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Newsclips 2001 - 2003 |
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Sean Hannity, Alcee Hastings
3,141 words
8 January 2001
09:00 pm
Fox News Channel: Hannity & Colmes
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST:
Welcome to HANNITY & COLMES. We're glad you're with us. I'm Sean Hannity.
I'd first like to welcome
Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings to the show. He'll be filling in for Alan
Colmes tonight. And the congressman, by the way, made news this very weekend,
challenging Florida's electoral votes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALCEE HASTINGS
(D), FLORIDA: Mr. President -- and I take great pride in calling you that -- I
must object because of the overwhelming evidence of official misconduct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: We will be
debating that. We are going down that road.
(CROSSTALK)
HASTINGS: Right down
that road.
HANNITY: Coming up in
just a few minutes.
And also coming up
tonight: Should a President Bush pardon a soon-to- be former President Clinton?
Tonight analysis from Ohio Congressman, our good friend, John Kasich.
Plus: Are smokers'
rights being violated? It seems that many cities are cracking down on smoking
even outside and in your own apartment. Can you believe this? We'll ask the grandson
of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco about that.
But first, leading out
debate across America this Monday: Two Bush cabinet appointees are under fire.
Labor secretary-designate Linda Chavez was already facing criticism for her
views on Affirmative Action and sexual harassment. She's now accused of housing
and possibly employing an illegal immigrant in the early 1990s. Marta Mercado
immigrated from Guatemala and stayed with Chavez for about a year. And Mercado
occasionally did jobs around the house and received money but claims she was
not formally employed by Chavez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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News; Domestic
Sean Hannity, Alcee
Hastings
2,599 words
8 January 2001
09:20 pm
Fox News: Hannity & Colmes
Federal Document Clearing House.
HANNITY: And welcome
back to HANNITY & COLMES. I'm Sean Hannity.
Coming up later in the
show: Congressman Hastings and I -- we're going to go one on one on the issues
that he was involved in this weekend, the controversy. You're always stirring
up trouble wherever you go. We'll get into that.
Plus, former
congressman John Kasich will stop by for a look ahead at the first 100 days of
the Bush administration.
But first, for our top
newsmaker this Monday on HANNITY & COLMES: The U.S. Supreme Court has
agreed to hear an appeal challenging restrictions in Massachusetts that ban tobacco
ads within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds. In a 1998 settlement, tobacco
companies agreed to pay about $250 billion to states and stop advertising on
billboards, in malls, arenas and stadiums. And Massachusetts -- well, they've
taken it a step further, and some tobacco companies say that they've
gone too far. And now many cities around the country are cracking down on
smokers, some even suggesting that people can't even smoke in public areas
outside and in a person's own apartment. Currently, many Los Angeles
restaurants don't even allow smoking. And the city of San Diego is
expected to approve an ordinance barring smokers from lighting up outside
within 1,000 feet of public playgrounds. And in Anchorage, Alaska, new
ordinances ban smoking from most workplaces, restaurants, bowling alleys
and sports arenas. So is it all over for you smokers?
Joining us now from Los
Angeles, Patrick Reynolds. He is the president of Tobaccofree.org, and
he's also the grandson of R.J. Reynolds.
And for those that
don't know you, Patrick -- you and I have debated for years -- you have also
dedicated your life to fighting your family on the issue of smoking.
PATRICK REYNOLDS, WWW.TOBACCOFREE.ORG:
Well...
HANNITY: And the family
business, I should say.
REYNOLDS: My father
died from smoking, R.J. Reynolds, Jr.
HANNITY: Right.
REYNOLDS: So I
dedicated -- I have dedicated...
HANNITY: Right.
REYNOLDS: ... my life
not to fighting my family but to keeping our kids tobacco-free and
helping smokers to quit.
HANNITY: Listen, I --
that's all fine and good. And you know what? I -- I suggest to everybody to
quit smoking. It's not healthy. It's not a good thing to do. I'm against
drug legalization because we also have the factor of -- of people in a lost
state of consciousness walking the same streets. But that's not the case with smoking.
If people want to smoke, Patrick, it's really their business.
REYNOLDS: Two things.
