Lynn Sweet

SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON ON ABC NEWS “THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS,” SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2007

Sen. Clinton on Sen. Obama’s public financing legislation: “I'm going to cosponsor anything that looks like it can move us in that direction, because my view on this is we're not going to get anything done at this point with the president, with, unfortunately, a Republican minority that engages in filibustering, but we're going to try to build a commitment to doing it.”

Sen. Clinton on her healthcare plan and illegal immigrants: “No, they would not be covered. I will continue to have a safety net, which I think is in the best traditions of our country and, also, for public health reasons, absolutely necessary.”

This morning on “This Week” Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) joined George Stephanopoulos for her first This Week interview since declaring her candidacy. They discussed her new healthcare plan, her bid for the party's nomination and the situation in Iraq.

A transcript of the interview, which aired this morning, Sunday, September 23, 2007, on ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” is below. On our roundtable, David Brooks of the New York Times, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, and ABC News’ Cokie Roberts and George Will join Mr. Stephanopoulos to debate the week’s politics. Plus, renowned filmmaker Ken Burns on his new seven-part documentary series that explores the history and horror of WWII, the Second World War, from an American perspective.

All excerpts must be attributed to ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Visit the “This Week” website to read more about the show at: http://abcnews.go.com/politics

Katherine O’Hearn is the executive producer of “This Week” and George Stephanopoulos is the anchor. The program airs Sundays on the ABC Television Network (check local listings).

-ABC-

ABC INTERVIEWS SEN. HILLARY CLINTON

September 23, 2007

[*]
QUESTION: Good morning, everyone.

When First Lady Hillary Clinton was pushing for national healthcare in 1994, her husband punctuated his State of the Union Address with this challenge to Congress.

(VIDEO CLIP)

Now, it's presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who's starting all over again with a new healthcare plan that became the focus of the campaign this week, and Senator Clinton is our headliner this morning.

Good morning, Senator.

CLINTON: Good morning, George.

QUESTION: Let's begin with that moment from 1994. Would President Hillary Clinton make the same pledge in 2009?

CLINTON: Well, George, I think we've all learned a lot since then and my goal has remained the same. I believe, for the sake of our country, it's an economic necessity to have healthcare for everyone that is quality and affordable, but I think it's also now an economy necessity.

So I'm going to work as hard as I can as president to achieve quality, affordable coverage for everyone. But having now served on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, I know how important it is to work with the Congress, to enlist them, to have them be involved from the very beginning and, frankly, to have ownership.

There are so many people in the Congress, frankly, on both sides of the aisle who have been incredibly supportive and positive about reforming our healthcare system.

I've put out my plan, the American Health Choices Plan, which I think would get us there with the least disruption by giving people a chance to keep what they have, if they're satisfied, moving people who are uninsured or not satisfied with what they have into the federal employees health benefit plan, providing a wide array of choices, providing tax credits so that individuals can afford it and, also, small business, modernizing the system through electronic medical records and chronic care management and so much else.

So I think I've taken a lot of the good ideas that are not all mine, by many means, but are ideas that have been percolating since '93-'94, and I believe that we can put together a consensus to achieve the goal that many of us share.

QUESTION: So it sounds like you wouldn't want to take that same confrontational approach. But as you know, a lot of your Democratic opponents are using -- are saying that experience is not a badge of honor.

Senator Dodd said this week it was terribly mismanaged in 1993 and 1994. Senator Edwards said you learned the wrong lesson. Senator Biden the other night said you're just too divisive to get this done.

And why wouldn't it be better to have a president who could take a fresh start, who doesn't bear, as you say, the scars of that experience?

CLINTON: Well, I think the country bears the scars. You know, since we weren't successful, we've seen millions of more people without insurance and many millions more who have insurance, except when they really need it and the insurance company tells their doctor or the hospital they won't pay for the needed treatment.

And I think that what is so uniquely American about the American experience is that, you know, you get knocked down, you get back. I've learned a lot and I think I now know better how to do what -- there is a consensus-building that we must do.

I bring all of those lessons with me. I have never lost my commitment to making it possible for our country to be smart economically and to be morally on the right track and make it possible for us to get healthcare for everyone, and that's what my campaign's about and that's what I'm going to do as president.

