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American Morning
President Laying Out Broad Vision for Next Four Years; World Leaders Quietly Scrambling as Palestinian Leader Clings to Life
Aired November 05, 2004 - 07:00 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: Good morning. The president laying out a broad vision for the next four years, saying he wants Democrats on his side.
Also from Falluja...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what you're writing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Measuring the strengths of insurgents in Falluja. Is the military now ready for a major assault on that city?
What happens in the Middle East after Yasser Arafat? World leaders quietly scrambling as the Palestinian leader clings to life.
And the explosion at a fireworks factory that hit with the force of an earthquake.
All ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
Good morning, everybody. 7:00 here in New York City. Soledad is out today. Kelly Wallace with us today.
Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you.
HEMMER: You've had a very busy month, huh?
WALLACE: There has been something going on called an election.
HEMMER: Listen, welcome back. And Great work out there on the campaign trail, the Kerry campaign last check, right?
WALLACE: Yes, yes, yes.
HEMMER: We have a lot to talk about this morning.
WALLACE: We sure do, a lot of catching up.
HEMMER: That's right.
We're looking deeper today also into what Republicans did to win this election. A huge part of the story is Karl Rove, the man right there. We'll spend some time today focusing on the architect, as the president calls him. How does he see political opportunity where others do not? And is his job with the president now done? We've got great insight this morning on that.
WALLACE: Also some tough news, Bill. We'll talk about the cancer diagnosis that surprised everyone yesterday. Elizabeth Edwards now fighting breast cancer. We will talk with a reported who watched Mrs. Edwards throughout the campaign about what kind of fighter she is.
HEMMER: Tough, tough week there.
WALLACE: Absolutely.
HEMMER: Jack is off. Toure is back with us, taking e-mails a bit later on politics, what else?
I want to get right away this story, the health of Yasser Arafat. Suzanne Malveaux helped break part of the news yesterday, and she's live from the White House this morning.
Suzanne, what do you have today? Good morning there.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill.
Of course,there are urgent talks that are going on at this hour. Administration officials here, one very senior, telling us that Yasser Arafat is being kept alive by a machine, that what is happening now are negotiations involving Arafat's wife, his inner circle, as well as officials -- Israeli officials, French officials, even Egyptian officials -- over where Arafat should or would be buried. Now we understand his family has requested Jerusalem. Israel has refused there. Even discussions now about possibly Egypt as a temporary holding site.
Now as you know, all of this very sensitive, U.S. officials say it is custom, Muslim custom, that once one would be declared deceased, it would take 24 hours -- require 24 hours, for that person to be buried. U.S. officials say there will be no official declaration of Arafat's death, that he would not be taken off life support until those negotiations are completed. The hope is, U.S. officials say, this will wrap up between 24 and 48 hours, but they say, of course, they recognize that time is running out. U.S. officials in constant communication now with French officials over the state of Yasser Arafat and just how these negotiations will play out -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good reporting, Suzanne. Thanks. We'll talk to you in a moment here, also about the president's agenda and comments from yesterday -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Thanks, Bill. Let's check now on the other stories now in the news with Carol Costello. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Kelly, thank you.
Now in the news, U.S. and Iraqi troops apparently are making final preparations for a major assault in the Iraq city of Falluja. The forces struck more targets in the insurgent-held city today. At least three U.S. troops and three British soldiers were killed in the region yesterday.
Here in the states, there will be no cameras in the courtroom when the outcome of the Scott Peterson trial is announced. A judge in the double-murder case has ruled against allowing live TV coverage of the verdict out of concern for families on both sides. Still not clear when the verdict will be reached. Jury deliberations resume later this morning.
In New Jersey, military investigators are trying to figure out why a national guard F-16 fighter jet shot 25 rounds of ammunition into an elementary school. A janitor was apparently the only person inside the school at the time of this incident. No one was hurt. But the building has been damaged. A commander for the New Jersey National Guard says the pilot was supposed to aim at a firing range, but that was almost four miles away.
And paycuts could keep Northwest Airlines from going broke. Northwest pilots generally rank as the second highest paid in the country. But under a proposed plan, they would forfeit 15 percent of pay for two years. In return, the carrier would not cut retirement plans. The pilots union expected to announce its decision today.
Back to you, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Carol, thanks for that. We'll talk to you throughout the morning here.
John Vause, meanwhile, standing by in Ramallah. We'll talk to John in a moment about what plans are now being laid and set out for the ailing leader Yasser Arafat. Stay tuned for more there -- Kelly.
