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CNN Live Sunday

Frist Expected to Become GOP's Senate Leader

Aired December 22, 2002 - 18:02   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first tonight, Tennessee Senator Bill Frist stands poised to be the new Republican leader in the Senate. Today, though, he stood poised in a bath towel when CNN's Jason Carroll caught up with the Senator at his home in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason, you're going to have to explain this one.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let me explain what happened. Basically I went out to try and get an interview with Senator Frist at his home, knocked on the door. His teenage son answered the door and he said that his dad had just gotten out of the shower. I kept asking his son a few more questions and then all of a sudden Senator Frist starting answering from up the stairway, sort of shouting down. It was one of those sort of strange TV moments that you experience every now and then.

He basically said that at this point, Carol, he does not want to talk specifics about his ordeal. He says he wants to wait until the vote tomorrow is final. That vote, we are told, is going to be happening at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. When that vote is finished, Senator Frist says that he will come out and give some sort of a formal statement. He says that he's been keeping a low profile for the past three weeks intentionally, not wanting to disrupt the process.

And, when I asked him about being majority leader, he said this is something that I did not go out and seek. I also asked him what he's been doing for the past few days. He says he got in last night. Before that he wanted to be with about 40 non-political friends in his words "away from Washington." He says that while he's here, he's going to be spending time with his family.

And, when I asked him what this whole ordeal has been like, he said, "The whole thing is really interesting." Well as you know, Carol, the whole thing is about to get a lot more interesting tomorrow at two o'clock -- Carol.

LIN: Yes and I'm wondering did Senator Frist know about Senator Trent Lott's impromptu news conference outside his house in Pascagoula, Mississippi? He sounded like a pretty bitter man saying that some of his political enemies got the best of him this time around.

CARROLL: If he did know, he wasn't saying. Again, I think Senator Frist at this point is wanting to say as little as possible before that vote happens tomorrow. Of course, when that vote does happen, we're going to hear what he has to say about the vote and probably about Trent Lott as well. We'll have to wait and see.

LIN: Yes, he's probably being pretty cautious. He's going to be on that conference call himself?

CARROLL: He will be on that conference call at 2:00 p.m., and I actually tried to get a little in there. I said is there any opportunity that we could get a camera in there and he said, "Nice try but no." So, but he will be on that conference call tomorrow, yes.

LIN: You know, Jason, you never know. You caught him getting out of the shower.

CARROLL: You got to ask, right?

LIN: You got to ask.

CARROLL: Right, you don't ask you don't get, right?

LIN: No, you certainly don't.

CARROLL: OK.

LIN: Thanks so much Jason Carroll, good to see you.

CARROLL: All right.

LIN: All right, moving on now, so when will Frist officially be the new Senate leader? Well, as Jason was talking about, there's going to be this conference call where all the Senators are going to get on the telephone tomorrow. They're due to vote on that call tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. For more on that, we're going to go to CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's on Capitol Hill tonight. Elaine, how's it going to work tomorrow?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically from what we understand it's going to be led by Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania. In a sense, really this is just going to be an aye, a nay kind of vote, because Senator Frist has already secured at least 32 of his fellow Senate Republicans' votes. He only needs 26 to win and, as we heard Jason describe, the Senator is maintaining a very low profile until that vote does take place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice over): At his home in Nashville, Senator Bill Frist stayed out of the spotlight one day before fellow Republicans plan to formally elect him as their new Senate majority leader. GOP officials hope Senator Frist will refocus the nation's attention away from the controversial comments made by Senator Trent Lott and help reshape the party's image as more inclusive, more supportive of minorities.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: But you know the attitude is that only Democrats care about minorities. That's pure B.S. I think every Republican is working hard to try and be good to minorities and do what's right. QUIJANO: One key test of that may come soon, judicial nominees.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: There's no question that those judicial nominees sent up by the president, their backgrounds I think will be examined more closely regarding racial issues.

