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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Mike Luckovich

Aired December 01, 2002 - 08:41   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.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: We told you he was on the way, right? Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich is re-joining us. He, of course, is a Pulitzer Prize winner who draws for "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution." He's got something in the works right now.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, Mike's been creating a cartoon for us this morning. You brought along some other ones too. What did you draw over there?

MIKE LUCKOVICH, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, you know, as I said earlier, the mainstream media hasn't been covering the dark underbelly of Thanksgiving, which is, of course, leftovers.

CALLAWAY: Leftovers.

LUCKOVICH: And so I did this cartoon. Can we -- oh, here we go right here.

I have got a gentleman, his wife is giving him something. He's saying, oh God, no, not a turkey waffle. How much of this leftover stuff can we take? It's day after day.

CALLAWAY: I was having a little bit...

OSBORN: I've had turkey two days in a row, now. I had it last night. And you know what? It tastes just as good.

LUCKOVICH: Is that right? Well...

(CROSSTALK)

LUCKOVICH: Wait until you have a turkey waffle, though, Kris. That's not going to work.

CALLAWAY: You know you've gone too far when you find turkey sticking out of your waffle.

LUCKOVICH: I know it, I know it.

CALLAWAY: Hey, let's look at some of your work recently.

LUCKOVICH: All right.

CALLAWAY: We always enjoy it.

LUCKOVICH: All right. This was sort of a short week due to the holiday, but this week we heard about the Saudi Arabian perhaps money connection to the hijackers and to the friends of the hijackers, and so I did this cartoon. I have got a weapons inspector. He's looking at Uncle Sam's back and he's saying 18 daggers, four knives, two meat cleavers, a hatchet. And Uncle Sam is saying, "forget Saudi Arabia, find out what's in Iraq's arsenal." So if you want to know what's in the Saudi arsenal, just look at the back of Uncle Sam.

OSBORN: Very interesting.

LUCKOVICH: Now, I don't have -- I don't know -- I'm sure you've heard about this because you all are in the news business. The woman that may be going to give birth to the cloned baby.

CALLAWAY: First human clone.

LUCKOVICH: First human clone. So, this is a cartoon I did on that. A gentleman is looking at the baby there, and the baby has a moustache and a pipe and is holding some milk cartons. And he's saying, "honey, level with me. Am I the father of this clone?" As you see in the open doorway, the milkman, who looks surprisingly like the baby.

CALLAWAY: See, you don't even need a test now. You don't even need a blood test.

LUCKOVICH: Right. The good thing about cloned babies is you'll always have a darn good idea who the father is.

CALLAWAY: No questions asked.

LUCKOVICH: Exactly.

Now, this week, even though it was sort of a short week, there was quite a bit of news. We had Bush lowering clean air standards for power plants. And so in keeping with the holiday traditions, I did this cartoon. I got Santa, who looks kind of dirty there. And he's thinking to himself, "dog gone it, all sooty and I haven't even gone down a chimney yet."

CALLAWAY: Clean air standards have to change if anything, for Santa.

LUCKOVICH: Yeah, right, I mean, jeez. And good boys and girls this year will be getting asthma inhalers. So...

CALLAWAY: Hey, what's the topic this week, do you think, we're going to see in the paper next week?

LUCKOVICH: Oh, gosh. You know, you caught me off guard on that, because I never know until I...

CALLAWAY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I was going to say, do you decide just the day of?

LUCKOVICH: Yes, I will go in tomorrow and I will sit in my office and pretend to look like I'm doing something. But I'm basically just sitting there waiting for my deadline to get close enough so I start to panic.

CALLAWAY: You need the pressure.

OSBORN: And that's probably when you come up with the most creative stuff.

LUCKOVICH: That's what I -- hopefully, in theory, that's what happens.

CALLAWAY: I've seen your office, and it's a mess. You can't even draw on your desk.

LUCKOVICH: No, it's terrible. Yeah, you can barely -- I have to go in very gingerly so I don't fall and dislocate a hip or something.

CALLAWAY: So you do it at the last minute.

OSBORN: I say a little touch of disorganization is a testament to creativity, no?

LUCKOVICH: Well, that could be. Because if that's a testament, I am living proof of that.

OSBORN: Absolutely.

CALLAWAY: I think we have one more editorial, don't we?

LUCKOVICH: Well, now, we've got -- do we have the Masters carts there? There it is. Now, let me try and read this here. Let me see. Because I don't have with me -- OK, despite...

CALLAWAY: "Despite gender discrimination at Augusta National, we'll televise the Masters and unveil our new logo."

LUCKOVICH: Right, this is a CBS guy. It's the closed eye.

CALLAWAY: Love it.

LUCKOVICH: You know, the thing about the Masters, though, it's run by a guy named Hootie. And I think the first thing that they should do before they even admit a woman is to show that they've entered the 21st century is get Hootie to change his name to Bruce or Bob or Joe or something like that.

CALLAWAY: We like Hootie.

LUCKOVICH: I don't know. You know, Hootie?

OSBORN: That's creative.

CALLAWAY: You know, I think we like it, Mike, when the local stories make national news.

LUCKOVICH: I know, I love that.

CALLAWAY: All right, Mike. We enjoy your work. Thank you for coming back with us this morning.

LUCKOVICH: Thanks for having me.

OSBORN: Very creative. Nice talking to you.