WALLACE: And let's get back to the White House. President Bush has put forth an aggressive agenda for his second term, saying he earned political capital during the campaign, and now he intends to spend it.
Suzanne Malveaux is live again for us at the White House.
And, Suzanne, the president didn't waste any time getting to that second-term agenda, did he?
MALVEAUX: No, he didn't waste any time at all, Kelly. As you know, it's rather rare that he would talk to the press as quickly as he did. It was a 45-minute press conference, laying out a very ambitious second-term agenda, the president focusing on some domestic items, his priorities first and foremost. He talked about reforming and changed Social Security, allowing young people to actually invest part of their withholdings in the stock market. He also talked about the need to overhaul the intelligence community. That, you know, very controversial still in Congress. He talked about reforming the tax code, saying it was much too complicated. That is, again, another one of his goals. And finally, he says he wants to cut the deficit, the federal deficit, in half. That is a $413 billion deficit.
But President Bush yesterday expressing a great deal of confidence, saying that he believes he can work with Republicans and Democrats alike to push forward his agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's like earning capital. You ask, do I feel free? Let me put it to you this way. I earned capital in the campaign, political capital. And now I intend to spend it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: President Bush is spending a long weekend at Camp David. That is where we are told, of course, he is going to be figuring out his next administration, perhaps some big changes in his cabinet and his staff as well -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Suzanne, what about the chance of President Bush actually reaching out to Democrats and including some Democrats in his administration as a way of trying to bring the country together after the election?
MALVEAUX: Well, actually there is certainly a lot of talk about that. We know there are some people who are going to be leaving their post in the cabinet. There are quite a few people that are being considered, Democrats that he would like to bring into this administration. Right now, he is holding off saying exactly which ones those are. But it is widely viewed that he will bring in a Democrat in one of those key positions as an olive branch to the other party.
WALLACE: Suzanne, doing double duty at the White House this morning. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks again for that -- Bill.
HEMMER: As the president now begins to formulate his second-term gameplan, the message unspoken, but surely felt by his senior strategists, is mission accomplished. Karl Rove is the driving force behind the president's campaign. Today his legend is growing.
Apologize. We'll get back to that in a moment. Our apologies here.
Wayne Slater, meanwhile, is a Texas journalist. He studied the Rove factor in the president's political life. He's the author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush." Wayne Slater is my guest now from Austin, Texas.
Second time we've had you on this week. And good morning to you. What did Karl Rove see as he looked out across America when he was planning this campaign, Wayne?
WAYNE SLATER, AUTHOR, "BUSH'S BRAIN": What Karl Rove saw was a constituency, really a constituency that's been with George Bush from the very beginning that Karl Rove began building 15 years ago on behalf of George Bush when he first began to think about George Bush as a future president of the United States, and that was a mix of fiscal conservatives and evangelical Christians. And his goal from the beginning of this campaign was to invigorate that base of support, turn it out in a bigger number than John Kerry's team did, and he succeeded.
HEMMER: Do they see, Karl Rove and George Bush, do they see the same world?
SLATER: You mean George Bush and Karl Rove? They see -- I think the president is advised in a way that political he's instinctively advised to go along with people, to be agreeable. He's a friendly person. He's the kind of person whose strength is in small groups in bringing people around.
He is a policy person, despite all the critique and the caricature that many people make of him. Karl Rove sees something, in a sense, different. And it is the strategic assembly of all kinds of constituent groups, these key figures, these key forces, that make him win. If George Bush, for example, has a strong faith, and he does, Karl Rove's religion is not so much religion as it is the religion of winning. He knows how to put individual groups together in order to win a campaign.
HEMMER: What kind of power does Karl Rove have now?
SLATER: Enormous. There is not anyone, any adviser inside the White House with more influence on the president than Karl Rove. As I said, he's been loyal to the Bush family for 30 years. He's been a key figure in George Bush's political rise, beginning 15 years ago.
And right now, he is moving from policy -- from politics to policy. His job really is as a political operative, but increasingly, he advises the president on policy. On the first term, on things like steel imports and other matters.
Now you see him advising the president in the second term on areas like stem-cell research, on abortion, on gay marriage, on issues that will appeal and strengthen the strength and support of the very groups that Karl Rove assembled to elect George Bush and to re-elect him.
Again, Christian conservatives and fiscal conservatives.
HEMMER: Wayne, yesterday Reverend Jerry Falwell was on our program here, and he was talking about 80 million evangelicals across the country. I was thinking back to the primary season, March of 2000, when George Bush went to Bob Jones University in the Carolinas. So much criticism directed toward him. Would that have been a decision Karl Rove would have engineered?