QUESTION: One of the ways you get to universal -- you say universal healthcare -- is with this requirement that individuals buy health insurance, carry health insurance.

Senator Fred Thompson took aim at that idea on his website. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

What's your response?

CLINTON: Well, he has said a lot of things. In fact, we're going to work with the Congress to figure out how to make this concept a shared responsibility, workable, practical, enforceable.

I have no preconceptions about how's the best way to do it. But unless we have shared...

QUESTION: But that is one of the ways to do it, isn't it?

CLINTON: Well, there are a lot of ways to do it and, obviously, what is happening in Massachusetts, what's being considered in California will inform our thinking.

Look, there are only a couple of ways to get universal healthcare. Everybody knows that. The Democrats are all united. We have similar plans, with some variations among us, but we are all committed to doing what we must do.

I'm waiting for any Republican candidate to come out with a plan that can be really scrutinized, that we can ask hard questions about. It seems as though they're in the "just say no" category and I don't think that's good for the country.

So I actually look forward to debating in the general election over whether, when, how we can achieve universal healthcare, because I believe that if you listen to business, if you listen to labor, if you listen to doctors, nurses, hospitals and, more importantly, families in America, they're saying "This just doesn't add up. You mean, we're the richest country, we're a smart country, and we can't figure out how to put together the pieces to provide quality, affordable healthcare."

I reject that. And what the president has proposed, what some of the Republican candidates running for president have talked about is totally unworkable. It'll increase the number of uninsured. It'll continue to raise costs.

So tell them to put their plans out on the table and then we'll join the debate.

QUESTION: I will when they...

CLINTON: But "just say no" or to kind of cast aspersions on what we on the Democratic side are going to do is just not going to cut it in this election year.

QUESTION: Would illegal immigrants be covered under your plan?

CLINTON: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you that time, George.

QUESTION: Would illegal immigrants be covered under your plan?

CLINTON: Illegal immigrants...

QUESTION: Yes.

CLINTON: ... would not be covered. No, they would not be covered. I will continue to have a safety net, which I think is in the best traditions of our country and, also, for public health reasons, absolutely necessary.

But we did not cover them in '93-'94 and my plan does not cover them now.

QUESTION: Let me turn to the issues of national security and I want to get into it with -- by showing you a moment from the Emmy Awards last week, believe it or not. You may have seen it. Sally Field won an Emmy Award. She plays a mom who's son is sent off to Afghanistan and she accepted the award with this tribute to mothers.

Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

Are mothers less likely to take nations to war?

CLINTON: Well, George, we've had women in positions of leadership in countries around the world. Some have, some haven't. I think it's more important that the person make the right decisions about what we should be doing.

And it's not only mothers, but fathers, husbands, wives, children, loved ones who are waiting and hoping that their son, daughter, husband, wife come home safely.

That's why I'm so much in favor and pushing hard to begin to withdraw our troops from Iraq.

This is the great debate that we're having in the country and it seems as though the country is on one side and the White House and the Republicans in the Senate are on another side.

And I think we've got to make some decisions here that will extricate us from Iraq. But if the president doesn't do that before he leaves office, when I'm president, I will.

QUESTION: You've said that several times. But, you know, a group of us met with the president last week and it was clear from that meeting that he thinks whoever succeeds him is going to play Eisenhower to his Truman, rail against the foreign policies during the campaign, but then maintain them in some form once that person becomes president.

And you have said that we are going to need a continuing presence in Iraq to do several things, to complete several missions. So that does mean that there will be thousands of U.S. troops throughout your presidency, if you win, isn't that correct?

CLINTON: Well, if you look at the proposals that I have voted for since 2005, that I voted for again just last week, Senator Feingold's proposal, we are trying to withdraw in a responsible way.

I've been in the midst of this since last spring when I asked the Pentagon to tell us whether or not they were planning for a withdrawal, because I had been told by many of my friends in the military, both active duty and retired, that there wasn't sufficient planning going on.

Clearly, withdrawing is dangerous. It has to be done responsibly, prudently, carefully, but we have said that there will be a likely continuing mission against Al Qaida in Iraq. We have to protect our civilian employees, our embassy that will be there.

