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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Robert Zimmerman, Martha Zoller

Aired November 30, 2003 - 11:15   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.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I bring a message on behalf of America. We thank you for your service. We're proud of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: About seven weeks to go. The democratic candidates for president are gearing up for the Iowa caucus, as President Bush continues making headlines with his Thursday trip to Iraq, a trip that one democrat called a photo opportunity.

And in this week's political debate, from New York we have Robert Zimmerman; he was a democratic strategist who worked on Al Gore's presidential campaign. Also we have Martha Zoller, who's a conservative columnist, also a radio talk-show host for WDUN, which is right here in Atlanta. Thank you both for being with us.

MARTHA ZOLLER, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Good morning.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to be with you.

CALLAWAY: Already we've seen this election in full swing. Just in reaction alone to the president's trip to Iraq. Martha, let me start with you. Why such a negative reaction from some?

ZOLLER: Well, I think that some people are not going to be happy no matter what the president does. But the fact of the matter is, he is the commander in chief and some people do these kind of things well and some people don't. Johnson was not very good at it. Neither was Nixon, but George W. Bush is very good at these kinds of things and it was something that the troops needed.

I've done a lot of work with troops in Iraq doing different projects for them in Iraq as well as home here at Walter Reed hospital. They love this man. They are committed to this man, and it did help them. Some people, though, are just not going to like anything; they're going to call it a photo-op. Well, certainly it might have been a photo-op, but that's not why the president did it. He did it because it was the right thing to do at this time.

CALLAWAY: Robert, I know you want to jump in there.

ZIMMERMAN: I certainly do. I quite agree that it was the right thing to do and I certainly hope it boosted our troops' morale. But, you know, I think it's important to also recognize, according to the most recent "Times"/CNN poll, 50 percent of America is doubting the merits of this war and 40 percent of our nation does not believe President Bush is being honest with them.

So I think that's why you find the criticism taking place, because despite this important moment that President Bush had during Thanksgiving, our troops still exist in a shooting gallery. Even you find the Joint Chiefs of Staff and many republicans are condemning the administration for the abominable lack of planning here and no clear direction or mission as to how they're going to resolve the crisis.

CALLAWAY: Martha, let me ask you this. Robert brings up the war, but is that going to be the issue in the election, or is it going to be the economy?

ZOLLER: Well, I think that if there is not marked better security in Iraq by next August or September then yes, the war is going to be an issue. I think it will be better by then. The economy is not off the table yet, but certainly things are looking much better, and sort of the chicken or the egg thing, things are looking better, so people are feeling better, certainly in certain parts of the country, like right here in Atlanta where it is service based and travel based, the recovery is a little slower than it is in other parts of the country. But I think that depends...

ZIMMERMAN: But I think it's also...

ZOLLER: But Robert, with all due respect to what you said about the president, there is a lot more to his policy than just the photo- op. And we can't just go...

ZIMMERMAN: We're seeing that for sure. Let me make my point. We've seen the result of his policies. 43 million Americans without health insurance, record bankruptcies in the past several quarters. We're all pleased by the economic growth but that doesn't change the record deficit that we're...

CALLAWAY: Robert, let's talk quickly about the economy, though.

ZIMMERMAN: Sure.

CALLAWAY: What about -- we're seeing an upswing, here. But if we see an increase in job creation, the democrats have quite a dilemma.

ZIMMERMAN: First of all, we've lost, under this administration, 2.7 million jobs. Even the White House acknowledges they can't make up that record job loss. Furthermore, you're now seeing business organizations like Goldman Sachs say under the Bush White House the federal budget is out of control. And you also have now more and more conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation pointing out that the Bush White House is the biggest spending government since 1944. 55 percent of new federal spending is focused to non-security related activities and that should concern all of us because we're not protecting our airports, highways, or railroads effectively. CALLAWAY: Martha, I know you want to comment on that, and also, isn't the Bush administration going to have to prove this is not just a short -- short-term upswing in the economy?

ZOLLER: Well, unfortunately, as we both know, presidents have really very little control over the economy. But the Bush administration will get the credit or the criticism based on how it is in a year. And he is going to do everything that he can, but I think what you're seeing now, two years after the tax cuts, a year after the second tax cut, is that it is stimulating the economy, small businesses are growing. Robert, but most of us work for small companies.

ZIMMERMAN: You make the point that this economy -- you make the point, Martha, that this economy is not controlled by the president, yet George Bush blamed Bill Clinton for the first three years of his administration for the bad economy. Now that there's two months of good news he claims it is all about him.

ZOLLER: Robert, the fact of the matter is whoever is in the office gets the credit or the criticism regarding the economy. Bill Clinton got the credit when things were good, but the recession did start in March 2000.

CALLAWAY: Robert, I'm going to have to give you the last word here because you had the first, Martha.

ZOLLER: Thank you.

ZIMMERMAN: Let me just say, Martha, even the White House is not as optimistic as you. They point out the recession began under their watch in spring of 2001. And until we begin to control this federal deficit, we're never going to get the economy back in order. And that's the real tragedy of the Bush economic policy.

ZOLLER: Alan Greenspan said March 2000.

CALLAWAY: Martha had to get the last word in. Robert Zimmerman and Martha Zoller, thanks.

ZIMMERMAN: It's the holidays; I'll give it to her.

CALLAWAY: Happy holidays to you both. Thanks for being with us. Should be an interesting election.

