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American Morning
Interview with Senator Joe Lieberman
Aired January 23, 2004 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Joe Lieberman skipped the Iowa caucuses to focus specifically on the primary in New Hampshire primary. The Connecticut senator is now with us live, also in Manchester.
Good morning, Senator. How are you?
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D-CT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, good morning, Bill. I'm good. I feel good about last night's debate.
HEMMER: Oh, you do feel good. Why is that?
LIEBERMAN: I just thought it was the best performance I've had in any of the debates. I made clear who I am. I'm independent. I'm experienced. I'm going to tell people what I believe. I'm the toughest Democrat that the Republicans could run against, because I'm socially progressive. I'm a fighter for a better life here at home -- education, health care, jobs. But they're going to never be able to run their typical anti-Democratic campaign against me for being weak on defense or silent on values or flip-flop or big taxes.
HEMMER: So, you like...
LIEBERMAN: Because I'm none of those things, so I felt good.
HEMMER: Yes, you felt good about the debate last night. The polling, though, indicates something completely otherwise. You've practically moved to Manchester with your wife, taking out an apartment there. What explains why you're still mired in single digits?
LIEBERMAN: This thing is wide open, and I believe that what I said last night, showing who I am, is going to begin a popular uprising here in New Hampshire that will be comparable to what happened in Iowa a week ago.
Look, almost half of the voters tell everybody that they haven't made up their minds of who they're going to vote for. And I've said from the beginning that I didn't have to win this one, I was going to do better than expected, and then go on to the primaries in the south, Midwest, and southwest the week after. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm the Democrat who can...
HEMMER: Senator, if I could interject here.
LIEBERMAN: Go ahead, Bill.
HEMMER: You talk about a popular uprising in the state of New Hampshire. Nothing reflects that right now. What are you basing that on?
LIEBERMAN: I'm basing it on what I hear, and I am telling you that I'm putting my confidence in the voters of this state. They are independent-minded. They generally don't follow Iowa. Independents are going to vote. They're going to play a critical role here in addition, of course, to Democrats.
They know these are serious times. They want a leader, a president, who is serious, strong, and will trust them enough to level with them and to run a government that will be there for them when they and their families need help. And that's me.
I think they also want somebody who can bring people together and get over the partisan division, and I'm the one who can appeal to Independents and even some disgruntled Republicans to actually win this election.
HEMMER: In the short time I have here, let me try and get two other points, quickly. General Clark stood next you to last night...
LIEBERMAN: Sure.
HEMMER: ... and he said, and I'm going to quote right now -- "Before 9/11, this president, President Bush, did not do everything he could have done to keep this country safe."
Do you agree with that statement, that inference that 9/11 could not have been prevented? And did anyone in Washington see planes being flown into the World Trade Center prior to that day?
LIEBERMAN: Look, I think the suggestions by different candidates of personal blame for September 11 are not justified by the facts. I think we can all look back and say over the years a lot was not done to prevent what happened.
The important thing is what: Are we going to do now? I mean, that's why a month after September 11 I wrote the homeland security bill to better organize our defenses. It's why John McCain and I put in a bill to investigate September 11 with an independent commission, so we know what failed so we can make sure it didn't fail again.
I think in this critical area, where we're fighting terrorists to protect our people here at home, it's better to figure out what we can do now to protect the American people from people who hate us so much that they give their lives to express that hate, not to get into a lot of blame gaming.
HEMMER: Senator, listen, I don't have much time left for this. But as a Jew, do you believe the construction of the security wall in Israel is the right path to peace?
LIEBERMAN: I'm running for president, Bill, as an American, not who happens to be Jewish. So, the question, I believe, is inappropriate.
I'm going to give you my answer as an Americans. Israel is our closest ally. They are fighting terrorists. I believe we should respect their right to do what is necessary, as we have in our war against terrorism, to defend themselves against terrorists. The wall will help.
We have a right as their ally to talk to them about where that wall goes, but the aim here is peace, a two-state solution. This wall is temporary. As president, I will push to achieve the kind of progress that President Bush has not been able to achieve, and then the wall will come down.
HEMMER: In short, Senator, do you approve of it? So, you approve of the construction at this point, is that what you're saying?
LIEBERMAN: I want to be very clear. Israel has a right, as we do, to defend themselves against terrorism. The wall between Gaza and Israel has worked to stop suicide bombers. The wall is temporary. What has to stop is the terrorism. When it does, the United States will obviously pressure both parties to take the steps that they must take for peace.
But I want to repeat, it's the American way not to judge candidates by their faith, but by their policies.
HEMMER: Thank you, Senator.
LIEBERMAN: That's the way we do it in this country, and that's the way I know the American people will judge me.
