Washington, this is Meet the Press with Tim Russert.
Our issues this Sunday, Bush versus Gore heats up.
Who will they pick for VP?
We'll talk strategy and issues with key advisors Karen and Bob Shrum of the...
Then Congress debates a new missile defense system and marriage and estate tax cuts.
With us, two senators on the short list for Vice President, Republican Chuck Hagel, Democrat
Dick Durbin, and insights and analysis from NBC's political coverage team, David Gregory,
Andrea Mitchell, Lisa Myers, and Claire Shipman.
In an hour, Meet the Press Minute, a man who was Vice President, who also picked a Vice
President, the one and only Richard Nixon on how to select a VP.
But it isn't a question of whether you get along with the person, because believe me,
if they win, they'll be bosom buddies thereafter.
But first, joining us from Austin, Texas, an important advisor to Governor George W.
Bush, Karen Hughes.
Welcome.
Good morning, Tim.
When will the Governor make his decision known, Karen?
Well, Tim, I expect sometime early this week.
He is at his ranch outside Crawford.
I talked with him last night.
He has not made a final decision.
He attended Senator Coverdell's funeral in Georgia yesterday, and that was a very sad
day for his family and for our campaign.
He is thinking about the decision.
He's giving it the thoughtful care and consideration that you would expect with a major decision
like this.
And at sometime early this week, I expect him to call and let us know that he has made
a decision and is prepared to make an announcement.
NBC News reported on Friday that former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney traveled from Texas
to Wyoming to change his voter registration.
Why would he do that if he was not under serious consideration?
Well, Tim, I think that that is a serious step, and I think it indicates that Secretary
Cheney is willing to be seriously considered.
If in fact Secretary Cheney is not chosen now, would it not be the situation where people
would be somewhat surprised that he was dealt with in such a way?
Oh, I don't think so, Tim.
I think people have enormous respect for a lot of the different individuals who have
been mentioned as potential running mates for Governor Bush.
In many ways, this decision is going to say a lot about Governor Bush and the high caliber
of people, the integrity and depth of experience that many of these potential candidates bring
to this potential office.
Is there any concern about Secretary Cheney having three heart attacks and quadruple bypass
surgery in 1988?
Well, Tim, as you mentioned, that was in 1988, and he was served as Secretary of Defense
through a war after that period of time.
And I can assure you that we are very carefully looking at all the qualifications of all the
potential candidates.
Any concern that he is an oil executive?
Governor Bush was an oil executive.
You'll have two former oil executives from Texas in effect leading the Republican ticket.
Well, I think Secretary Cheney's, again, Governor Bush has not made a decision, Tim, so I think
you're making a lot of assumptions there.
But Secretary Cheney has lived a great number of years in Wyoming.
He represented Wyoming in Congress.
Governor Bush was a small oil and gas, independent oil and gas operator.
And I think we need someone in charge of our nation who understands energy.
One of the reasons for the high gas prices that Americans are paying at the pump is that
the Clinton-Gore administration has had no national energy policy for eight years.
They have failed to encourage domestic production.
And I think it would be wise for this country to increase our energy independence and to
have someone who understands that vital industry leading our country.
During the campaign, Senator John McCain said that he did not want to be asked to be vice
president, that he was not interested in being vice president.
This week, he suddenly said, well, if asked, I would serve.
And in fact, according to sources, to NBC News, he communicated to the Bush campaign
that if the governor asked him to be vice president, he would accept.
Is Senator McCain under consideration?
Well, Tim, only Governor Bush knows who he is considering this weekend as he again thinks
through this decision.
But I have heard Governor Bush on numerous occasions say that he takes Senator McCain
at his word.
He told him face to face in Pittsburgh when they met that he did not wish to be considered
for the vice presidency.
Bob Shrum, you work for Vice President Al Gore.
What's your take on the Republican VP selection?
Well, this is sort of interesting.
Karen is great at spinning, and this was some great spin.
I got to say one thing first, by the way.