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 November 30, 2003 - 11:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I bring a message on behalf of America. We thank you for your service. We're proud of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: About seven weeks to go. The democratic candidates for president are gearing up for the Iowa caucus, as President Bush continues making headlines with his Thursday trip to Iraq, a trip that one democrat called a photo opportunity.

And in this week's political debate, from New York we have Robert Zimmerman; he was a democratic strategist who worked on Al Gore's presidential campaign. Also we have Martha Zoller, who's a conservative columnist, also a radio talk-show host for WDUN, which is right here in Atlanta. Thank you both for being with us.

MARTHA ZOLLER, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Good morning.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to be with you.

CALLAWAY: Already we've seen this election in full swing. Just in reaction alone to the president's trip to Iraq. Martha, let me start with you. Why such a negative reaction from some?

ZOLLER: Well, I think that some people are not going to be happy no matter what the president does. But the fact of the matter is, he is the commander in chief and some people do these kind of things well and some people don't. Johnson was not very good at it. Neither was Nixon, but George W. Bush is very good at these kinds of things and it was something that the troops needed.

I've done a lot of work with troops in Iraq doing different projects for them in Iraq as well as home here at Walter Reed hospital. They love this man. They are committed to this man, and it did help them. Some people, though, are just not going to like anything; they're going to call it a photo-op. Well, certainly it might have been a photo-op, but that's not why the president did it. He did it because it was the right thing to do at this time.

CALLAWAY: Robert, I know you want to jump in there.

ZIMMERMAN: I certainly do. I quite agree that it was the right thing to do and I certainly hope it boosted our troops' morale. But, you know, I think it's important to also recognize, according to the most recent "Times"/CNN poll, 50 percent of America is doubting the merits of this war and 40 percent of our nation does not believe President Bush is being honest with them.

So I think that's why you find the criticism taking place, because despite this important moment that President Bush had during Thanksgiving, our troops still exist in a shooting gallery. Even you find the Joint Chiefs of Staff and many republicans are condemning the administration for the abominable lack of planning here and no clear direction or mission as to how they're going to resolve the crisis.

CALLAWAY: Martha, let me ask you this. Robert brings up the war, but is that going to be the issue in the election, or is it going to be the economy?

ZOLLER: Well, I think that if there is not marked better security in Iraq by next August or September then yes, the war is going to be an issue. I think it will be better by then. The economy is not off the table yet, but certainly things are looking much better, and sort of the chicken or the egg thing, things are looking better, so people are feeling better, certainly in certain parts of the country, like right here in Atlanta where it is service based and travel based, the recovery is a little slower than it is in other parts of the country. But I think that depends...

ZIMMERMAN: But I think it's also...

ZOLLER: But Robert, with all due respect to what you said about the president, there is a lot more to his policy than just the photo- op. And we can't just go...

ZIMMERMAN: We're seeing that for sure. Let me make my point. We've seen the result of his policies. 43 million Americans without health insurance, record bankruptcies in the past several quarters. We're all pleased by the economic growth but that doesn't change the record deficit that we're...

CALLAWAY: Robert, let's talk quickly about the economy, though.

ZIMMERMAN: Sure.

CALLAWAY: What about -- we're seeing an upswing, here. But if we see an increase in job creation, the democrats have quite a dilemma.

ZIMMERMAN: First of all, we've lost, under this administration, 2.7 million jobs. Even the White House acknowledges they can't make up that record job loss. Furthermore, you're now seeing business organizations like Goldman Sachs say under the Bush White House the federal budget is out of control. And you also have now more and more conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation pointing out that the Bush White House is the biggest spending government since 1944. 55 percent of new federal spending is focused to non-security related activities and that should concern all of us because we're not protecting our airports, highways, or railroads effectively. CALLAWAY: Martha, I know you want to comment on that, and also, isn't the Bush administration going to have to prove this is not just a short -- short-term upswing in the economy?

ZOLLER: Well, unfortunately, as we both know, presidents have really very little control over the economy. But the Bush administration will get the credit or the criticism based on how it is in a year. And he is going to do everything that he can, but I think what you're seeing now, two years after the tax cuts, a year after the second tax cut, is that it is stimulating the economy, small businesses are growing. Robert, but most of us work for small companies.

ZIMMERMAN: You make the point that this economy -- you make the point, Martha, that this economy is not controlled by the president, yet George Bush blamed Bill Clinton for the first three years of his administration for the bad economy. Now that there's two months of good news he claims it is all about him.

ZOLLER: Robert, the fact of the matter is whoever is in the office gets the credit or the criticism regarding the economy. Bill Clinton got the credit when things were good, but the recession did start in March 2000.

CALLAWAY: Robert, I'm going to have to give you the last word here because you had the first, Martha.

ZOLLER: Thank you.

ZIMMERMAN: Let me just say, Martha, even the White House is not as optimistic as you. They point out the recession began under their watch in spring of 2001. And until we begin to control this federal deficit, we're never going to get the economy back in order. And that's the real tragedy of the Bush economic policy.

ZOLLER: Alan Greenspan said March 2000.

CALLAWAY: Martha had to get the last word in. Robert Zimmerman and Martha Zoller, thanks.

ZIMMERMAN: It's the holidays; I'll give it to her.

CALLAWAY: Happy holidays to you both. Thanks for being with us. Should be an interesting election.

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