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Insight & Input

Aired December 21, 2002 - 08:36   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now for our "Insight & Input" segment.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I & I, or I squared.

WHITFIELD: I like I squared.

O'BRIEN: Fred came up with that. I & I, and we're calling you squared, Bill Schneider, certainly.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. He's a hep cat.

WHITFIELD: Well, nobody on our panel is square.

O'BRIEN: He's a hep cat. We have Bill Schneider, we have Kathleen Koch, we have Suzanne Malveaux. Need we say more? They really need no further introduction.

WHITFIELD: No. We will be talking about -- it's funny, guys. We will be talking about Bill Frist and Trent Lott and all of that good stuff. Conference call is coming up on Monday.

O'BRIEN: Should we get to the e-mails first?

WHITFIELD: I think that would be a great idea.

O'BRIEN: Why don't we do that. "If I understand American political structure, the Senate majority leader is high up in the line to become commander-in-chief in times of crisis (after V.P., House majority leader)..." Speaker of the House, whatever you want to call it. "How is it that we have never heard of this new guy before?"

O'BRIEN: That, from Ross.

WHITFIELD: Well, where has he been?

O'BRIEN: We go to Bill Schneider, he has not heard of Frist. He is not exactly in the front pages every day.

SCHNEIDER: No, he's only a second term senator, but these days you move up pretty fast. He's best known for being a heart surgeon who once helped save Strom Thurmond who collapsed on the Senate floor. And he was also leader of the Republicans in the Senate campaign this year, which was their successful campaign to retake the majority.

O'BRIEN: But wait a minute. Bill, that is an interesting piece of irony. He resuscitated Strom Thurmond.

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Thus making it possible for him to see his 100th birthday.

SCHNEIDER: Oh, irony.

O'BRIEN: Thus putting Trent Lott on the podium. He really engineered the whole thing!

SCHNEIDER: Well...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: A conspiracy.

But I do want to correct one thing in the e-mail. That is the successor to the president, the man in line to succeed the president after the vice president and the speaker of the House is not the majority leader of the Senate, it's the president pro tem of the Senate, which is the senior member of the Senate. It is not the majority leader.

O'BRIEN: OK, there you go. Thank you very much. A little constitutional question there, I still thought the question of whether anybody has heard of him was valid. Do we have any phone calls yet, if not we will go to the e-mails. Continue on? All right, another e- mail.

"Trent Lott should switch party, become an independent senator with Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords; 38 percent of his state is black and the new agenda Lott revealed on BET is more in line with a Democrat and independent than the Republicans.

This would also be payback for the Bush White House for cutting him off at the legs." Randy in Tampa has that.

Suzanne Malveaux, is Trent Lott likely to become an independent?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wow, that's a good question. I really don't know. But it's a good point that they made in terms of whether or not the White House cut him off at the legs. That is a big, big story here.

The White House denying that that took place, really saying they believed that he should not resign. But as Bill knows as well, it was really the silence of the White House that perhaps spoke louder than the president's words, or even his aides' words. The fact that the president was not more vocal in his support; the fact there were a number of people kind of behind the scenes talking about this. And talking about Frist pretty early on.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, in addition to e-mails, we also have phone calls, so Kathleen, this will go to you, so listen up. This is from Jerry of Massachusetts, a big little state.

Jerry.

CALLER: Hi, how are you doing?

WHITFIELD: Fine. What is your question?

CALLER: I think the press should really look at Frist's parallelism to Lott as far as his voting record. There is no difference. A rose is a rose, by any other name. What about his family and himself and the Medicare fraud company that he owns when he was in Tennessee? About bilking Medicare fraud?

O'BRIEN: Let's make it clear. It's not a Medicare fraud company. It's a hospital corporation and they are paying some fines.

All right, Kathleen?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's go to that question. Remind me again? I got a little bit distracted there.

