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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Mike Luckovich

Aired May 04, 2003 - 09:52   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.


ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Today, we have with us editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich. We've given him the assignment of drawing up the top story of the week that you have chosen. That is the economy. He's going to show us later on, but first, we're going to ask him to show us what he's drawn throughout the week.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a busy two weeks for you.

MIKE LUCKOVICH, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST, ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: It has, but it's also been difficult because the war is ended, and things have slowed down a little bit. And so it's -- for a couple of weeks back, it was just every day there was something new going on. So it's slowing down, and it's actually been kind of hard to come up with things.

The first cartoon I did was based on Bush's appearance on the aircraft carrier. And so...

COOPER: We're seeing a different one.

LUCKOVICH: I'm sorry.

COOPER: This is the state department.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. I've got a couple from Iraq, and the woman is saying, "Forming a democratic government here in Iraq is causing ancient tribal hatreds to resurface." On the right, you see Colin Powell and Rumsfeld as the State Department and Pentagon choking each other.

COOPER: OK.

LUCKOVICH: It's gotten pretty ugly. And Newt jumped into the fray.

COOPER: I know, yes. Jumped in quite vociferously.

LUCKOVICH: I love that. It's fun.

MEADE: Now to the one you were going to tell us about, which is President Bush, and the landing, and the economy all mixed together.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. So in this cartoon, I've got the aircraft carrier, but I also have a sinking ship labeled "USS Economy" and Bush is in his little jet plane, and he's saying, "Doggone it, you were supposed to land on the carrier." COOPER: That's good, I got it. The final one from the last two weeks, the U.S. soldiers?

LUCKOVICH: They don't want to be called an occupying force, and they don't want Iraqis to hate us there, so I've got Bush talking to Karl Rove, and Bush is saying, "Occupying force sounds cold. Let's choose a new term." And so you see the troops on the ground, and they're talking to an Iraqi couple, and they're saying, "Hi, we're Wal-Mart greeters." Those Wal-Mart greeters are so nice, if they just started referring to themselves as that, people would love them.

COOPER: The red vests and everything.

LUCKOVICH: Exactly. It would be great. Now, I was trying to come up with something -- the economy, the jobs, I think, was the top thing. But Iraq is still in the mix as well. So I tried to put them together with this cartoon.

The problem is, I brought my drawing pad. I only had one sheet left and I screwed up on it so I had to run and look in the newsroom for Xerox papers.

COOPER: So this is the cartoon based upon what readers wanted. Readers picked...

LUCKOVICH: Readers picked the economy or jobs, I guess. Jobs. So it's a two-panel cartoon. In the first panel here, an aide is saying to Bush, "Mr. President, the war in Iraq's over. We've got to start focusing on the economy." In the second panel, the aide is talking to another aide, and he's saying, "It's no use, he won't take off his fighter pilot outfit."

MEADE: That's cute.

LUCKOVICH: He just doesn't want to take that off.

MEADE: Certainly an image you are likely to see when it's campaign time as well. That's very cute.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you.

COOPER: Thanks for coming in. It's always fun.

MEADE: What a talent.

COOPER: Mike Luckovich. Appreciate it.

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







Aired May 4, 2003 - 09:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Today, we have with us editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich. We've given him the assignment of drawing up the top story of the week that you have chosen. That is the economy. He's going to show us later on, but first, we're going to ask him to show us what he's drawn throughout the week.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a busy two weeks for you.

MIKE LUCKOVICH, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST, ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: It has, but it's also been difficult because the war is ended, and things have slowed down a little bit. And so it's -- for a couple of weeks back, it was just every day there was something new going on. So it's slowing down, and it's actually been kind of hard to come up with things.

The first cartoon I did was based on Bush's appearance on the aircraft carrier. And so...

COOPER: We're seeing a different one.

LUCKOVICH: I'm sorry.

COOPER: This is the state department.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. I've got a couple from Iraq, and the woman is saying, "Forming a democratic government here in Iraq is causing ancient tribal hatreds to resurface." On the right, you see Colin Powell and Rumsfeld as the State Department and Pentagon choking each other.

COOPER: OK.

LUCKOVICH: It's gotten pretty ugly. And Newt jumped into the fray.

COOPER: I know, yes. Jumped in quite vociferously.

LUCKOVICH: I love that. It's fun.

MEADE: Now to the one you were going to tell us about, which is President Bush, and the landing, and the economy all mixed together.

LUCKOVICH: Right, right. So in this cartoon, I've got the aircraft carrier, but I also have a sinking ship labeled "USS Economy" and Bush is in his little jet plane, and he's saying, "Doggone it, you were supposed to land on the carrier." COOPER: That's good, I got it. The final one from the last two weeks, the U.S. soldiers?

LUCKOVICH: They don't want to be called an occupying force, and they don't want Iraqis to hate us there, so I've got Bush talking to Karl Rove, and Bush is saying, "Occupying force sounds cold. Let's choose a new term." And so you see the troops on the ground, and they're talking to an Iraqi couple, and they're saying, "Hi, we're Wal-Mart greeters." Those Wal-Mart greeters are so nice, if they just started referring to themselves as that, people would love them.

COOPER: The red vests and everything.

LUCKOVICH: Exactly. It would be great. Now, I was trying to come up with something -- the economy, the jobs, I think, was the top thing. But Iraq is still in the mix as well. So I tried to put them together with this cartoon.

The problem is, I brought my drawing pad. I only had one sheet left and I screwed up on it so I had to run and look in the newsroom for Xerox papers.

COOPER: So this is the cartoon based upon what readers wanted. Readers picked...

LUCKOVICH: Readers picked the economy or jobs, I guess. Jobs. So it's a two-panel cartoon. In the first panel here, an aide is saying to Bush, "Mr. President, the war in Iraq's over. We've got to start focusing on the economy." In the second panel, the aide is talking to another aide, and he's saying, "It's no use, he won't take off his fighter pilot outfit."

MEADE: That's cute.

LUCKOVICH: He just doesn't want to take that off.

MEADE: Certainly an image you are likely to see when it's campaign time as well. That's very cute.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you.

COOPER: Thanks for coming in. It's always fun.

MEADE: What a talent.

COOPER: Mike Luckovich. Appreciate it.

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