FOX "The O'Reilly Factor" - Transcript

Interview

Copyright ©2009 by Federal News Service, Inc., Ste. 500, 1000 Vermont Ave, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Federal News Service is a private firm not affiliated with the federal government. No portion of this transcript may be copied, sold or retransmitted without the written authority of Federal News Service, Inc. Copyright is not claimed as to any part of the original work prepared by a United States government officer or employee as a part of that person's official duties. For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service at www.fednews.com, please email Carina Nyberg at cnyberg@fednews.com or call 1-202-216-2706.

MR. O'REILLY: Joining us from Washington, two senators who ARE looking out for the troops, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina and Joseph Lieberman from Connecticut.

Now, Senator Graham, you seemed very angry yesterday with the speaker, and the House in general. Have you calmed down at all?

SEN. GRAHAM: Well, I don't know if I've calmed down, but I can respond to Congressman Frank. If the House drops the provision that would prevent these photos from being released, according to General Petraeus and General Odierno -- and we'll send you their statements -- American soldiers are going to be subject to increased violent attack, it will be used by our enemies to recruit insurgents. Every picture becomes a bullet and an IED. And the Congress will have punted, they will have let our troops down. And if we don't include this provision in the war supplemental, young Americans are going to get killed.

MR. O'REILLY: Okay. But everybody knows that, Senator Lieberman. I mean, that's not in dispute. Everybody knows what Odierno and what Secretary Gates and what Leon Panetta at the CIA and what President Obama -- they all know. But they still side with the ACLU. Can you explain that to me, Senator Lieberman?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: There is no rational explanation of this. There's no acceptable explanation of this. You've got the president of the United States saying, based on his conversations with our military leaders, the release of these photos will endanger the lives of American troops. You've got the Senate saying, yes, Mr. President, we agree with you, and here's the law we passed now unanimously to make sure that what you want to happen happens.

Today you had 267 members of the House voting to instruct the conference committee to leave the Senate language in there to prohibit the photos being released. What you got is a small group of people in the House Democratic caucus, saying they won't vote for the war funding bill unless that photo part is taken out. Why? Disclosure for the sake of disclosure. It has no value at all. It's really voyeurism, Bill.

MR. O'REILLY: But there's got to be a reason by Frank and Nadler and especially Nancy Pelosi. Look, we know they're playing to their far-left base, but these people are not in danger of not being reelected. Frank, because nobody runs against him. Pelosi is going to be reelected all day long in San Francisco. And Nadler is on the upper west side of Manhattan. You can't get more left unless you go to Beijing, okay. So they're not in any danger. These people are not in any danger of losing their seat, but they still do this stuff.

Now, Senator Graham, correct me if I'm wrong, but my information is that President Obama could order these pictures classified, and that would stop the madness immediately. Is that true?

SEN. GRAHAM: Absolutely. The president could issue an executive order saying that these photos are classified national security documents that would also be outcome-determinative in the lawsuit. We will urge him to do that if the Congress fails to have the troops backed.

But let's get back to your question of why. I can't tell you why, but I just surmise that the folks in question are blinded by hatred of this war, the past president. They're naive, they don't understand the consequences of what will happen in theater if these photos are released. That's the only thing I can come up with. I wish there --

MR. O'REILLY: I can't believe that. Senator Graham, look, I know Barney Frank. He's not a stupid man. Frank may be an ideologue and he may be on the wrong path, I think he is, he's not stupid. All right, Pelosi, I don't know her. But look, a 10-year-old 6th grader, 5th grader gets it, right? You don't put abuse pictures on Al Jazeera, on every terrorist website. There's no reason for it. This has been adjudicated. This is part of a military -- it would be like if your mother, Senator Lieberman, was murdered, and the murderer was caught and sentenced to life in prison, yet the ACLU demanded to see pictures of your mother in a gruesome state. Why? For what?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Yeah, for nothing. There's nothing to be achieved here. This is disclosure for the sake of disclosure. There may be other motives. They're so far-fetched, I can't even imagine what they are. But we know that the behavior that is pictured here has now been prohibited by law and executive order of the president. So why do you want to put out these pictures when all we do know for certain is that they will endanger the lives of our troops.

MR. O'REILLY: I think what it comes down to that Obama will have to issue the executive order to classify them.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: I agree.

MR. O'REILLY: But you know what's troubling me?

SEN. GRAHAM: Can I just interject something?

MR. O'REILLY: Yeah, go ahead, go ahead.

SEN. GRAHAM: I want you to understand what you've just said. It comes down to the fact that the Congress of the United States cannot muster the political courage to listen to commanders in the field during a war, telling us, please don't let these photos out, that the House of Representatives can't get 218 votes to fund the war effort and stop photos from being released that become bullets and IEDs in the hands of the terrorists. That is a statement. That should not go unnoticed by the American people.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: And Bill, that's why the president, if the House insists on taking our amendment out, really has to issue that executive order to protect --

MR. O'REILLY: We'll take it up. But I've got one more question for both of you guys.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: It's to protect our troops and it's also to show who's in charge of our government.

MR. O'REILLY: Right. I mean, President Obama is going to have to override Nancy Pelosi. That's what it's going to come down to. But look, both of you guys know me for a long time. I'm starting to dislike Nancy Pelosi at a really, really high level. It's getting personal, and I don't want it to, and I don't want it to. But I'm starting to dislike this woman because she's putting some of my friends in physical danger. Now, I'll give you guys the last word. You start first, Senator Lieberman.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, look, she's saying here that she actually agreed with us but she needed to take that amendment off to get the war funding bill passed. That's not acceptable.

MR. O'REILLY: That's bull.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: That's just not acceptable. This is not just, you know, trading an earmark for another earmark. This is the lives of the American military on the line. Nothing is more important. That's why she should have said no.

MR. O'REILLY: All right. Senator Graham, wrap it up for us.

SEN. GRAHAM: After this vote was taken in the House, Nancy Pelosi asked for a moment of silence to honor the fallen troops. On her watch, she had an opportunity to stand up for them, to support them, to take care of their back, to let their families know they're going to be well-taken care of and these photos would not be used by our enemies to kill them, and she failed. It's not enough to have a moment of silence. We need action, and she failed, and I hope people know that.

MR. O'REILLY: All right. Keep fighting the good fight, you guys, and we'll continue here.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Bill. You've been a great help.

MR. O'REILLY: You're welcome.

Source