O'BRIEN: All right. The question is -- there are a few questions in there. But the big question was the hospital, HCA, the company that he is linked to and the $1.7 billion in fines they owe over the recent years.

KOCH: Right. I think the more interesting point that was raised in the difference in records between Trent Lott and Bill Frist.

That is something that has not been carefully examined as all this came to pass. A lot of people criticizing Lott for his very conservative voting record. And, of course, he never made it a secret, since he was elected and came here 30 years ago, that he was a conservative. So he voted the conservative party line.

And so many people thought throughout this controversy that it was a bit disingenuous all this criticism of the senator for voting against the Martin Luther King holiday, for voting against affirmative action and things like that.

As for Senator Frist, he also has been given a failing grade for his votes, this is by the NAACP, by some of the other civil rights groups. They have said that Frist and many of the other men who lined up as potential successors to Senator Lott were also just as equally conservative.

So, it will be interesting to see whether or not we see a real sea change in philosophy up here on the Hill.

WHITFIELD: All right. And hold the phone, so to speak, Kathleen, Suzanne and Bill, because we are going to resume this conversation in a moment. But first, we want to want to follow up on a breaking news story out of Afghanistan.

Actually, a couple of developments taking place out of Afghanistan. One, a German helicopter going down just outside of the Kabul area, five dead, reportedly. And then overnight, a U.S. soldier killed in a gun fight, which intelligence sources are now saying could have been involving Taliban, as well as al Qaeda holdouts.

And for the developments on those stories, let's go to Kabul where Karl Penhaul is now.

And, Karl, what do you know at this juncture?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just had a talk with the international peacekeeping force. They've told us that five German soldiers, all member of the German contingent, have died in the helicopter crash.

The helicopter went down at about one hour ago. And according to an eyewitness report, that helicopter was on a routine flight. And then, suddenly, flames and smoke started to pour out of the main engine compartment. That, then, went down.

We have not been able to get to the crash site now, because press are being held back from the area. But confirmed, we have five German soldiers dead in that helicopter crash.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then, Karl, there is a development of the U.S. soldier that was killed in this gun battle overnight. What more do we know about whether U.S. sources are feeling a bit more strongly as to whether Taliban and al Qaeda holdouts may have been involved in that gun battle?

PENHAUL: Yes, indeed, we talked today at Bagram Air Base to General Richard Meyers, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and also to General McNeal (ph), the head of U.S. troops here in Afghanistan, they both very firmly believe that this firefight did involve a guerrilla unit of remnant Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

The guerrilla unit was fairly small, they're talking in terms of six or seven men. That firefight broke out before dawn this morning, like you say, with the fatality of the U.S. serviceman. The first combat death since May.

WHITFIELD: All right. Karl Penhaul, thank you very much from Kabul.

We will take a short break for now and then we will resume our conversation about Bill Frist, Trent Lott, that controversy. And we will continue that in our "Insight & Input" segment. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: I think we should call it I-I, like ay-ay, captain? No?

WHITFIELD: I don't know.

O'BRIEN: You're going to stick with I Squared.

WHITFIELD: It is cute and clever, but I like I Squared.

O'BRIEN: OK.

All right, we have Bill Schneider and Kathleen Koch. Suzanne Malveaux has to work the phones on a story more important than us. That's OK. She does have journalism to do!

WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: After all. Bill Schneider, you have nothing else to do, right?

SCHNEIDER: Nothing else to do, except Christmas shopping.

WHITFIELD: Just hanging out.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: All right.

"Can you please confirm or dismiss an item I heard yesterday on public radio? That Bill First was the author of language inserted (incredibly!) into the Homeland Security bill absolving Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical company from any liability in unspecified future lawsuits? Thank you."

Brian Raine, sent that out of Los Angeles -- Bill.

SCHNEIDER: I cannot confirm it or refute it, because I don't know the facts. But I do know that Bill Frist does have a close relationship with the Lilly pharmaceutical company, and has worked with them in the past. So that might be -- it's plausible, but I cannot confirm it.