HEMMER: Joe Lieberman in Manchester, thank you. We'll see you soon up there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 23, 2004 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Joe Lieberman skipped the Iowa caucuses to focus specifically on the primary in New Hampshire primary. The Connecticut senator is now with us live, also in Manchester.
Good morning, Senator. How are you?
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D-CT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, good morning, Bill. I'm good. I feel good about last night's debate.
HEMMER: Oh, you do feel good. Why is that?
LIEBERMAN: I just thought it was the best performance I've had in any of the debates. I made clear who I am. I'm independent. I'm experienced. I'm going to tell people what I believe. I'm the toughest Democrat that the Republicans could run against, because I'm socially progressive. I'm a fighter for a better life here at home -- education, health care, jobs. But they're going to never be able to run their typical anti-Democratic campaign against me for being weak on defense or silent on values or flip-flop or big taxes.
HEMMER: So, you like...
LIEBERMAN: Because I'm none of those things, so I felt good.
HEMMER: Yes, you felt good about the debate last night. The polling, though, indicates something completely otherwise. You've practically moved to Manchester with your wife, taking out an apartment there. What explains why you're still mired in single digits?
LIEBERMAN: This thing is wide open, and I believe that what I said last night, showing who I am, is going to begin a popular uprising here in New Hampshire that will be comparable to what happened in Iowa a week ago.
Look, almost half of the voters tell everybody that they haven't made up their minds of who they're going to vote for. And I've said from the beginning that I didn't have to win this one, I was going to do better than expected, and then go on to the primaries in the south, Midwest, and southwest the week after. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm the Democrat who can...
HEMMER: Senator, if I could interject here.
LIEBERMAN: Go ahead, Bill.
HEMMER: You talk about a popular uprising in the state of New Hampshire. Nothing reflects that right now. What are you basing that on?
LIEBERMAN: I'm basing it on what I hear, and I am telling you that I'm putting my confidence in the voters of this state. They are independent-minded. They generally don't follow Iowa. Independents are going to vote. They're going to play a critical role here in addition, of course, to Democrats.
They know these are serious times. They want a leader, a president, who is serious, strong, and will trust them enough to level with them and to run a government that will be there for them when they and their families need help. And that's me.
I think they also want somebody who can bring people together and get over the partisan division, and I'm the one who can appeal to Independents and even some disgruntled Republicans to actually win this election.
HEMMER: In the short time I have here, let me try and get two other points, quickly. General Clark stood next you to last night...
LIEBERMAN: Sure.
HEMMER: ... and he said, and I'm going to quote right now -- "Before 9/11, this president, President Bush, did not do everything he could have done to keep this country safe."
Do you agree with that statement, that inference that 9/11 could not have been prevented? And did anyone in Washington see planes being flown into the World Trade Center prior to that day?
LIEBERMAN: Look, I think the suggestions by different candidates of personal blame for September 11 are not justified by the facts. I think we can all look back and say over the years a lot was not done to prevent what happened.
The important thing is what: Are we going to do now? I mean, that's why a month after September 11 I wrote the homeland security bill to better organize our defenses. It's why John McCain and I put in a bill to investigate September 11 with an independent commission, so we know what failed so we can make sure it didn't fail again.
I think in this critical area, where we're fighting terrorists to protect our people here at home, it's better to figure out what we can do now to protect the American people from people who hate us so much that they give their lives to express that hate, not to get into a lot of blame gaming.
HEMMER: Senator, listen, I don't have much time left for this. But as a Jew, do you believe the construction of the security wall in Israel is the right path to peace?
LIEBERMAN: I'm running for president, Bill, as an American, not who happens to be Jewish. So, the question, I believe, is inappropriate.
I'm going to give you my answer as an Americans. Israel is our closest ally. They are fighting terrorists. I believe we should respect their right to do what is necessary, as we have in our war against terrorism, to defend themselves against terrorists. The wall will help.
We have a right as their ally to talk to them about where that wall goes, but the aim here is peace, a two-state solution. This wall is temporary. As president, I will push to achieve the kind of progress that President Bush has not been able to achieve, and then the wall will come down.
HEMMER: In short, Senator, do you approve of it? So, you approve of the construction at this point, is that what you're saying?
LIEBERMAN: I want to be very clear. Israel has a right, as we do, to defend themselves against terrorism. The wall between Gaza and Israel has worked to stop suicide bombers. The wall is temporary. What has to stop is the terrorism. When it does, the United States will obviously pressure both parties to take the steps that they must take for peace.
But I want to repeat, it's the American way not to judge candidates by their faith, but by their policies.
HEMMER: Thank you, Senator.
LIEBERMAN: That's the way we do it in this country, and that's the way I know the American people will judge me.
HEMMER: Joe Lieberman in Manchester, thank you. We'll see you soon up there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