We also, if there is a continuing opportunity to really train and help stand up, as they say, the Iraqi army, as General Jones reported in his commission report, that may be a continuing commitment. And I have long said we need to make sure we protect the Kurds both from problems from the Arabs in Iraq and protect them from themselves when it comes to ending terrorism that might emanate from their territory.

So I think that there are some limited missions, but the numbers we're talking about are very much smaller than what we have there, and the missions would be better...

QUESTION: Certainly...

CLINTON: ... the missions would be better defined. I mean, one of our problems is the changing mission definition that this president has been unable and unwilling to put forth.

QUESTION: Excuse me. The estimates I've seen of those missions, even those limited missions, you're still talking about anywhere from 40,000 to 75,000 troops for many years.

CLINTON: Well, I don't think that's accurate. I'm not going to be speculating about troop strength. I've said that the day I'm elected president, I will be asking my secretary of defense, my national security advisors, the joint chiefs to brief me about what actually the state of planning is, because we're having some difficulties really understanding what they're doing over in the Pentagon, under the White House's direction.

And then we will begin to withdraw our troops, but it has to be done, as I said, in a responsible, careful manner. We don't know what we're going to inherit. None of us do. We don't know what's going to be done in the last 15 months of the Bush-Cheney administration.

Obviously, as president, I will have to take all of that into account and try to make the very best decisions I have. But there is no doubt, in my mind, we're going to be withdrawing from Iraq, because the Iraqi government has not fulfilled its part of the bargain, which was to make the tough political decisions.

And, frankly, the Bush administration hasn't fulfilled its diplomatic responsibilities either. So all of this has to be pulled together. I hope it happens in the next 15 months, but if it doesn't, it will happen immediately upon my becoming president.

QUESTION: Can you pledge that all U.S. troops will be home over the course of your first term as president?

CLINTON: You know, I'm not going to get into hypotheticals and make pledges, because I don't know what I'm going to inherit, George.

I don't know and neither do any of us know what will be the situation in the region. How much more aggressive will Iran have become? What will be happening in the Middle East? How much more of an influence will the chaos in Iraq have in terms of what's going on in the greater region? Will we have pushed Al Qaida in Iraq out of their stronghold with our new partnership with some of the tribal sheikhs or will they have regrouped and retrenched?

I don't know and I think it's not appropriate to be speculating. I can tell you my general principals and my goal. I want to end the war in Iraq. I want to do so carefully, responsibly, with the withdrawal of our troops, also, with the withdrawal of a lot of our civilian employees, the contractors who are there, and the Iraqis who have sided with us.

We have a huge humanitarian refugee crisis on our hands. We have millions of Iraqis who have been displaced, some internally, some into other countries.

The problems we're going to face because of the failed policies and the poor decision-making of this administration are rather extraordinary and difficult and I don't want to speculate about how we're going to be approaching it until I actually have the facts in my hand and the authority to be able to make some decisions.

QUESTION: Let me ask you a question about your past votes. You've said on several occasions that your vote for the Iraq war resolution was not a vote for war, but was intended to demonstrate the support for going to the United Nations.

But as you know, a lot of your Democratic colleagues disagree. They thought it was a vote for war and Senator Levin offered an alternative resolution that would have required the president to go to the United Nations and come back to Congress if they failed to get a resolution.

If you wanted to demonstrate support for going to the United Nations, why didn't you vote for that Levin amendment?

CLINTON: For several reasons. First, historical reasons, you might recall that when my husband wanted to go and do what was necessary to end ethnic cleansing and to stop the spread of violence in Europe, he tried to get Congressional approval and, under the Republican Congress, was unable to do so.

He thought it important to put together a coalition for Bosnia and Kosovo, which he did. I think that there has to be a delicate balance here. I don't believe we should give veto power to the United Nations or any international group, although I certainly favor being involved in and working with and building up international...

QUESTION: Senator Levin denied that that was giving the...

CLINTON: ... forces and groups. Well, that is how I assessed it at the time and, you know, we had a disagreement at the time. I've said on many occasions I made a sincere decision based on my best assessment of the evidence at the time.

Obviously, if I had known then what President Bush would have done, I would not have voted to give him the authority.

