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Morning News

Election 2000: Gore Selects Sen. Lieberman as Running Mate; No Reaction From Bush-Cheney Campaign; Israelis 'Astonished' Over Choice

Aired August 7, 2000 - 10:00 a.m. ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The cat is out of the bag even before Al Gore could officially announce his choice for a running mate.

Our John King has the information. Travelling with the Gore campaign, John joins us from Nashville this morning.

John, how does this work? We've been talking about this for hours, and yet the phone call from Al Gore to Joseph Lieberman supposedly doesn't even happen for a couple more hours.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The official phone call, Daryn, won't come for a few more hours, but we're told by Democratic sources plans already being made for several senior Gore campaign aides to fly up and pick up Senator Lieberman, bring him here to Nashville by late afternoon. He won't get official word from the vice president for a little bit, but he has known for some time that he was among the finalists for the job and had made quite clear to the Gore campaign that he would accept if asked, that he would agree to join the vice president on the Democratic ticket.

The official announcement won't come until noontime here in Nashville tomorrow, but it now will be Vice President Al Gore and Connecticut Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman against Texas Governor George W. Bush and the former defense secretary, Dick Cheney, in the November election. Obviously likely to be a Green Party, Reform Party, perhaps other third-party candidates on the ballot as well.

Lieberman is 58. He's in his second term in the Senate. He was reelected with 67 percent of the vote last time, a man known as a fiscal conservative. In fact, his positions are more conservative than the vice president's on issues like Medicare Reform and Social Security reform. He's on the Armed Services Committee. He's known as a hawk there. Like then Senator Al Gore, he voted to support the Persian Gulf War.

Most of all, nationally, perhaps Senator Lieberman remembered for being among the first Democrats to speak out and criticize President Clinton's behavior, the president's relationship with Monica Lewinsky when that became public back in September 1998.

Senator Lieberman is an Orthodox Jew. He will be the first Jew on a national political ticket in the United States. Democratic officials calling this a bold choice by the vice president. We're told at campaign headquarters this morning there were high-fives and hugs, the staff described as being quite pumped up now.

Again, arrangements being made to bring Senator Lieberman here to Nashville to have dinner with the vice president. A public announcement noontime here tomorrow of the new Democratic ticket -- Daryn.

KAGAN: John, some strong contenders were on that short list, especially over the weekend as it went on: Evan Bayh, John Kerry, John Edwards of North Carolina. Are your sources telling you what it was in the end that flipped the hand towards Senator Lieberman?

KING: A number of things: One is experience. The Democrats do give George W. Bush some credit even as they criticize Dick Cheney's record. They give him some credit for picking a man of deep Washington experience. Senator Lieberman has not only been in the Senate, but he was the attorney general in Connecticut, known as a consumer advocate in that job, also a long-time member of the state legislature.

Like Vice President Gore -- I almost said Senator Gore -- like Vice President Gore, Mr. Lieberman from the moderate, centrist wing of the Democratic Party. And if you remember the Republican convention, a lot of character attacks, attempts to link the vice president to President Clinton's personal misconduct. The Gore campaign believes by selecting a deeply religious man, an outspoken critic of gratuitous sex and violence in entertainment programming, one of the first Democrats to criticize President Clinton, the Gore campaign believes it has picked a man that will make it much more difficult for the Republicans to link the vice president to the president's personal misconduct.

KAGAN: John King in Nashville, thank you very much -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Further south now, CNN's Chris Black now travelling with the Bush-Cheney campaign. She's live in Austin with more reaction now to the selection of Senator Lieberman.

Chris, hello again. Good morning.

CHRIS BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

So far this morning, Governor George W. Bush doesn't have anything to say about Al Gore's decision to choose Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Earlier today, as Governor Bush left the governor's mansion, he brushed off a reporter's question about the selection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What do you think?

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No comment until the vice president makes his selection. He hasn't made his selection yet. It's all rumor, isn't it?

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACK: Well, Governor Bush may have nothing to say. And, in fact, his campaign spokeswomen, Karen Hughes, said the governor probably won't have much to say because Al Gore didn't say anything himself about the selection of Dick Cheney.