One of the biggest reasons for the gas price increase is a 500 percent increase in oil
company profits over the last six months.
Al Gore wants to investigate oil company price gouging.
I think Governor Bush just wants to let it happen.
But look, what's happened on the...
There's also some evidence that environmental standards increased the price of oil.
When you look at the reports, the environmental standards have hardly increased at all.
And you look at a 500 percent increase in oil company profits, it doesn't take a rocket
scientist to figure out why the price of gasoline is rising like rocket fuel.
Now, look, what's happened here, I think, is that Governor Bush decided to conduct a
very public kind of audition for these candidates.
It's almost become a spectacle.
I think at this point he looks a little indecisive.
And the fact of the matter is that I don't think you should do it this way.
But that was his choice.
But picking a vice president is not a fraternity rush.
You know, there is one solution, Karen, I give you a suggestion.
If you can't make up your mind, it's constitutional to run with different candidates in different
parts of the country.
So you can run George Bush for president somewhere and somebody else for vice president, various
people for vice president in different parts of the country.
Karen, please.
I guess Bob must forget the last time when President Clinton was choosing a vice president
and very publicly paraded in potential candidates with a lot of hype and a lot of media.
I think Governor Bush has not done that.
He has maintained the dignity of this process.
He has conducted his thinking and his interviews in private.
And he has maintained the dignity of this process.
He will make a very thoughtful decision in a thoughtful way.
Well, he'll certainly make a decision at some point, I assume, because it's sort of dragged
out.
It was not the process that Bill Clinton conducted.
In fact, what happened was the press found several of the people coming in to meet privately
with then-Governor Clinton.
But the fact of the matter is that this whole process, I think, has become a substitute
for your campaign for talking about issues.
For example, there's been no discussion of the difference between prescription drug benefits
as proposed by the vice president and as proposed by Governor Bush.
We want one that provides for all senior citizens under Medicare.
Governor Bush wants one that lets seniors go out and beg the HMOs and the insurance
companies for coverage.
But I think what's happened the last few weeks is that the vice presidential spectacle, the
fraternity rush to find a vice president, has become a substitute for talking about
issues.
Bob, the American people know better than that.
That is simply ludicrous.
Governor Bush has been the candidate throughout this race who has been leading the way.
He's been making substantive policy proposals for more than a year now.
Your candidate has been vice president of the United States for eight years and can't
explain to the seniors of this country why he has ignored bipartisan opportunities to
provide prescription drug coverage for senior citizens who certainly need and deserve that
coverage.
Governor Bush is committed to reforming and modernizing Medicare to provide prescription
drug coverage.
He's committed to modernizing Social Security so future generations can count on its promise
just as today's seniors can.
He's committed to improving our public schools.
Eight years of the status quo under your administration, Governor Bush has done in Texas, and I know
Vice President Gore came to Texas this week, and I want to talk some about that, Bob, because
I think that's a metaphor for this whole campaign.
If we can compare Governor Bush's sound fiscal stewardship of Texas and his record of results
in improving schools and reforming welfare and cutting taxes with Vice President Gore's
number two position in an administration and his willingness to come to Texas and distort
our budget numbers for his own political gain, I think that's a metaphor for this entire
campaign and we welcome him back to Texas anytime he wants to come.
Let me give this role for our viewers, the exchange between Vice President Gore and Governor
Bush this Thursday.
It should be a state where it's just as easy to raise a child as it is to set up an oil
rig.
Texas now ranks number one in industrial pollution.
It's number two for child poverty.
It's number three for deaths from asthma.
Vice President's efforts to distort and mislead our old-style Washington politics and the
people of America are justifiably sick of it.
To quote Bill Bradley, why should the American people believe Vice President Gore will tell
the truth as a president if he doesn't tell the truth as a candidate?
Bob Shrum, Governor Bush using Bill Bradley, Democrats' words and putting him right back
on Al Gore.
Yeah, I know and the fact of the matter is that John McCain called the Bush campaign
disgraceful.
Look, they keep saying things like distort but they never talk about the substance of
it.