LUCKOVICH: Thanks, Kris.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 1, 2002 - 08:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: We told you he was on the way, right? Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich is re-joining us. He, of course, is a Pulitzer Prize winner who draws for "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution." He's got something in the works right now.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, Mike's been creating a cartoon for us this morning. You brought along some other ones too. What did you draw over there?

MIKE LUCKOVICH, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, you know, as I said earlier, the mainstream media hasn't been covering the dark underbelly of Thanksgiving, which is, of course, leftovers.

CALLAWAY: Leftovers.

LUCKOVICH: And so I did this cartoon. Can we -- oh, here we go right here.

I have got a gentleman, his wife is giving him something. He's saying, oh God, no, not a turkey waffle. How much of this leftover stuff can we take? It's day after day.

CALLAWAY: I was having a little bit...

OSBORN: I've had turkey two days in a row, now. I had it last night. And you know what? It tastes just as good.

LUCKOVICH: Is that right? Well...

(CROSSTALK)

LUCKOVICH: Wait until you have a turkey waffle, though, Kris. That's not going to work.

CALLAWAY: You know you've gone too far when you find turkey sticking out of your waffle.

LUCKOVICH: I know it, I know it.

CALLAWAY: Hey, let's look at some of your work recently.

LUCKOVICH: All right.

CALLAWAY: We always enjoy it.

LUCKOVICH: All right. This was sort of a short week due to the holiday, but this week we heard about the Saudi Arabian perhaps money connection to the hijackers and to the friends of the hijackers, and so I did this cartoon. I have got a weapons inspector. He's looking at Uncle Sam's back and he's saying 18 daggers, four knives, two meat cleavers, a hatchet. And Uncle Sam is saying, "forget Saudi Arabia, find out what's in Iraq's arsenal." So if you want to know what's in the Saudi arsenal, just look at the back of Uncle Sam.

OSBORN: Very interesting.

LUCKOVICH: Now, I don't have -- I don't know -- I'm sure you've heard about this because you all are in the news business. The woman that may be going to give birth to the cloned baby.

CALLAWAY: First human clone.

LUCKOVICH: First human clone. So, this is a cartoon I did on that. A gentleman is looking at the baby there, and the baby has a moustache and a pipe and is holding some milk cartons. And he's saying, "honey, level with me. Am I the father of this clone?" As you see in the open doorway, the milkman, who looks surprisingly like the baby.

CALLAWAY: See, you don't even need a test now. You don't even need a blood test.

LUCKOVICH: Right. The good thing about cloned babies is you'll always have a darn good idea who the father is.

CALLAWAY: No questions asked.

LUCKOVICH: Exactly.

Now, this week, even though it was sort of a short week, there was quite a bit of news. We had Bush lowering clean air standards for power plants. And so in keeping with the holiday traditions, I did this cartoon. I got Santa, who looks kind of dirty there. And he's thinking to himself, "dog gone it, all sooty and I haven't even gone down a chimney yet."

CALLAWAY: Clean air standards have to change if anything, for Santa.

LUCKOVICH: Yeah, right, I mean, jeez. And good boys and girls this year will be getting asthma inhalers. So...

CALLAWAY: Hey, what's the topic this week, do you think, we're going to see in the paper next week?

LUCKOVICH: Oh, gosh. You know, you caught me off guard on that, because I never know until I...

CALLAWAY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I was going to say, do you decide just the day of?

LUCKOVICH: Yes, I will go in tomorrow and I will sit in my office and pretend to look like I'm doing something. But I'm basically just sitting there waiting for my deadline to get close enough so I start to panic.

CALLAWAY: You need the pressure.

OSBORN: And that's probably when you come up with the most creative stuff.

LUCKOVICH: That's what I -- hopefully, in theory, that's what happens.

CALLAWAY: I've seen your office, and it's a mess. You can't even draw on your desk.

LUCKOVICH: No, it's terrible. Yeah, you can barely -- I have to go in very gingerly so I don't fall and dislocate a hip or something.

CALLAWAY: So you do it at the last minute.

OSBORN: I say a little touch of disorganization is a testament to creativity, no?

LUCKOVICH: Well, that could be. Because if that's a testament, I am living proof of that.

OSBORN: Absolutely.

CALLAWAY: I think we have one more editorial, don't we?

LUCKOVICH: Well, now, we've got -- do we have the Masters carts there? There it is. Now, let me try and read this here. Let me see. Because I don't have with me -- OK, despite...

CALLAWAY: "Despite gender discrimination at Augusta National, we'll televise the Masters and unveil our new logo."

LUCKOVICH: Right, this is a CBS guy. It's the closed eye.

CALLAWAY: Love it.

LUCKOVICH: You know, the thing about the Masters, though, it's run by a guy named Hootie. And I think the first thing that they should do before they even admit a woman is to show that they've entered the 21st century is get Hootie to change his name to Bruce or Bob or Joe or something like that.

CALLAWAY: We like Hootie.

LUCKOVICH: I don't know. You know, Hootie?

OSBORN: That's creative.

CALLAWAY: You know, I think we like it, Mike, when the local stories make national news.

LUCKOVICH: I know, I love that.

CALLAWAY: All right, Mike. We enjoy your work. Thank you for coming back with us this morning.

LUCKOVICH: Thanks for having me.

OSBORN: Very creative. Nice talking to you.

LUCKOVICH: Thanks, Kris.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com