CNN Larry King Live - Transcripts
CNN Larry King Live - Transcripts
4/28/2005
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LARRY KING, HOST: The president's first prime-time news conference of the second term and we have got immediate reaction from both sides of the aisle.
And then exclusive, the attorney for Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, Iris Joan Finsilver representing Rowe in her ongoing custody negotiations with Jackson. She'll tell us how the mother of two of his children feels after finishing her second day of sensational emotional testimony today.
And we'll get deep into today's Jackson drama with CNN's Ted Rowlands there in the courtroom as was Jane Velez-Mitchell of Celebrity Justice. Also with us Raymone Bain, Michael Jackson spokesperson, high profile attorney Michael Cardoza who was also in the courtroom today and Susan Violin, assistant state's attorney from Connecticut who has attended some of the Jackson trial. It's all next on LARRY KING LIVE.
But first, we're going to go Capitol Hill for reaction. We'll meet with Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority whip and committee memberships include Appropriations, Rules, administration. He's Republican of Kentucky. Senator Tom Harkin, the ranking member of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. He's also on the Appropriations, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Democrat of Iowa. Also in Washington is Congressman David Dryer, chairman of the Rules Committee, member of the House Republican leadership, Republican of California. And in Santa Fe, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Democrat of New Mexico, chairman of the Democratic Governor's Association, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and former Energy Secretary.
We'll start with our senators. Senator McConnell, on that Social Security question which seems to be the impact of the night, what are your expectations of getting through something?
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY WHIP: Well, look, we haven't given up. The president's been out on the road 60 places in 60 days. Tonight he unveiled a suggestion that we ought to take a look at called progressive indexing which guarantees that lower income people get an exceptionally good deal out of Social Security and it tapers off for higher income people. And of course, continue to insist on a very good idea, one of the originators of which was Pat Moynihan, who used to be-the late Pat Moynihan-who used to be on your show a lot, for personal retirement accounts, guarantee the younger workers will have a nest egg when they retire. KING: But will it pass?
MCCONNELL: It's much too early to determine that. We have got the Kentucky Derby coming up here in about a week. We're just now around the first turn, Larry. It's a long way to the finish line.
KING: And that may be-that's certainly front and center from-as horse racing fans and people from Kentucky. Senate Harkin, how is that going to do, Social Security?
SEN. TOM HARKIN, (D) IOWA: Well, the president threw down the gauntlet tonight. He said that any Social Security plan has to have private accounts. That's a nonstarter here.
I think the American people are picking up on this, Larry. The president's been out there 60 days, he was in Iowa. And after he left they took a poll and his approval rating went down and the number of Iowans opposed to privatization went up.
The American people, I think, are picking up one thing, Larry. They understand that this president really doesn't believe in Social Security. I mean, he predicted over 25 years ago it was going to go bankrupt then. And so because the president really doesn't believe in Social Security, he's taking extraordinary means to try to justify his so-called reforms.
But his reform is basically privatization, which takes money out of Social Security. It will leave a lot of people, when they get old or if they become disabled, will leave them without that solid Social Security benefit. I think people are picking up on that.
KING: Congressman Dreier, is the problem of privatization the stock market, when people see the stock market go down on any given day, they view that as, what if I put money in Social Security and I lost?
REP. DAVID DREIER, ® CALIFORNIA: Larry, absolutely not.
KING: That's not why it hurts?
DREIER: No. If one looks at the pattern, the pattern is growth. We have continued to see growth. We have continued to see growth. And the fact is, what the president made clear tonight is-he underscored the word voluntary twice, voluntary personal accounts.
Virtually everyone has come to the conclusion, whether it's the Congressional Budget Office, OMB, that 2018 and 2042 are two very important dates. The president has boldly stepped up to the plate. And he said something must be done.
Now, he's been very successful. We've actually seen a six-fold increase in the number of Americans who now recognize that there is a problem. So that is great success as far as I'm concerned on this, and the notion of saying that younger workers can plan for their retirement is a correct thing, while in no way jeopardizing those who are at or near retirement. And I think this notion, Larry, of saying that we could, you know, possibly have those who were at the lower end of the economic spectrum benefit more easily and better than those who are at the upper end is a very creative idea that the president has thrown out. So he hasn't taken anything off the table, other than increasing payroll taxes.
KING: Quickly, though, David, before we move to Bill Richardson and other areas, why isn't the public apparently buying it?
DREIER: Well, Larry, the public is buying it. That's why I say there's been a six-fold increase. Remember what the goal was here, Larry, and that is to let the American people realize and understand that we have a serious problem that is right down the road, 13 years from now. The president could ignore it, but he's decided to address it, and the American people are beginning to understand that, and that was the goal. Now he wants us to come together and work with him to come up with a solution, a bipartisan solution, and we're willing to do that.