SLATER: It was a decision that Karl Rove engineered. I was there. Karl understood, again -- Karl worked for the father in the past, and saw in 1992 he saw what the father failed to do, and that was to invigorate social conservatives, Christian evangelicals. He vowed never to have that happen again, and worked in great detail with Ralph Reed and others in the early '90s to bring them on board with George Bush.
That Bob Jones visit, you're right, brought a lot of criticism in the 2000 race. But it was very important that Bush send the signal to that group, a loyal, reliable voting block, so that they turn out in 2000. As we saw this year, turned out even in greater numbers, we believe, certainly in loyal constituencies, that made him the president for four more years.
HEMMER: One final thought here on this one. Do Democrats have anything that can match this now?
SLATER: You know, I don't think so. Democrats are really at a low point. There is no one -- I think there has been a lot of critique about whether Karl Rove is truly the architect, the genius, whether he's been overrated. He hasn't been overrated. There is no one I see on the Democratic side who has the strategic genius and has the enormous influence on the most powerful political figure in the country -- most powerful political figure in the world. It's going to take a while for a Democrat objective to emerge with the kind of influence that Karl has.
HEMMER: Thank you, Wayne. Wayne Slater is the author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush," and my guest from Austin, Texas. Nice to have you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WALLACE: Well, from Denmark, dramatic video of a massive fire at a fireworks factory. Thousands of people were evacuated as firefighters worked to control the explosions. One firefighter was killed and at least 17 people injured. Authorities believe the fire started Wednesday when containers of fireworks were being loaded on to a truck. Police say there may have been 2,000 tons of fireworks at the site. Incredible.
HEMMER: Imagine being there just watching that thing go. Whew!
In a moment here, a twist in the Michael Jackson matter, the defense team accusing Tom Sneddon of a vendetta, goes after him now in court. Could the prosecutor get the boot? We'll look at that -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Also, we are still keeping an eye on Yasser Arafat's condition. Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erakat has been talking to Arafat's wife. We'll hear from him.
Also John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, diagnosed with breast cancer. She found out the day after the election. How is she dealing with the news? We'll have look at that too as we continue here on Friday morning, live in New York City.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Losing the race for the White House is hard, but this morning, the family of John Edwards knows there'S much more to life than politics. On Wednesday, the same day the Kerry/Edwards team conceded the race, Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer. Joining us from Washington, Karen Tumulty, "Time" magazine's national political correspondent, who covered Mrs. Edwards during the campaign.
Karen, good to see you. Thanks for being with us.
KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Hi, Kelly.
WALLACE: You've watched Mrs. Edwards, you've watched her, you've interviewed her. Are you at all surprised that she noticed a lump last week, but didn't really get the final diagnosis until after the campaign came to an end on Wednesday?
TUMULTY: Oh, I'm not at all surprised. Of course, we don't know a lot. From the reports this morning, she doesn't know a lot about the nature of this cancer.
But the fact is that if there is anything that has shaped Elizabeth Edwards' life, it is her resilience. I can recall as her husband was preparing to run for president, someone asked her, they said, are you really ready for everything that's going to be thrown at you in this race? And she said, if you've been through the death of a child, as she was in 1996, there is really not a lot more that people can throw at you that you can't deal with.
WALLACE: And how was the death of her child in 1996, her son, Wade, that really shaped her and strengthened her to deal with things like this upcoming campaign, or this campaign that she and her husband just were through?
TUMULTY: Well, she really took that grief and reshaped her entire life as a result of it. She quit her high-powered legal job. She decided that because she didn't want her life to be only sadness, she started a whole another generation of her family. She had a baby a the age of 48 and another one at the age of 50. And she also put a lot of her heart, and her energy and her grief into starting an after- school center in the memory of her Wade, her son Wade, in North Carolina. And of course, she was an absolutely instrumental part of John Edwards and his decision to start a political career essentially from scratch in 1998.
WALLACE: It's also interesting, Karen, looking at some articles this morning, she said during the primaries, if she were to become first lady, she would want to promote breast cancer awareness and steps that women should take if they can avoid this disease. As you talk to her, was that a very important issue to her in the platform she and her husband were seeking?
TUMULTY: You know, when I would talk to her, it was almost always about politics. And she was really, you know, pouring her energies into making sure that John Edwards ran as a candidate who was really true to himself. And again, she was a very important -- a very important rudder of that campaign in keeping him upbeat and optimistic, and like I said, the basic person that she had always known. And this -- you know, in the midst of, you know, finding himself in the grips of a lot of professional political handlers.