One, it's as addicting as heroin. And two, 90 percent of smokers, Sean, got
addicted before reaching their 19th birthday. So it's only children from 12 to
19...
HANNITY: Right.
REYNOLDS: ... that are
starting and getting addicted.
HANNITY: And -- and the
big government has been warning people since '64 not to smoke. And it's illegal
for kids to buy cigarettes. And all these measures have been in place for an
awful long period of time, Patrick, but yet people make the decision that they
want to do this. Do we really want the government intruding into every single
aspect of their life like this?
HANNITY: You don't even
want people to smoke outside! You don't want restaurants to set their own
policies! You don't want people even smoking in their apartments now!
Don't you think that's going a little too far?
REYNOLDS: I think
you're -- you're -- you know, Sean, you got to open your eyes and pay attention
to the sign of the times. These are reasonable laws, on the whole. Most of them
are very reasonable laws that aren't about smoking outside. We're
talking now -- the Supreme Court is reviewing whether cigarette advertisements
should be within 1,000 feet of schools, whether cigarette displays on
countertops should be where they're right now, at child eye level. Shouldn't
they be above child eye level, where kids can't get to them?
You know, when I
lecture to kids -- and I talk to a lot of schools, high schools and middle
schools, and I focus much more on that now than on politics. But the kids don't
know that every convenience store where you see a countertop display of tobacco
is getting about $100 a month or so to keep that display right there. The kids
don't know that. They kids think it's a popular, acceptable product, and that's
why the store put it on the countertop.
HASTINGS: Mr. Reynolds,
let me...
REYNOLDS: They don't
know they're getting paid.
HASTINGS: Let me ask
you -- this is Alcee Hastings, sitting in for Alan Colmes. Give us some of the
empirical information with reference to what has transpired since there have
been smoking bans in some of these cities. For example, in California,
how about lung cancer. Has it been reduced in some respects, or teenage smoking
generally in California?
REYNOLDS: Lung cancer
in California has fallen dramatically, and we believe it's directly correlated
to the rate of smoking in California. And the states which have the most
regulations on tobacco -- penalties for minors, compliance checks, or
sting operations, if you want to call them that, of sending kids into
convenience stores to try to buy cigarettes --the states with the most
regulations have the lowest teen smoking rates.
And the states with the
least regulations, like South Dakota, have the highest teen smoking
rates.
HASTINGS: Let me ask
you just one more thing with reference to the president-elect. What do you see
happening with reference to regulation in a Bush administration or him using
the bully pulpit to continue the kind of efforts that folk like yourself and
others have been putting forward?
REYNOLDS: Well,
Governor Bush -- I mean, the biggest donor to the Republican Party is Philip
Morris. Ninety percent...
HANNITY: Oh, here it
comes!
REYNOLDS: ... of big tobacco...
HANNITY: Here it comes!
REYNOLDS: Ninety
percent -- Sean, I'd like to finish here. Ninety percent of big tobacco's...
HANNITY: No, I -- it
didn't take you long to get...
REYNOLDS: ... political
contributions
HANNITY: ... into Republican-bashing.
HASTINGS: Let him
answer!
HANNITY: It didn't take
him long!
HASTINGS: Let him
answer!
HANNITY: We got to take
a break. But we'll get back to Patrick in just a minute, and we'll let him
answer in full. That's all straight -- you know don't him the way I do. He
doesn't like Republicans. You'll see when we get back.
And also coming up
next: Former congressman John Kasich will join us. What does he think of
President-elect Bush's cabinet? And also, should the president pardon Bill
Clinton when Bill Clinton gets out of office?
And then Congressman
Hastings and I go one on one in a battle over his controversy this weekend.
That's all straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back
to HANNITY & COLMES. I'm Sean Hannity.
Congressman Alcee
Hastings. He's in for Alan tonight. And it's a great night to have him because
he was causing all sorts of trouble and controversy over the weekend as he was
challenging Florida's electors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP,
JANUARY 6, 2001)
HASTINGS: Mr. President
-- and I take great pride in calling you that -- I must object because of the
overwhelming evidence of official misconduct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: He and I will
debate that as we go one on one. That's coming up later in the program.