In terms of the budget, the very first day Governor Bush was asked about the problem,
he conceded the problem and said and I quote, I just hope I'm not here to deal with it.
Karen says, well we put a proposal on the table to modernize Social Security.
The proposal, as you know Tim, takes a trillion dollars out of the Social Security Trust Fund.
He won't explain how he would pay for it.
She says we have a bipartisan prescription drug benefit.
They do not.
They have a prescription drug benefit that gives into the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical
companies, the HMOs and that says you ought to go out and beg the insurance companies
and the pharmaceutical companies for some kind of coverage.
Now Governor Bush's principal qualification in his own mind for being President of the
United States is his few years as Governor of Texas.
It seems to me that we ought to debate that.
Karen Hughes, do you believe?
Tim, I notice Bob is trying to change the subject away from the Texas budget.
I think Al Gore's attack has backfired on him here.
Karen, that's not correct.
I just quoted your Governor.
Give her a chance to respond.
Karen Hughes, do you believe the Gore campaign strategy of trying to make this presidential
election a referendum on Governor Bush's record in Texas will work?
I think it's already backfiring.
I think that's why Bob is trying to change the subject.
Texas right now has not projected, not expected, but in the bank a 1.4 billion dollar budget
surplus.
Every budget that Governor Bush has signed in Texas is balanced and is in the black and
we have a 1.4 billion dollar surplus.
Now Vice President Gore and President Clinton, half their budgets have been in the red in
deficit spending.
And so I can understand why they don't want to talk about those records of fiscal management.
But we have a budget surplus here.
We've made public education our number one priority.
Governor Bush has given the teachers of Texas a 3,000 dollar pay raise.
Maybe next time Vice President Gore comes back to Texas, he'll want to meet with our
teachers and explain how he doesn't believe that they should have been given a 3,000 dollar
pay raise out of our budget surplus.
We've got a surplus.
Our state's in great fiscal condition.
And Governor Bush was reelected here with almost 70% of the vote in a state that has
a big number of Democrats and independents and I think that speaks volumes to his bipartisan
leadership.
Look, I'm not trying to change the subject.
Governor Bush himself conceded there was a budget problem on the first day before they
thought they had damage control when he said, and it was an incredible quote, and I'll quote
it again, I just hope I'm not here to have to deal with it.
Karen then says, oh we have 1.4 billion dollars in the bank, they've decided to try to call
that a surplus.
They have 1.4 billion dollars more coming in, but the cost of their budget will grow.
More kids will go to school.
They'll have to spend more money.
The fact of the matter is that by this fall, they will have enough money in their rainy
day fund to cover one day of operation of the Texas state government.
You know, if I were someone who worked for someone named Bush, I wouldn't complain about
federal deficits because Al Gore and Bill Clinton inherited a 300 billion dollar deficit and
have turned it into the biggest surpluses in American history.
Karen Hughes?
Bob, you know, I know you're older than I am, but when you say things like that, the
mother in me wants to wash your mouth out with soap.
Texas has a budget surplus.
Wait a minute, Karen, what part don't, how about, did we inherit a 300 billion dollar
deficit from you guys?
Did we?
In 1993?
Or was there a surplus we didn't happen to notice?
What you inherited was a growing economy thanks to the sound fiscal.
No, we inherited a huge recession where George Bush looked at his watch and said he didn't
know why people in this country were hurting.
That's what we inherited.
Karen Hughes, please.
What you inherited was an economy thanks to the good sound fiscal policies of Reagan and
Bush that was becoming, coming out of recession and that has grown.
And what you also, I know you've gone across the country and tried to take credit for the
prosperity that the American people have created, but people know who's created the American
prosperity.
It's American entrepreneurs and business people.
It's high tech people who are working here in Texas.
The American people created that prosperity, but you know they worked just as hard in 1991,
1992, 1993, but they had a government that didn't work and the deepest recession in 30
years, and that's why Al Gore and Bill Clinton were elected in 1992.
