILE: It's going to hold, but will the militia fold. Will the Iraqi people stand up and really take control of their government? The date will hold, but we don't know if the militia will fold.
O'BRIEN: Well, Durst, what do you make of this date? Are we going to make it?
DURST: I have no idea. I watched Bush's speech on -- and I have no idea what happened there. He kept saying that the war is going according to plan and, well, if that's true, it's a lousy plan.
O'BRIEN: Donna, next question for you. Bill Cosby, as you well know, made some very controversial remarks the other day, and he's been following up on them ever since then. As our person of color on the panel this morning, we'll give this one to you. What do you think of what he said? Was it racist? Was it appropriate?
BRAZILE: Bill Cosby has not only the credibility and standing to make those remarks, but what he said, basically, is said every day in the barber shops and beauty parlors. No one talks about it. But Cosby hit a nerve, and the truth sometimes hurts.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think? Is it the truth that's hurting, or do you think it's hey, pretty easy to pick on poverty stricken single mothers.
GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, I want to correct you. I am a person of color. Pasty, chalky white is, in fact, a color.
O'BRIEN: My apologies. I'm sorry. And to Will also.
GOLDBERG: But secondly, I say hurrah for Bill Cosby.
Look, we constantly hear about how we need to have an honest dialogue about race in this country. But many whites are simply, including the pasty chalky ones, are basically locked out of it, because if they said anything like what Cosby said, they'd be called racists. Someone needs to have this conversation.
O'BRIEN: Will Durst, where you stand on this?
DURST: Well, I'm kind of a beige, or a tawny or an ecru (ph) as well, but I have no dog in this hunt really. I have no jurisdiction. As the great philosopher Rodney King once said, can't we all get along?
O'BRIEN: And finally, let's talk about the stories that you felt were undercovered in the week. Jonah, let's begin with you. What did we miss?
GOLDBERG: Well, John Kerry yesterday announced that he was not going to postpone his nomination so he could raise more money. And he congratulated himself by saying how he was raising a new standard, when, in fact, all he was doing was sticking to the standard that he was supposed to stick to in the first place.
O'BRIEN: I guess the lawyers said, it's not going to work.
All right, Donna, what do you think?
BRAZILE: Well, 10 years ago, the Republicans swept through the country and picked up seats and took back the House. But this year, the Democrats are quietly putting together a real good team of candidates, and it looks like they may take back the House.
O'BRIEN: Will Durst, we're going to give you the final word this morning. What was the undercovered story of the week.
DURST: I don't know if you guys saw this, but Treasury Secretary John Snow inadvertently bought $10.9 million of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. He inadvertently got -- this treasury secretary. This is not good. I looked it up. This is kind of like having your drug intervention hosted by Robert Downey Jr., and Courtney Love is driving the van.
O'BRIEN: He said, apparently, he just doesn't read the statements, which I thought was interesting as well.
DURST: Yes, he didn't open the statement.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, and Donna and Will Durst. I thought it was just me who didn't open the statements, but apparently, even the treasury secretary doesn't open his statements either. You guys as always, thanks. Have a wonderful holiday weekend. We'll see you back here next week.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Still to come, the business of love. One company is trying to match -- or actually patent a matchmaking formula. I'm not sure how that works.
O'BRIEN: As more Americans use holistic alternative to modern medicines. Are there safety concerns that you should worry about? We'll look at that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. I'm in Atlanta at CNN world headquarters. Our friends up at AMERICAN MORNING having a few technical difficulties up in New York City. So you and I are going to hang out for a few minutes while we work that out.
It is just past 45 minutes past the hour. Let's look at some of today's top stories. It looks like a truce to end a violent standoff in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf is already in trouble. Military officials say that gunmen attacked U.S. forces and a U.S. military base just outside of Najaf today. The violence coming one day after radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr made a pledge to withdraw his fighters, and the U.S.-led coalition agreed to halt its offensive.
Safe and sound, four NBC journalists are released unharmed after a scary ordeal in Iraq. They were capture by armed Iraqis three days ago in the city of Fallujah. NBC News reports that local Iraqi leaders helped mediate the hostage takers, and according to the statement, the U.S. Marines said that they warned the crew against going into the area, but the journalists did not heed that warning.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented a revised Gaza pullout plan to his cabinet. Sharon's new proposal now focuses on a four-stage approach to the Gaza withdrawal. It's slated for a vote this Sunday. That is according to a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister. Sharon's initial plan was rejected by his own Likud Party earlier this month.