We'll also be joined by
Congressman John Kasich -- I guess now former Congressman John Kasich -- and
get his take on whether or not Bill Clinton should be pardoned and the
appointments by George W. Bush.
But we continue with Patrick
Reynolds talking about these new laws about smoking.
Can you explain why we
should have a law on the books, why somebody who pays rent, in their own
apartment, should not be allowed to smoke? Is that something you support, too?
REYNOLDS: Well, Sean,
those are laws I regard as being on the fringe. You know, what the Supreme
Court, again, is reviewing is whether cigarette ads should be within a thousand
feet of schools and whether...
HANNITY: All right, but
-- I know you want to go back to that, but please...
REYNOLDS: ... whether tobacco
-- tobacco displays should be at child eye level. But what I think --
Yeah, let's go back to
the congressman's earlier question. What about the Bush administration and some
of these Cabinet appointees? I want to talk about John Ashcroft as the attorney
general, head of the Department of Justice. He's had a very pro-tobacco
record, and he is all but sure to cancel the federal government's lawsuit
against the tobacco industry, which will save the tobacco
companies around $200 billion...
HANNITY: Hey, Patrick,
you know, there are a lot of Democrats in those -- in those Southern tobacco
growing states that also have been supporting the tobacco companies, so
we don't need to go down that road.
HANNITY: Let me ask you
this question. I -- you want to -- every time you're on the program, we run out
of time, and I don't get a chance to ask you. You -- you -- your family has --
you've inherited millions from your family that have gotten money from tobacco
money. You live the life that you do because of that money. Do you think -- I
mean, do you not view it as blood money and wouldn't you want to just give it
all away?
REYNOLDS: You know,
Sean, I use the money I inherited to...
HANNITY: All right.
REYNOLDS: ... fuel my
campaign at tobaccofree.org, and I'm --
Again, I want to get
back on Ashcroft as -- he's going to cancel the Bush...
HANNITY: I notice
you're ducking that question.
REYNOLDS: ... the
federal government's --
You know, we're just --
you're using up time so I can't talk about what's going on politically, and
that's more important to me.
HANNITY: All right.
Here's Congressman...
REYNOLDS: I get along
fine with my family.
HASTINGS: Let me ask
you, Mr. Reynolds -- one of the concerns when smoking bans began was
that revenue was going to be reduced. Particularly restaurateurs and bars in
California came to that view. Do you have any empirical data reflecting on that
view as to whether or not any revenues have been reduced?
REYNOLDS: Absolutely.
And the tobacco industry fanned the fires with panic, saying, "Oh,
the restaurant revenues will be reduced." In fact, there was an increase.
In sales tax studies -- and sales tax doesn't lie -- there was an increase in
restaurant revenues in California and in Massachusetts where these studies were
done. So the -- the anti-smoking laws didn't affect restaurant revenues.
Again now, back on
Ashcroft for a second, I believe he's going to cancel the federal...
HANNITY: He can't help
himself.
REYNOLDS: ...
government's lawsuit against big tobacco. It will save the tobacco
industry $200 billion. That's 50 percent of the Medicaid damages, which -- the
federal government's been paying half of Medicaid, and it's a $200-billion
special protection for big tobacco. Why? Because Philip Morris is the
biggest donor for the Republican Party.
HASTINGS: What is the
-- what is the position that you feel is going to be taken by the anti-smoking
interests or -- as pertains to the Ashcroft nomination?
REYNOLDS: Please. It's
not been in the media...
HANNITY: Quickly, Patrick.
REYNOLDS: ... but all of the anti-smoking
forces are against Ashcroft, against Tommy Thompson. These men have a long
history of pro- tobacco votes, support of the tobacco industry.
It's like putting the fox in charge of the hen house...
HANNITY: All right.
They...
REYNOLDS: ... to put
Ashcroft as attorney general and...
HANNITY: Patrick...
REYNOLDS: ... Tommy Thompson as
secretary of HHS.
HANNITY: They've been
warning people since '64 of the dangers of smoking. My father quit after
40 years. If he could do it, anybody could. It's a matter of people make
choices. You're blaming the wrong people.
But, anyway, it's good
to see you, Patrick.
REYNOLDS: It's kids who have
made this so-called choice, Sean. Our kids.