But the real issue now is what do we do going forward. We still have Americans dying. We still have Iraqis dying. We have Americans being injured. We have a deterioration in the condition on the ground.

We've got Shiite militias fighting in the south. We've got ethnic cleansing in Baghdad. We've got Al Qaida in Iraq.

We have all kinds of problems right now and I don't see this administration and their allies in the Congress really facing up to the very difficult decisions that I think we should be addressing.

QUESTION: How about the broader war on terror? Back after 9/11, President Bush came to the Congress and gave a message to the world. He said, "You're either for us or against us," and then he continued in this vein.

(VIDEO CLIP)

That became known as the "Bush doctrine." Would it also be the Clinton doctrine?

CLINTON: Well, George, it's hard to separate an alleged doctrine from its implementation. Unfortunately, in my view, the president has alienated both our friends and emboldened our enemies.

I think we have to be serious about the threat of global terrorism, but I believe that, by now, we should have concluded that we cannot effectively combat global terrorism unless we have people rooting for us all over the world, unless we have people who are willing to turn to their own law enforcement and intelligence agencies in order to report and prevent attacks and their planning.

So I think we've got to get back to doing what America historically has done very well -- leading with our values, as well as our strength.

I think we can be both strong and smart and I know we've got a lot of repair work to do around the world. We have, unfortunately, set so many people against us that we need now to be working with us.

I'm going to be very tough on terrorism. As a Senator from New York, I mean, that is something that I care deeply, passionately about. The first obligation of a president is to protect and defend the United States of American and I believe we can be smarter about how we pursue terrorists around the world and protect ourselves here at home.

But we've got to make it clear to those who would permit or even encourage terrorists against us, our friends or our allies, that, yes, we're going to take actions against them and we've got to enlist more people in this struggle.

This is not just the terrorists against us. This is the terrorists against all kinds of people across the world, and we've got to have a better sense of international commitment and alliance.

QUESTION: Mayor Giuliani came at you pretty hard this week on several fronts and your national campaign co-chair, former Governor Tom Vilsack of Ohio, went back at Mayor Giuliani. This was on "New York One." Listen.

(VIDEO CLIP)

Was that a brush-back pitch?

CLINTON: You know, Governor Vilsack has said that he was wrong in saying that and I agree, he was. We are not running a campaign that goes down that road.

We're trying to stay focused on the issues, stay focused on the differences between me and the Republicans. We're mostly focused on figuring out how we can try to help end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home, because I think that this election is a real turning point election.

We've got to have a great debate in this country about what our next president will do, what kinds of decisions will be made. There's a lot of economic uncertainty in America right now, for good reason, because a lot of people feel like they're not getting ahead. They're falling further behind.

So on healthcare, on the economy, on education, on all of the issues that I'm talking about in my campaign, I look forward to really joining the debate with the Republicans and whomever my Republican opponent is, that's what we're going to be talking about.

QUESTION: Mayor Giuliani also hit you pretty hard for failing early on to condemn that MOVEON.ORG, which called General Petraeus "General Betray Us."

Why not speak out earlier?

CLINTON: I don't condone attacks on any American who has served our country honorably and with dedication the way General Petraeus has. I've said over many years how much I admire him, respect him. He's been dealt a difficult hand and he's doing the best job he can under the circumstances.

I also don't condone attacks on great Americans like Max Cleland and John Kerry, who have also served our country. But this is not a debate about an ad. This is a debate about ending the war in Iraq. You know, as usually, I think the Republicans, because they continue to support the failed policy of this president, are looking for any way to change the subject.

Well, we're not going to let them. You know, they continue to vote in the Congress to support President Bush and his policies and we are going to do everything we can to change them.

Now, if we cannot change the policies, we're going to do whatever we can to build the consensus in the country to elect a Democratic president in the White House -- obviously, I hope it's me -- so that we can begin to end President Bush's war.

QUESTION: Let me ask you a question about campaign finance and Norman Hsu. We're going to show him now. Of course, he's the gentleman who's now been arrested. You had to return about $850,000 that he raised for your campaign.

And I know that you returned the money, but a lot of people look at this and say they're afraid that they're going to go back to the days of 1996, where there were some campaign finance violations that many Democrats feel cost President Clinton a couple of points in the final days of the election.