Bob Shrum, before you go, if in fact George W. Bush selects someone like Dick Cheney,
who is perceived by Democrats and Republicans as serious, thoughtful, someone competent
to be president, how do you counter that?
Well, I actually am not going to talk about the Republican vice presidential selection
process.
Even if Karen called me, I probably wouldn't give her my advice because she wouldn't take
it very seriously.
I think Al Gore is conducting this process in a very sensible way.
He knows most of these people.
He's not meeting any of them for the first or second time.
He's sitting there thinking about it.
And frankly, I don't know a lot about it.
The reason I don't know a lot about it is because for Al Gore, it's not a public relations
exercise.
So he's not talking to me about it.
He's not talking to us about it.
He's talking to the people he's considering.
And unlike Karen or Karl Rove, I just don't know who it's going to be.
Karen, I'll give you the last word.
Well, Tim, Governor Bush is in the process of making a very important and very thoughtful
decision.
He has said all along that he intends to pick someone who is fully prepared and qualified
to serve as president, someone who will be a valuable addition to his ticket.
And I'm confident that he'll do so.
And I think by this time next week, Tim will probably know what that decision is.
Karen Hughes, Bob Shrum, thanks very much.
Let the campaign begin.
Nice to be here.
Coming next, two potential VPs square off on the issues, Democrat Dick Durbin, Republican
Chuck Hagel, then the late Richard Nixon on how he would pick a vice president.
He was one and selected one.
That's all coming up right here.
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And we're back, Senator Chuck Hagel.
Let me start with you.
You were then widely mentioned on the short list of George W. Bush for VP.
Do you believe that he will pick Dick Cheney?
Well, I am going to maintain my position right to the end, Tim, and that is I don't know
what he's going to do.
I assume he will make a selection here shortly and that selection will be a good selection.
But Dick Cheney is so, so prominent now.
Out front, traveled to Wyoming, changes registration.
If he's not selected, will he not be held up for a sophomore gesture or putting him
through hoops?
Well, I don't know.
That depends obviously on first, Governor Bush's decision, and then second, how the
press would frame that.
John McCain seems to have a change of mind that he might now be interested in VP communicating
to the Bush campaign that if asked, he would accept.
Is there any chance of that?
Again, you need to address your questions a little further south.
Dick Durbin, Illinois, you're on the short list for Al Gore.
What have you heard?
Well, I've been listening carefully as this Dick Cheney speculation has surfaced.
And I think there are two possibilities.
Either the Bush campaign is trying to kill the speculation about John McCain as a running
mate or Dick Cheney is very serious.
He's respected and I think well liked in Washington.
And I think he would really beef up the resume of George Bush on some important matters like
military decisions and foreign policy.
If in fact George W. Bush selects Dick Cheney, how would Al Gore counter that?
Would he opt for his own elder statesman like George Mitchell or for a youth ticket, someone
young, vigorous like a senator from Illinois?
Or Evan Bayh of Indiana, for example.
Well, I think frankly that there's a vast difference here.
When it comes to Al Gore, he has the experience.
He doesn't need to have Dick Cheney along or anyone like him to really show that he
has the wherewithal to handle the office of presidency.
And I think he can turn to a senator or perhaps Dick Gephardt or George Mitchell.
There are many people out there who could be considered.
You don't believe that George W. Bush has the experience or wherewithal to be President
of the United States?
I think there are some questions that have been raised and I think he would concede those
questions about whether he has enough background when it comes to matters of foreign policy,
questions involving our national defense.
And that's why I think Cheney's name has been surfacing.
Let me raise one of those issues of national defense, the missile defense system.
Senator Durbin, you had an amendment on the floor of the Senate last week.
Explain what it was and what you were trying to do.
Bottom line was you wouldn't buy an expensive car that doesn't start.
And we've had a series of tests on the national missile defense system and there have been
a lot of failures out there.
I said on the Senate floor, let's at least have some honest testing, countermeasure testing
to make sure that if we're going to pay literally $60 billion or more for a system that it will
work and to make sure that the taxpayers know that their money is well spent.
