Election 2004

Some TV stations block Sharpton on 'SNL'

NEW YORK - Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton busted some James Brown moves on his Saturday Night Live debut, but some viewers didn't get the chance to see them.

Several NBC affiliates refused to carry Saturday Night Live with Sharpton as host for fear it would activate federal "equal time provisions" and compel them to offer air time to the eight other Democrats running for president.

Sharpton, a former tour manager for the soul star, sang a few verses of Brown's I Got You (I Feel Good) and even imitated some of his fancy footwork.

NBC said 23 of its 230 affiliated stations had said they were considering not running SNL because of equal time rules. The network did not have a final count Sunday on how many stations did not air it. It was shown in the Tampa Bay area.

All four NBC affiliates in Iowa, where the Jan. 19 caucus represents the first major test of the Democratic nomination battle, said last week they wouldn't air the show. NBC's Boston station - seen in much of New Hampshire, site of the first presidential primary - also didn't show it.

Saturday Night Live frequently has political content and occasional guest appearances by politicians, but this is the first time in memory stations bailed out for this reason.

Sharpton, meanwhile, kept busy changing costumes for a variety of roles. He portrayed lawyer Johnnie Cochran, Michael Jackson's father and one of the three wise men searching for Jesus.

"I hope tonight America laughed together," Sharpton said at the night's conclusion. "Maybe we can learn how to live together."

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said Sunday he will let a judge determine which of his sealed records from Dean's years as Vermont's governor should be made public.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Dean said he has decided to use a lawsuit by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch, suing to open the records, as a mechanism to determine which records should be released.

At issue are 145 boxes of documents that Dean gave to the state archives when he left office in January with the provision that they not be opened for 10 years. Dean, who served 11 years as governor, gave the state 190 boxes without restrictions on use.

WASHINGTON - John Kerry used profane language to assess President Bush's Iraq policy, and Bush's chief of staff said Sunday the Democratic presidential candidate was out of line.

The Massachusetts senator uttered a profanity in an interview in the latest Rolling Stone magazine to express his dismay over Bush's handling of Iraq.

When asked about the success of rival candidate Howard Dean, whose antiwar message has resounded with supporters, Kerry responded: "When I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, "I'm against everything?' Sure. Did I expect George Bush to f--- it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."

The expletive drew a rebuke from the White House, which suggested an apology might be in order. "That's beneath John Kerry," the president's chief of staff, Andrew Card, said on CNN's Late Edition.

The Kerry campaign said the senator had no regrets.

"John Kerry saw combat up close, and he doesn't mince words when it comes to politicians who put ideological recklessness ahead of American troops," said spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "I think the American people would rather Card and the rest of the White House staff spend more time on fixing Bush's flawed policy in Iraq than on Sen. Kerry's language."

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