Here in the U.S., in Norfolk, Virginia, the USS Cole is home. That is after six months in the Mediterranean Sea. It was the Cole's first overseas deployment since the October 2000 bomb attack in Yemen that left 17 sailors dead. Only five sailors onboard that day are now serving on board the Cole.
South Carolina's governor and a couple of piglets are stirring up tempers over the state budget. Governor Mark Sanford walked into the statehouse yesterday carrying two baby pigs. The lighthearted protest was aimed at lawmakers for overriding his budget vetoes. The government claimed that there is pork in the $5.5 billion spending plan.
Well, warning the day is late and the situation is grim in Iraq, Senator John Kerry yesterday criticized President Bush, contending the president has made America less safe. His remarks open what is expected to be a two-week critique of the White House over national security.
With more on that, here's our national correspondent Kelly Wallace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry continues his visit to Green Bay today, meeting with military families, as he tries to convince Americans his team would keep the country safer than team Bush.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They bullied when they should have persuaded. They've gone it alone when they should have assembled a whole team. They've made America less safe than we should be in a dangerous world.
WALLACE: In a national security speech in Seattle Thursday, long on vision, short on details, Kerry said he would build stronger alliances, modernize the military, and not be afraid to use force when necessary, especially to deal with al Qaeda.
KERRY: As commander in chief, I will bring the full force of our nation's power to bear on finding and crushing your networks.
WALLACE: His strategy, as someone who voted for the Iraqi war resolution, challenged the president on leadership.
KERRY: Attracting international support in a situation like Iraq is a clear test of presidential leadership. It is what capable and confident presidents do.
WALLACE: A challenge for Kerry, however, leading a Democratic Party, which includes more liberal-leaning members going further than he is.
AL GORE (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Rumsfeld ought to resign.
WALLACE: With Al Gore demanding multiple Bush team resignations over Iraq and a coalition of more than 40 anti-war groups calling for a U.S. troop pullout.
(on camera): A senior Kerry adviser says the campaign does not feel any pressure from within the Democratic Party to deliver an exit strategy for Iraq, at least not yet. The focus now, trying to persuade Americans Kerry would be a stronger leader. It is a debate the Bush-Cheney team says it welcomes.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And we're going to have much more of AMERICAN MORNING from here in Atlanta and New York City. Right now, a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Checking in with the New York Yankees now. They have a farm club that may be minor league, but a difference here, a four- legged bat boy.
Our Jeanne Moos has the story of a bat boy who is golden when it comes to retrieving.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down, bat boy, down. Here comes the bat dog. Batting averages aside, there's nothing average about having a dog pick up bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty cool.
MOOS: This is the second full season that Chase...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Chase, Chase, Chase!
MOOS: Has served as bat dog for the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees AA farm team.
Trying to impress George Steinbrenner, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, even Derek Jeter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good boy.
MOOS: Doesn't get his own pool at the stadium to cool off between innings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go get the bat. Go get it.
MOOS: You don't have to worry about bike marks on the bats?
RICK BRENNER, GEN. MANAGER, TRENTON THUNDER: Golden retrievers are a very soft-mouthed dog. As a breed, they're used for hunting and retrieving birds. You don't want puncture marks in the birds.
MOOS: Chase lives with general manager Rick Brenner, though a professional dog trainer trained him.
STUMP MERRILL, TRENTON THUNDER MANAGER: We enjoy him in the clubhouse. How he's almost one of us.
MOOS: Just like the bat boy, Chase brings water in a basket to the umpires. He only fetches bats in the first inning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's pretty good at it.
MOOS: Is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOOS: Better than you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. We'll see to that.
MOOS: Chase committed no errors though he sometimes moves his mouth to avoid the pine tar players use to grip the bat. He also catches frisbees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That a boy!
MOOS: And even caters to the press, fetching microphones on cue. The club sells his image on bats and T-shirts. Chase is already a stuffed animal. And they're making a bobblehead of him. What dog wouldn't want to hear...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play ball!
MOOS: And though he doesn't bite the bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little slobber, maybe.
