CNN Crossfire Transcript

September 8, 2003 Monday

HEADLINE: Madam President?

GUESTS: Carol Moseley Braun

BYLINE: Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala

HIGHLIGHT:
Is the country ready for Madam President Carol Moseley Braun?

BODY:
BEGALA: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE.

She has served as a United States senator from Illinois and, in her words, United States ambassador to paradise. That would be New Zealand, Samoa, the Cook Islands and, yes, Antarctica. Now she's a Democratic candidate for president, a job heretofore reserved for white males.

Please welcome Carol Moseley Braun to the CROSSFIRE.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Madam Ambassador, thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAUN: Hello, Tucker. How are you? Nice to see you.

(APPLAUSE)

BRAUN: Thank you.

CARLSON: Senator, Ambassador, thank you for joining us.

BRAUN: Delighted to be with you.

CARLSON: You said in the Democratic debate in New Mexico—I'm paraphrasing this—pretty much, you said, Americans don't cut and run, referring to Iraq. You clearly believe that we need to finish the job we started.

Considering that we're probably not going to get any troops from Europe, probably not going to get many troops from Turkey or India, how many American troops do you think we're going to need in Iraq and for how long, specifically, over the next two years?

BRAUN: Well, I would hope we wouldn't go beyond the hundred—well, the numbers keep changing, don't they; 140, we were told now, I guess yesterday, 175,000 troops. I would hope we wouldn't go beyond that.

You should know, I opposed this war. I thought that the Congress missed—abdicated its Article 1, Section 3 -- Section 8 authority under the Constitution by giving a president who had not gotten the popular vote of the American people unilateral authority to go in with a preemptive war in Iraq. I didn't think it had anything to do with the war on terrorism. I've called it a misadventure.

So we shouldn't be there, in my opinion. But having been—now that we're there, we've got young men and women in the field. We cannot abandon them. We have to give them the support they need to get the job finished. Americans do not cut and run.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Let's say the job takes five years. Are you prepared to endorse the idea of having 170,000 American troops in Iraq for the next five years?

BRAUN: As painful as it is, we've got to do what we've got to do.

Back in March, in California, I raised the question. This was before he had—the president had decided to go into Iraq. I raised the question, how much is this going to cost? Tell us the truth, Mr. President. What is this going to cost? And, of course, no numbers, no dollars, were forthcoming at that point. Well, now those chickens are beginning to come home to roost. We have a tentative figure now. It could be even more.

And, frankly, given the skyrocketing deficits that we have from the tax cuts to the top 1 percent, the wealthiest Americans, how we're going to pay for it, who knows. That the American people have to pay for it by themselves is shameful. We should have engaged the support of allies, old Europe, remember them, traditional allies, and the international community, before going hell-bent for leather. These guys won't ask for directions. If they had, they wouldn't be there.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BEGALA: Madam Ambassador, let me play you a piece of videotape from the president's speech.

BRAUN: Oh.

BEGALA: He spoke last night from the White House, didn't land on any aircraft carriers, didn't have any swagger, didn't even have a G.I. Joe costume on. And it was a bit shambling, I thought, and stumbling. Here's what he had to say. Take a look at a brief excerpt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will soon submit to request a request for $87 billion. The request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, which we expect will cost $66 billion over the next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEGALA: Set aside the sort of hostage-tape style of reading off the teleprompter with the panicked look on his face and focus on $87 billion. If you were still in the Senate, would you vote $87 billion more for this effort?

BRAUN: I would vote whatever amount was necessary to make certain that our men and women in the field were not out there as sitting ducks, with no cover, without the support they need.

(APPLAUSE)

BRAUN: I've got to tell you, I spoke—I spoke with a parent of a young man who's in Iraq now.

And she was telling me that they're having—parents, families are sending basic supplies, things like toilet paper, to these kids out there in the desert. It is an outrage. Talk about supporting the troops and not giving them even the basics, having them sit out there by themselves. Would that we had a real coalition that had real troops from other countries in there with us to do this job.

These guys, they didn't have a plan. They didn't have an exit strategy. It was all talking to each other. They didn't listen to anybody. They didn't listen to the international community. They didn't even listen to our military. And they went in there, put young men and women in harm's way in a situation—even George Orwell couldn't have made this up.

(APPLAUSE)

(CROSSTALK)

BRAUN: OK? So...

BEGALA: Let me press you on this point, though. The first President Bush, when he fought in Iraq, had 130,000 Arab troops in our coalition. This current president has maybe 2,000, a very token force. What would you do, particularly in the Arab world, to bring our former allies back to our side and engage them in peacekeeping in Iraq?

BRAUN: Well, since—again, back to mistakes made. We had the world's goodwill after 9/11. Everybody was on our side.