WALLACE: And of course, this coming at such a difficult time. The Kerry-Edwards ticket conceding, Senator John Edwards having to confront his political future. He no longer will have a job. He's given up his Senate seat at the end of the year. What impact can we imagine this will have on the future political career of Senator Edwards?
TUMULTY: Well, I think the one thing we know is that no matter what else is going on in Elizabeth Edwards' life, me is going to be right there by his side and a very important voice, as he tries to figure out what -- where life takes him from here.
WALLACE: She certainly is known to be his top adviser on all things.
Karen Tumulty, good see you. Thanks for being with us this morning.
TUMULTY: Thank you, Kelly -- Bill.
HEMMER: On to the Michael Jackson molestation case in California. On Thursday, the judge denied the request to remove the prosecutor and his entire staff from that case. Judge Rodney Melville says the request has no merit. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau says prosecutor Tom Sneddon has a vendetta against Jackson, and that Sneddon is, quote, "motivated by personal animosity." The prosecutor denies the allegations. Jackson's trial set to begin on the 31st of January.
Get a break here. In a moment, today we will see the first post- election jobs report. What will that look like? Andy is back "Minding Your Business" in a moment here, when we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. New report coming out on jobs nationwide today, and a look at Wall Street this week and what's happening today. Back with Andy here, "Minding Your Business." They were flying yesterday, weren't they?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, banner day on Wall Street. That's right, Bill. Dow was up 177 points yesterday. Nasdaq following suit as well. Dow was up 1.75 percent. Why? The price of oil falling below $49 a barrel. Also, hopes that some of the Social Security money would be going into the market. Also Altria (ph), that's the old Philip Morris, doing a breakup possibly. So that's what got that stock moving.
Jobs report coming out at 8:30, losing a little sense of urgency now that the election is over, but still we're going to be focusing on it. 5.4 percent, that would be holding steady, looking at 169,000 jobs. That would be up from 96,000 in September. You basically you need 150,000 or 155,000 jobs to keep pace with the economy. This would be the best month since May. where we got 208,000, and it should be moving the markets. But you know, when you don't have the Democrats out there pointing fingers and saying, look, we need a new administration, you know, it kind of loses a little bit.
HEMMER: August and September, we were hanging on that report, weren't we?
SERWER: Oh, that's right. Yes, it's still big news for some people.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy -- Kelly.
SERWER: You're welcome.
WALLACE: You'll bet the Democrats will still be talking about it.
SERWER: Yes, exactly, they still will be. You're right, Kelly.
Jack Cafferty is off, and Toure has the Question of the Day.
TOURE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, K-Dub. How are you?
WALLACE: Hello. Nice to see you. And you're talking about the president today.
TOURE: Well, of course, aren't we all?
WALLACE: Absolutely.
TOURE: I mean, Tuesday's election was shocking for many Americans who are now struggling to recalibrate their understanding of the country, which is found to be more sharply divided, more conservative, more religious and way more concerned with moral values than many of us had realized. Now millions of Americans are looking at America and saying, I don't even know who you are anymore! Well, what do you think? Has the year of the values voter made you struggle to wrap your head around where we are as a country? Or do believe the rest of the country has fallen in line with your moral compass? Our question, did the election change your view of America? E-mail us now, am@CNN.com.
HEMMER: I think we know where we need to turn, though, Kelly, to the real Slim Shady. Toure's exclusive interview right out now in "Rolling Stone" magazine. Does he have any answers for the moral compass?
SERWER: He's got some values; they're just different from other people.
TOURE: He's Talking a lot about how much of a father he is, how sensitive he is about his kids, and he's a really concerned dad, and that's amazing to see. He's becoming mature. SERWER: See, values.
TOURE: It's a new day.
SERWER: Again, right?
HEMMER: Bingo.
SERWER: Eminem has values, who knew?
TOURE: He really does. He had a fatherless, terrible home, and he's become a really good parent. It's great to see.
HEMMER: Thank you, Toure.
We're going to plug this thing all morning, by the way.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly, read it, read it, Toure's interview.
HEMMER: We were plugging Serwer yesterday, so you're up today.
SERWER: Yes, right.
HEMMER: Break here in a moment. 90-Second Pop on a Friday morning, coming up your way.
Viewers fell in love with "The OC" last season. But are they ready for more this year?
