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CNN Saturday Morning News

Republicans Jump Ship to Bill Frist

Aired December 21, 2002 - 07:10   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lott's decision marks the first time a Senate party leader has been forced out of his job because of a national controversy, so why did it take Republicans so little time to jump ship and anoint Frist?
Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joining us with his insights. Good morning, Mr. Schneider, nice to see you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Mr. O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: It's amazing how quickly it all happened, about two weeks' time, precipitous fall, you might say. What's your take on it?

SCHNEIDER: Indeed it was, and you can see the fine hand of the White House behind this, although the White House denies officially having anything to do with it. We just heard Ari Fleischer say this was a Senate decision and the White House had nothing to do with it.

O'BRIEN: Oh, right,.

SCHNEIDER: The White House never called for him...

O'BRIEN: I hear -- there was all kinds...

SCHNEIDER: ... to step aside...

O'BRIEN: ... there was all kinds of deep background comments coming out of the administration saying, He better get out of the way, right?

SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. We -- there kept being reported in the newspapers and on the air, calls from supposedly lower-level staffers in the White House, but some pretty high-level staffers, off the record, saying, His days are numbered, he's not going to last very long, the White House would like him out.

But no one would say that on the record. All they would say on the record is, The president sees no reason for Mr. Lott to step aside.

However, I can tell you when the end came, it came this week, when two people spoke out against Trent Lott. One of them was Colin Powell, the highest-ranking African-American in the cabinet of the president, and the other was Jeb Bush, who happens to be the president's brother, the governor of Florida. And when they spoke out about Trent Lott, I think Trent Lott saw the end was nigh. O'BRIEN: I think that's -- those were telling.

It's interesting to me how somebody can be in Washington for so long and have such thin support.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. The problem was, again, the White House thought that he was not helpful. They didn't want him to be the face of the Republican majority. He might have been able to survive if the president hadn't made that -- those harsh comments, because Lott's views on race were simply not compatible with the president's program of compassionate conservatism or his ambition to reach out to minority voters and show that the Republican Party is open to everyone and is friendly to all constituencies.

And then Lott's support, while it held on a little bit, I mean, he had some sympathy, because a lot of senators looked at what he did and said, you know, it was a careless comment.

But I tell you what really did him in, besides the White House, it was the fact that his record started coming out, that he had said this not just once but several times about Strom Thurmond, that he had relationships with groups that had ties to white racist and white supremacist leanings, that he had opposed the Martin Luther King holiday, that he opposed extension of the Voting Rights Act, that he had been an activist against the integration of his fraternity in college.

When things like that began coming out on his record, his colleagues said, Uh-oh, this is a problem.

O'BRIEN: Well, but I would submit to you that the real death knell came when he went on BET and said he's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for affirmative action, and that, oh, gosh, you know, I would have voted now for the MLK holiday. It seems as if there wasn't anything in his core that he stood for.

SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. That's what -- that's when conservatives became totally exasperated, and they said, Look, if this guy stays on as majority leader, he's not going to really pursue our agenda. Conservatives are antigovernment, but they're not racists, I mean...

O'BRIEN: Color-blind...

SCHNEIDER: ... and there's no reason (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

O'BRIEN: ... is the way they like to call themselves, right?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, that's right.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Dr. Frist.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

O'BRIEN: He clearly is the administration's man as the -- leading the Senate. SCHNEIDER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: That's -- I guess you can make a case that this whole thing, you know, might have been orchestrated, seizing an opportunity and orchestrated. How is that going to play out with having somebody so closely allied with the White House leading the Senate?

SCHNEIDER: There is some resentment, some skepticism among Republican senators, because they don't like to be dictated to by the White House. ON the other hand, the president delivered their majority. If he hadn't campaigned for the Republicans as strongly as he did back in October and November, I don't think they would have carried the majority in the Senate, which is very narrow, 51 to 49.

Bill Frist was the chairman of the campaign committee that helped the White House deliver that Republican majority, and the Republican senators appreciate it and recognize President Bush's leading role.

So for the time being, they're willing to accept Bush's man, which is, for better or worse, the way Frist is identified, Bush's man as their leader.

O'BRIEN: What about his record on race relations?

SCHNEIDER: Well, his record has been pretty much the standard conservative record. There are some points of controversy that began to come out yesterday. As chairman of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, there were some issues of supposed, alleged suppression of voter turnout in elections around the country, including Tennessee, and the question is raised, did he or the Republican Senate Campaign Committee have anything to do with that?

Those are going to be aired, they're going to be investigated. I don't know if there's anything to them. But there's beginning to be some discussion of whether he had any hand in voter suppression.

O'BRIEN: All right. So let's look ahead here for a moment, now that this has all kind of -- Can you hear me OK? You got me?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, I can.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's look ahead. A dizzying two weeks. By the time the next Congress is sworn in, will it all be a distant memory?

SCHNEIDER: I don't think it'll be a distant memory, but I think there'll be some rallying around Bill Frist. Remember, Trent Lott is going to remain in the Senate. He's going to be there. There was some concern that if he were forced out as majority leader, he might leave the Senate altogether and be replaced by a Democrat because the governor of Mississippi is a Democrat.

Well, he said yesterday in his statement that he intends to remain a senator from Mississippi, to the relief of many Republicans.

So he'll be there, as a living reminder of the problem. So the memory will be kept alive, if only by the presence of Trent Lott.

O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, always a pleasure chatting with you.

