CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Iraq War Involvement and Presidential Campaign
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
[18:53:17] BLITZER: We've got some breaking news. The CNN key race alert: the former Republican senator, independent Rhode Island governor, Lincoln Chafee, has just announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. And the governor is joining us now live from Arlington, Virginia.
I believe this is your first campaign interview, Governor. Thanks very much for joining us.
Let's talk about your uphill struggle. Right now, according to our CNN poll, you're less than one-half of 1 percent in the race for the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton is up at 60 percent.
Bottom-line question is, why are you running? Do you really believe you can win the Democrat nomination?
LINCOLN CHAFEE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The biggest reason I'm running is I don't think the next president of the United States should have made the big mistake of voting for the Iraq war, and particularly, the next Democratic nominee should not have made the big mistake of voting for the Iraq war. And I think there should be a campaign issue for Democrats coming into 2016.
This is a Republican war, a Republican war that cost us 4,000 dead Americans, a Republican war that cost us $6 trillion or is going to cost us $6 trillion that we could have spent so much better -- one of the biggest mistakes in American history.
I don't think the Democratic nominee or the next president should have made that mistake.
BLITZER: So, you voted against that resolution at the end of 2002.
CHAFEE: Absolutely, absolutely.
BLITZER: Hillary Clinton, when she was senator, she voted for the resolution. So, you believe that disqualifies her, even though she says that vote was a mistake?
CHAFEE: Absolutely. It's too big of a mistake just to brush off with saying it was because I didn't get the right intelligence, which was false. I had the same intelligence and 23 of us made the right call there.
[18:55:01] And the ramifications we live with today are just so enormous, ISIS and everything that's happened with Boko Haram, and in Yemen, and the chaos that's in the Middle East, all because of that terrible mistake made back in 2002.
BLITZER: So, if she were to get the Democratic presidential nomination and you didn't, would you be able to vote for her for president?
CHAFEE: We'll cross that bridge if we come to it.
BLITZER: Well, you're dodging the question, because you're basically saying she's not qualified. You're saying you are more qualified because you voted against the resolution and you don't believe that there should be someone, a Democrat or a Republican, who voted for the resolution should get the nomination. So, it is still possible you might vote for her?
CHAFEE: If -- considering all of the issues that are occurring, I'm not convinced that she's going to be the Democratic nominee. So, as I said, we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
BLITZER: If she's not going to get it and, let's say, you're not going to get it, who might get it?
CHAFEE: We'll see. It's a long way. It's very, very early. We all know that.
BLITZER: You were a Republican in the Senate. I think the only Republican to vote against that resolution. Then you went back home to Rhode Island, you became the governor as an independent. Now, you're running as a Democrat.
Let me ask you this question: what would you do about ISIS right now if you were commander-in-chief?
CHAFEE: ISIS is we're still learning exactly what's occurring with them. They've just taken over Palmyra. They have not destroyed the antiquities as best we know right now. Some of the atrocities that have previously occurred have not occurred in Palmyra.
So, kind of learning about this group and what they stand for. So, I just think that we have to understand what's happening, learn and who knows what might occur in the future.
I will say that certainly what's happened in the Middle East, the huge mistake made back from 2002 and all these issues we have to deal with now. Your question, how do you deal with them now -- wouldn't have happened if we hadn't made the mistake back in October 2002.
BLITZER: Well, they may not have destroyed the antiquities in Palmyra, at least not yet, but they have committed a lot of atrocities, killed, slaughtered a lot of people, including a lot of beheadings. Do you think ISIS represents a serious threat to the United States?
CHAFEE: Well, I'd like to go back to how we got in there and how we got into this intractable chaos and morass that we're in. I just don't think that the next president should have made that mistake. And I don't think that the Democratic nominee should have made that mistake.
So, all of these questions you're asking, there are no easy answers. But we wouldn't be asking the questions and struggling with the answers because there are no easy answers if we hadn't made the mistake. It's one of the biggest mistakes in American history.
BLITZER: A lot of people will probably agree with you on that. But let's look forward. What do you do about the threats, the terror threats specifically facing the United States?
CHAFEE: Well, we have to work collectively. We have to work with all of our nations around the world. And the 70th anniversary of the United Nations is June 26th, the 70th anniversary. And the preamble says to unite our strength to provide peace and security.
And so, let's reinvigorate the United Nations. I know there's a lot of criticism. Let's reinvigorate it and have a better 70 years in front of us.
Nations coming together as they did after World War II to prevent thermonuclear destruction. That's what we all want.
BLITZER: There was -- at the end of your announcement today, your speech at George Mason University in Arlington, you said this. Let me play the clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFEE: Earlier, I said, let's be bold. Here's a bold embrace of internationalism. Let's join the rest of the world and go metric. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. So, go ahead and explain why the United States should go metric.
CHAFEE: Well, this is just one piece, as I said, of becoming internationalist as a country and getting away from the unilateralist approach, that muscular approach to the world that I don't think is working in our best interest. I think it would be good for our economy. That's the bottom line.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But it would cost a lot -- it would cost a lot of money. It would cost -- it creates some chaos at the same time, right?
CHAFEE: I lived in Canada when they made the transition. They wouldn't have done it if it -- if the benefits didn't outweigh the costs. No country wouldn't do it if the benefits didn't outweigh the costs.
So, yes, there's some cost involved but the economic benefit that's would come in would surpass those costs of putting up new signs and the like.
BLITZER: You've got a campaign slogan out there, "go metric", huh?
CHAFEE: Well, it's one piece. The campaign slogans, let's wage peace. Then use those peace dividends to better build our country. I want to wage peace in this new American century.
BLITZER: All right. Lincoln Chafee, the newest Democratic presidential candidate -- Governor, thanks very much for joining us.
CHAFEE: My pleasure. Thanks for having me on.
BLITZER: Good luck on the campaign trail. It's getting crowded on there.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source