KING: All right, Governor Bill Richardson, Democrat of New Mexico, former ambassador to the U.N. What do you make of his current nominee and how he handled the question about him tonight?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Well, I have deep reservations about John Bolton. I don't know the man, but it troubles me that-what you need at the United Nations is somebody that's a unifier, that can work with the Security Council, with 190 other nations. We have issues of reforming the U.N. that need to happen. I'm troubled by Mr. Bolton and his treatment of intelligence officers.
Again, what I believe is needed is somebody there that can go in and press for America's interests. It's better if we get international support for our goals, and I don't think that Mr. Bolton is the man.
I do think, however, a president is entitled to his top foreign policy positions, but the more I read about this individual-I don't know him-the concerns that I'm hearing not just around the country, but also internationally, and talking to some of my former colleagues in Washington, I just have some deep reservations, and I do believe a president should be given the benefit of the doubt as much as possible on positions like this.
KING: Therefore you wouldn't vote for him if you were in the Senate?
RICHARDSON: No, I would not vote for him, but I would stretch as much as I can to give this individual the benefit of the doubt. I think the next two weeks are going to be key.
KING: Senator McConnell, what about the filibuster question and judicial appointments? Where are we with that?
MCCONNELL: Well, at some point we're going to get back, Larry, to the way we operated for 214 years, quite nicely, which was to guarantee judges nominated by any president would get an up-or-down vote in the Senate. That's the way that we've operated for a long time, until two years ago, and we're going to get back to that. We're sort of working our way back there. It's been somewhat contentious, but at some point we're going to reestablish the traditions and norms of the Senate, which mean that a majority-if a majority is in favor of a nominee for the judiciary, what we've recommended that it even be confined to the appellate courts and the Supreme Court, that that nominee get an up-or-down vote, as he always has gotten, or she has gotten, throughout the history of our country.
KING: Senator Harkin, were you encouraged by the fact that the president discounted the criticism of judicial appointments regarding religion? He thought it should play no part, that it's just a disagreement on philosophy?
HARKIN: I thought the president made a good statement in that regard tonight, Larry, and I applaud him for it, in saying that those of us who may oppose his judicial nominees did it on the basis of we don't think they'd be good judges, not on the basis of whether they were Christian or religious or not. So I, you know, I give the president credit for saying that tonight.
KING: Congressman Dreier, how do you think in general he's handled himself, with this press conference? They were worried at the start that he wouldn't do well with them.
DREIER: Well, Larry, first of all, he went pushing towards his bedtime, you know what I mean.
KING: I know.
DREIER: It was-somebody here on this set said Clinton-esque. And it went into LARRY KING LIVE, which is a challenge. He actually I think did very well.
I will tell you, I didn't see a lot of it. And the reason was I was on the House floor, where we just passed a budget, a budget which is-the conference agreement which the Senate will be voting on week after next. We in the House are going to be voting for the supplemental appropriations bill dealing with the issues of our troops. We've had a wide range of bipartisan victories on bankruptcy reform, on the issue of class action, border security. You know, lots of things. The energy bill. The president talked about gasoline prices. We have bipartisan support for that.
And so there are lots of things that we've been able to accomplish, and I think the president was right on target.
Just one quick thing about John Bolton. I've known-Bill said that he didn't know John Bolton. I've known John Bolton for 20 years. And I will tell you, he is a phenomenal (INAUDIBLE). And I had the privilege along with Lee Hamilton to co-chair a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations, focused on reforming the United Nations. I talked with John Bolton about that. Building a democracy caucus, doing the kinds of things that are very important to strengthen our relationship internationally, while at the same time cleaning up the food-for-oil scandal, the problem of abuse that we saw of young people in Africa by U.N. workers.
So I think that John Bolton is the right guy to represent the United States and help us clean that place up.
KING: Bill Richardson, how did he handle the question of Korea?
RICHARDSON: Well, I thought the president needed to be more diplomacy-oriented. The way we're going to deal with North Korea, I believe, is the president is right, through the six-party talks, but only if the United States deals with North Korea directly. An exchange that goes something like this: America restrains its weapons and its attacks on North Korea; North Korea terminates its nuclear program. It's as simple as that.
The way you deal with North Korea is you deal with them directly. I felt the president was a little bellicose. I believe that what is needed now is the six-party talks to resume. But eventually, a dialogue with North Korea.
I was very disappointed in what the president said on energy, because the big problem is rising gasoline prices. He didn't deal with that. And secondly, we need an Apollo-like project to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and he certainly didn't do that in his response.
KING: One quick question for both Senator McConnell and Senator Harkin.
Mitch, is Bolton going to be approved?
MCCONNELL: Yes, Bolton will be reported out of the Foreign Relations Committee in May and be approved in the Senate.
KING: Do you agree, Senator Harkin?
HARKIN: Well, Mitch, just like the Kentucky Derby, I wouldn't put too much money on that if I were you.
KING: Thank you all very much.
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