Plus, "The Incredibles" duke it out with "Alfie." Who's got more power at the box office. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired November 5, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The president laying out a broad vision for the next four years, saying he wants Democrats on his side.
Also from Falluja...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what you're writing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Measuring the strengths of insurgents in Falluja. Is the military now ready for a major assault on that city?
What happens in the Middle East after Yasser Arafat? World leaders quietly scrambling as the Palestinian leader clings to life.
And the explosion at a fireworks factory that hit with the force of an earthquake.
All ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
Good morning, everybody. 7:00 here in New York City. Soledad is out today. Kelly Wallace with us today.
Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you.
HEMMER: You've had a very busy month, huh?
WALLACE: There has been something going on called an election.
HEMMER: Listen, welcome back. And Great work out there on the campaign trail, the Kerry campaign last check, right?
WALLACE: Yes, yes, yes.
HEMMER: We have a lot to talk about this morning.
WALLACE: We sure do, a lot of catching up.
HEMMER: That's right.
We're looking deeper today also into what Republicans did to win this election. A huge part of the story is Karl Rove, the man right there. We'll spend some time today focusing on the architect, as the president calls him. How does he see political opportunity where others do not? And is his job with the president now done? We've got great insight this morning on that.
WALLACE: Also some tough news, Bill. We'll talk about the cancer diagnosis that surprised everyone yesterday. Elizabeth Edwards now fighting breast cancer. We will talk with a reported who watched Mrs. Edwards throughout the campaign about what kind of fighter she is.
HEMMER: Tough, tough week there.
WALLACE: Absolutely.
HEMMER: Jack is off. Toure is back with us, taking e-mails a bit later on politics, what else?
I want to get right away this story, the health of Yasser Arafat. Suzanne Malveaux helped break part of the news yesterday, and she's live from the White House this morning.
Suzanne, what do you have today? Good morning there.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill.
Of course,there are urgent talks that are going on at this hour. Administration officials here, one very senior, telling us that Yasser Arafat is being kept alive by a machine, that what is happening now are negotiations involving Arafat's wife, his inner circle, as well as officials -- Israeli officials, French officials, even Egyptian officials -- over where Arafat should or would be buried. Now we understand his family has requested Jerusalem. Israel has refused there. Even discussions now about possibly Egypt as a temporary holding site.
Now as you know, all of this very sensitive, U.S. officials say it is custom, Muslim custom, that once one would be declared deceased, it would take 24 hours -- require 24 hours, for that person to be buried. U.S. officials say there will be no official declaration of Arafat's death, that he would not be taken off life support until those negotiations are completed. The hope is, U.S. officials say, this will wrap up between 24 and 48 hours, but they say, of course, they recognize that time is running out. U.S. officials in constant communication now with French officials over the state of Yasser Arafat and just how these negotiations will play out -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good reporting, Suzanne. Thanks. We'll talk to you in a moment here, also about the president's agenda and comments from yesterday -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Thanks, Bill. Let's check now on the other stories now in the news with Carol Costello. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Kelly, thank you.
Now in the news, U.S. and Iraqi troops apparently are making final preparations for a major assault in the Iraq city of Falluja. The forces struck more targets in the insurgent-held city today. At least three U.S. troops and three British soldiers were killed in the region yesterday.
Here in the states, there will be no cameras in the courtroom when the outcome of the Scott Peterson trial is announced. A judge in the double-murder case has ruled against allowing live TV coverage of the verdict out of concern for families on both sides. Still not clear when the verdict will be reached. Jury deliberations resume later this morning.
In New Jersey, military investigators are trying to figure out why a national guard F-16 fighter jet shot 25 rounds of ammunition into an elementary school. A janitor was apparently the only person inside the school at the time of this incident. No one was hurt. But the building has been damaged. A commander for the New Jersey National Guard says the pilot was supposed to aim at a firing range, but that was almost four miles away.
And paycuts could keep Northwest Airlines from going broke. Northwest pilots generally rank as the second highest paid in the country. But under a proposed plan, they would forfeit 15 percent of pay for two years. In return, the carrier would not cut retirement plans. The pilots union expected to announce its decision today.
Back to you, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Carol, thanks for that. We'll talk to you throughout the morning here.
John Vause, meanwhile, standing by in Ramallah. We'll talk to John in a moment about what plans are now being laid and set out for the ailing leader Yasser Arafat. Stay tuned for more there -- Kelly.
WALLACE: And let's get back to the White House. President Bush has put forth an aggressive agenda for his second term, saying he earned political capital during the campaign, and now he intends to spend it.