O'BRIEN: I heard the same report.

Kathleen, do you know much about it?

KOCH: No, I don't, Miles. I wasn't working on the passage of that legislation, so we'll just have to check into it.

O'BRIEN: All right. We all have to get on the phones, don't we? All right, let's end Double I, right now? No, let's continue on. Do we have anymore phone calls or should we do more e-mails?

WHITFIELD: Let's see, do we have any more phone calls? Dean from Florida. Thank goodness, we have a phone call for you guys.

All right, Dean from Florida, what part of Florida? And what's your question?

CALLER: I'm calling from Tampa, Florida. And my question is for Mr. Schneider. With Trent Lott stepping down and the Republican Party showing their willingness to change, do you feel that this will actually open up more voters, such as African-Americans, to step over to the Republican Party when they actually see that change might be made? Or is it just another case, with Mr. Frist coming in, that it's the same wolf in the same sheep's clothing?

SCHNEIDER: Well, as I indicated earlier in this segment, Bill Frist's voting record isn't (ph) substantially different than most Republicans. And I think African-Americans have trouble with the Republican Party not because of a conviction that most Republicans are racist and support segregation, but because the Republican Party is antigovernment. And most African-Americans don't share those antigovernment sentiments because the federal government has been on their side.

It rescued them from slavery in the 1860s and from segregation in the 1960s. So when Republicans speak the antigovernment rhetoric a lot of African-Americans don't respond. In many ways, the message here is intended -- I mean certainly the president wants to open up the party for more minority voters, and he is hopeful of doing that. But that, for reasons I just mentioned, could take a long time.

In many ways, it's to convince moderate white voters that the Republican Party is not racist, that the Republican Party is inclusive, it is open to all, because there are a lot of white voters who would never want to be associated with any party that had any association with racism.

O'BRIEN: Lets gate back to the e-mail, shall we?

"Daschle and Lott apparently had a smooth working relationship and one that was characterized by mutual respect. What is know about Frist and Daschle's relationship?"

That coming from A. Urbanes -- Kathleen Koch.

KOCH: From what we know here on the Hill, Senator Frist does get along quite well with his colleagues, not only in the GOP, but also across the aisle amongst the Democrats. But, you know, the Democrats are making no secret they are going to try to make hay out of this controversy, even after the Republicans believe it will be largely over after this vote on Monday.

Nancy Pelosi said in an interview yesterday, "Just because Senator Lott stepped down doesn't mean we are rid of the issue."

So, they're going to keep coming after the Republicans on racial issues, on a lot of other issues, holding Republicans' feet to the fire saying, well, if you brought in a new majority leader, and you profess to be taking a new point of view on these issues, then prove it. Even if they are getting along now, it may be bumpier once he's in as Senate majority leader.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan of New Mexico has a question.

Susan. CALLER: Yes, good morning. I have a question for anyone who wants to answer. After Trent Lott's comments, do you think that he should remain in Washington at all? Because, after all, anybody in Washington is in a leadership role?

WHITFIELD: Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Well, he is a United States senator. He is elected from Mississippi. That is really between him and his constituents. I don't know if there are procedures for recalls in Mississippi. I know a lot of African-American voters there are unhappy with their senator. And if there are procedures, they might start talking about it.

There was the concern, among Republicans, that he might not just leave the position as majority leader but might actually resign from the Senate. He announced yesterday he would not do that. A lot of Republicans were relieved because if he were to do that he could very well be replaced by a Democrat, since the governor of Mississippi would make the new appointment and he's a Democrat. So he's going to hold the seat, in part, to continue to support the Republican Party.

Could he be forced out? Only, I think, if there were a procedure for recall amongst his constituents. And while there is talk about that, I don't know that there is any real serious action -- movement to make that happen.

O'BRIEN: All right, a final Double I question. I'm going to actually do two together, they are sort of the same question, with your permission, control room.

