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AMERICAN MORNING

Interview with Senator John Edwards

Aired January 19, 2004 - 07:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: That brings us to North Carolina Senator John Edwards, refusing to go negative throughout this campaign, largely remaining above the negative fray. He's back with us this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING live in Des Moines.
Senator, good morning to you.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.

HEMMER: Nice to see you here.

EDWARDS: Glad to see you.

HEMMER: What explains this momentum that we're hearing so far for you?

EDWARDS: I think it's a response to the positive, optimistic message of hope, and talking about changing America in a fundamental way.

HEMMER: If you finish second tonight, say, all bets are off right now and on the table, would you be contest with that?

EDWARDS: You know, I'm content with what I see happening. If don't finish this, that's what you guys figure out.

What I believe is what I've seen happening on the ground here over the last week to 10 days -- you know, 1,000-plus people at my event in Des Moines yesterday, hundreds of people at overflow crowds all over the state. It's not an accident. It is a direct response to what people are hungry for, which is somebody who will give them a clear, positive vision for the country. What they want to do is bring fundamental change to the country and get above this sort of petty sniping that's been going on.

HEMMER: Back to the question, though. A month ago, a second place finish, you would have walked away with that, would you admit that?

EDWARDS: I'm not going there. I'm going to let you guys figure that out. My job is to keep doing exactly what I'm doing right now.

HEMMER: Listen to Senator John Kerry from last evening. In one of his final stops he mentioned your name. I want to listen to it, and we'll talk about it.

EDWARDS: Sure. HEMMER: Senator Kerry in Massachusetts:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I came back from Vietnam in 1969, ladies and gentlemen, I'm not sure if John Edwards was out of diapers then yet or not. I'm truly not sure. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: His suggestion about your youth, your reaction.

EDWARDS: Well, first of all, that's the kind of sniping that people are sick of. People want to get above that. They want to see us talk about them and what we're going to do to make their lives better.

I will say that Senator Kerry called me last night and apologized for having said that, and I accepted his apology. He's, of course, dead wrong about what he said.

HEMMER: He telephoned you?

EDWARDS: He did.

HEMMER: How was that conversation?

EDWARDS: It was -- John is a friend of mine. It was very cordial.

HEMMER: And are you OK with it as it stands now?

EDWARDS: Of course, but that doesn't mean he should have done it. But he was wrong to have done it, and that's exactly the kind of problem we've been seeing.

HEMMER: Here is the knock, and it goes to the comment that Senator Kerry made last night -- the knock against you. The "Des Moines Register" says you don't have the infrastructure to win in a caucus format. What do you say to that over what your organization has done in the past four weeks?

EDWARDS: It's not true. First of all, the fact that you're seeing these thousands of people at these events is not an accident. It's the result of a year of putting an organization together on the ground, and I'm confident of that organization tonight. But I have to say, people don't come to the caucuses, people don't participate in your organization unless they believe in what you want to do for the country.

HEMMER: Consistently on the stump, you say you are the one who can beat President Bush. Why is that?

EDWARDS: Absolutely. Because I can beat President Bush every single place in America -- you know, in the north, in the west, in the Midwest, here in the Midwest and in the south, which is a place that I know very, very well.

HEMMER: You say that, yet the south is trending Republican and more conservative we've seen with every election. Why do you believe you can reverse that?

EDWARDS: For a lot of reasons. No. 1, I grew up there. I'm intimately familiar with the problems that people face there every single day. I've been dealing with them as a member of the Senate representing North Carolina, and we've seen a huge flow of jobs out of the south during the time that President Bush has been in office. He's done nothing about it. I have worked on it and have a clear set of ideas about how to protect jobs and create jobs.

HEMMER: Let's move from the south to the northeast, because after today, you will be in New Hampshire. Later tonight, I believe, you'll arrive, correct?

EDWARDS: That's very late tonight.

HEMMER: Will you -- there is a suggestion that says you will not concentrate so heavily on New Hampshire because you're not polling well there, and instead will focus on the south -- places like South Carolina. Will that happen?

EDWARDS: No, and here's why: Because what has happened in Iowa is not an accident. It's the direct result of people responding to what I want to do for the country. And the same thing, I believe, will happen in New Hampshire.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator. We'll see you down the road, OK?

EDWARDS: Thanks.

HEMMER: Senator John Edwards here in Iowa.

EDWARDS: Good to be here.

HEMMER: Talk to you soon.

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