Suzanne Malveaux is live again for us at the White House.
And, Suzanne, the president didn't waste any time getting to that second-term agenda, did he?
MALVEAUX: No, he didn't waste any time at all, Kelly. As you know, it's rather rare that he would talk to the press as quickly as he did. It was a 45-minute press conference, laying out a very ambitious second-term agenda, the president focusing on some domestic items, his priorities first and foremost. He talked about reforming and changed Social Security, allowing young people to actually invest part of their withholdings in the stock market. He also talked about the need to overhaul the intelligence community. That, you know, very controversial still in Congress. He talked about reforming the tax code, saying it was much too complicated. That is, again, another one of his goals. And finally, he says he wants to cut the deficit, the federal deficit, in half. That is a $413 billion deficit.
But President Bush yesterday expressing a great deal of confidence, saying that he believes he can work with Republicans and Democrats alike to push forward his agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's like earning capital. You ask, do I feel free? Let me put it to you this way. I earned capital in the campaign, political capital. And now I intend to spend it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: President Bush is spending a long weekend at Camp David. That is where we are told, of course, he is going to be figuring out his next administration, perhaps some big changes in his cabinet and his staff as well -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Suzanne, what about the chance of President Bush actually reaching out to Democrats and including some Democrats in his administration as a way of trying to bring the country together after the election?
MALVEAUX: Well, actually there is certainly a lot of talk about that. We know there are some people who are going to be leaving their post in the cabinet. There are quite a few people that are being considered, Democrats that he would like to bring into this administration. Right now, he is holding off saying exactly which ones those are. But it is widely viewed that he will bring in a Democrat in one of those key positions as an olive branch to the other party.
WALLACE: Suzanne, doing double duty at the White House this morning. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks again for that -- Bill.
HEMMER: As the president now begins to formulate his second-term gameplan, the message unspoken, but surely felt by his senior strategists, is mission accomplished. Karl Rove is the driving force behind the president's campaign. Today his legend is growing.
Apologize. We'll get back to that in a moment. Our apologies here.
Wayne Slater, meanwhile, is a Texas journalist. He studied the Rove factor in the president's political life. He's the author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush." Wayne Slater is my guest now from Austin, Texas.
Second time we've had you on this week. And good morning to you. What did Karl Rove see as he looked out across America when he was planning this campaign, Wayne?
WAYNE SLATER, AUTHOR, "BUSH'S BRAIN": What Karl Rove saw was a constituency, really a constituency that's been with George Bush from the very beginning that Karl Rove began building 15 years ago on behalf of George Bush when he first began to think about George Bush as a future president of the United States, and that was a mix of fiscal conservatives and evangelical Christians. And his goal from the beginning of this campaign was to invigorate that base of support, turn it out in a bigger number than John Kerry's team did, and he succeeded.
HEMMER: Do they see, Karl Rove and George Bush, do they see the same world?
SLATER: You mean George Bush and Karl Rove? They see -- I think the president is advised in a way that political he's instinctively advised to go along with people, to be agreeable. He's a friendly person. He's the kind of person whose strength is in small groups in bringing people around.
He is a policy person, despite all the critique and the caricature that many people make of him. Karl Rove sees something, in a sense, different. And it is the strategic assembly of all kinds of constituent groups, these key figures, these key forces, that make him win. If George Bush, for example, has a strong faith, and he does, Karl Rove's religion is not so much religion as it is the religion of winning. He knows how to put individual groups together in order to win a campaign.
HEMMER: What kind of power does Karl Rove have now?
SLATER: Enormous. There is not anyone, any adviser inside the White House with more influence on the president than Karl Rove. As I said, he's been loyal to the Bush family for 30 years. He's been a key figure in George Bush's political rise, beginning 15 years ago.
And right now, he is moving from policy -- from politics to policy. His job really is as a political operative, but increasingly, he advises the president on policy. On the first term, on things like steel imports and other matters.
Now you see him advising the president in the second term on areas like stem-cell research, on abortion, on gay marriage, on issues that will appeal and strengthen the strength and support of the very groups that Karl Rove assembled to elect George Bush and to re-elect him.
Again, Christian conservatives and fiscal conservatives.
HEMMER: Wayne, yesterday Reverend Jerry Falwell was on our program here, and he was talking about 80 million evangelicals across the country. I was thinking back to the primary season, March of 2000, when George Bush went to Bob Jones University in the Carolinas. So much criticism directed toward him. Would that have been a decision Karl Rove would have engineered?