Well unfortunately I lost that amendment.
It seemed like a majority in the Senate, a Republican majority I might add, decided that
they didn't want to have this kind of honest testing.
I think that's unfortunate and I hope we'll reconsider that.
Senator Hagel, Senator Durbin's point is well taken.
Even supporters of the missile defense system said the tests that they've used so far have
been almost rigged using non-war situation.
Why not have a real test with real decoys and find out whether this system would really
work before we invest billions of dollars?
Well first I think my friend Senator Durbin would make an excellent vice presidential
candidate.
I just wanted to make sure you have my full confidence, Dick.
There goes his chance.
Well you just killed each other.
We'll have to go get a real job now, Dick.
Back to the issue.
First I think we ought to understand a couple of the facts here.
In March of last year, Tim, the Senate voted 97 to 3, 97 to 3 for the Missile Defense Act
to go forward and continue to test and do the things that we need to do to build, in
fact, build a national missile defense system.
I know Dick Durbin was one of the three that voted against that and for his reasons and
they're legitimate.
But let's go to the testing issue here.
This is a process that's going to include 19 different tests.
We've had three.
Countermeasure testing is in fact a part of that.
The Welch Commission, named after the former chief of staff of the United States Air Force,
General Larry Welch, just came before again the Armed Services Committees of the House
and the Senate over the last few weeks and said, yes, we can in fact build the kind of
system we need and we should.
This is a complicated, sophisticated system.
Every time you run a test, you learn more and more.
All the countermeasures that need to be in place are in place and will continue to be
tested.
So we've got a long way to go here before we get to the technology that gives us the
option for, I think, I hope, the next president to select.
So I have great confidence in that system.
Do you believe President Clinton should make a decision this fall as scheduled on whether
to go forward with missile defense system or should he defer until the next president's
in office?
Well, first of all, there was no timeline scheduled that this president must make this
fall this summer.
That was an arbitrary timeline.
And I think to answer your question, the answer is no.
I was the first United States senator that I know of that came out earlier this year
and said that that decision should be deferred, not because President Clinton is incompetent,
but because we need to have in front of the next president all the technological options.
He's going to have to work with the Congress.
Plus, don't disconnect the guy who makes the decision from the president who's going to
have to deploy, fund and work with the Congress to carry it out.
Senator Durbin, should President Clinton put off making a decision about whether to go
forward and let either Al Gore, George W. Bush do that next year when they have more
information?
Yes, I agree with Chuck Hagel on this.
And I think you're going to find a substantial number of senators are sending a letter to
President Clinton asking him to do just that.
The fact is that the testing of this system, the system that we literally are going to
put the national security of the United States in the hands of, has just been dismal so far.
It wasn't as if they had a bad day at the golf course when they had the last test.
They couldn't start the golf cart.
And in this situation, if we're going to spend this kind of money and tell the American people,
this is how we'll defend you, let's make sure that it works.
That's the reason for my amendment.
How many senators are signing that letter and when's it going out?
The letter will be going out this next week and I think you'll see a substantial number
of senators on the Democratic side signing on.
Let me turn to the issue of taxes.
The Republicans have voted for the marriage penalty tax reduction to allow people who
are married to pay the same level of taxes or less than if they had filed single returns.
And the Republicans have passed a cut in the estate taxes.
President Clinton promised that he would address both those issues and yet now he's saying
he's going to veto both those tax cuts.
Why?
Well, he should veto those because the Republican proposals will literally spin down the surplus
that we anticipate over the next 10 years.
To think that in a matter of a few weeks we will be taking the surplus that the American
people have worked so hard to earn once we put the deficits behind us and give this surplus
and tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country makes no sense.
Let's pay down the national debt, strengthen Social Security and Medicare and then target
tax cuts.
Democrats favor targeted tax cuts.
For example, to deduct college education expenses, more deductions to pay for child care, deductions
to pay for long-term care for your parents or grandparents.
Those are things that help working families.