How do you assure them that's not going to happen again?

CLINTON: Well, George, this was an unfortunate situation. My campaign and about two dozen other campaigns looked hard at our donors. We always do.

We all missed this. We missed the fact that there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. As soon as we found out, we took action.

I think that we've done all we can do at these point, including returning the money. But I believe that the only answer to this entire set of circumstances is public financing, something that I strongly support, that I'm going to try to do when I'm president, because there is no doubt that the cost of campaigns, particularly to try to get on television with our advertising and all the things that people have to do in a modern campaign are just out of control.

It's not good...

QUESTION: Will you cosponsor...

CLINTON: ... for the country and it's not good for the system.

QUESTION: Will you cosponsor the legislation on public financing that Senator Obama has introduced?

CLINTON: I'm going to cosponsor anything that looks like it can move us in that direction, because my view on this is we're not going to get anything done at this point with the president, with, unfortunately, a Republican minority that engages in filibustering, but we're going to try to build a commitment to doing it.

There are some ideological, philosophical, even constitutional objections, but I think we can overcome those and I don't see any choice. We've got to do it.

Otherwise, the campaigns are going to continue to do the very best we can. We've even added additional background check work that we think is called for.

But at the end of the day, we should be moving toward public financing.

QUESTION: You know, Senator, we're just about out of time. I just want to ask you one final question.

You've seen the presidency from a perspective unlike any first-time candidate ever in America history, up close unlike any first-time candidacy in presidential history.

So you know a lot about being president, but what is something that you don't know, that only a president can know?

CLINTON: Well, George, as you have just said, I've seen the presidency in a very front row seat on history way and I know how hard this job is and, you know, you read books about it, you can think hard about it and, of course, people running for president do.

But it is hard to be prepared for the pressure cooker that the American presidency is today. We have only one person in our country who represents both our state and our government. Most countries divide those responsibilities.

So you're the symbolic head of state and you are running the government. And every single day that goes by, the pressures increase with a 24/7 media environment, with all of the advances in communication. You have to be grounded. You have to know what you believe. You have to be guided by what you think are the right principles for your country.

But there is still no predicting what is going to happen on your watch. And, you know, I know how hard it is and I think following President Bush, with some of the problems we have, will make it especially hard.

But I'm also confident and optimistic that our country can rise to this challenge. I wouldn't be running if I didn't think that I was the person at this point in our history who could summons that extraordinary resilience and commitment from America again.

And I think that we will be able to start both repairing the damage, but, more importantly, starting to act like Americans, solving our problems, restoring our leadership in the world, and that's what I look forward to.

QUESTION: Senator Clinton, thanks very much for your time this morning.

CLINTON: Great to talk to you, George.

(END)
==========================================================================================

On today's edition of CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," Senator Hillary Clinton, democrat of New York and presidential candidate, spoke about Iraq, Iran, the MoveOn.org advertisement in The New York Times, and criticism from both parties on her recently unveiled health care plan. Highlighted excerpts are below, and a full transcript follows.

MANDATORY CREDIT: CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer”

C

Highlighted Excerpts

On the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq

CLINTON: I think what has become clear though, Wolf, is that the president has no intention of changing his policy in Iraq. He is now talking about leaving it to his successor. And as our system works, as you well know, if a president vetoes or a president has enough members of his party to stand in the way, even if you have a majority, although as small as ours is, you can't get it done… So it is frustrating, there is no doubt that the country voted for change in Iraq. The president still, under our system, has sufficient authority and support to avoid making those changes. That is why I have said that if he does not extricate us from Iraq before the end of his term, when I am president, I will, as quickly and responsibly as I can.

On MoveOn.org’s advertisement in The New York Times

CLINTON: I have voted against it. I mean, I've voted for Senator Boxer's resolution, which condemned that attack, and also condemned the attacks on Senator Cleland and Senator Kerry. I don't condone it. I voted to condemn it.

But again, I would underscore, let's be clear what's going on here. This is an effort to focus on an ad that I condemned and don't condone in order to avoid having to deal with the tough questions about our policy in Iraq. The policy has failed. The president was able to hang on to it because he has enough Republican support. It's going to be an issue in the '08 election, and I hope that we will be electing more Democrats, because that is the way to really change direction in our country.