MOOS: In this game, slobber is a plus. Jeanne Moos, CNN, Trenton, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And Chase's owner compares the dog to a perfect child, and says Chase does everything that he is told. Well, for our friends out there, the fans of AMERICAN MORNING wondering what is going on. They're waking up, rubbing their eyes, going where is everybody in New York? They had to go to the bench, because they are having a few technical problems in New York. So we're going to carry the load for a while.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Still to come in the next hour, some serious issues will be discussed today at a court hearing in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. Details ahead right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 28, 2004 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer has the day off. Anderson Cooper is doing double duty, filling in for us, and also doing your show at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time here on CNN, called "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for the plug. There you go.
O'BRIEN: Well, John Kerry may have dipped his toe in the water yesterday, but he still seems a little reluctant to attack the president. Democrats divided about his strategy. This morning, we talk about that with our political commentators on "Gimme a Minute."
COOPER: Also medicine may be making advances all the time, but more and more people are turning to alternative medicine. It is not just supplements. One of the most popular alternatives is prayer. We've got a medical report on that, coming up.
O'BRIEN: But, before we get to any of that, you know what we like to do on Fridays. We cook up the week's big stories and serve them up in a little tasty dish that we like to call "Gimme a Minute." Continue with this analogy. Our expert chefs this morning, Donna Brazile, a CNN political contributor, Democratic strategist.
Hey, Donna, good morning. Do you like being called a chef in the morning?
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: I like to stir it up myself.
O'BRIEN: That I will give you. That I know. Jonah Goldberg of the National Review Online also with us.
Hey, Jonah. Good morning.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
And from Los Angeles, pinch hitting this week for us is political comedian Will Durst.
Hey, Will, nice to see you. Good morning.
WILL DURST, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Good morning. I brought my stash (ph), so whatever I can do.
O'BRIEN: All right, then let's get going.
Donna, we're going to begin with you this morning. We heard Al Gore lashing out at the administration. Some people said it was a little bit of a rant, saying that the president had made the world less safe, and he was calling for all sorts of resignations.
The day after, John Kerry, after being relatively low key on the issue, we sort of hear him doing something similar, calling for the -- saying the administration made the world a less safe place. So it sounds as if Senator Kerry is stealing a page from Al Gore's book. Do you think that's true?
BRAZILE: Well, I think Senator Kerry has a new recipe for keeping America safe and secure, and Al Gore just stirred up what most people knew in this country, that this administration has failed to stir the imagination of the world. He called for resignation. I agree.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think? Do you think that's going to work, to take a page out of Al Gore's book?
GOLDBERG: I'm not sure I agree with all that analysis. I think what's happening is that basically Al Gore is channeling Howard Dean this week, and not by accident. The Democratic Party is deeply split. One is hugely antiwar, from the Dean sort of Nader-ite crowd, and the other part wants to stay the course, but with different management, and Kerry needs both of those to go.
O'BRIEN: Will Durst, weigh in on this for me. And don't even worry about the bell, because I always miss the bell.
DURST: Well, I think what Gore is doing, is he's the designated pitbull or designated chihuahua, whichever one you want. You can almost hear the toenails on the linoleum. But I think Kerry's best chance -- if you noticed, every time he shuts up, his poll numbers rise. So I think his best way to get elected is to slip into a coma for the next four or five months.
O'BRIEN: You think that might work. Interesting strategy there.
Next question for you, Jonah, this one's for you. Insurgents, as you well know, continue to do attacks in Najaf. We've seen a deal, and then a deal that's maybe not so much of a deal. We saw the member of the IGC who was narrowly missed being killed. Her son was killed, bodyguards killed as well. June 30th handover -- do you think that date can still hold?
GOLDBERG: I think it's going to hold, and I think it has to hold. Bush is too committed to it. The coalition is too committed to it. I think Bush is doing the right thing with these speeches. He needs to do more of them. It can't just be a one shot. He needs to communicate with the American people, and Democrats won't be satisfied with anything except Bush's resignation, so he should ignore them.
O'BRIEN: Donna, we hear Jonah say going to hold, has to hold, but should it hold?
BRAZILE: It's going to hold, but will the militia fold. Will the Iraqi people stand up and really take control of their government? The date will hold, but we don't know if the militia will fold.
O'BRIEN: Well, Durst, what do you make of this date? Are we going to make it?
DURST: I have no idea. I watched Bush's speech on -- and I have no idea what happened there. He kept saying that the war is going according to plan and, well, if that's true, it's a lousy plan.
