CNN
SHOW: CNN LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER 12:00
HEADLINE: Interview With Dan Senor; Interview With Seymour Hersh
GUESTS: Dan Senor, Carl Levin, Chuck Hagel, Jalal Talabani, Seymour Hersh, John Edwards, Henry Kissinger, Madelein Albright
BYLINE: Wolf Blitzer, John Vause, Ben Wedeman, Amy Barrilleaux, Paula Hancocks
HIGHLIGHT:
Interviews with Dan Senor and Seymour Hersh.
BODY:
BLITZER: Welcome back to "LATE EDITION."
We're joined now by a man who has carefully studied John Kerry. He ran against him earlier this year, as well as last year, North Carolina Democratic Senator John Edwards.
Thanks very much for joining us.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Glad to be with you, Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll get to politics later, but let's talk a little bit about the war in Iraq. You supported the war in Iraq. Knowing what you know now, as opposed to then, was it wise?
EDWARDS: If we did it the way it should be done, yes. Saddam Hussein being gone is a very good thing.
But John Kerry, myself, others have been advising President Bush for two years now to have NATO involvement providing security, to have the United Nations more involved earlier in this process, particularly in setting up the transitional government, having our allies more involved.
And none of that has been done until now...
BLITZER: He seems to be moving closer toward...
EDWARDS: Well, he's finally being dragged kicking and screaming to doing the things that both Senator Kerry and myself and others have been saying should have been done two years ago. And he's put us in a place where doing those things now is much more difficult than it would have been if the hard work-spade work had been done at the beginning.
BLITZER: Is it too late?
EDWARDS: No, I don't think it's too late. I think we still have a real opportunity for success, if we do the things that need to be done. And I'm sure you and I are going to talk about this, but John Kerry laid out on Friday, I think, a very good plan about how we should go forward in Iraq.
You know, making sure that we provide more training for security, for Iraqi-to provide the Iraqis to provide for their own security, having a high commissioner that oversees this caretaker government after June the 30th, and having NATO more involved in overseeing the security in Iraq.
BLITZER: And the situation has clearly being more complicated, more difficult with these photos that have been released, these allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. Throughout Iraq, throughout the Arab world, indeed throughout the world, people are outraged.
EDWARDS: It's a very, very serious thing, Wolf. It sends exactly the wrong signal. And serious for at least two very important reasons. Number one, it says to the Arab world exactly the opposite of the message we want to be sending. You know, that we want to provide you with the opportunity to have democracy, to rule yourself, to have freedom.
Instead, what they're seeing are these photographs over and over and over. Which means the president, we, the administration, our military leadership, we have got to come out very strongly condemning what's happened, make sure we get to the bottom of it, and make sure that it never happens again.
It's also important for our own troops, the thousands and thousands of men and women who put their lives on the line in Iraq and who are good, able, brave people, you know, this is also damaging to them. And we've got to get to the bottom of this and make it clear that America will not tolerate this kind of behavior.
BLITZER: You just heard Seymour Hersh, the author of this article in The New Yorker, express his deep concern, alarmed that General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, didn't-at least went on television this morning and failed to read this report that one of his own generals prepared, alleging all of these abuses.
EDWARDS: It's disturbing that our senior military leadership, I'm not specifically specifically about General Myers, but our senior military leadership is not stronger and more on top of this than at least it appears right now they are.
BLITZER: What do you make of the situation in Fallujah and this apparent shift in U.S. strategy to let Iraqis go in there, clean up the mess, if you will, including Iraqis who were former generals in the Republican Guard?
EDWARDS: Well, one thing that, you know, the president was looking for something in his press conference that he may have made a mistake about. I've got a long list of things, by the way. If he needs that information, I would be glad to give it to him. And one of those things may have been to disband the army.
We knew that eventually would want the Iraqis to provide for their own security, and of course, Fallujah has a very long history, as I know you know, Wolf, of tribal leadership. In fact, Saddam Hussein himself had trouble controlling Fallujah, and left it, at least to some extent, to the local tribal leadership.
So the bottom line is, I think we have to show some deference to the people on the ground who are trying to find a way to provide security. It is important to have a Sunni buy-in to what's going on, to providing security in Iraq in this ongoing process of putting an Iraqi government in place, as it's important to have Shia involvement and Kurd involvement and buy-in.
So it's positive in that respect. And I think it at least has some possibility of being successful.
BLITZER: And you think that this June 30th transfer should take place on June 30th, and there's a chance that, at least, limited sovereignty can be restored?
EDWARDS: I think it is-this June 30th date is set now, and it's important to go forward with it. I do think that what happens after June 30th, and up to the point that Democratic elections can take place, is enormously important, you know, so that we, in fact, bring the Iraqi people and all of the factions in Iraq into this process.
BLITZER: And let me button this up, because you're a strong supporter of John Kerry. As far as you know, the president says the United States will not cut and run, simply abandon Iraq. John Kerry says exactly the same thing.