SLATER: It was a decision that Karl Rove engineered. I was there. Karl understood, again -- Karl worked for the father in the past, and saw in 1992 he saw what the father failed to do, and that was to invigorate social conservatives, Christian evangelicals. He vowed never to have that happen again, and worked in great detail with Ralph Reed and others in the early '90s to bring them on board with George Bush.
That Bob Jones visit, you're right, brought a lot of criticism in the 2000 race. But it was very important that Bush send the signal to that group, a loyal, reliable voting block, so that they turn out in 2000. As we saw this year, turned out even in greater numbers, we believe, certainly in loyal constituencies, that made him the president for four more years.
HEMMER: One final thought here on this one. Do Democrats have anything that can match this now?
SLATER: You know, I don't think so. Democrats are really at a low point. There is no one -- I think there has been a lot of critique about whether Karl Rove is truly the architect, the genius, whether he's been overrated. He hasn't been overrated. There is no one I see on the Democratic side who has the strategic genius and has the enormous influence on the most powerful political figure in the country -- most powerful political figure in the world. It's going to take a while for a Democrat objective to emerge with the kind of influence that Karl has.
HEMMER: Thank you, Wayne. Wayne Slater is the author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush," and my guest from Austin, Texas. Nice to have you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WALLACE: Well, from Denmark, dramatic video of a massive fire at a fireworks factory. Thousands of people were evacuated as firefighters worked to control the explosions. One firefighter was killed and at least 17 people injured. Authorities believe the fire started Wednesday when containers of fireworks were being loaded on to a truck. Police say there may have been 2,000 tons of fireworks at the site. Incredible.
HEMMER: Imagine being there just watching that thing go. Whew!
In a moment here, a twist in the Michael Jackson matter, the defense team accusing Tom Sneddon of a vendetta, goes after him now in court. Could the prosecutor get the boot? We'll look at that -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Also, we are still keeping an eye on Yasser Arafat's condition. Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erakat has been talking to Arafat's wife. We'll hear from him.
Also John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, diagnosed with breast cancer. She found out the day after the election. How is she dealing with the news? We'll have look at that too as we continue here on Friday morning, live in New York City.
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WALLACE: Losing the race for the White House is hard, but this morning, the family of John Edwards knows there'S much more to life than politics. On Wednesday, the same day the Kerry/Edwards team conceded the race, Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer. Joining us from Washington, Karen Tumulty, "Time" magazine's national political correspondent, who covered Mrs. Edwards during the campaign.
Karen, good to see you. Thanks for being with us.
KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Hi, Kelly.
WALLACE: You've watched Mrs. Edwards, you've watched her, you've interviewed her. Are you at all surprised that she noticed a lump last week, but didn't really get the final diagnosis until after the campaign came to an end on Wednesday?
TUMULTY: Oh, I'm not at all surprised. Of course, we don't know a lot. From the reports this morning, she doesn't know a lot about the nature of this cancer.
But the fact is that if there is anything that has shaped Elizabeth Edwards' life, it is her resilience. I can recall as her husband was preparing to run for president, someone asked her, they said, are you really ready for everything that's going to be thrown at you in this race? And she said, if you've been through the death of a child, as she was in 1996, there is really not a lot more that people can throw at you that you can't deal with.
WALLACE: And how was the death of her child in 1996, her son, Wade, that really shaped her and strengthened her to deal with things like this upcoming campaign, or this campaign that she and her husband just were through?
TUMULTY: Well, she really took that grief and reshaped her entire life as a result of it. She quit her high-powered legal job. She decided that because she didn't want her life to be only sadness, she started a whole another generation of her family. She had a baby a the age of 48 and another one at the age of 50. And she also put a lot of her heart, and her energy and her grief into starting an after- school center in the memory of her Wade, her son Wade, in North Carolina. And of course, she was an absolutely instrumental part of John Edwards and his decision to start a political career essentially from scratch in 1998.
WALLACE: It's also interesting, Karen, looking at some articles this morning, she said during the primaries, if she were to become first lady, she would want to promote breast cancer awareness and steps that women should take if they can avoid this disease. As you talk to her, was that a very important issue to her in the platform she and her husband were seeking?
TUMULTY: You know, when I would talk to her, it was almost always about politics. And she was really, you know, pouring her energies into making sure that John Edwards ran as a candidate who was really true to himself. And again, she was a very important -- a very important rudder of that campaign in keeping him upbeat and optimistic, and like I said, the basic person that she had always known. And this -- you know, in the midst of, you know, finding himself in the grips of a lot of professional political handlers.