"What do you think the chances are that Dick Cheney will announce later next year he will not be the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2004, so that President Bush can replace him with -- you guessed it -- Bill Frist? This would put Frist in a stronger position for a president in 2008."

Jim Malone has that. And then more succinctly, Will Colby in Atlanta has this: "This guy looks like the next Republican president after Bush." What do you think?

O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch, the parlor games have already begun, haven't they?

KOCH: They have. It's interesting because at the beginning of this whole controversy, as Senator Frist and his staff were making it very clear, he's not really interested. He had not wanted this position as Senate majority leader. He feels he can make the biggest impact on the country and do the greatest good by working on health care issues and Medicare reform. And now, voila, here he is, soon to become -- or so we're hearing -- Senate majority leader.

So, this is a man who, though professes to be reluctant, does have some ambitions. It's not beyond question. Bill, what do you think?

SCHNEIDER: I think is that Bill Frist is a coming figure in the Republican Party. We are going to see a lot of him in the next couple of years. He is instantly being talked about as a possible presidential contender for the GOP. But there is a competitor, his name is Bush, Jeb Bush, governor of Florida.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

O'BRIEN: Oh. Holy moly.

SCHNEIDER: And the question is I don't think President Bush wants to do anything that would set up Bill Frist, like putting him on the ticket in 2004, that would set him up as Bush's successor, because he would like to clear the way for his brother to be there.

O'BRIEN: This is Bush hegemony! We will have Barney the dog running for president, for gosh sakes!

SCHNEIDER: Bushes as far as the eye can see.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Bill Schneider, Kathleen Koch.

WHITFIELD: Never thought of that one.

O'BRIEN: And the late Suzanne Malveaux, who is busy on the phone right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well "late", just in...

O'BRIEN: Yes, well -- not that.

WHITFIELD: ...her appearance this morning. She had to go continue to do some reporting.

O'BRIEN: Yes, on II. I don't want to start any rumors.

Thank you for your questions everybody. That was good phone calls and e-mails, as always.

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Aired December 21, 2002 - 08:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now for our "Insight & Input" segment.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I & I, or I squared.

WHITFIELD: I like I squared.

O'BRIEN: Fred came up with that. I & I, and we're calling you squared, Bill Schneider, certainly.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. He's a hep cat.

WHITFIELD: Well, nobody on our panel is square.

O'BRIEN: He's a hep cat. We have Bill Schneider, we have Kathleen Koch, we have Suzanne Malveaux. Need we say more? They really need no further introduction.

WHITFIELD: No. We will be talking about -- it's funny, guys. We will be talking about Bill Frist and Trent Lott and all of that good stuff. Conference call is coming up on Monday.

O'BRIEN: Should we get to the e-mails first?

WHITFIELD: I think that would be a great idea.

O'BRIEN: Why don't we do that. "If I understand American political structure, the Senate majority leader is high up in the line to become commander-in-chief in times of crisis (after V.P., House majority leader)..." Speaker of the House, whatever you want to call it. "How is it that we have never heard of this new guy before?"

O'BRIEN: That, from Ross.

WHITFIELD: Well, where has he been?

O'BRIEN: We go to Bill Schneider, he has not heard of Frist. He is not exactly in the front pages every day.

SCHNEIDER: No, he's only a second term senator, but these days you move up pretty fast. He's best known for being a heart surgeon who once helped save Strom Thurmond who collapsed on the Senate floor. And he was also leader of the Republicans in the Senate campaign this year, which was their successful campaign to retake the majority.

O'BRIEN: But wait a minute. Bill, that is an interesting piece of irony. He resuscitated Strom Thurmond.

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Thus making it possible for him to see his 100th birthday.

SCHNEIDER: Oh, irony.

O'BRIEN: Thus putting Trent Lott on the podium. He really engineered the whole thing!

SCHNEIDER: Well...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: A conspiracy.