O'BRIEN: Donna, next question for you. Bill Cosby, as you well know, made some very controversial remarks the other day, and he's been following up on them ever since then. As our person of color on the panel this morning, we'll give this one to you. What do you think of what he said? Was it racist? Was it appropriate?
BRAZILE: Bill Cosby has not only the credibility and standing to make those remarks, but what he said, basically, is said every day in the barber shops and beauty parlors. No one talks about it. But Cosby hit a nerve, and the truth sometimes hurts.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think? Is it the truth that's hurting, or do you think it's hey, pretty easy to pick on poverty stricken single mothers.
GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, I want to correct you. I am a person of color. Pasty, chalky white is, in fact, a color.
O'BRIEN: My apologies. I'm sorry. And to Will also.
GOLDBERG: But secondly, I say hurrah for Bill Cosby.
Look, we constantly hear about how we need to have an honest dialogue about race in this country. But many whites are simply, including the pasty chalky ones, are basically locked out of it, because if they said anything like what Cosby said, they'd be called racists. Someone needs to have this conversation.
O'BRIEN: Will Durst, where you stand on this?
DURST: Well, I'm kind of a beige, or a tawny or an ecru (ph) as well, but I have no dog in this hunt really. I have no jurisdiction. As the great philosopher Rodney King once said, can't we all get along?
O'BRIEN: And finally, let's talk about the stories that you felt were undercovered in the week. Jonah, let's begin with you. What did we miss?
GOLDBERG: Well, John Kerry yesterday announced that he was not going to postpone his nomination so he could raise more money. And he congratulated himself by saying how he was raising a new standard, when, in fact, all he was doing was sticking to the standard that he was supposed to stick to in the first place.
O'BRIEN: I guess the lawyers said, it's not going to work.
All right, Donna, what do you think?
BRAZILE: Well, 10 years ago, the Republicans swept through the country and picked up seats and took back the House. But this year, the Democrats are quietly putting together a real good team of candidates, and it looks like they may take back the House.
O'BRIEN: Will Durst, we're going to give you the final word this morning. What was the undercovered story of the week.
DURST: I don't know if you guys saw this, but Treasury Secretary John Snow inadvertently bought $10.9 million of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. He inadvertently got -- this treasury secretary. This is not good. I looked it up. This is kind of like having your drug intervention hosted by Robert Downey Jr., and Courtney Love is driving the van.
O'BRIEN: He said, apparently, he just doesn't read the statements, which I thought was interesting as well.
DURST: Yes, he didn't open the statement.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, and Donna and Will Durst. I thought it was just me who didn't open the statements, but apparently, even the treasury secretary doesn't open his statements either. You guys as always, thanks. Have a wonderful holiday weekend. We'll see you back here next week.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Still to come, the business of love. One company is trying to match -- or actually patent a matchmaking formula. I'm not sure how that works.
O'BRIEN: As more Americans use holistic alternative to modern medicines. Are there safety concerns that you should worry about? We'll look at that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. I'm in Atlanta at CNN world headquarters. Our friends up at AMERICAN MORNING having a few technical difficulties up in New York City. So you and I are going to hang out for a few minutes while we work that out.
It is just past 45 minutes past the hour. Let's look at some of today's top stories. It looks like a truce to end a violent standoff in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf is already in trouble. Military officials say that gunmen attacked U.S. forces and a U.S. military base just outside of Najaf today. The violence coming one day after radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr made a pledge to withdraw his fighters, and the U.S.-led coalition agreed to halt its offensive.
Safe and sound, four NBC journalists are released unharmed after a scary ordeal in Iraq. They were capture by armed Iraqis three days ago in the city of Fallujah. NBC News reports that local Iraqi leaders helped mediate the hostage takers, and according to the statement, the U.S. Marines said that they warned the crew against going into the area, but the journalists did not heed that warning.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented a revised Gaza pullout plan to his cabinet. Sharon's new proposal now focuses on a four-stage approach to the Gaza withdrawal. It's slated for a vote this Sunday. That is according to a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister. Sharon's initial plan was rejected by his own Likud Party earlier this month.
Here in the U.S., in Norfolk, Virginia, the USS Cole is home. That is after six months in the Mediterranean Sea. It was the Cole's first overseas deployment since the October 2000 bomb attack in Yemen that left 17 sailors dead. Only five sailors onboard that day are now serving on board the Cole.
