CNN "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" - Transcript

Interview

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Coming up, John McCain knows South Carolina very well. He won the primary there in 2008. We'll ask him about Mitt Romney's chances in the Palmetto State this time around.

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CROWLEY: Joining me here in Washington, former Republican presidential nominee and current Romney support Senator John McCain.

Senator, thank you for joining us.

MCCAIN: Thank you, Candy. CROWLEY: The hot political topic now is this big meeting in Texas, where Romney wasn't apparently even part of the conversation. Your guy, they didn't even consider endorsing. How big of a hit is that for him?

MCCAIN: Well, I think it is a hit. I mean, let's be very honest. There is a very strong evangelical movement in South Carolina, particularly inland.

But at the same time, there is a, in South Carolina, a very difficult economic situation. Unemployment is nearly 10 percent. And that certainly is a very -- a much higher priority for the voters than it would be if the unemployment rates were down.

So -- and also, I think it's a little late as well. But it's bound to have some effect. But I don't think it's going to be real significant.

CROWLEY: I want to take you on a little trip down memory lane.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: Thanks.

CROWLEY: You -- I know you're going to appreciate this. In 2000, you had your own tug and pull with this community and this to say. February 28th, you were in Virginia Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: So do you think, at this point, that members of the Republican Party who are running for president still have to pander to the right?

MCCAIN: I don't think they have to pander, but I think, the more inclusive that our party is, the better off we are. I mean, it's clearly jobs and the economy are the transcendent issues of this campaign.

In 2008, national security played a much higher role because, obviously, the economy was good up until...

(LAUGHTER)

... nearly the very end.

So we want to be as inclusive as possible, but we don't want one segment of our base to dominate because clearly we are the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

CROWLEY: But it's possible they could change the mix in South Carolina with this, is it not?

MCCAIN: Again, I think it's going to have some effect. But a lot of voters have already made up their mind, either rightly or wrongly. Every poll shows that they believe that Mitt Romney is the most electable, and also, the economy is the dominating issue. People are really hurting across this country and especially...

CROWLEY: There's a 9.9 percent unemployment rate in South Carolina. That's much higher than the national average.

MCCAIN: Absolutely. And so they are looking more strongly, I think, at someone who can help this state and this country out of the ditch we're in.

CROWLEY: And you -- you obviously think that favors your candidate with his business background?

MCCAIN: Well, I think Mitt has the experience. He has the background. I think he has the -- the platform and the agenda. It's very clear to me the audiences are reacting positively to his message. And again, he does have -- while it's under attack now, he does have experience in job creation.

CROWLEY: I want to talk to you in a minute about Bain Capital, but I want to wrap up the evangelical issue first.

And that is that Tony Perkins, who was a major mover and shaker in this meeting -- he's head of the Family Research Council, as you know. He said that this group of conservatives would give strong support to Santorum, Gingrich, or Perry if they got the nomination. Your guy's missing from that formulation.

Do you think, if Mitt Romney is nominated by the Republican Party; if he gets enough delegates, that evangelicals, conservative Christians, will sit on their hands? There seems to be a message that they might.

MCCAIN: Oh, no. I don't think so. And by the way, I've worked with Tony Perkins and some of those people on other issues. I'm -- I'm convinced that we will come together. And there's no doubt in my mind.

And again, I understand the viewpoint and the priorities of the evangelical Christians, but I also understand that the economy, electability, and the fact that Senator Santorum and Newt Gingrich were pork-barrelers and earmarkers, which is, in the words of Tom Coburn, my colleague from Oklahoma, a gateway drug to corruption.

We had corruption as a result of earmarking. And that's just a matter of record. Also, as we know, Senator Santorum was rejected for re-election by the people of Pennsylvania by nearly 18 points.

CROWLEY: Let me -- let me move you on to what we talked about. Bain Capital, the company that was founded by Mitt Romney, and I want to take you back again.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm sure this won't surprise you. This is 2008. You and Mitt Romney were in, among others...

MCCAIN: Sure, tough race.

CROWLEY: ... were in a battle in the primary season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: As the head of his "investment," quote, company, he presided over the acquisition of companies that immediately laid off thousands of workers.

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CROWLEY: I get it.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, things like this happen in campaigns. But the fact of the matter is...

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAIN: ... campaigns.

CROWLEY: Right.

MCCAIN: And, you know, right after the campaign was over, nobody worked harder for my campaign than Mitt Romney. We spent time together. I got to appreciate and have a friendship with him. And these primaries are tough. I understand that.

CROWLEY: They are, but the fact is that that's how you looked at Bain then, and that's how his opponents said, look, this was a group, nothing illegal, that went in and, in trying to make a company profitable, trying to make money for their investors and themselves, basically stripped companies.

MCCAIN: Yeah. And at that time when I said that, Mitt Romney responded, and I think very strongly, about the thousands of jobs by Staples and other companies and corporations that did very well. It was a legitimate debate point.

But the fact is that, over time, Mitt Romney has been involved in job creation and a governor -- and a very effective governor of a very liberal state.

CROWLEY: Has he made an effective argument for Bain at this point?

MCCAIN: I believe so because I think there's some holes in the story here, this movie that found a couple of people that said it was distorted. I think you're going to see people come forward who, for example, started that in a warehouse, $5 million at Staples, not a half a billion for Solyndra provided by the taxpayers and the federal government.

I think that's the contrast. Does business create jobs or the government create jobs? And, clearly, the president believes that government creates jobs, and that's much to our great loss of taxpayers' dollars.

CROWLEY: Let me ask you two questions that are, sort of, tangential at this point to the campaign. But I was interested to hear Governor Perry say that he thinks the administration has been over the top in its response to these pictures of these Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban. He compared it to some things that Patton did, urinating in a river, along with Churchill.

CROWLEY: And what he objects to -- he said that they called it a criminal act. Certainly, they are looking into whether there are any criminal charges here. Do you object to that? Do you think Governor Perry's right?

MCCAIN: No, I don't. I -- well, first of all, I don't object to the commandant of the Marine Corps looking into this. It's a breakdown in discipline, is what it is. It's very tough, these conditions. Nobody can explain how tough it is, combat, unless they've been in it.

But the Marine Corps prides itself on its discipline. The Marine Corps prides itself that we don't lower ourselves to the level of the enemy. So it makes me sad more than anything else, because these are the great -- the finest -- I can't tell you how wonderful these people are. And it hurts their reputation and their image.

CROWLEY: You have no problems with the way the administration has handled it so far?

MCCAIN: No. I think a full and complete investigation is entirely appropriate. I did read an article by somebody this morning that said maybe young Marines have difficulty understanding why we would waterboard somebody while they're alive and then it would not be OK to do what they did after they're dead. That was a very interesting --

(CROSSTALK)

CROWLEY: Well, sure. You kill people, but then you respect the body. There's a certain dynamic there that doesn't seem to make sense.

MCCAIN: You have to respect the body, and we're trying to win the hearts and minds. And when something like that comes up, it obviously harms that ability. But the thing that's the saddest of all is 999 out of 1,000 of these young people are the very best, who want to win this conflict and don't want to do anything that would harm our ability to do so.

CROWLEY: And, finally, I have half a minute left here. What does Ron Paul want?

MCCAIN: I think Ron Paul wants to have a significant role to play in the Republican Party. He's getting -- you know, he's, at least up until now, about 20 percent of the vote. There's room for Ron Paul in our party, and we welcome him. And we'll continue the debate with him.

CROWLEY: Senator John McCain, safe travels.

MCCAIN: Thank you.

CROWLEY: You are off and about.

MCCAIN: Thank you.

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