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Morning News

Election 2000: John McCain, Bill Bradley Ponder Possible Defeat as Al Gore Celebrates Surprisingly-Large Victory

Aired March 8, 2000 - 10:05 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For the Texas governor it may well be a night to remember from last evening. However, for John McCain it might be a night to forget.

From Los Angeles and with the McCain camp, here's CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A disappointing Super Tuesday could spell the end of John McCain's Republican insurgency. "Devastating" was how one senior adviser described the biggest night of the primary season. The Arizona senator had hoped to sweep New England, but didn't and called New York "a must win," and lost. And McCain could only watch as George W. Bush won major battleground- states like Ohio, Missouri and California, building an overwhelming lead in delegates along the way.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And over the next few days, we'll take some time to enjoy our victories and take stock of our losses.

KING: McCain is advertising in Colorado, which holds its primary Friday, but Bush is comfortably ahead. And next Tuesday's choices for McCain range from bad to worse. Governor Bush is heavily favored in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and his home state of Texas.

McCain vowed to press his reform agenda regardless of whether he stays in the race.

MCCAIN: Our crusade continues tonight, tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, and for as long as it takes to restore America's confidence and pride in the practice and institutions of our great democracy.

KING: The senator is heading home to Arizona to consult family and supporters; some want to soldier on. But one senior political adviser told CNN, quote, "It's hard to see a rationale for going on."

Two McCain advisers tell CNN he could withdraw from the race as early as Thursday, although a third angrily disputed that, and voiced hope McCain would fight on. (END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, as Senator McCain prepares to go home to Arizona to ponder he next choice, he faces the mathematical possibility that Governor Bush could indeed clinch the Republican nomination in next Tuesday's primaries. Senator McCain says one thing is certain now as he ponders what to do next: he says he has no interest in being the vice presidential nominee, no interest in mounting a third-party candidacy for president, and he has consistently throughout this campaign he would not run for president again -- Bill.

HEMMER: John, that race between McCain and Bush has been very nasty at times. Is there someone who may lead the way to bridge the gap between these two men if indeed that is the next course of action politically?

KING: There are several possibilities. First and foremost, campaign aides on both sides say they have to do this themselves. They did speak briefly last night, Senator McCain and Governor Bush, but there are some people who could act as intermediaries. One is Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, a very close, personal friend of John McCain. Obviously, he's supporting his home state governor. Another person to look for, the governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge. Like Senator McCain, he is a Vietnam veteran. They are very close friends. Governor Ridge in the Bush camp, but he is very close as well to Senator McCain. And lastly, a top McCain adviser, Mike Murphy, is also the senior strategist for the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. So, those are the possibilities. Both camps say they believe in the end this relationship will be healed -- Bill.

HEMMER: We'll see how it all shakes down. John King live in Los Angeles. John, thanks to you.

Now to the Democrats and Al Gore, and what a sweet night it was for the vice president. Al Gore swept Bill Bradley across the board, and if you look at the states that Gore took, it was a clean sweep. Eleven different primary states, in addition to that, two states holding caucuses last night on the evening of Super Tuesday.

Earlier today, the vice president was on CNN's "EARLY EDITION" live, and one of the issues that continues to dog the vice president is the issue of campaign finance. The vice president talked about that issue about two-and-a-half hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE PRES. AL GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Where campaign reform is concerned, we don't have to wait for the passage of a law. I will ask the Republican nominee to join with me in calling for a ban on the so-called soft money and a ban on the unregulated, secretly- funded so-called independent expenditures of the kind that flooded into the Republican primary in New York and California and Ohio in the last days of this -- of this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HEMMER: Again, the vice president from "EARLY EDITION" on CNN earlier today. The vice president was in Nashville. So too is CNN's Chris Black. More now on Gore's big night out last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICE PRES. AL GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, they don't call it Super Tuesday for nothing.

CHRIS BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): It was more than a win; it was a vindication for a vice president the pundits rode off last year as a victim of Clinton fatigue.

A stunning sweep from California to New York, from Georgia to Vermont, with all the voting states in between, made Al Gore the presumptive Democratic nominee.

With his Democratic base solid, he reached out.

GORE: And to those Republicans and independents out there whose heroes are Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, to all of you, I say as well, join with us. Our campaign is now your cause.

BLACK: And he challenged the Republican nominee to agree to a ban on soft money and all TV and radio ads, debating twice a week instead.

GORE: Like John McCain, I bring a commitment born of personal experience to the battle for campaign finance reform. I've learned from my mistakes. I know it's time to change a broken system. We need tough, uncompromising campaign finance reform.

BLACK: He made it clear he does not intend to let George W. Bush take the education issue from Democrats, by pledging to conduct school days, meetings with parents, teachers and students, to plot a way to improve public schools. He said he intends to take his fight to the Republicans...

GORE: But while we are here to celebrate great victories, I say to you tonight, and hear me well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

BLACK: ... and cited the record of the Clinton/Gore administration...

GORE: We need to build on our record of prosperity. We don't need to go back to where we were eight years ago.

BLACK: ... and he saluted his opponent...

GORE: I think that anybody who has heard Bill Bradley throughout this campaign has come away from the experience, moved and touched by the strength of his commitment to healing the divisions in our country, especially divisions based on race.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLACK: Gore's aides expected a good night, they did not expect a rout. They say the vice president has emerged from the primary season stronger than ever and well-positioned for the fall campaign. But Al Gore is still taking nothing for granted, heading back out on the campaign trail today to do a town meeting with undecided voters in Detroit -- Bill.

HEMMER: Chris, we continue to hear the comment from Al Gore saying, you ain't seen nothing yet, his words, not mine, but what are we likely to see and hear from the president in the coming weeks and months ahead?

BLACK: Well, the paid political advisers to the vice president call it issue differentiation. That's a fancy way of saying that the vice president is going to articulate differences on issues of concern to swing voters. He's going to grab for the -- make a big grab for the political middle, which he thinks he's in a better position to do than George Bush, because he managed to stay in the middle and resist being pushed to the left during his primary campaign. But he'll talk about issues primarily, Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Chris Black with the Gore camp in Nashville, Tennessee. Chris, thank you.

Now for Bill Bradley. Bill Bradley right now is limping. He has been met with defeat after defeat throughout the campaign season. In this primary time.

Live to New York and Manhattan with CNN's Jeanne Meserve tracking Bradley this morning.

Jeanne, good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Bill Bradley will be meeting this morning with friends, family and supporters at his New Jersey home, talking about what his next step will be. It is a forgone conclusion that he will be withdrawing from this race probably tomorrow. As you have mentioned, he lost in every state that held a Democratic caucus or primary. In a meeting with supporters last night at a hotel here in New York, Bradley put it bluntly, saying he won, I lost.

Bradley told the that him that he and they had shaped the national debate, that they had moved to the fore Democratic issues like health care, gun control, violence against children and campaign- finance reform. His speech, which did sound very much like a concession, contained a warning for the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BRADLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Over a year ago, I began the journey to seek the Democratic nomination. It is truly a joyous journey, one that reaffirms my belief that America is a special nation at a special moment in our history, a moment which if we do not seize will cause future generations to judge us harshly and say, they knew what was wrong, they had the means to make it better, but they did not act.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Bradley said in the Apollo debate here in New York that he would support Al Gore if he was the nominee. But how actively will he support him? This contest has been acrimonious at times, and there have been reports that Bill Bradley just does not like Al Gore, but there is another question to ask. Give the depth and breadth of his defeats yesterday, how important is it to Al Gore to have Bill Bradley actively campaigning for him.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, reporting live from New York.

HEMMER: Jeanne, thank you.

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