The Republican tax cut plan will help 2 percent of the wealthiest people in this country instead
of the 98 percent of middle income families.
The House Democrats, Senator Hagel, put out numbers that the Republican tax cuts that
have been passed will mean about a $131 tax cut for the average middle class family.
But if you're in the top 1 percent of income earners in this country, you'll get $23,000.
Certainly it's class warfare, but their point is well taken.
The Republican tax plans, are they skewed to help those who make more money?
No, first of all, the Republican tax plans are skewed to deal with proportionally those
who pay the most in taxes.
And this vast middle class we have out there is a perfect example where we need to focus
and give that middle class tax relief.
The marriage tax penalty is a good example of that.
What the Republicans have done here is dealt with inequity and unfairness in the tax code
that now hopefully would fix 25 million married couples now who are being penalized.
It changes the standard deduction, it makes it fair to say that that's somehow a rigged,
focused tax to help the wealthy is beyond me.
When you talk about families, my goodness, why can't we help those married couples with
families?
They still keep their same deductions for child care, whatever it is.
And I think certainly within the overall framework of budget surpluses as to where we give relief,
paying down the national debt, preserving Medicare, we put 40 billion aside for a drug
prescription bill over the next five years.
Tax cuts have to come in there somewhere.
The government didn't earn that money, it was the individual.
And with these incredible projected, I realize, projected surpluses out there now, tax cuts
certainly should be part of that mix.
The president said yesterday the Republicans are acting like they won the lottery.
They're just taking this money, projected surpluses, and giving it to the rich, quote
unquote.
Oh, that's just the worst kind of demagoguery, and I'm sorry that he has done that.
That's just in fact not true.
The people of this country deserve some of their money back.
We're taking care of continuing to take care of our responsibilities in the federal government.
My goodness, we have a $1.8 trillion national budget, more money than we've ever spent.
Each year we continue to ratchet that up.
We are right now paying down the national debt.
We are putting money aside for a Medicare prescription drug.
And so therefore, are we hearing from the president that people cannot get some of their
money back because they're paying too much?
Senator Durbin, before we go, what's the most important issue in the Gore versus Bush campaign?
Well, not only to continue the prosperity that we've seen.
Just think about the fact that a few years ago under Presidents Bush and Reagan we had
record deficits and a national debt that continued to grow.
We want to continue that prosperity, but a president that has the vision to say this
is what America should look like in the 21st century, an America that addresses health
care problems, health insurance for families and good education, a prescription drug benefit
which is important for elderly people and their families.
I think the Al Gore campaign is addressing those things.
Senator Hagel, most important issue in the Gore versus Bush campaign?
Leadership.
And the confidence that the American public will have to come to, that will be reflected
in the outcome obviously on November 7th.
But I think they will be judged by the American people on who can lead this nation into this
hopeful new century.
And everything will flow from that.
Chuck Hagel, Dick Durbin, we thank you both for joining us this morning.
Next up, we'll go Inside the Campaigns with David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell, Lisa Myers
and Claire Shipman.
And our Meet the Press Minute with former president and former vice president Richard
Nixon.
Some interesting advice coming up right here on Meet the Press.
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The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
The only way to avoid saying, why didn't I think of that, is to think of it first.
I think he's the Democrats' Richard Nixon, very smart, very aggressive, very combative,
but not somehow able to build a positive majority.
If he wins, he'll win by tearing Bush down.
He won't win by building up a Gore agenda.
Claire Shipman, Al Gore, by his own admission, was too negative on George W. Bush early on
in the campaign.
Now they've recalibrated their attack, went to Texas, and they seem to be playing it's
us against them, the little guy against the rich guys.
Is it working, and will it continue?
They think it's working.
They see the polls tightening.
They think that's working.
They've also come to the realization that Al Gore is probably at his most authentic
when he is fighting and when he's on the attack.
I think what they try to do is channel it in a productive way.
I think now they believe with this Texas issue that they may have found their Boston harbor.
They're going to keep hammering it.
They're going to try to tie the Texas budget issue now to Bush's Social Security plan.
