CNN American Morning - Transcript
CNN American Morning - Transcript
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Understandably, really angry at this point. Carol, thanks for the update.
Well, the U.S. Senate may vote today on controversial judicial nominee Priscilla Owen. Last night, Senate moderates reached a deal to end the fight over filibusters. Democrats agreed not to block judicial nominations except in extraordinary circumstances, and Republicans agreed not to change filibuster rules.
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy joins us this morning. He's on Capitol Hill. Nice to see you, Senator Kennedy.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. You were not, we should mention, part of this group of 14 senators who signed this agreement. So tell me, who do you think was more victorious this morning, the Democrats or the Republicans?
KENNEDY: Well, I think it clearly is a victory for the United States Senate, the institution of the United States Senate.
Secondly, I think that nuclear option, the option that was available to the Senate majority leader to unilaterally change 200 years of history, is effectively off the table.
And third, what is most important is that these senators are urging the president to involve himself and exercise the advice and consent function in working with the leadership so that we can get judges that are going to be in the mainstream. And I think finally, the right wing, the extreme right wing that were trying to sort of own the independent judiciary, took a black eye.
The bottom line is, will the Republicans now get away from this squabble? We have basically stalemated the United States Senate. We're not dealing with the key issues that are affecting working families.
The House is in squabbling over there. The stem cell research. The president now has come out strongly against that, which offers enormous opportunities for progress in terms of basic research.
Are the Republicans listening? These moderate Republicans did listen, and I think the Senate was the beneficiary.
O'BRIEN: We'll talk in just a moment about whether you think this deal is going to last forever. But look at the three people who will now, under the deal, be heading for confirmation: Priscilla Owens, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor. These are people that you have said are radical and out of the mainstream. So why do you support the deal?
KENNEDY: Well, first of all, I'm very hopeful that some of these Republican moderates that now feel that they can look at these nominees on the basis of the merits, rather than in the tactical, whether this is going to be a win/lose for the Republican leadership and for the president, now will really examine the fact that William Pryor, for example, wants to repeal the Voting Rights Act.
He effectively has undermined the Americans with Disabilities Ability Act, and he's really -- and he's for having the capital punishment for mentally retarded children. I mean, I think he is really out of the mainstream.
O'BRIEN: And yet, there's a really good chance, and most people will tell you he's going to be confirmed. I'm curious to know, anyway...
KENNEDY: I would hope -- I would hope that the Republican moderates now, that really took a very important step, that indicated they were not going to be part of the extreme right on this. And they weren't going to be bullied by that -- the right wing groups, the grab for power, now will look at the real records of these. And I would hope that a number of them would reject these nominees, because they're clearly out of the mainstream.
O'BRIEN: Back to the deal. Anybody who has read the deal knows that the Republicans can still at any time bring back the nuclear option. The Democrats can still filibuster, sort of as the individual preference goes.
KENNEDY: That's not quite the way that I read it.
O'BRIEN: It's not?
KENNEDY: I read that it's off the -- and I read it carefully, that effectively, the idea of the majority leader in the middle of the term to alter and change the rules of the United States Senate is effectively off the block now, for the remaining of this session.
O'BRIEN: So 18 months?
KENNEDY: Well, that's true.
O'BRIEN: And then after that, if it was so decided they could...
KENNEDY: Well, we'll have an opportunity, we're very hopeful that we're going to win some Democratic senators. But in this period of time, we will have a chance to consider, probably, another nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States Senate. And we're hopeful that whoever the president is going to nominate is going to be in the mainstream of judicial opinion. That is all that we're asking for.
You know, people forget that we've approved 95 percent of this president's judges. That's a pretty good batting average. It's only the ones that are the extreme views that are outside of the mainstream that have run into resistance. I think he's had a very good run at it, and there's no reason to basically alter and change the United States Senate just because the radical right wing, extremist wing of the Republican Party wanted to own the independent judiciary.
And what happened last night is that view was rejected by the moderates in the Senate, Republicans and Democrats. Congratulations to them.
O'BRIEN: Well, Senator Ted Kennedy joining us this morning. Nice to see you, Senator. Thanks for your time.
KENNEDY: Nice to see you. Thank you very much.
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