HANNITY: All right.
Patrick, always good to see you. Thank you for your passionate debate. We're
glad you could join us.
And coming up next,
former Congressman John Kasich. He'll join us. We'll get his thoughts on Linda
Chavez, the other appointments by George W. Bush.
And also later,
Congressman Alcee Hastings and I will do battle over his busy weekend
protesting Florida's electoral votes.
Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
THIS IS A RUSH
TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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Document
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381 words
26 April 2001
05:20 am
Associated Press Newswires
The Associated Press.
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP)
- The grandson of the founder of the nation's second-largest tobacco
company is critical of the way Idaho uses its share of settlement money from
cigarette manufacturers.
Patrick Reynolds,
grandson
of R.J. Reynolds, told an audience at the College of Southern Idaho Wednesday
that the tobacco industry absolutely targets a young field of potential
customers.
"I hear from a lot
of teens who say, 'Oh, Mr. Reynolds, tobacco advertising doesn't have
any effect on me,"' he said.
But he said their tobacco
use increased 73 percent in 10 years beginning in 1988, the year R.J. Reynolds
introduced the Joe Camel mascot. The company's internal memos reveal they were
aiming at customers between 14 and 24, a group dubbed "tomorrow's
cigarette business."
"Nine out of 10
smokers in the United States become addicted before reaching their 19th
birthday," Reynolds said.
He was critical of
Idaho's use of tobacco settlement money. He said the state ranks 40th
for the amount it has directed toward youth prevention out of the 46 states
that received those funds.
But in March, Idaho
lawmakers approved allocating nearly $2.8 million in interest earnings in the
Idaho Millennium Fund trust, containing the state's tobacco settlement
payments.
Among the expenditures
are for a media campaign against tobacco use, the Youth Asset Building program,
youth courts in schools and money for the status offender program in the Twin
Falls area.
Reynolds also was
critical of the Bush administration's seeming disinterest in continuing with a
federal lawsuit against the major tobacco companies. Reynolds advocates
campaign finance reform to diminish big tobacco's influence on
politicians.
Reynolds said he was a
9-year-old the last time he saw his father, who was lying on the floor gasping
for air.
"He was dying from
emphysema caused by smoking," Reynolds said.
Reynolds said he sold
his stock in the company - the maker of Winstons and Camels - in 1979 because
he did not want to make money off of it. Since 1986, he has been an anti-smoking
advocate, lobbying for anti-smoking legislation and higher cigarette
taxes.
"I believe a tobacco-free
society is coming," he said.
Rush
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National/Foreign
Wayne Washington, Globe
Staff
647 words
27 April 2001
The Boston Globe
A.2
WASHINGTON -
Antismoking lawmakers and activists are worried that the Justice Department is
backing down from its legal fight against the tobacco industry.
In its most recent
budget proposal, the Justice Department asked for $1.8 million for a lawsuit
filed against the industry in September 1999. Department lawyers previously
estimated that they needed $57 million this year to keep working on the case.
"The Department of
Justice is proceeding with the case, and I support the department's
position," Attorney General John Ashcroft said in testimony to Congress
yesterday. "I have not made any indication about any reassignment of
attorneys; I have not made a decision about the case."
But Representative
Martin Meehan, Democrat of Lowell and cochairman of the Congressional Task
Force on Tobacco and Health, said the $1.8 million figure is
"woefully inadequate" and "effectively heralds the end of the
lawsuit."
His views, expressed in
a letter to Ashcroft released yesterday, were shared by Senator Patrick J.
Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, who wrote his own letter to the attorney general.
Dropping the lawsuit
would be seen by political observers as a concession to big business by the
Bush administration.
"This is a very
sad day for all of us fighting tobacco," said Patrick Reynolds,
executive director of the Foundation for a Smokefree America and the grandson
of the founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. "Bush has been utterly
silent on tobacco until now. Now, he's showing his true colors."
Meehan argues that
Ashcroft did that months ago when, as a US senator from Missouri, he questioned
the wisdom of the suit. In a letter to a constituent, Ashcroft wrote:
"While I am deeply troubled by the increase in tobacco use by
teenagers today, I do not believe that this lawsuit will help in the fight to
curb teen smoking."