And this team has frittered away that good will between thumbing their nose at old—at old Europe on the one hand, between telling the rest of the Arabic world, the Muslim world, that, we don't want you around, and having people held hostage. The civil liberties violations against people of—Muslims and people of Arab descent in this country is nothing short of shameful. And so, with all of that, we've sent—this crowd has just blown it.

And I've called—I've been very clear in saying that this is a failed presidency. I have no qualms about making the point. Our economy, stock market notwithstanding, the jobless loss—the job loss has been just like a hemorrhage. People...

CARLSON: Senator, I'm sorry to interrupt you.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: You just reminded me that you're running for president to replace this president.

BRAUN: That is exactly right.

CARLSON: I want to read what one of your former consultants, a man named Gerald Austin, who worked for you in 1992, said. And I'm quoting now.

BRAUN: Briefly.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Still, he's a Democratic consultant who you paid—quote—"There's no reason at all to take her seriously." And he goes on to say: "There are two Carols. One is very bright, articulate, up on the issues and can show genuine brilliance. The second is an actress who wants to do something because there's an ulterior motive. The motive is, she wants attention."

BRAUN: Are you writing—is this—oh.

CARLSON: It's right on the screen behind you. Considering that you lost your incumbency in 1988 to a very weak candidate, why should we take your candidacy seriously?

BRAUN: Well, for one, I'm uniquely qualified. I have more qualifications than any of the other candidates, including the guy whose job we're all trying to take, the guy in the White House. I'm a former ambassador.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BRAUN: United States senator who served a whole term. I have life experience and bring a perspective to policy-making that none of the other candidates do, a practical approach to getting things done. I tell people what I believe in. I tell them what I want to do. And then I follow through and I do it. And I hold myself accountable for my service.

The fact of the matter is that I was outspent, as you know, 3-1 in that race. I had a tough time of keeping up in that regard, and I lost narrowly. Narrowly only counts in horseshoes. But I'll tell you, it might have been part of a plan, because I went off and was ambassador to paradise for two years.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: ... Supreme Court justices that could actually over that for you, though, did he?

(CROSSTALK)

BRAUN: No. No.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Don't you agree that Democrats need professional to get over the—well, that's another—we'll address that.

We're coming right back.

BRAUN: You know what? No, Tucker, no, let me say this. I wasn't here...

(APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: I'm sorry to cut you off.

BRAUN: OK. All right.

CARLSON: I'm being told we have to go to a commercial. And we will, in a moment, let members of our audience fire back at Madam President-to-be Carol Moseley Braun.

But first, our "Ask the Audience" question. Take out your voting devices. Tell us if you think a woman will be elected president of the U.S. in your lifetime. Press one if, yes, you will live to see the day that a woman makes it to the Oval Office. Press two for, no, it's going to be a while.

We'll have the results right after we return in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

(APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE.

Before the break, we asked members of our audience if they believe a woman will be elected president in our lifetime. And they responded—let's see—yes, say 45 percent of Republicans; 95 percent of Democrats agree on the flip side. And, clearly, they're talking about Carol Moseley Braun or Hillary Clinton.

BEGALA: The majority of Republicans think they will never see a woman as president, even though Mrs. Dole ran last time against George W. Bush. Did a pretty good job.

(APPLAUSE)

BRAUN: Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Well, we will take the men-only sign off the White House door eventually.

CARLSON: I haven't seen that. It must be on the back.

Yes, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe your experience as a U.S. foreign ambassador gives you enough foreign policy experience to rival Democratic challengers such as Kerry and Clark and to present a serious challenge to President Bush?

BRAUN: As to the latter, absolutely. It's more foreign policy experience than our president had when he became president.

But as far as Wesley Clark, who, of course, is a general, that's military experience. That's not the same thing as diplomatic experience. And Senator Kerry, of course, served honorably in Vietnam. Again, that's not diplomatic experience. And I just think that, when you add up my years in the state legislature and county executive office, as an assistant United States attorney, as a girl who grew up on the south side of Chicago and lived the American dream, I think, all told, yes, I have the qualifications, uniquely qualified to do this job.

BEGALA: We have time for one more brief question.

Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I'm Joanne (ph) from Forest Lake, Minnesota.

And if, for some reason, you're unable to win the presidential, would you consider—and I underline consider—the possibility of running as vice president?

BRAUN: My supporters tell me those words should never pass my lips.

CARLSON: But we're on CROSSFIRE.

BRAUN: So I'm just going to keep focusing in on winning the nomination. And I have every expectation that we will. We've got the Seabiscuit campaign of the season. We're just kind of working hard to get out there and do it the old-fashioned way. But I think we're going to win.

BEGALA: There you go, "Seabiscuit," the movie of the year.

Carol Moseley Braun, ambassador and former U.S. senator, presidential candidate, thank you very much for spending some time with us.

(APPLAUSE)

BRAUN: Thank you very much.

CARLSON: Thank you.

BRAUN: Thank you.

Content and programming Copyright 2003 Cable News Network Transcribed under license by FDCH e-Media, Inc.