That's not to say that the Bush campaign doesn't have a lot to say. The initial reaction this morning is that Joe Lieberman is a good man. And they said, isn't it nice that Al Gore picked someone who shares so many issue positions with Governor Bush?

What they're referring to is Joe Lieberman's support for a narrow, limited school voucher program, for a national missile defense, and for Social Security reform that includes some form of privatization. That said, I spoke to Senator Lieberman's office and they say, nice try but Joe Lieberman disagrees with Governor Bush on most of his major issue positions, particularly the huge tax cuts which they say would leave no money left for school reform, and also he's opposed -- he supports the Democrat's program to provide prescription drug benefits through the Medicare program.

But the Bush campaign says that no one that Al Gore could pick could match their selection in terms of a national reputation -- Bill?

HEMMER: Chris, stand by there.

And also want to bring John King back in again from Nashville. Want both of you to address this issue. Senator Lieberman, we made the point last hour, well-known 0in Washington and the Northeast of America.

Chris Black, first to you: How do you introduce this man to the rest of the nation?

BLACK: Well, I suspect, Bill, that they will do much what they intended to do with Al Gore at the Democratic National Convention and they will try to tell Joe Lieberman's story. Joe Lieberman has been in public life for a lock time, he was the state attorney general in Connecticut, and he is as close as the Democrats have to a moral cop in the Senate. He's a person of impeccable integrity. As John noted, he was the very first Democratic senator to go to the floor of the Senate and chastise his friend Bill Clinton for his personal behavior in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Some people say -- his critics say he's a little sanctimonious, but that's not a bad characteristic, maybe, when the other side, the Republicans, are criticizing Al Gore because of the personal failings of this president.

HEMMER: John King, I want you to jump in here too. And my mind is drifting to this debate we will see between Dick Cheney and Joseph Lieberman come the fall. And I'm wondering, on both sides of the aisle, they've given so much attention and credit, almost in a bipartisan manner, to how Dick Cheney maneuvered when he was in Washington, and now to Joseph Lieberman, to his bipartisan attempts as well. How is this all going to mesh together?

KING: Well, Bill, both Democrats and Republicans this morning saying that both of the vice presidential nominees are serious people. We will have a debate about their philosophical beliefs and about specific votes they've cast in their years in the Congress. But like Dick Cheney, Senator Lieberman known as a man who would reach across partisan lines, try to strike deals with Republicans. Welfare reform one issue he's done that, entitlement reform in the areas of Medicare and Social Security another one. It is Bill Bennett, the former education secretary and drug czar, who has been Senator Lieberman's partner in condemning Hollywood for what he believes is programming adversely affects children in this country.

So he has a history of reaching across partisan lines, but he's also quite a partisan figure when need be. He did criticize President Clinton, but he was also an early supporter of President Clinton back in 1992, and among the Democrats who helped shape the Democratic Leadership Council. That was borne out of Walter Mondale's 49-state defeat in 1984. Democrats who thought the party had drifted way too far to the left thought it needed a more moderate approach.

When he debates Dick Cheney, you will have a debate between two men who supported the Persian Gulf War. Senator Lieberman broke with the Democratic leadership to support it. Secretary Cheney obviously prosecuted that war.

So two serious individuals known for being bipartisan now cast in the role of vice president the job usually falls on which to be the most partisan of the two candidates on the ticket -- Bill.

HEMMER: It gets interesting, more and more curiouser. Is that what they said from "Alice in Wonderland"?

Chris Black live in Austin, thanks. We'll talk with you next hour. John King live in Nashville.

And, again, it gets more interesting by the minute. I think that was something I was trying to say.

Here's to my partner now, Daryn -- Daryn.

HEMMER: To save the day.

And now we have more information on this senator from Connecticut, Joseph Lieberman, a two-term U.S. senator and former Connecticut attorney general, as our John King just told us.