On Iran’s role in Iraq

BLITZER: Do you believe, as General Petraeus testified, that Iranians are supplying sophisticated weaponry to their allies in Iraq that winds up killing American soldiers?

CLINTON: Yes, I believe that Iran is playing a very dangerous game in Iraq in supporting all kinds of groups, to attack our forces, to destabilize the Iraqi government, to further their goals in Iraq. I believe that includes the provision of weapons and training.

So this is one of the results of the policies that have been pursued by the Bush administration, that Iran is in a much stronger position today than it was, and we've got to have a united international front against Iran, and most especially against Iran acquiring the capacity for nuclear weapons.

I believe there's a bipartisan consensus, and I think we've got to be smarter about how we try to implement it. It will remain one of my principal concerns. I've spoken out about it for several years, and I will continue to try to do what I can as senator, and certainly when I become president, to prevent Iran from having the threat of influence that it is now enjoying, not only vis-a-vis Iraq, but with Hezbollah and Lebanon, now supporting Hamas in Gaza. We've got to get back to, you know, being smart and strong, not just throwing our weight around and seeing the situation deteriorate, as it has over the last years.

On Columbia University inviting Iranian President Ahmadinejad to speak

CLINTON: Well, if I were a president of the university, I would not have invited him. He's a Holocaust denier. He's a supporter of terrorism. But I also respect the right in our country to make different decisions.

I thought Ground Zero, which called for public support to the NYPD and the city, was clearly out of bounds. So I think that we have to do everything we can to undermine his standing, his position, his leadership, his demagoguery, but I think the way to do that is by building an international coalition with enforceable sanctions and a strong diplomatic effort, and that's what I'm focused on.

On Rudy Giuliani’s criticism Clinton’s recently unveiled health care plan

CLINTON: Well, you know, the Republicans were attacking my plan before it ever came out. And back to the same old tired rhetoric.

This is not government-run health care. This creates not a single new government bureaucracy. This is the American Health Choices plan. If you're satisfied with what you have, you keep it. But if you're one of the 47 million uninsured Americans, or one of the millions more with insurance except when you need it, the insurance company won't pay your doctor or your hospital for your treatment, then this is a very great opportunity for you to have the same choices that members of Congress do.

We're going to open up the congressional plan to every American. We're going to give you access to that health choices menu. And if it's not affordable, we're going to provide health care tax credits, and also to small business, so that they can play a greater role.

In addition, we're going to modernize our system through the use of electronic medical records, better care of chronic care patients. Because right now, Wolf, we spend more than anybody in the world by 50 percent, we don't always get the best outcomes. And I challenge the Republicans to come forth with a plan that will cover every American, control costs and improve quality. That is what my plan will do. And I'm waiting to see what their plans are.

On the Edwards’ criticism of her health care plan

BLITZER: Elizabeth Edwards and her husband, John Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidate, they say basically that you have just copied Senator Edwards' plan and that is what you are doing. Do you want to respond to that?

CLINTON: Well, I have been for universal health care covered for 14 years. And I have worked to try to make progress by helping to design and pass a children's health insurance program and extend health care coverage to the families of our National Guard and Reserves. And I welcome everyone to the fight for quality affordable health care for everyone.

I think it is important that the Democrats are all on the same page. We all want to have a system that covers everybody. The Republicans don't. And that is a great divide. But I am very happy to have as many allies as possible in this fight I have been waging for 14 years.

You know, it was a kind of lonely struggle back then.

Full Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Clinton, thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to LATE EDITION.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you so much for having me, Wolf. I'm glad to be with you.

BLITZER: As you know, a lot of people believe the Democrats won the majority in the Senate and the House, the primary responsibility they say you had was to end this war in Iraq. It has been now almost a year since you have become the majority. You have failed in this mission. I'm referring to all the Democrats, not you necessarily personally.

What happened? Why can't you stop this war?

CLINTON: Well, Wolf, I think it is clear that the country wants to extricate us from Iraq and bring our troops home. The Democrats certainly do, and a few Republicans are willing to side with us.

