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CNN Sunday Morning

Kerry Leads in Most Feb. 3 Primaries

Aired February 01, 2004 - 08:08   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.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: On to the political scene now. Tuesday, seven states choose Democratic presidential nominees. The latest CNN-"Los Angeles Times" poll shows one candidate with a distinct advantage over his rivals. That being Senator John Kerry.
Thirty-seven percent of Democratic voters in Missouri would choose Kerry, as would 29 percent in Arizona. However, Kerry would come out on the short end to fellow Senator, John Edwards, in South Carolina. A decisive sweep for Kerry on Tuesday hinges on the voting in Oklahoma and South Carolina.

National correspondent, Bob Franken, is live in Charleston, where he always has a unique perspective.

Good morning to you, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Marty.

And, of course, being in the leadership role that Kerry is, means that he is now the man with the "kick me" sign on his back that all the candidates are more than happy to honor, particularly Howard Dean. One of the notable parts about all these polls is that Dean, for the most part, is in single digits. So when there was a disclosure in the "The Washington Post" that John Kerry had received large amounts of special interest money, it didn't take Dean much time at all to go after Kerry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot beat George Bush by being Bush-lite. The front-runner in this race is John Kerry, and I'm not here to say anything bad about him, except that I saw this morning in the "The Washington Post" that he had accepted more special interest and lobbyist money than any other Senator in the last 15 years. We are not going to beat George Bush with a lessor of two evils. We need to stand up and change the Democratic Party fundamentally.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, when there are disclosures like this -- and there so frequently are about candidates and special interest money -- there's a script, almost, and John Kerry followed it when he expressed a little bit of outrage that people would think that he was influenced by the money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, Governor Dean has in the course of this campaign made a number of comments that he's had to apologize to other candidates for. And I would respectfully suggest that that may be just one more of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Meanwhile, John Edwards, who is the other man to watch here, is a slight lead in South Carolina. This is a state that is considered a must win for him. He's, in effect, a favorite son. Some of the interesting dynamics include the role of Al Sharpton, how many votes he will be able to pull in a state that has a heavy African- American vote. In any case, John Edwards is also out there talking about his disdain for special interests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me tell what you we ought to do with these Washington lobbyists. We ought to cut them off at the knees. We ought to ban them for making political contributions. They shouldn't allowed to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: The real name of this game, now that there are multi- state primaries that have begun, the name of the game for all the candidates but one is to stop John Kerry. And of course, John Kerry is that other one -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Bob, I was wondering whether this sort of new assertiveness by Dean has anything to do with the shake-up he had in his candidacy earlier.

FRANKEN: Well, he goes back and forth between assertiveness and mellow. It also has something to do perhaps with the fact there are now disclosures that he's about spent all of his money. So if he's going to make a hit, he has to do it now. And the polls are showing that he's doing anything but.

SAVIDGE: Bob Franken standing in front, we should point out, of the Election Express. It only adds beauty to it, doesn't it?

Thank you, Bob, very much.

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






Aired February 1, 2004 - 08:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: On to the political scene now. Tuesday, seven states choose Democratic presidential nominees. The latest CNN-"Los Angeles Times" poll shows one candidate with a distinct advantage over his rivals. That being Senator John Kerry.
Thirty-seven percent of Democratic voters in Missouri would choose Kerry, as would 29 percent in Arizona. However, Kerry would come out on the short end to fellow Senator, John Edwards, in South Carolina. A decisive sweep for Kerry on Tuesday hinges on the voting in Oklahoma and South Carolina.

National correspondent, Bob Franken, is live in Charleston, where he always has a unique perspective.

Good morning to you, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Marty.

And, of course, being in the leadership role that Kerry is, means that he is now the man with the "kick me" sign on his back that all the candidates are more than happy to honor, particularly Howard Dean. One of the notable parts about all these polls is that Dean, for the most part, is in single digits. So when there was a disclosure in the "The Washington Post" that John Kerry had received large amounts of special interest money, it didn't take Dean much time at all to go after Kerry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot beat George Bush by being Bush-lite. The front-runner in this race is John Kerry, and I'm not here to say anything bad about him, except that I saw this morning in the "The Washington Post" that he had accepted more special interest and lobbyist money than any other Senator in the last 15 years. We are not going to beat George Bush with a lessor of two evils. We need to stand up and change the Democratic Party fundamentally.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, when there are disclosures like this -- and there so frequently are about candidates and special interest money -- there's a script, almost, and John Kerry followed it when he expressed a little bit of outrage that people would think that he was influenced by the money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, Governor Dean has in the course of this campaign made a number of comments that he's had to apologize to other candidates for. And I would respectfully suggest that that may be just one more of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Meanwhile, John Edwards, who is the other man to watch here, is a slight lead in South Carolina. This is a state that is considered a must win for him. He's, in effect, a favorite son. Some of the interesting dynamics include the role of Al Sharpton, how many votes he will be able to pull in a state that has a heavy African- American vote. In any case, John Edwards is also out there talking about his disdain for special interests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me tell what you we ought to do with these Washington lobbyists. We ought to cut them off at the knees. We ought to ban them for making political contributions. They shouldn't allowed to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: The real name of this game, now that there are multi- state primaries that have begun, the name of the game for all the candidates but one is to stop John Kerry. And of course, John Kerry is that other one -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Bob, I was wondering whether this sort of new assertiveness by Dean has anything to do with the shake-up he had in his candidacy earlier.

FRANKEN: Well, he goes back and forth between assertiveness and mellow. It also has something to do perhaps with the fact there are now disclosures that he's about spent all of his money. So if he's going to make a hit, he has to do it now. And the polls are showing that he's doing anything but.

SAVIDGE: Bob Franken standing in front, we should point out, of the Election Express. It only adds beauty to it, doesn't it?

Thank you, Bob, very much.

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