Here's our Beth Fouhy with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH FOUHY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In September, 1998, Joe Lieberman stepped to the Senate floor and delivered a memorable speech denouncing President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a speech that helped steer Al Gore to choose him as his vice presidential nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, SEPTEMBER 1998)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Such behavior is not just inappropriate, it is immoral and it is harmful, for it sends a message of what is acceptable behavior to the larger American family, particularly to our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOUHY: The speech gave Lieberman national stature and reinforced his image as a principled champion of moral integrity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMAN: Let's get some of the drugs out of the area, then we can eliminate some of the crime problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOUHY: A former state attorney general, Lieberman was elected to the Senate in 1988, squeaking by long-time Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker by the narrowest of margins. He was easily reelected in 1994.

Like Al Gore and Bill Clinton, Lieberman is a so-called "New Democrat" who has pushed his party closer to the center on issues like welfare reform. He was a strong supporter of the 1991 Gulf War and helped lead the Senate to support a resolution favoring military intervention there.

But in other ways, Lieberman is a sharp step away from the northeastern New Democratic mold he helped to fashion. He's an Orthodox Jew, who will sometimes cast Senate votes on the Saturday Sabbath, but typically does not campaign that day. And he has teamed up with conservative leader William Bennett to denounce cultural degradation of the entertainment industry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMAN: Orgasmic moans, incestuous leering, urinating for revenge, nothing seems too degrading to be played for a cheap laugh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOUHY: Lieberman was on his way to easy reelection in November, and under Connecticut law he can continue to run for his Senate seat and as Al Gore's running mate. Either way, he'll continue to play a key role in politics in the nation's capital.

Beth Fouhy, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And one other note. Today's headline in the "New York Post" speaks for itself. Senator Lieberman would be the first non- Christian on a major national ticket, and a Gore-Lieberman ticket ought to do well in New York. As this headline says, "Oy Vey!"

HEMMER: Oy vey!

KAGAN: Oy vey!. Says it well. Anyhow, Senator Lieberman's choice -- the choice of Senator Lieberman should sit well with the Jewish community both here and in Israel.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel now joining us live from Jerusalem.

Jerrold, has the news made it there so far?

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, it has, Daryn. And I think if you could sum up the reaction among both Israelis and Palestinians in one word, that word would be astonishment. But for some it would be astonished-delighted, for others astonished-wary, and for some astonished-worried.

There's, of course, no official reaction. There's unlikely to be before the official announcement from Vice President Gore of his choice of Senator Lieberman. But among Israelis, clearly there is, along with the surprise, a great deal of pleasure in this choice. And they are only too well aware that not since John F. Kennedy was elected four decades ago, that this will be the first time that there hasn't been the question of religion in a White House race. And they'll be watching very closely whether this will be a time when religion will be a factor in the White House race.

But over and beyond that, and beyond possible nuances among Israelis of the fact that Senator Lieberman is a religious Orthodox Jew -- and there are those differences among Israeli Jews of those who favor religion and those who are somewhat hostile to it -- beyond that, there will be a uniform reaction of admiration, saying that the United States is indeed the country where it can happen for anybody and everybody. That's the general reaction.

But the big question that is being asked and will be asked, as CNN's political analyst Bill Schneider put it, that if this should be interpreted as the vice president distancing himself from the president's personal conduct, is this also the vice president distancing himself from the president's Middle East political policy? because there's no secret that Senator Lieberman is less effusively open towards the Palestinian cause than perhaps President Clinton has been -- Bill.

KAGAN: Actually, Jerrold, it's Daryn Kagan in Atlanta, but thank you very much for that report.

Now here's Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Daryn, thank you.

A few reminders: CNN's Larry King will have that first live interview with the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Join him and Senator Joseph Lieberman Tuesday night, tomorrow evening, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 on the West Coast, for that exclusive interview. Also, our extensive coverage of the Democratic National Convention starts this Thursday. "INSIDE POLITICS" comes your way 5:00 Eastern, 2:00 local time out there in Los Angeles.

The gang will all be there.

KAGAN: And so will we.

HEMMER: And you will join them.

KAGAN: Yes, I start Friday morning from out there.

HEMMER: Friday morning -- good deal.

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