But I do want to correct one thing in the e-mail. That is the successor to the president, the man in line to succeed the president after the vice president and the speaker of the House is not the majority leader of the Senate, it's the president pro tem of the Senate, which is the senior member of the Senate. It is not the majority leader.

O'BRIEN: OK, there you go. Thank you very much. A little constitutional question there, I still thought the question of whether anybody has heard of him was valid. Do we have any phone calls yet, if not we will go to the e-mails. Continue on? All right, another e- mail.

"Trent Lott should switch party, become an independent senator with Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords; 38 percent of his state is black and the new agenda Lott revealed on BET is more in line with a Democrat and independent than the Republicans.

This would also be payback for the Bush White House for cutting him off at the legs." Randy in Tampa has that.

Suzanne Malveaux, is Trent Lott likely to become an independent?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wow, that's a good question. I really don't know. But it's a good point that they made in terms of whether or not the White House cut him off at the legs. That is a big, big story here.

The White House denying that that took place, really saying they believed that he should not resign. But as Bill knows as well, it was really the silence of the White House that perhaps spoke louder than the president's words, or even his aides' words. The fact that the president was not more vocal in his support; the fact there were a number of people kind of behind the scenes talking about this. And talking about Frist pretty early on.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, in addition to e-mails, we also have phone calls, so Kathleen, this will go to you, so listen up. This is from Jerry of Massachusetts, a big little state.

Jerry.

CALLER: Hi, how are you doing?

WHITFIELD: Fine. What is your question?

CALLER: I think the press should really look at Frist's parallelism to Lott as far as his voting record. There is no difference. A rose is a rose, by any other name. What about his family and himself and the Medicare fraud company that he owns when he was in Tennessee? About bilking Medicare fraud?

O'BRIEN: Let's make it clear. It's not a Medicare fraud company. It's a hospital corporation and they are paying some fines.

All right, Kathleen?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's go to that question. Remind me again? I got a little bit distracted there.

O'BRIEN: All right. The question is -- there are a few questions in there. But the big question was the hospital, HCA, the company that he is linked to and the $1.7 billion in fines they owe over the recent years.

KOCH: Right. I think the more interesting point that was raised in the difference in records between Trent Lott and Bill Frist.

That is something that has not been carefully examined as all this came to pass. A lot of people criticizing Lott for his very conservative voting record. And, of course, he never made it a secret, since he was elected and came here 30 years ago, that he was a conservative. So he voted the conservative party line.

And so many people thought throughout this controversy that it was a bit disingenuous all this criticism of the senator for voting against the Martin Luther King holiday, for voting against affirmative action and things like that.

As for Senator Frist, he also has been given a failing grade for his votes, this is by the NAACP, by some of the other civil rights groups. They have said that Frist and many of the other men who lined up as potential successors to Senator Lott were also just as equally conservative.

So, it will be interesting to see whether or not we see a real sea change in philosophy up here on the Hill.

WHITFIELD: All right. And hold the phone, so to speak, Kathleen, Suzanne and Bill, because we are going to resume this conversation in a moment. But first, we want to want to follow up on a breaking news story out of Afghanistan.

Actually, a couple of developments taking place out of Afghanistan. One, a German helicopter going down just outside of the Kabul area, five dead, reportedly. And then overnight, a U.S. soldier killed in a gun fight, which intelligence sources are now saying could have been involving Taliban, as well as al Qaeda holdouts.

And for the developments on those stories, let's go to Kabul where Karl Penhaul is now.

And, Karl, what do you know at this juncture?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just had a talk with the international peacekeeping force. They've told us that five German soldiers, all member of the German contingent, have died in the helicopter crash.

The helicopter went down at about one hour ago. And according to an eyewitness report, that helicopter was on a routine flight. And then, suddenly, flames and smoke started to pour out of the main engine compartment. That, then, went down.