They're going to try in the coming weeks to paint an even broader picture of Bush, I'm
told, as somebody who leaves messes and doesn't want to clean them up.
The Boston harbor, a reference to when George Bush went to Massachusetts and accused his
opponent Michael Dukakis of polluting the Boston harbor.
But George W. Bush is no Michael Dukakis, and you have seen him fighting back, and they
are not going to take this lying down.
And what's interesting, there's a couple of reactions that are interesting.
On the one hand, first of all, George W. Bush knows what Al Gore is up to and what he's
like.
He knows that he could be vulnerable to getting caught by the trap, doesn't want to do it.
There's a certain there you go again quality that George W. Bush is portraying, which is
that people don't want to hear him try to tear me down.
On the other hand, you saw how swiftly and how aggressively they responded.
They know that one of Bush's greatest strengths is that he is a leader who had bipartisan
appeal in Texas, a good administrator.
He needs those bona fides to get the presidency.
I believe Governor Bush's line was very Gore's again.
They saw the polling also.
But I think Newt is fundamentally right on one issue, and that is I think the way Gore
wins is by making Bush an unacceptably risky choice.
And that, you know, I wouldn't liken Al Gore to Richard Nixon, but that is essentially what
Newt Gingrich was saying.
And that's the strength to change it.
Was that Gore is of himself is too unpopular and not sufficiently well liked to get elected
because people like him as a leader.
He is going to have to win by saying you may like this guy, Bush, but he's unacceptable,
unacceptably risky.
You cannot trust him with our economy and do it on the economy, but do it on prescription
drugs, do it on health care, do it on Social Security.
Those are the core issues because on foreign policy Bush can now counter.
I have Dick Cheney if it's painy and I have Colin Paul.
And that gives you the leadership.
The reason this is working now is these charges about Texas are specific.
This isn't just some tie George W. Bush to the Republicans in Congress.
They're trying to say look what he did in Texas, do you want him to do the same thing?
But you know what I think is a better analogy actually than Boston Harbor is what they try
to do in 92 to Clinton with the Arkansas record.
Exactly.
And the Democrats figured out a way to counteract that.
And I think that's the playbook that the Bush people are looking at.
There were ugly Arkansas statistics too.
Well statistics like there are more people who are in need of health care now, children,
than there were eight years ago.
Right.
And the point with using those statistics is we checked with the Census Bureau on Friday
and found out that there are more people in the United States without health insurance
today than there were when Clinton and Gore took office.
Now no one would conclude from that that President Clinton and Al Gore haven't made an effort
to do something about that.
Before we go Andrea Mitchell, you also cover the Hillary Clinton, Rick Lazio center race
in the art force.
What's the latest?
What race it is.
Lazio stepped in where a lot of people think he should not have to try to beat up on Hillary
Clinton and take advantage of this whole controversy a week ago about what she did or did not say.
Most people think that she did not say this and it was 26 years ago.
An anti-Semitic slur.
An anti-Semitic slur.
Well the latest is that yesterday dawn on Sabbath morning in New York City and she was
sitting with the women in a sexually segregated orthodox synagogue at prayer where she could
not mix with the men but had to sit in the front of the women's section because in orthodoxy
the men and the women are separate and she was preaching about the virtues of taking
care of children and not being mean and nasty and without mentioning the slur certainly
indicating that she would not have been part of that.
And what she's afraid of is that her call early on for a Palestinian state, her embrace
of Mrs. Arafat, that coupled with this can erode support with the Jewish base and if
that happens she could be in trouble.
She only has 54 percent in most polling of the Jewish base.
Chuck Schumer who was just elected in the last cycle had 75 percent.
She has a lot of homework to do and is very worried about it.
Of course the big key is there going to be a Camp David accord this week.
That would help Hillary by reflection.
Former Mayor Ed Koch says some very interesting things about all this tonight on CNBC with
Al Sharpton, the odd couple, six in ten on CNBC.
Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory, Lisa Myers, Claire Shipman, thank you all.