WALLACE: And of course, this coming at such a difficult time. The Kerry-Edwards ticket conceding, Senator John Edwards having to confront his political future. He no longer will have a job. He's given up his Senate seat at the end of the year. What impact can we imagine this will have on the future political career of Senator Edwards?
TUMULTY: Well, I think the one thing we know is that no matter what else is going on in Elizabeth Edwards' life, me is going to be right there by his side and a very important voice, as he tries to figure out what -- where life takes him from here.
WALLACE: She certainly is known to be his top adviser on all things.
Karen Tumulty, good see you. Thanks for being with us this morning.
TUMULTY: Thank you, Kelly -- Bill.
HEMMER: On to the Michael Jackson molestation case in California. On Thursday, the judge denied the request to remove the prosecutor and his entire staff from that case. Judge Rodney Melville says the request has no merit. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau says prosecutor Tom Sneddon has a vendetta against Jackson, and that Sneddon is, quote, "motivated by personal animosity." The prosecutor denies the allegations. Jackson's trial set to begin on the 31st of January.
Get a break here. In a moment, today we will see the first post- election jobs report. What will that look like? Andy is back "Minding Your Business" in a moment here, when we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. New report coming out on jobs nationwide today, and a look at Wall Street this week and what's happening today. Back with Andy here, "Minding Your Business." They were flying yesterday, weren't they?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, banner day on Wall Street. That's right, Bill. Dow was up 177 points yesterday. Nasdaq following suit as well. Dow was up 1.75 percent. Why? The price of oil falling below $49 a barrel. Also, hopes that some of the Social Security money would be going into the market. Also Altria (ph), that's the old Philip Morris, doing a breakup possibly. So that's what got that stock moving.
Jobs report coming out at 8:30, losing a little sense of urgency now that the election is over, but still we're going to be focusing on it. 5.4 percent, that would be holding steady, looking at 169,000 jobs. That would be up from 96,000 in September. You basically you need 150,000 or 155,000 jobs to keep pace with the economy. This would be the best month since May. where we got 208,000, and it should be moving the markets. But you know, when you don't have the Democrats out there pointing fingers and saying, look, we need a new administration, you know, it kind of loses a little bit.
HEMMER: August and September, we were hanging on that report, weren't we?
SERWER: Oh, that's right. Yes, it's still big news for some people.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy -- Kelly.
SERWER: You're welcome.
WALLACE: You'll bet the Democrats will still be talking about it.
SERWER: Yes, exactly, they still will be. You're right, Kelly.
Jack Cafferty is off, and Toure has the Question of the Day.
TOURE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, K-Dub. How are you?
WALLACE: Hello. Nice to see you. And you're talking about the president today.
TOURE: Well, of course, aren't we all?
WALLACE: Absolutely.
TOURE: I mean, Tuesday's election was shocking for many Americans who are now struggling to recalibrate their understanding of the country, which is found to be more sharply divided, more conservative, more religious and way more concerned with moral values than many of us had realized. Now millions of Americans are looking at America and saying, I don't even know who you are anymore! Well, what do you think? Has the year of the values voter made you struggle to wrap your head around where we are as a country? Or do believe the rest of the country has fallen in line with your moral compass? Our question, did the election change your view of America? E-mail us now, am@CNN.com.
HEMMER: I think we know where we need to turn, though, Kelly, to the real Slim Shady. Toure's exclusive interview right out now in "Rolling Stone" magazine. Does he have any answers for the moral compass?
SERWER: He's got some values; they're just different from other people.
TOURE: He's Talking a lot about how much of a father he is, how sensitive he is about his kids, and he's a really concerned dad, and that's amazing to see. He's becoming mature. SERWER: See, values.
TOURE: It's a new day.
SERWER: Again, right?
HEMMER: Bingo.
SERWER: Eminem has values, who knew?
TOURE: He really does. He had a fatherless, terrible home, and he's become a really good parent. It's great to see.
HEMMER: Thank you, Toure.
We're going to plug this thing all morning, by the way.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly, read it, read it, Toure's interview.
HEMMER: We were plugging Serwer yesterday, so you're up today.
SERWER: Yes, right.
HEMMER: Break here in a moment. 90-Second Pop on a Friday morning, coming up your way.
Viewers fell in love with "The OC" last season. But are they ready for more this year?
Plus, "The Incredibles" duke it out with "Alfie." Who's got more power at the box office. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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