QUIJANO: Last September, Democrats rejected President Bush's choice of Charles Pickering for federal appellate judge saying he would not do enough to protect individual and civil rights. Republicans say Pickering had a good record on minority issues and they want President Bush to re-nominate him.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: The way he was treated was frankly unconscionable and I hope that if the president brings it back up, and that's his decision, that he's given a fair hearing.

QUIJANO: Democrats say the Republican Party led by Frist has a chance to show a renewed commitment to minority rights and to demonstrate that their talk is more than just rhetoric.

SEN BOB GRAHAM (R), FLORIDA: To me this is more than just a transitory, partisan political problem. It is a real question of whether we are going to have, as a nation, policies that will treat all Americans fairly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, as for that vote, originally the date to decide was to be January 6, but Republicans pushed that up because they said they wanted to have someone, their leader, in place well before January 7 when the Congress convenes again -- Carol.

LIN: Elaine, you probably know that Senator Trent Lott has made his first public remarks since resigning as Senate majority leader. I'm wondering if there's any reaction there on Capitol Hill as to what he's saying about being taken by his political enemies in this.

QUIJANO: Well, I can tell you with the holidays here, it's awfully quiet on the Hill right now but I'm sure that these comments are certainly going to resonate because, keep in mind, this is a first that we have heard from Senator Lott officially since he stepped down on Friday. I want to read to you some of those comments, some harsh comments here.

Senator Lott reflecting on what happened saying: "I don't think there's any use in trying to say I'm disappointed in anybody or anything. An inappropriate remark brought this down on my head." Senator Lott going on to say: "There are some people in Washington who have been trying to nail me for a long time. When you're from Mississippi and you're a conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that don't like that. I fell into their trap and so I have only myself to blame."

Again, that was Senator Trent Lott outside his home in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and as I said, Carol, no reaction just yet but certainly in the days to come we will be hearing more on that -- Carol.

LIN: Certainly on tomorrow's 2:00 p.m. conference call, Eastern time, when the vote is taken for Senator Frist it looks like. Thank you very much Elaine Quijano reporting live from Capitol Hill tonight.

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 22, 2002 - 18:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first tonight, Tennessee Senator Bill Frist stands poised to be the new Republican leader in the Senate. Today, though, he stood poised in a bath towel when CNN's Jason Carroll caught up with the Senator at his home in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason, you're going to have to explain this one.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let me explain what happened. Basically I went out to try and get an interview with Senator Frist at his home, knocked on the door. His teenage son answered the door and he said that his dad had just gotten out of the shower. I kept asking his son a few more questions and then all of a sudden Senator Frist starting answering from up the stairway, sort of shouting down. It was one of those sort of strange TV moments that you experience every now and then.

He basically said that at this point, Carol, he does not want to talk specifics about his ordeal. He says he wants to wait until the vote tomorrow is final. That vote, we are told, is going to be happening at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. When that vote is finished, Senator Frist says that he will come out and give some sort of a formal statement. He says that he's been keeping a low profile for the past three weeks intentionally, not wanting to disrupt the process.

And, when I asked him about being majority leader, he said this is something that I did not go out and seek. I also asked him what he's been doing for the past few days. He says he got in last night. Before that he wanted to be with about 40 non-political friends in his words "away from Washington." He says that while he's here, he's going to be spending time with his family.

And, when I asked him what this whole ordeal has been like, he said, "The whole thing is really interesting." Well as you know, Carol, the whole thing is about to get a lot more interesting tomorrow at two o'clock -- Carol.

LIN: Yes and I'm wondering did Senator Frist know about Senator Trent Lott's impromptu news conference outside his house in Pascagoula, Mississippi? He sounded like a pretty bitter man saying that some of his political enemies got the best of him this time around.

CARROLL: If he did know, he wasn't saying. Again, I think Senator Frist at this point is wanting to say as little as possible before that vote happens tomorrow. Of course, when that vote does happen, we're going to hear what he has to say about the vote and probably about Trent Lott as well. We'll have to wait and see.

