MS. MACCALLUM: Joining me now is McCain supporter Senator Richard Burr.
Senator, welcome. Good to have you here today.
SEN. BURR: Good to be with you.
MS. MACCALLUM: Do you have any reaction to what Congressman Smith said, and that is that John McCain didn't suspend his campaign, that Sarah Palin was still out there today and that ads were still running?
SEN. BURR: Well, let me just say that John McCain felt this was a time to be a leader in the country and not a candidate for president. He heard the words of Senator Reid when Senator Reid said this can't pass without Senator McCain's support. So Senator McCain suspended his campaign, came back to Washington. And I think it's only reasonable, Martha, that the next president of the United States would want to have some input in the product that he's going to be asked to implement.
MS. MACCALLUM: It seems that it would make sense, you know. What's your sense of how we're doing here? And what real business, if any, is happening inside that room right now because Congress has been telling us all afternoon that the only business that is happening is happening, you know, inside their closed-door rooms and suggesting that this is just a big photo op here tonight?
SEN. BURR: Well, make no doubt about it that on Barack Obama's side and on John McCain's side, they're giving input to individuals that are in the room. John McCain, I know, has tried to put into this things that protect the American taxpayer, and I think that's the focus.
From a standpoint of the overall architecture of what we do, clearly, it's left up to those individuals on the banking side on the House and the Senate working with the Treasury and Chairman Bernanke. At the end of the day, most members know we have to do this. But at the end of the day, it's also about the leadership that's displayed, and I think John McCain has shown that leadership.
MS. MACCALLUM: Talk to me a little bit about how satisfied you would be with the current principles that you see on the table because Senator Shelby was out there moments ago saying, you know, this was a flawed product when it landed on our desk, we are not happy with it, we're not ready to sign. What do you think?
SEN. BURR: Well, like many big things in Washington, this has its critics as well. Unfortunately, a few of the critics of this plan have come with an alternative. At the end of the day, there's a time sensitivity here. And I think that the architecture that Chairman Bernanke and Secretary Paulson have presented us seems feasible. The devil is in the details, and I think that's what every member of the United States Senate is waiting to see.
MS. MACCALLUM: So how long are you going to take to look those details over? You know, a lot of people out there, I think, are concerned that this is getting pushed through by people who maybe didn't tell folks what they knew about the situation all along. So are they the ones we should be trusting in this?
SEN. BURR: Well, let me just say that every member of Congress will have an opportunity to review this. I think it will be shared with a tremendous transparency with the American people. Nothing that you do with taxpayer money is popular. But at the end of the day, if we can avert a financial crisis that I think we have until Sunday night to accomplish, I think this Congress will step up and do that. And it will be because of the leadership of Senator John McCain and others.
MS. MACCALLUM: All right. Senator Burr, thank you very much for talking with me tonight. I appreciate it.
SEN. BURR: Great to be with you, Martha.