CNN American Morning - Transcript

CNN

SHOW: AMERICAN MORNING 7:00 AM EST

HEADLINE: Interview With Senator Richard Durbin, Senator John Cornyn; Scott Peterson Trial; Stranded Hikers

BYLINE: Bill Hemmer, Soledad O'Brien, Jack Cafferty, Heidi Collins, Gloria Gomez

GUESTS: Richard Durbin, John Cornyn, Keith Lober, Dr. Mark Hammergren

HIGHLIGHT:

Sinclair Broadcasting Group is going to air parts of a highly critical anti-Kerry film tonight in 39 markets across the country. How much of this will have an impact on voters, the question is today? Interview with Senator Dick Durbin, Senator John Cornyn. The judge in Scott Peterson's double murder trial say jurors will be sequestered for deliberations. Two elderly hikers are missing this morning in California's Sequoia National Park. A look inside the Adler Planetarium with Dr. Mark Hammergren.

BODY:
O'BRIEN: We'll see. Dick Durbin, nice to have you. Thanks for having us in your fine city. We appreciate it.

Let's turn now to Senator John Cornyn, a Republican of Texas, for the other side this morning.

Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN ®, TEXAS: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: You heard what Dick Durbin had to say. He said this is essentially politics of fear, this new ad coming out from the Bush campaign. How do you respond to that?

CORNYN: Well, I think you know, while Senator Kerry did well in the debates, it's not what you say, it's what you actually have done. And as the best predictor of what you're likely to do if elected. And, of course, he didn't dispute the facts in the ad, the fact that Senator Kerry did vote for dramatic slashes in intelligence budgets.

While he voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, he then voted against the $87 billion that would have funded the troops in the field. So I think it's what you've done and what you're likely to do rather than what you say that counts the most.

O'BRIEN: But some people say that this ad which I mentioned moments ago many people are saying is essentially a knockoff of an ad that Ronald Reagan did years ago, is designed to reach sort of the guts and the hearts and to scare, say critics, the American public. What do you make of that?

CORNYN: Well, I agree with Senator Durbin. And I think at this point in the campaign, they've pretty well decided what they're going to do. And now it's a matter of each side trying to get their ground game going, get people out to vote.

I think people understand what's at stake with the war on terror. That we were attacked on 9/11. And there's only two choices. One is victory and one is surrender. And I think that that's why the president is doing so well, because people have confidence in his resolve and his leadership in fighting and winning the war on terror.

O'BRIEN: Not doing so well, though, or leading the way in Ohio, a state that obviously is in big play. It's fair to say the numbers there don't bode-bode, excuse me-very well for the president. If you look at the numbers of registered voters, Kerry at 50 percent, President Bush at 44 percent, who say that that would be their likely choice for president.

The focus there, of course, domestic issues. How is the president-what's the strategy to take over there? CORNYN: Well, the-you know, registered voters are important. It's important to register as many voters as we can. But ultimately what counts is who actually goes to vote.

And that's why I say that so much effort, the volunteer effort in Ohio is very strong, about at least triple the number of people volunteering on behalf of the Bush-Cheney ticket than they did in the year 2000. And I think from all of my sources in Ohio, they're feeling very good.

Whether it's medical costs associated with high medical liability insurance premiums, whether it's government-run medical care, which will cost $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, I think eventually, by November the 2nd, the Ohio voters, voters across the country are going to decide that President-that Senator Kerry is on the wrong side of those issues and that President Bush is on the right side.

O'BRIEN: Bill Clinton, Al Gore will be out campaigning for Senator Kerry. How concerned are you about their weighing in on this campaign now?

CORNYN: Well, I'm glad to see President Clinton feeling strong enough to get back on the campaign trail. And all of us wish him well. But I don't think this is an election on-that has much to do with President Clinton or Al Gore.

They had their time in the limelight. Al Gore had his shot and he was unsuccessful in 2000. This is really a choice between President Bush's strong leadership in a very dangerous world and John Kerry's lack of resolve and steady hand on the rudder during a very perilous time in our nation's history.

O'BRIEN: Senator John Cornyn joining us from Capitol Hill this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us.

CORNYN: Thank you very much.