We have not been able to get to the crash site now, because press are being held back from the area. But confirmed, we have five German soldiers dead in that helicopter crash.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then, Karl, there is a development of the U.S. soldier that was killed in this gun battle overnight. What more do we know about whether U.S. sources are feeling a bit more strongly as to whether Taliban and al Qaeda holdouts may have been involved in that gun battle?

PENHAUL: Yes, indeed, we talked today at Bagram Air Base to General Richard Meyers, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and also to General McNeal (ph), the head of U.S. troops here in Afghanistan, they both very firmly believe that this firefight did involve a guerrilla unit of remnant Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

The guerrilla unit was fairly small, they're talking in terms of six or seven men. That firefight broke out before dawn this morning, like you say, with the fatality of the U.S. serviceman. The first combat death since May.

WHITFIELD: All right. Karl Penhaul, thank you very much from Kabul.

We will take a short break for now and then we will resume our conversation about Bill Frist, Trent Lott, that controversy. And we will continue that in our "Insight & Input" segment. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: I think we should call it I-I, like ay-ay, captain? No?

WHITFIELD: I don't know.

O'BRIEN: You're going to stick with I Squared.

WHITFIELD: It is cute and clever, but I like I Squared.

O'BRIEN: OK.

All right, we have Bill Schneider and Kathleen Koch. Suzanne Malveaux has to work the phones on a story more important than us. That's OK. She does have journalism to do!

WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: After all. Bill Schneider, you have nothing else to do, right?

SCHNEIDER: Nothing else to do, except Christmas shopping.

WHITFIELD: Just hanging out.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: All right.

"Can you please confirm or dismiss an item I heard yesterday on public radio? That Bill First was the author of language inserted (incredibly!) into the Homeland Security bill absolving Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical company from any liability in unspecified future lawsuits? Thank you."

Brian Raine, sent that out of Los Angeles -- Bill.

SCHNEIDER: I cannot confirm it or refute it, because I don't know the facts. But I do know that Bill Frist does have a close relationship with the Lilly pharmaceutical company, and has worked with them in the past. So that might be -- it's plausible, but I cannot confirm it.

O'BRIEN: I heard the same report.

Kathleen, do you know much about it?

KOCH: No, I don't, Miles. I wasn't working on the passage of that legislation, so we'll just have to check into it.

O'BRIEN: All right. We all have to get on the phones, don't we? All right, let's end Double I, right now? No, let's continue on. Do we have anymore phone calls or should we do more e-mails?

WHITFIELD: Let's see, do we have any more phone calls? Dean from Florida. Thank goodness, we have a phone call for you guys.

All right, Dean from Florida, what part of Florida? And what's your question?

CALLER: I'm calling from Tampa, Florida. And my question is for Mr. Schneider. With Trent Lott stepping down and the Republican Party showing their willingness to change, do you feel that this will actually open up more voters, such as African-Americans, to step over to the Republican Party when they actually see that change might be made? Or is it just another case, with Mr. Frist coming in, that it's the same wolf in the same sheep's clothing?

SCHNEIDER: Well, as I indicated earlier in this segment, Bill Frist's voting record isn't (ph) substantially different than most Republicans. And I think African-Americans have trouble with the Republican Party not because of a conviction that most Republicans are racist and support segregation, but because the Republican Party is antigovernment. And most African-Americans don't share those antigovernment sentiments because the federal government has been on their side.

It rescued them from slavery in the 1860s and from segregation in the 1960s. So when Republicans speak the antigovernment rhetoric a lot of African-Americans don't respond. In many ways, the message here is intended -- I mean certainly the president wants to open up the party for more minority voters, and he is hopeful of doing that. But that, for reasons I just mentioned, could take a long time.

In many ways, it's to convince moderate white voters that the Republican Party is not racist, that the Republican Party is inclusive, it is open to all, because there are a lot of white voters who would never want to be associated with any party that had any association with racism.

O'BRIEN: Lets gate back to the e-mail, shall we?

"Daschle and Lott apparently had a smooth working relationship and one that was characterized by mutual respect. What is know about Frist and Daschle's relationship?"