We're going to see you in Philadelphia starting Sunday.
We'll be right back with some canon advice from Richard Milhouse Nixon.
Meet the Press is sponsored by Canon.
Giving people know how.
How come creating one document takes two printers?
What genius thought of this?
You send half a job to the black and white printer, half to the color machine and you're
what?
A human collater?
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At Texaco, a number of our employees also coach kids and they tell us life on the playing
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You don't always hit the target.
The weather doesn't always cooperate.
And sometimes when you wonder how you'll ever find the energy to go on, you just dig down
a little deeper.
And there it is, Texaco, a proud sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team.
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To both of them.
So, any guesses who's going to win the game?
Oh, I imagine it'll be the better team.
Woo, nervous about that market?
Why, they're running out of pork chops?
No, I meant the stock market.
Oh, that.
Not worried about that.
So, who helps you manage your money?
Those guys.
These guys?
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During his lifetime, Richard Nixon appeared on Meet the Press nine times.
His final appearance, April 10, 1988, he offered this hard-headed analysis on the selection of a vice president.
Who do you think Mr. Bush should choose for his vice presidential running mate?
Who he should choose?
Yes.
Well, having been a vice president and also having chosen one, I think these are the factors that have to go into that matter.
First, the question is would he make a good president?
Second, would he make a good vice president?
And third, of course, would he be a good candidate?
And of course, the third is always the first because unless you're a good candidate, you're not going to have a chance to demonstrate either of the other two.
What he has to consider is who's going to help the ticket.
And in that respect, people say he couldn't possibly consider Senator Dole because they don't like each other.
And I say that's quite irrelevant.
I remember very well back in 1960, I was told that Lyndon Johnson didn't like Jack Kennedy and Jack Kennedy didn't like Lyndon Johnson and Bobby Kennedy hated Lyndon Johnson.
They took him, they needed him, and they won. It made the difference.
And so it is this time.
I'm not saying that he ought to take Bob Dole, but he's got to remember that one place he's weak is in the farm states.
Bob Dole won Iowa. He lost it.
He won Minnesota. He won South Dakota.
He would hold Nebraska. He would hold Kansas.
So as he considers who to take, he's got to remember that it isn't a question of whether you get along with the person because believe me,
when they win, they'll be bosom buddies thereafter.
It doesn't matter if you get along because if you win, you'll be bosom buddies.
We'll remember those words when Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore make their decisions known.
Start your day tomorrow and today with Katie and Matt, then the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.
That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
And as we leave you this morning, we remember our colleague, Christy Basham.
An extraordinary woman, a classy lady, a consummate professional.
She worked at NBC News for 30 years, nearly four of them as senior producer of this program.
She and her family are in our thoughts and prayers.
Can you tell them that running barefoot on concrete would feel just as good?
Can you?
Smiling!
Your website's going to be set up like an MMDS gigabyte with a rotating geostationary satellite.
We feel that both you and your customer will appreciate binary riddles that users love.
You know, that's part of the fun.
Then wait till you guys see this.
The technology will be obsolete by the time we leave here today, but that's okay because we'll come back.
Who designed your website is up to you.
Hooking it up and delivering the goods? Leave that up to us.
Of course you ship everything, FedEx.
FedEx, be absolutely sure.
If you ever have a rough ride in the Lexus RX300, it's not our fault.
I was only kidding.
You see what Devol did yesterday?
He shouldn't have laid up on that short par 5.
He should have used the 3, wouldn't have gone for it.
What was he thinking?
See what Teltex did yesterday?
They should have offered 68 bucks a share for that Italian multinational.
They should have acquired something less long-term debt, better distribution in Pacific Rim.
When we created a smarter kind of investment firm, we created a smarter kind of investor.
Dumb.
Meet the Press has been sponsored by Charles Schwab.
Creating a smarter kind of investor.
Dateline Tuesday.
Last month Dateline investigated a practice some insurance companies don't want you to know about.
Now even more surprising information.
A Dateline investigation Tuesday.