He took a different
stance in his confirmation hearings, however, saying that he had no
"predisposition to dismiss that lawsuit."
Rachel Tyree,
spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society, said Bush's election changed the
nature of the fight against smoking. "We are definitely working
with a different administration than the one eight years ago," she said.
The $1.8 million figure
is the same amount that Janet Reno had requested for 2001 and 2002. It would
cover the salaries and staff costs of the litigation team in the government-supported
lawsuit. Justice department lawyers were seeking as much as $57 million to pay
for legal work, including gathering and analyzing millions of documents that
the tobacco companies have asked to see.
Tyree said her
organization remains hopeful the Justice Department will not let its lawsuit
fade.
"We don't want to
point fingers," she said. "We don't want to overreact. Nothing's been
dropped."
The Justice
department's budget, said Meehan, shows the administration's true commitment.
"That's a laughable level of funding," he said. "This suit is
about making big tobacco change its ways. The suit has to proceed."
The US government is
seeking $100 billion from tobacco companies, who are accused of marketing
their products to children and misrepresenting the dangers of smoking.
Massachusetts was one of 46 states in 1998 that agreed to a joint settlement
worth $208 billion.
Tobacco companies contributed
more than $5.37 million to political campaigns in 1999 and 2000, according to a
report by Common Cause, an advocacy group. Republicans received about 88
percent of those donations, the report said.
"I think the
proposals coming from the administration on health care and on the environment
would be dramatically different but for the millions and millions of dollars
contributed to the Republican Party by those industries," Meehan said.
THE NATION
Caption: An antismoking
advertisement from yesterday's Louisville, Ky., Courier-Journal. The ad was
paid for by Florida's "Truth Campaign." / AP PHOTO
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LOCAL
NANCY SANDERSON
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Hemet, CA
462 words
2 June 2001
B01
HEMET
Students at West Valley
High seemed to think Patrick Reynolds' anti-smoking talk at the school
Friday, although sometimes scary with its graphic visual aids, was right on
target.
"It was true, fact
not fiction," said senior Audella Dowell.
Reynolds, grandson
of tobacco company founder R.J. Reynolds, told students how he watched
his father, oldest brother and other relatives die from cigarette-induced illnesses.
Reynolds acknowledged
that he had quit smoking 11 times and finally made it on the 12th try.
He didn't pull any punches and explained that as older smokers die from their
addiction, the tobacco companies use advertising that targets young
people to replace them as customers.
It might not have been
the kind of message that would have warmed the heart of his grandfather, but
the students liked it.
Raul Butto, a senior,
said he is a nonsmoker. He said his parents quit smoking seven years
ago.
For student Renee
Arthur, the effects of smoking have hit home. Her grandfather is in
intensive care in a San Bernardino hospital with a smoking-related
illness, she said.
"I would never
smoke," Renee said. "Too many bad things can come from it."
Reynolds, founder of
The Foundation for a Smokefree America, said: "We call Joe Camel, Joe
Chemo." He showed a drawing of the smoking icon in the hospital,
dying of lung disease.
His overall message was
simple: Smoking isn't cool. If you smoke, quit, and if you don't smoke,
don't start, he said.
Reynolds said
smoke-free tobacco is just as dangerous as cigarettes, and he stressed a
basic theme: "You can quit."
Reynolds became one of
the first tobacco-industry figures to turn his back on the cigarette
manufacturers when he spoke to Congress in favor of a ban on cigarette
advertising. He has appeared all over the country, speaking out against the
industry that made his family wealthy.
The Foundation for a
Smokefree America is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help bring
about a smoke-free society.
As he closed his talk
at the high school, Reynolds gave an inspirational message of hope for the
future and urged the students to stay healthy so they can enjoy the amazing
things that will come about in their lifetimes.
His appearance was the
final program in the Hemet Unified School District's campaign against smoking
called TUPE, for Tobacco Use Preventive Education. As part of the
program, certificates were issued to students who remained smoke-free for 30
days.
"We issued 159
certificates at West Valley," said Valerie Velez, Health Education Program
consultant for the district. "Districtwide, we're hoping to issue 300 this
year."
PHOTO; Caption: Patrick
Reynolds
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