But in order to get anything, you have got to have the votes to do it. And I'm very proud of the Democratic majority. We have consistently voted to try to change the policy in Iraq.

Unfortunately, we have most of the Republicans in the Senate continuing to side with the president. That has meant that we have not been able to pass what we need to with the 60 votes necessary to send something to the president.

Of course, he has said he would veto it. I think what has become…

BLITZER: But, Senator, you have the…

CLINTON: I think what has become clear though, Wolf, is that the president has no intention of changing his policy in Iraq. He is now talking about leaving it to his successor. And as our system works, as you well know, if a president vetoes or a president has enough members of his party to stand in the way, even if you have a majority, although as small as ours is, you can't get it done.

Now the answer for this is, let's elect more Democrats in 2008. That will help solve the problem.

BLITZER: But you do have the power of the purse. You could simply stop funding the Pentagon. You could stop funding the war if you wanted to, to

make your point, which you have avoided doing as the Democrats as a whole.

CLINTON: Well, I have, as you know, starting last spring-early summer, voted against continued funding for the war because I have reached the conclusion that the best way to support our troops is begin bringing them home.

And I don't believe we should continue to vote for funding that has an open-ended commitment, that has no pressure on the Iraqi government to make the tough political decisions they have to make, or which really gives any urgency to the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts.

So I have reached that conclusion. And I think that it is unfortunate because we know that even if we are successful on that, the president will veto it. So it is frustrating, there is no doubt that the country voted for change in Iraq. The president still, under our system, has sufficient authority and support to avoid making those changes. That is why I have said that if he does not extricate us from Iraq before the end of his term, when I am president, I will, as quickly and responsibly as I can.

BLITZER: Here is what the president said the other day about how the war is going right now. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some say the gains we are making in Iraq come too late. They are mistaken. It is never too late to deal a blow to Al Qaida. It is never too late to advance freedom. And it is never too late to support our troops in a fight they can win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Senator Clinton, Al Qaida may not have been in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, but they are certainly there now, almost everyone agrees on that. Does the president have a point when he says the United States must stay in Iraq, in part at least, to fight Al Qaida?

CLINTON: Let me make three points about this, Wolf. Number one, there is no doubt that everyone agrees, except perhaps the president, there is no military solution in Iraq. That has been the constant refrain from military and other experts, that in the absence of the political decisions being made, you might have tactical gains on the ground, but you are not going to create a stable, secure Iraq.

Number two, I give great credit to our men and women in uniform. And their change in tactics, their focusing on particularly al Anbar province, going after Al Qaida in Iraq, allied with some of the Sunni tribal sheiks, has produced some results.

But it is only tactical. Even those who are implementing this policy of the president's cannot tell us it will make America more safe, nor that it will lead to the kind of political decision-making that we have to expect from the Iraqis themselves.

And thirdly, I think that the failure of this policy, which has exacted such a toll on our forces in terms of deaths and injuries on the Iraqis, on the region, empowering and emboldening Iran, cannot be addressed in just a focus on the military side.

So if you give the president everything that he is claiming, that yes, we are now after Al Qaida; and yes, we now have a new alliance, the south is increasingly under Iranian influence, the British have withdrawn to a base, sectarian militias are fighting for advantage, Baghdad has been ethnically cleansed…

BLITZER: But on the issue -- excuse me for interrupting, Senator. On the issue of Al Qaida in Iraq, if you were president, would you still retain troops in Iraq to fight Al Qaida there?

CLINTON: Well, I have voted for that. That is one of the remaining missions, Wolf. I have voted for a remaining mission bringing home our -- the bulk of our combat troops, but doing what we can to continue the counterterrorism effort against Al Qaida in Iraq, protecting our embassy and our civilian employees.

If the Iraqis change in accord with some of the recommendations by General Jones and his commission, continuing a training mission, and I have added, doing what we can to protect the Kurds. Those are among the limited missions that I think are really merited, and that I and others have continued to vote for. I voted for most of that just this week, when I voted for Senator Feingold's amendment, to try to set a date to begin withdrawing our troops.

So there is no doubt that if we're making progress against Al Qaida in Iraq, we want to continue that, but we don't need 160,000 plus troops to do that, and the mission has to change. And that seems to be what the president really refuses to do.

