CBS "Face The Nation" - Transcript

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CBS "Face The Nation"

MR. SCHIEFFER: Today on "Face the Nation," it's down to Texas and Ohio now. It'll be a showdown this Tuesday with contests there, which could decide which Democrat will run against Senator John McCain, and the campaign rhetoric is red hot. Senator Hillary Clinton argues she's the one who's ready to be president. But is that fair to Senator Barack Obama? We'll talk to two senators on opposite sides -- for Senator Obama, Chris Dodd, senator from Connecticut; for Senator Clinton, Evan Bayh, senator from Indiana.

Then we'll talk to Governor Bill Richardson who ran against both candidates but who has not yet endorsed either. Will he make an endorsement? We'll find out. Then I'll have a final word on the passing of a conservative and a gentleman. But first, Texas and Ohio on "Face the Nation."

(Announcements.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: And good morning, again.

I say this, and I say it from experience, there is no worse dealing for reporters covering a political campaign than to realize you don't know where your candidate is. Which is why there was near panic and a lot of e-mails flying back and forth yesterday when reporters covering Hillary Clinton suddenly realized she had disappeared. Well, not to worry, she had flown to New York to be on "Saturday Night Live" where she did something she doesn't often do, and that is make fun of herself.

Here's part of what happened when she bumped into Amy Poehler who portrays her on the program.

(Begin videotaped segment.)

AMY POEHLER, COMEDIENNE: Thank you for coming. I love your outfit. (Laughter.)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY): Well, I love your outfit.

MS. POEHLER: Why, thank you.

SEN. CLINTON: But I do want the earrings back.

MS. POEHLER: Oh, okay -- (laughs) -- oh! (Laughter.)

SEN. CLINTON: Do I really laugh like that? (Laughter.)

(End videotaped segment.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: (Laughs.) And it went on like that.

Senator Bayh, the pressure's on. She did appear pretty relaxed last night.

SEN. BAYH: You know, Bob, she's got a great sense of humor, and it's nice to see that as serious as she is and substantive as she is she can make fun of herself and enjoy a light moment.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, we want to turn to some serious stuff now. The crux of her campaign, of course, is coming down to she is claiming Senator Obama is just not ready to be president. And here's the ad that the Clinton campaign is running. Let's take a look at it.

(Begin videotaped segment.)

ANNOUNCER: It's 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep. (Phone rings.) But there's a phone in the White House, and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call, whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It's 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?

SEN. CLINTON: I'm Hillary Clinton, and I approved this message.

(End videotaped segment.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, a lot of people in Obama's campaign are saying that's nothing but fear mongering. Do you think that's really fair, Senator Bayh? You know both of these candidates.

SEN. BAYH: You know, Bob, I really don't. Look, we're hiring a president to do the hardest job in America.

MR. SCHIEFFER: You really don't think it's fair?

SEN. BAYH: No, I don't think it's fear mongering. I thought you said fear -- no I don't think it's fear mongering, and I do think it's fair. We're hiring someone to do the toughest job in the country, and a big part of that job is being commander in chief.

I'll give you an example. I'm on the Intelligence Committee in the Senate, and we had a hearing two, three days ago. And they told us very directly, Bob, it's not a question of if we're going to be attacked again by al Qaeda, it's a question of when. It is a dangerous world, and we need to have a debate about who is best prepared at this important moment to be commander in chief.

I serve on the Armed Services Committee with Senator Clinton. I know about her deep knowledge and experience with the military. I've been with her with the presidents of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. I know the deep respect with which they hold her. There is no doubt in my mind that she is prepared to be commander in chief at this difficult moment for our country.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, I'm going to interrupt this for some news here. Who told you that the United States is going to be attacked again by al Qaeda?

SEN. BAYH: Well, our intelligence people have said that publicly, Bob, on several occasions. Unfortunately, it's a fact in that Afghanistan area, that Pakistan border area, they're reconstituting their abilities there, they're training operatives, and they're starting to send them back out into the world. So it's a dangerous world. And fortunately for us, the attacks recently have been in Western Europe and other places. But the important point is it's a risky world. We need someone with the seasoning, the experience, the strength to handle that job of commander in chief, and she's ready on day one.

MR. SCHIEFFER: So you're saying this morning that U.S. intelligence believes this country is going to be attacked -- this country, in this country.

Is that what you just said, Senator?

SEN. BAYH: Our intelligence people, Bob, have made public statements that it's only a question of when, not if. We've been fortunate these last five, six years that we haven't suffered another attack here. As you know, they have in Madrid, London, Bali, places like that. So there is a very real threat, and the threat is gathering because of al Qaeda reconstituting themselves.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, did they have any idea when this is going to happen?

SEN. BAYH: No. And as you know, I can't talk about the specifics of confidential briefings. But they have made public statements along exactly the lines that I've just mentioned. And I think the public understands this. It's common knowledge, unfortunately. It's a dangerous world. And a big part of the job in the next president is going to be dealing with that. And the question is, who has the life's experience, the seasoning and the ability to handle that very important function of commander in chief? She does from day one.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, let's see what Senator Dodd thinks about that. He's down in Texas campaigning for Senator Obama.

Senator, your response on all of the above, I should say?