LIN: Yes, he's probably being pretty cautious. He's going to be on that conference call himself?

CARROLL: He will be on that conference call at 2:00 p.m., and I actually tried to get a little in there. I said is there any opportunity that we could get a camera in there and he said, "Nice try but no." So, but he will be on that conference call tomorrow, yes.

LIN: You know, Jason, you never know. You caught him getting out of the shower.

CARROLL: You got to ask, right?

LIN: You got to ask.

CARROLL: Right, you don't ask you don't get, right?

LIN: No, you certainly don't.

CARROLL: OK.

LIN: Thanks so much Jason Carroll, good to see you.

CARROLL: All right.

LIN: All right, moving on now, so when will Frist officially be the new Senate leader? Well, as Jason was talking about, there's going to be this conference call where all the Senators are going to get on the telephone tomorrow. They're due to vote on that call tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. For more on that, we're going to go to CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's on Capitol Hill tonight. Elaine, how's it going to work tomorrow?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically from what we understand it's going to be led by Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania. In a sense, really this is just going to be an aye, a nay kind of vote, because Senator Frist has already secured at least 32 of his fellow Senate Republicans' votes. He only needs 26 to win and, as we heard Jason describe, the Senator is maintaining a very low profile until that vote does take place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice over): At his home in Nashville, Senator Bill Frist stayed out of the spotlight one day before fellow Republicans plan to formally elect him as their new Senate majority leader. GOP officials hope Senator Frist will refocus the nation's attention away from the controversial comments made by Senator Trent Lott and help reshape the party's image as more inclusive, more supportive of minorities.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: But you know the attitude is that only Democrats care about minorities. That's pure B.S. I think every Republican is working hard to try and be good to minorities and do what's right. QUIJANO: One key test of that may come soon, judicial nominees.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: There's no question that those judicial nominees sent up by the president, their backgrounds I think will be examined more closely regarding racial issues.

QUIJANO: Last September, Democrats rejected President Bush's choice of Charles Pickering for federal appellate judge saying he would not do enough to protect individual and civil rights. Republicans say Pickering had a good record on minority issues and they want President Bush to re-nominate him.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: The way he was treated was frankly unconscionable and I hope that if the president brings it back up, and that's his decision, that he's given a fair hearing.

QUIJANO: Democrats say the Republican Party led by Frist has a chance to show a renewed commitment to minority rights and to demonstrate that their talk is more than just rhetoric.

SEN BOB GRAHAM (R), FLORIDA: To me this is more than just a transitory, partisan political problem. It is a real question of whether we are going to have, as a nation, policies that will treat all Americans fairly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, as for that vote, originally the date to decide was to be January 6, but Republicans pushed that up because they said they wanted to have someone, their leader, in place well before January 7 when the Congress convenes again -- Carol.

LIN: Elaine, you probably know that Senator Trent Lott has made his first public remarks since resigning as Senate majority leader. I'm wondering if there's any reaction there on Capitol Hill as to what he's saying about being taken by his political enemies in this.

QUIJANO: Well, I can tell you with the holidays here, it's awfully quiet on the Hill right now but I'm sure that these comments are certainly going to resonate because, keep in mind, this is a first that we have heard from Senator Lott officially since he stepped down on Friday. I want to read to you some of those comments, some harsh comments here.

Senator Lott reflecting on what happened saying: "I don't think there's any use in trying to say I'm disappointed in anybody or anything. An inappropriate remark brought this down on my head." Senator Lott going on to say: "There are some people in Washington who have been trying to nail me for a long time. When you're from Mississippi and you're a conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that don't like that. I fell into their trap and so I have only myself to blame."

Again, that was Senator Trent Lott outside his home in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and as I said, Carol, no reaction just yet but certainly in the days to come we will be hearing more on that -- Carol.

LIN: Certainly on tomorrow's 2:00 p.m. conference call, Eastern time, when the vote is taken for Senator Frist it looks like. Thank you very much Elaine Quijano reporting live from Capitol Hill tonight.

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