BLITZER: The president also this week blasted Democrats for in effect supporting or at least remaining silent in the face of that Moveon.org "New York Times" ad questioning General David Petraeus's -- General David Betray Us. Listen to what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like Moveon.org, or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal.

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BLITZER: Is the president right?

CLINTON: Well, I thought it was pretty sorry when his campaign attacked Senator Kerry's record of service, and I thought it was pretty sorry when the Republicans attacked Senator Cleland.

I don't condone attacks by anyone on the patriotism and service of our military. I am an admirer of General Petraeus, as I've said on numerous occasions. I don't condone it, and I joined in voting for a resolution that condemned such attacks.

But let's be clear here. This debate should not be about an ad. This debate should be about the president's failed policies. The Republicans are very good at coming up with political strategies, but unfortunately, they don't seem to have a very adequate grasp of military or geopolitical strategies that will forward America's standing, position, values and interests in the world.

So I think we ought to stay focused on what's important -- the war in Iraq -- and not allow this debate to go off track. And I look forward to continuing to debate what we should be doing in Iraq, and I would invite the Republicans to join in that debate.

BLITZER: But quickly, do you want to disassociate yourself from that Moveon.org ad?

CLINTON: I have voted against it. I mean, I've voted for Senator Boxer's resolution, which condemned that attack, and also condemned the attacks on Senator Cleland and Senator Kerry. I don't condone it. I voted to condemn it.

But again, I would underscore, let's be clear what's going on here. This is an effort to focus on an ad that I condemned and don't condone in order to avoid having to deal with the tough questions about our policy in Iraq. The policy has failed. The president was able to hang on to it because he has enough Republican support. It's going to be an issue in the '08 election, and I hope that we will be electing more Democrats, because that is the way to really change direction in our country.

BLITZER: Do you believe, as General Petraeus testified, that Iranians are supplying sophisticated weaponry to their allies in Iraq that winds up killing American soldiers?

CLINTON: Yes, I believe that Iran is playing a very dangerous game in Iraq in supporting all kinds of groups, to attack our forces, to destabilize the Iraqi government, to further their goals in Iraq. I believe that includes the provision of weapons and training.

So this is one of the results of the policies that have been pursued by the Bush administration, that Iran is in a much stronger position today than it was, and we've got to have a united international front against Iran, and most especially against Iran acquiring the capacity for nuclear weapons.

I believe there's a bipartisan consensus, and I think we've got to be smarter about how we try to implement it. It will remain one of my principal concerns. I've spoken out about it for several years, and I will continue to try to do what I can as senator, and certainly when I become president, to prevent Iran from having the threat of influence that it is now enjoying, not only vis-a-vis Iraq, but with Hezbollah and Lebanon, now supporting Hamas in Gaza. We've got to get back to, you know, being smart and strong, not just throwing our weight around and seeing the situation deteriorate, as it has over the last years.

BLITZER: So with that in mind, was it a good idea for Columbia University to invite the leader of Iran, President Ahmadinejad, to come and deliver a lecture there this week?

CLINTON: Well, that's a decision the university has to make. I was very much opposed to permitting him to go to Ground Zero. I thought that would have been a travesty, and I am pleased that will not happen.

But the real issue here is how do we get an international coalition to stand with us against Iran's efforts to expand its influence and to obtain nuclear weapons? And I think that we haven't handled that under the Bush policy as well as we could. I hope we're going to try to make up for some lost time in the next 15 months. When President Bush outsourced our policy on Iran to the British, the French and the Germans, I thought that was a mistake.

We've lost valuable time...

BLITZER: Senator...

CLINTON: ... and we've of course undermined our credibility. We need to rebuild our position in the world.

BLITZER: When you say it's a decision that the Columbia University should make, what do you think, though? Is it appropriate for an American university to invite the president of Iran, who's got a well known record on a lot of issues, to be received there and to deliver a speech?

CLINTON: Well, if I were a president of the university, I would not have invited him. He's a Holocaust denier. He's a supporter of terrorism.

But I also respect the right in our country to make different decisions.

I thought Ground Zero, which called for public support to the NYPD and the city, was clearly out of bounds. So I think that we have to do everything we can to undermine his sta