CNN Inside Politics - Transcript

CNN Inside Politics - Transcript
Wednesday, July 13, 2005

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

KING: The president indicated at that session he's considering, quote, "all kinds of people" for the High Court vacancy.

A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows most Americans think Mr. Bush should make diversity a factor in his deliberations -- 13 percent say it is essential to fill the vacancy with a woman, while 65 percent think it would be a good idea. When asked about a Hispanic nominee, 4 percent think that's essential. 63 percent say that would be a good idea. The looming Supreme Court battle could pose a threat to the so- called Gang of 14, the bipartisan group of senators who prevented an earlier war over the president's judicial nominees.

I spoke today with one of the 14, Republican Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, and I asked him if Democrats and Republicans will be able to agree on a standard for holding that filibuster deal intact, or whether the group will fracture once Mr. Bush names his High Court nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. MIKE DEWINE, (R) OHIO: Well, you everybody went into this with good faith. The agreement was made with good faith. And I -- we went into this with the assumption and made the agreement with the assumption that we would not see filibusters in the future. And so I think that's what's going to happen. I don't think you're going to see this Supreme Court nominee, whoever she is or he is, filibustered. You know, it's a good group and I think that the people don't want to see a filibuster.

KING: One member of the group, though, Senator Lieberman, has said that if he thinks the person is out of the ideological mainstream that that, for him, would be grounds for a filibuster. Is that your definition of extraordinary circumstances? And as you answer, will there be an attempt by the group to get together before you go into the hearings and all that to say let's try to stick together if we can?

DEWINE: Well, I think the group will talk. You know, we talk informally. The Senate's a small group, anyway and we see each other on the floor every single day, anyway, and we're very close. But, you know, there was never any definition of extraordinary circumstances. But what we did establish is that it's a high bar, that, you know, the filibuster is not going to be used except in a rare case. And I think that was, you know, a great accomplishment of what the agreement really was.

KING: As you know, outside of Washington, many social conservative groups did not like that deal. And they were highly critical of the Republicans involved in it. Back in your home state, many say anger at you for being part of this deal contributed to your son's defeat in that congressional primary, the special election to fill Rob Portman's seat. Do you buy that?

DEWINE: I don't know about that. I'm not going to get into past race. But, you know, the bottom line is that we have confirmed six of the president's judges as a result of this agreement. We didn't know, for example, whether or not we would have been able even to change the rules. No one knows how that vote would have come out. And we ended up with getting seven Democrats, as well as seven Republicans, to say that they were not going to filibuster, except in a -- really, a rare case. So I think it was a major victory for the president. The president is happy.

KING: Senator Reid, I think it was yesterday, suggested Mike DeWine might be a person who could be considered for this. You're laughing now, sir. As you laugh and make a joke about yourself, do you think the idea, though, of going outside of the constitutional skull or outside maybe an appellate court judge is a good idea?

DEWINE: I'm very happy in the United States Senate. I'm very, very happy here and I enjoy what I'm doing. But I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that -- you know, we've had senators on the Supreme Court before. We've had other people on the Supreme Court. And I think the president is certainly open to suggestions. He's reached out, you know, to senators, and he's listening. And I think that's, you know, part of what our group wanted the president to do and he's certainly doing that and very open to suggestions about who could be on the court.

And that is certainly -- should not be just limited to circuit court judges. So while circuit court judges are people that we always, you know, look at as the likely candidates, or likely suspects, but it certainly can't be limited just to them.

KING: And Senator, I want to get your thoughts on this Karl Rove controversy. The president said early on that anyone who was involved in the leaking of classified information would not have a welcome place in his administration. He later said he would fire that person. Karl Rove, it is now known, did have a conversation with a reporter. Now, he says he didn't leak the name and didn't know that the woman was a covert operative. Too fine of a line are they walking at the White House in saying Karl Rove can stay?

DEWINE: You know, I think we ought to just wait until the facts are in. I think this rushing to judgment is just crazy. It's so typical of Washington. It's done by both parties. It was done in the Clinton administration by Republicans. It's being now done now being done by the Democrats in this administration. It's wrong. We've got a special prosecutor. Let's just wait and see what the special prosecutor does. You know, my dealings with Karl Rove over the years, I found him to be a man of great integrity, of great honesty, a person who is very forthright, a person who is concerned about public policy. I think we ought to just wait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/13/ip.01.html