SEN. DODD: Well, first of all, we hope that doesn't happen, obviously. We're taking every step we ought to be taking to see to it that we avoid being attacked in our country. And I think judgment is also important, character, integrity, life experiences. Experience in and of itself can't be judged in isolation. It always has to coexist, in my view, with other qualities that we want to consider -- the temperament of an individual, leadership ability.

I serve on two committees with Barack Obama. I spent a year and a half campaigning with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, of course, for the presidency itself, so I had a chance to see Barack Obama up close, watch him carefully. I think it's instructive that Dick Lugar, the former chairman of the Senator Foreign Relations Committee, reached out to the most junior member of that committee, Barack Obama, to travel with him to Russia to talk about nuclear proliferation issues.

I've watched him carefully, Bob, over the last four years. This is a person eminently qualified here. And the issue probably comes down to the judgment question here. Many of us here voted to support that authorization in 2002 that brought us to war with Iraq. Had we focused our attention on Afghanistan, the epicenter of al Qaeda, then the very threat that Evan Bayh my friend has talked about here would be far less today had we been focusing our attention on where it ought to have been focused. That was a critical judgment call. So it's not, as they say, just who picks up the phone. But what do you say at the other end of that phone when that problem arises? And it is a dangerous world.

But I believe that Barack Obama's bringing a unique set of qualities to his candidacy that go far beyond just how many years you've served in Congress or served as the spouse in the White House but rather his life experience, his background, where you come from that I think enrich his candidacy tremendously. And why you're seeing the fact that out of 36 contests over the last number of weeks and months, he's won 25 of them, half the states of this country. I think Democrats, independents -- for the first time in 25 years, I'm not just hearing about Reagan Democrats, I'm hearing about Obama Republicans. That's important.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, let's hold it there, because I want to play now the ad that Senator Obama played in response. We ran Senator Clinton's ad, let's run his ad. Here's what he said when that ad came out.

(Begin videotaped segment.)

ANNOUNCER: It's 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep. (Phone rings.) But there's a phone ringing in the White House. Something's happening in the world. When that call gets answered, shouldn't the president be the one, the only one, who had judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start, who understood the real threat to America was al Qaeda in Afghanistan, not Iraq, who led the effort to secure loose nuclear weapons around the globe? In a dangerous world, it's judgment that matters.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): I'm Barack Obama, and I approved this message.

(End videotaped segment.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right.

Well, Senator Bayh, I'll give you a chance to respond to that one.

SEN. BAYH: Well, Bob, first let me say we're fortunate to have two very good candidates. I think you can tell that. With regard to the question of judgment, let me say this. It's not only a question of what you say, it's mostly a question of what you do. Senator Obama gave a speech five or six years ago in which he said that we should not go to war in Iraq. That is to his great credit. Subsequently after that, he said that if he had been in the United States Senate, he does not know how he would have voted and exercised that judgment.

After coming to the Senate, his voting record and Senator Clinton's record about what to do in Iraq is identical. Their plans about how to move forward and begin the process of getting us out of Iraq are identical. And Chris mentioned Afghanistan which is deteriorating, unfortunately, and poses a great risk to us, Senator Obama chairs one of the subcommittees in the Foreign Relations Committee that has jurisdiction over NATO and their activities in Afghanistan and, as far as I know, hasn't chaired a hearing or really focused on this or used his judgment or that place to really do anything about Afghanistan.

So it's not just what you say, it's what you do. And that is formed by your experience. And I think Senator Clinton has shown that she has the strength, the seasoning to be commander in chief, to exercise both the right judgment and do the right things in leading this country and this important time.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Senator Dodd.

SEN. DODD: Well, again, there are two good candidates here. I know them both well, and I've known Senator Clinton a long time here. And I'm hopeful that we don't end up doing what I'm fearful we're going to do that, and that is, of course, becoming highly divisive in all of this. We've got a unique opportunity to elect a strong candidate here. I believe Barack Obama is demonstrating that ability here. It doesn't serve our interests well here to be demeaning the other candidate, in my view. And I'm worried about these ads, in a sense, creating that kind of an environment. This will be a tough campaign. John McCain is a very tough opponent. We spend the next number of weeks and months bickering with each other over this, sort of fly-specking these issues.

Joe Biden and I served on these committees. Running for president is not easy. You miss votes, you miss some committee hearings. We know that here, but that's not the reason. We ought to be talking about distinctions, in my view. If experience were the sole criteria, I'd say to my good friend Evan then Joe Biden and I ought to be competing for the presidency today in terms of the years we've spent in Congress.

SEN. BAYH: (Laughs.)

SEN. DODD: But obviously, people are looking beyond experience in years and service. And it is something special going on here, and it is unique and opportunity, I think, not only to deal with the domestic issues which are huge, by the way, that need to be attended to but also the ability here to rally international support so we can take on terrorism and deal with issues like AIDS and global warming questions here. And Barack Obama, I think, brings that unique set of qualities that will not only help us here at home but make a difference around the world for us as well. And that's why I'm supporting his candidacy. I hope he'll prevail on Tuesday.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, gentlemen, I want to thank both of you for being with us this morning. I think you're good advocates for your candidates.

We're going to come back here with Governor Bill Richardson. He hasn't come out for either candidate yet. We'll see if he wants to take this opportunity to do so in just a minute.

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