That coming from A. Urbanes -- Kathleen Koch.

KOCH: From what we know here on the Hill, Senator Frist does get along quite well with his colleagues, not only in the GOP, but also across the aisle amongst the Democrats. But, you know, the Democrats are making no secret they are going to try to make hay out of this controversy, even after the Republicans believe it will be largely over after this vote on Monday.

Nancy Pelosi said in an interview yesterday, "Just because Senator Lott stepped down doesn't mean we are rid of the issue."

So, they're going to keep coming after the Republicans on racial issues, on a lot of other issues, holding Republicans' feet to the fire saying, well, if you brought in a new majority leader, and you profess to be taking a new point of view on these issues, then prove it. Even if they are getting along now, it may be bumpier once he's in as Senate majority leader.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan of New Mexico has a question.

Susan. CALLER: Yes, good morning. I have a question for anyone who wants to answer. After Trent Lott's comments, do you think that he should remain in Washington at all? Because, after all, anybody in Washington is in a leadership role?

WHITFIELD: Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Well, he is a United States senator. He is elected from Mississippi. That is really between him and his constituents. I don't know if there are procedures for recalls in Mississippi. I know a lot of African-American voters there are unhappy with their senator. And if there are procedures, they might start talking about it.

There was the concern, among Republicans, that he might not just leave the position as majority leader but might actually resign from the Senate. He announced yesterday he would not do that. A lot of Republicans were relieved because if he were to do that he could very well be replaced by a Democrat, since the governor of Mississippi would make the new appointment and he's a Democrat. So he's going to hold the seat, in part, to continue to support the Republican Party.

Could he be forced out? Only, I think, if there were a procedure for recall amongst his constituents. And while there is talk about that, I don't know that there is any real serious action -- movement to make that happen.

O'BRIEN: All right, a final Double I question. I'm going to actually do two together, they are sort of the same question, with your permission, control room.

"What do you think the chances are that Dick Cheney will announce later next year he will not be the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2004, so that President Bush can replace him with -- you guessed it -- Bill Frist? This would put Frist in a stronger position for a president in 2008."

Jim Malone has that. And then more succinctly, Will Colby in Atlanta has this: "This guy looks like the next Republican president after Bush." What do you think?

O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch, the parlor games have already begun, haven't they?

KOCH: They have. It's interesting because at the beginning of this whole controversy, as Senator Frist and his staff were making it very clear, he's not really interested. He had not wanted this position as Senate majority leader. He feels he can make the biggest impact on the country and do the greatest good by working on health care issues and Medicare reform. And now, voila, here he is, soon to become -- or so we're hearing -- Senate majority leader.

So, this is a man who, though professes to be reluctant, does have some ambitions. It's not beyond question. Bill, what do you think?

SCHNEIDER: I think is that Bill Frist is a coming figure in the Republican Party. We are going to see a lot of him in the next couple of years. He is instantly being talked about as a possible presidential contender for the GOP. But there is a competitor, his name is Bush, Jeb Bush, governor of Florida.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

O'BRIEN: Oh. Holy moly.

SCHNEIDER: And the question is I don't think President Bush wants to do anything that would set up Bill Frist, like putting him on the ticket in 2004, that would set him up as Bush's successor, because he would like to clear the way for his brother to be there.

O'BRIEN: This is Bush hegemony! We will have Barney the dog running for president, for gosh sakes!

SCHNEIDER: Bushes as far as the eye can see.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Bill Schneider, Kathleen Koch.

WHITFIELD: Never thought of that one.

O'BRIEN: And the late Suzanne Malveaux, who is busy on the phone right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well "late", just in...

O'BRIEN: Yes, well -- not that.

WHITFIELD: ...her appearance this morning. She had to go continue to do some reporting.

O'BRIEN: Yes, on II. I don't want to start any rumors.

Thank you for your questions everybody. That was good phone calls and e-mails, as always.

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