Morning Show Wrap, by ABC News Political Unit

N E W Y O R K, September 2, 2004 —
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ANALYSIS:

No news on the morning shows. Clinton dishing campaign advice to Kerry crept into coverage of Clinton's heart surgery.

Joe Lockhart, with his ties to Clinton and Kerry, was interviewed on ABC and CBS.

The shake-up on Kerry's campaign staff got lots of attention.

The assessment of Kerry's campaign was dire across the board. CNN's Bill Schneider, for example, said the Kerry campaign "needs a rescue operation."

But Schneider was positive about Kerry's turn towards domestic issues a turn that, according to Joe Lockhart on ABC, "starts today."

LEADS:

All three nets led with hurricane coverage.

JOE LOCKHART ON ABC & CBS:

Joe Lockhart told Claire Shipman on ABC that "we fully expected the President to get a 7, 8 point bounce – that's what happens." (He did not say why that did not happen for Kerry). Echoing a charge from the latest Kerry ad, Lockhart hit Bush for talking about getting health care costs under control the night before "his government" announced a hike in Medicare prices. Lockhart charged that Bush has "no sense of reality" and that "reality is something people feel" in their jobs, in their health care, and in their schools that are "not performing." "That starts today," Lockhart said, referring to the new focus on domestic issues. Lockhart said morale is great in the Kerry campaign and that the new additions are simply a part of a "large operation" becoming a "huge operation." Lockhart said Kerry and Clinton talked about issues, the state of the country and presidential debates.

On CBS' Early Show, Joe Lockhart talks about Clinton. He says Clinton was pretty nervous when he first went in for the angiogram, but he has taken the last couple days to learn about the process and he feels better about it now. When asked how much Clinton will be missed on the campaign trail, Lockhart notes he will certainly be missed, but if the doctors tell him to take 4 weeks off, he will take two….He notes that Sen. Kerry called Clinton on Friday to wish him well. Though neither the former President nor the Senator had sufficient time to talk, they went over a wide range of issues including the bad state of affairs under Bush and the upcoming debates. Kerry was deeply appreciative to Clinton for taking the time to talk.

JOE SCARBOROUGH ON NBC:

NBC's Matt Lauer interviews MSNBC's Joe Scarborough about his new book, "Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day." Scarborough notes everyone is surprised by Bush's lead. He says it's not so much about George Bush as it is about John Kerry…it's a strange campaign. And it's not so much what the President has done. It's about John Kerry. What does he stand for? That is what the Republicans have been hammering with ruthless efficiency." When asked what the Kerry campaign has done wrong, Scarborough says "it's hard to say what they have done right….I wouldn't pay attention to polls, I would pay attention to the disarray in the Kerry campaign…he's in trouble."

DAN HARRIS ON POLLS & THE KE'04 SHAKE-UP:

ABC's Dan Harris looked at the Time and Newsweek polls showing Bush up by 11 points. He reported that the Kerry campaign says they're private polling shows it closer. Sound taken from Carville saying on Meet the Press: "Let's just say that mistakes were made and we're moving on." Video of Kerry shooting a gun, metaphorically getting ready to take aim at Bush over jobs and health care. Bush hit Kerry on wanting to "tax your jobs" while campaigning in West Virginia. Holt tempering expectations saying, "We're in for a tough campaign." Harris said people close to Kerry say that Kerry is "at his best when his back is up against the wall." Harris noted that John Sasso will soon be joining Kerry on his campaign plane full time. He said the campaign says it is not a shake-up, "just part of an all hands on deck campaign."

CARL QUINTANILLA ON NBC:

NBC's Carl Quintanilla reported from Pennsylvania that Kerry is "tweaking his stump speech" to try to stall Bush's momentum. He noted that Kerry will add two long term confidants to campaign staff. He had Bush in West Virginia citing Zell Miller's speech as evidence that it is okay for Democrats to support Bush. Quintanilla showed a clip from Kerry's Medicare ads and had an interview with Democrat Julian Epstein who said Kerry has to be more than the un-Bush. Quintanilla closed by saying that Clinton's advice to Kerry is to stop focusing on Vietnam and start focusing on the economy.

BILL SCHNEIDER ON CNN:

CNN's Bill Schneider said on "American Morning" downplayed the significance of the Time and Newsweek polls which were conducted, in part, while the Republican convention was still going on and told people to stay tune for CNN's Gallup Poll which will be out tomorrow.

"We will have some real bounce results for you tomorrow," he said.

Schneider said the Kerry campaign "needs a rescue operation" and that that he is having "difficulty finding his message."

"I can tell you what it has to be," Schneider said and the pointed to domestic issues: the economy, health care, jobs. "He is not going to win on the Vietnam War. He's not going to win on national security. And he's certainly not going to win on his record."

RICHARD WOLFFE ON FOX:

Fox & Friends interviewed Richard Wolffe of Newsweek Magazine about the expanded roles of John Sasso, Joe Lockhart and Joel Johnson and the diminished role of Mary Beth Cahill. "She's about to be layered over," Wolffe said of Cahill.

CLINTON'S HEART:

ABC's John Berman noted that Kerry talked on the phone with Kerry "trying to help revive his campaign." Berman's report was followed up with an interview with Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Vice President Cheney's cardiologist, who said, "There should be no detectable changes in (Clinton's) cognition." In the 8 am block, Shipman interviewed the creator of the South Beach Diet plus ABC's own fitness consultant to see if there would be a backlash against the diet now that Clinton, an avowed fan of the diet, is having heart surgery.

CBS' "Early Show," as part of its coverage of Clinton's surgery, noted that Clinton spent part of the weekend giving "campaign advice to John Kerry."

NBC's Robert Bazell says doctors will perform the surgery on a beating heart and that Clinton's blockage was so severe he was at risk of having a heart attack at any moment. Bazell's report was followed up by an Ann Curry interview with Dr. Toby Cosgrove.