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CNN TodayElection 2000: Bradley to Announce Withdrawal Tomorrow; Gore on a RollAired March 8, 2000 - 2:15 p.m. ETTHIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sources close to former Senator Bill Bradley say Bradley will quit the race tomorrow and will endorse Al Gore. In the race between the Democrats, the former basketball star was drummed off the court. Beginning in Iowa and ending with yesterday's Super Tuesday races, Bradley never won a contest. CNN's Pat Neal joins us with more from New York on the challenger's plans to withdraw -- Pat. PAT NEAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Natalie. Well, tomorrow at 11:00 in West Orange, New Jersey, not far from his campaign headquarters, former Senator Bill Bradley, former pro- basketball player Bill Bradley, plans on announcing that he is going to draw out of the race -- pull out of this race and that he is going to endorse Vice President Al Gore. Now, you know that Bradley received a trouncing yesterday from Vice President Al Gore in the Super Tuesday contests, these contests all across the country. Bradley said he wanted to make a difference in politics. But -- and he said he actually wanted to base his campaign on new ideas; ideas such as universal access to health care for all Americans; ideas such as sweeping gun control legislation; calling for the registration and licensing of all handguns; and also calling for campaign finance reform. Bradley -- the problem is Bradley's message did not seem to connect with the voters who went to the polls. He did not get a mandate from any of the core Democratic groups that are necessary, meaning African-Americans, women and minorities. Now, Bradley stopped by his office today. He is on way home to Montclair, New Jersey. And then tomorrow, we will have the details about his drawing out of the race. Pat Neal, CNN, reporting live from New York. DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for Al Gore, the sweep of Super Tuesday kept an impressive turnabout that saw him go from the butt of jokes to being undefeated. CNN's Gary Tuchman followed the vice president back to his home state of Tennessee -- Gary. GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donna, for the vice president of the United States, the quest for the presidency has now entered a new phase. With Bill Bradley pulling out, Al Gore will enter primaries and caucuses with no competition. But, that doesn't mean he is canceling campaign events. On the contrary, these campaign events for the primaries and caucuses are good vehicles to criticize the GOP. Last night was a very festive night here in Al Gore's home state of Tennessee, here in Nashville. The Gore campaign had planned a victory party for the past several days, based on encouraging poll numbers, and, indeed, they were exactly right. Al Gore said very nice things about Bill Bradley, some not so very nice things about the Republican Party. This morning on CNN's "EARLY EDITION," he told us about something he would like George W. Bush to agree to. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EARLY EDITION") VICE PRES. AL GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did not ever run a negative personal attack against my -- against my opponent in these contests on the Democratic side. And I call on Governor Bush to join me in not only eliminating that kind, but also eliminating all of the radio and TV 30-second, 60-second ads. I think people are sick of them, to tell you the truth. And I think that we can have a campaign of ideas and not insults. (END VIDEO CLIP) TUCHMAN: This morning, Al Gore visited his mother in Carthage, Tennessee, his hometown about 40 miles east of here. He will soon be on his way to Michigan for a town meeting tonight. Michigan holds Democratic Party caucuses this Saturday; Minnesota holds caucuses on Sunday. Once again, Al Gore will be the only person on the list for the voters to go for. Now, as of yet, Al Gore is not saying anything about Bill Bradley pulling out of the race. The Gore campaign says it will be polite to wait until Bill Bradley makes his official announcement tomorrow. Meanwhile, Al Gore received a phone call last night from President Bill Clinton, congratulating him on all of his victories on Super Tuesday. We are told that the president held a Super Tuesday party inside the White House last night, as they watched the results. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, live in Nashville, Tennessee. KELLEY: Thanks, Gary. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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