SCHNEIDER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Miles.

O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) little bit later.

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 21, 2002 - 07:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lott's decision marks the first time a Senate party leader has been forced out of his job because of a national controversy, so why did it take Republicans so little time to jump ship and anoint Frist?
Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joining us with his insights. Good morning, Mr. Schneider, nice to see you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Mr. O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: It's amazing how quickly it all happened, about two weeks' time, precipitous fall, you might say. What's your take on it?

SCHNEIDER: Indeed it was, and you can see the fine hand of the White House behind this, although the White House denies officially having anything to do with it. We just heard Ari Fleischer say this was a Senate decision and the White House had nothing to do with it.

O'BRIEN: Oh, right,.

SCHNEIDER: The White House never called for him...

O'BRIEN: I hear -- there was all kinds...

SCHNEIDER: ... to step aside...

O'BRIEN: ... there was all kinds of deep background comments coming out of the administration saying, He better get out of the way, right?

SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. We -- there kept being reported in the newspapers and on the air, calls from supposedly lower-level staffers in the White House, but some pretty high-level staffers, off the record, saying, His days are numbered, he's not going to last very long, the White House would like him out.

But no one would say that on the record. All they would say on the record is, The president sees no reason for Mr. Lott to step aside.

However, I can tell you when the end came, it came this week, when two people spoke out against Trent Lott. One of them was Colin Powell, the highest-ranking African-American in the cabinet of the president, and the other was Jeb Bush, who happens to be the president's brother, the governor of Florida. And when they spoke out about Trent Lott, I think Trent Lott saw the end was nigh. O'BRIEN: I think that's -- those were telling.

It's interesting to me how somebody can be in Washington for so long and have such thin support.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. The problem was, again, the White House thought that he was not helpful. They didn't want him to be the face of the Republican majority. He might have been able to survive if the president hadn't made that -- those harsh comments, because Lott's views on race were simply not compatible with the president's program of compassionate conservatism or his ambition to reach out to minority voters and show that the Republican Party is open to everyone and is friendly to all constituencies.

And then Lott's support, while it held on a little bit, I mean, he had some sympathy, because a lot of senators looked at what he did and said, you know, it was a careless comment.

But I tell you what really did him in, besides the White House, it was the fact that his record started coming out, that he had said this not just once but several times about Strom Thurmond, that he had relationships with groups that had ties to white racist and white supremacist leanings, that he had opposed the Martin Luther King holiday, that he opposed extension of the Voting Rights Act, that he had been an activist against the integration of his fraternity in college.

When things like that began coming out on his record, his colleagues said, Uh-oh, this is a problem.

O'BRIEN: Well, but I would submit to you that the real death knell came when he went on BET and said he's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for affirmative action, and that, oh, gosh, you know, I would have voted now for the MLK holiday. It seems as if there wasn't anything in his core that he stood for.

SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. That's what -- that's when conservatives became totally exasperated, and they said, Look, if this guy stays on as majority leader, he's not going to really pursue our agenda. Conservatives are antigovernment, but they're not racists, I mean...

O'BRIEN: Color-blind...

SCHNEIDER: ... and there's no reason (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

O'BRIEN: ... is the way they like to call themselves, right?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, that's right.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Dr. Frist.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

O'BRIEN: He clearly is the administration's man as the -- leading the Senate. SCHNEIDER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: That's -- I guess you can make a case that this whole thing, you know, might have been orchestrated, seizing an opportunity and orchestrated. How is that going to play out with having somebody so closely allied with the White House leading the Senate?

SCHNEIDER: There is some resentment, some skepticism among Republican senators, because they don't like to be dictated to by the White House. ON the other hand, the president delivered their majority. If he hadn't campaigned for the Republicans as strongly as he did back in October and November, I don't think they would have carried the majority in the Senate, which is very narrow, 51 to 49.

Bill Frist was the chairman of the campaign committee that helped the White House deliver that Republican majority, and the Republican senators appreciate it and recognize President Bush's leading role.

So for the time being, they're willing to accept Bush's man, which is, for better or worse, the way Frist is identified, Bush's man as their leader.

O'BRIEN: What about his record on race relations?

SCHNEIDER: Well, his record has been pretty much the standard conservative record. There are some points of controversy that began to come out yesterday. As chairman of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, there were some issues of supposed, alleged suppression of voter turnout in elections around the country, including Tennessee, and the question is raised, did he or the Republican Senate Campaign Committee have anything to do with that?

Those are going to be aired, they're going to be investigated. I don't know if there's anything to them. But there's beginning to be some discussion of whether he had any hand in voter suppression.

O'BRIEN: All right. So let's look ahead here for a moment, now that this has all kind of -- Can you hear me OK? You got me?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, I can.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's look ahead. A dizzying two weeks. By the time the next Congress is sworn in, will it all be a distant memory?

SCHNEIDER: I don't think it'll be a distant memory, but I think there'll be some rallying around Bill Frist. Remember, Trent Lott is going to remain in the Senate. He's going to be there. There was some concern that if he were forced out as majority leader, he might leave the Senate altogether and be replaced by a Democrat because the governor of Mississippi is a Democrat.

Well, he said yesterday in his statement that he intends to remain a senator from Mississippi, to the relief of many Republicans.

So he'll be there, as a living reminder of the problem. So the memory will be kept alive, if only by the presence of Trent Lott.

O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, always a pleasure chatting with you.

SCHNEIDER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Miles.

O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) little bit later.

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