EDWARDS: Yes, there's a big difference between the two of them, though. If John Kerry had been president of the United States for the last two years, we would not be in this place, Wolf. It is a very simple thing.
The thing that John Kerry is saying today, Friday in his speech, need to be done, these are things he's been saying these things for the last two years. And finally, President Bush has been dragged kicking and screaming to doing these things.
In order-if you see something is not working, you have to be willing to change course. And this president has been absolutely obstinate and unwilling to do that.
BLITZER: All right, Senator Edwards, stand by. We're going to take a quick commercial break.
Much more coming up, including a quick check of what's making news at this hour, including an update on six U.S. soldiers killed today in Iraq, and an American hostage now free. We'll have details.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. We're talking with North Carolina Senator, former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.
I'm looking at this latest CBS-New York Times poll showing Bush at 43 percent, Kerry at 41 percent, Ralph Nader at 5 percent. This is a close horserace.
EDWARDS: And it's going to be a very close race.
And, you know, one of the fascinating things that I have seen, Wolf, is, we've got an incumbent president, he's been in office almost four years now, and he's run millions of dollars of paid advertising, and almost every bit of that advertising has been directed at and attacking John Kerry.
Now, what does it say to the American people when the president of the United States, who's been in office almost four years, all of his advertising is aimed at attacking his challenger, instead of talking about what he's done as president? It says a lot about...
BLITZER: Yes, but the Democrats have run a lot of ads attacking the president of the United States too.
EDWARDS: Yes, but...
BLITZER: Throughout the primaries as well.
EDWARDS: But the Democrats haven't had the White House for the last four years, Wolf. This president has been in office for four years. He's spending many millions of dollars, and all that money's being spent attacking his opponent, instead of talking about what he's done, and we know why. We've lost millions of jobs, we have a health care system in crisis...
BLITZER: Well, let's take a look at this other CNN-USA Today- Gallup poll, on this one specific question: Who would do a good job handling terrorism? Sixty-four percent said Bush would, only 43 percent said John Kerry would.
Terrorism is a hot issue.
EDWARDS: It is a hot issue, but there are a lot of important issues, and the truth is, the president of the United States has to be able to do lots of things.
And if you look at what John-see, people are just getting to know John Kerry. That's the reality. I got-you mentioned earlier in the show, I got to know him very well, because I spent a year on the campaign trail with him, I've served with him in the United States Senate. This man is a war hero. He's been a steady, strong leader in the United States Senate, a former prosecutor. He has the clearest plan for keeping people safe in this country. He's laid out a clear alternative about how we deal with Iraq.
I'm telling you, as we go forward in this campaign, the American people are going to see the John Kerry that I've seen, somebody of strength, determination and leadership.
BLITZER: He's looking for a vice presidential running mate. He's asked Jim Johnson, a former chief of staff to Walter Mondale, to come up with a list. Have they started questioning you about that?
EDWARDS: Well, I'm not going to talk about that. John Kerry has said he wants to keep this process confidential and private and dignified, and I think it's appropriate for me to respect that.
BLITZER: But there's no doubt you would like to be his running mate, is that right?
EDWARDS: There's no doubt that I want to make John Kerry president of the United States, not for me, but for my kids and my grandkids and for my country.
BLITZER: Let's take a look at some of the names that are out there. John Edwards, you did very well in the primaries, surprised a lot of people. Dick Gephardt didn't do so well, but his name is out there. Tom Vilsack, the governor of Iowa, his name. Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico. And still some people looking out to Florida, an important state, saying Bob Graham, the senator from there, might be a good vice-presidential running mate.
What do you think?
EDWARDS: I think they're all terrific people. I mean, I know them all very, very well, and I could-I mean, I could go through the list. I mean, Dick Gephardt's one of the finest public servants we've ever had in this country, a great leader in the House. Tom Vilsack I got to know in Iowa; he's doing a great governor from the state of Iowa. Same thing's true of Bill Richardson, who has both served in Washington and in New Mexico as governor of New Mexico. And of course Bob Graham, who I think was the other person you named...
BLITZER: And Bill Nelson, we didn't mention him, but his picture is...
EDWARDS: Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, both of them are terrific senators from Florida. This is a very strong group of people.
BLITZER: Well, you bring something unique, though, in terms of potentially helping him in the South. But so many of those Southern states Democrats apparently have written off. They don't think they have much of a chance there.
EDWARDS: Oh, we can compete everywhere. This presidential candidate, John Kerry, can compete everywhere. People in the South are looking for somebody who understands their lives, Wolf, who knows what it means when hundreds of thousands of jobs leave Southern states, as happened in North Carolina and South Carolina, as happened in a lot of Midwestern states, in addition to that. I think jobs is a huge issue in this campaign. The president has no plan about it. John Kerry has a clear plan.
In the health-care crisis, people are worried about their health care. I think John Kerry can be competitive, not just in the South, but in the Midwest and all these states that are going to determine who the next president's going to be.
BLITZER: The battleground states.
Senator Edwards, thanks very much for joining us.
EDWARDS: Glad to be with you, Wolf.