South Carolina's governor and a couple of piglets are stirring up tempers over the state budget. Governor Mark Sanford walked into the statehouse yesterday carrying two baby pigs. The lighthearted protest was aimed at lawmakers for overriding his budget vetoes. The government claimed that there is pork in the $5.5 billion spending plan.
Well, warning the day is late and the situation is grim in Iraq, Senator John Kerry yesterday criticized President Bush, contending the president has made America less safe. His remarks open what is expected to be a two-week critique of the White House over national security.
With more on that, here's our national correspondent Kelly Wallace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry continues his visit to Green Bay today, meeting with military families, as he tries to convince Americans his team would keep the country safer than team Bush.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They bullied when they should have persuaded. They've gone it alone when they should have assembled a whole team. They've made America less safe than we should be in a dangerous world.
WALLACE: In a national security speech in Seattle Thursday, long on vision, short on details, Kerry said he would build stronger alliances, modernize the military, and not be afraid to use force when necessary, especially to deal with al Qaeda.
KERRY: As commander in chief, I will bring the full force of our nation's power to bear on finding and crushing your networks.
WALLACE: His strategy, as someone who voted for the Iraqi war resolution, challenged the president on leadership.
KERRY: Attracting international support in a situation like Iraq is a clear test of presidential leadership. It is what capable and confident presidents do.
WALLACE: A challenge for Kerry, however, leading a Democratic Party, which includes more liberal-leaning members going further than he is.
AL GORE (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Rumsfeld ought to resign.
WALLACE: With Al Gore demanding multiple Bush team resignations over Iraq and a coalition of more than 40 anti-war groups calling for a U.S. troop pullout.
(on camera): A senior Kerry adviser says the campaign does not feel any pressure from within the Democratic Party to deliver an exit strategy for Iraq, at least not yet. The focus now, trying to persuade Americans Kerry would be a stronger leader. It is a debate the Bush-Cheney team says it welcomes.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And we're going to have much more of AMERICAN MORNING from here in Atlanta and New York City. Right now, a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Checking in with the New York Yankees now. They have a farm club that may be minor league, but a difference here, a four- legged bat boy.
Our Jeanne Moos has the story of a bat boy who is golden when it comes to retrieving.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down, bat boy, down. Here comes the bat dog. Batting averages aside, there's nothing average about having a dog pick up bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty cool.
MOOS: This is the second full season that Chase...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Chase, Chase, Chase!
MOOS: Has served as bat dog for the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees AA farm team.
Trying to impress George Steinbrenner, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, even Derek Jeter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good boy.
MOOS: Doesn't get his own pool at the stadium to cool off between innings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go get the bat. Go get it.
MOOS: You don't have to worry about bike marks on the bats?
RICK BRENNER, GEN. MANAGER, TRENTON THUNDER: Golden retrievers are a very soft-mouthed dog. As a breed, they're used for hunting and retrieving birds. You don't want puncture marks in the birds.
MOOS: Chase lives with general manager Rick Brenner, though a professional dog trainer trained him.
STUMP MERRILL, TRENTON THUNDER MANAGER: We enjoy him in the clubhouse. How he's almost one of us.
MOOS: Just like the bat boy, Chase brings water in a basket to the umpires. He only fetches bats in the first inning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's pretty good at it.
MOOS: Is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOOS: Better than you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. We'll see to that.
MOOS: Chase committed no errors though he sometimes moves his mouth to avoid the pine tar players use to grip the bat. He also catches frisbees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That a boy!
MOOS: And even caters to the press, fetching microphones on cue. The club sells his image on bats and T-shirts. Chase is already a stuffed animal. And they're making a bobblehead of him. What dog wouldn't want to hear...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play ball!
MOOS: And though he doesn't bite the bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little slobber, maybe.
MOOS: In this game, slobber is a plus. Jeanne Moos, CNN, Trenton, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And Chase's owner compares the dog to a perfect child, and says Chase does everything that he is told. Well, for our friends out there, the fans of AMERICAN MORNING wondering what is going on. They're waking up, rubbing their eyes, going where is everybody in New York? They had to go to the bench, because they are having a few technical problems in New York. So we're going to carry the load for a while.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Still to come in the next hour, some serious issues will be discussed today at a court hearing in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. Details ahead right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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