John Kerry on CNN’s Late Edition (TRANSCRIPT & VIDEO)

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry on CNN’s Late Edition (TRANSCRIPT & VIDEO)
December 3rd, 2006 @ 11:14 am

John Kerry was on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer this morning continuing his media blitz from earlier in the week to discuss the current situation in Iraq and the latest news about Iraq. Kerry and Blitzer discussed the leaked Rumsfeld memo, John McCain’s call for more troops on the ground and touched more on the recent news about the findings of the Iraq Study Group. Kerry pointed out that everything in the Rumsfeld memo is in effect “a summary of things that I and others laid out three years ago.”

Rumsfeld wrote in his November 5 memo, “Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.” His “unusually expansive memo also laid out a series of 21 possible courses of action regarding Iraq strategy, including many that would transform the U.S. occupation.”

When I read the news on the memo late last night, I saw clearly, as Kerry stated today, that much of what Rumsfeld had noted was indeed a summary of what John Kerry (and others) have been saying for some time. it was another Kerry was right moment.



The transcript of John Kerry on CNN’s Late Edition is as follows:

BLITZER: Joining us now, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. The former Democratic nominee for president and influential member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thanks for coming in.

KERRY: Glad to be with you.

BLITZER: Well, what do you think of what the president just said, that we’re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done? There’s not going to be, in his words, “a graceful exit” out of Iraq.

KERRY: Well, I think every American hopes that indeed there will be a graceful exit. And that’s what this last election was about. It really was a resounding vote for change in our policy in Iraq.

KERRY : And I think everything that you’re seeing — the Hadley memo that was leaked, now the Rumsfeld memo that was leaked — they all indicate that in fact, there was very different thinking inside the administration than the administration has been sharing with the American public.

BLITZER: And you welcome that.

KERRY : Well, I welcome — I mean, these are things — look, everything in the Rumsfeld memo is a summary of things that I and others laid out three years ago. I mean, Wolf, this is rather extraordinary. We’ve had young Americans on the front lines losing lives and limbs for the last three years while many of us have been offering alternatives for a way to be successful, and the administration has consistently shut that down.

Now we see they’re embracing the very things that we talked about. I’m glad. What’s important now is not the leaks. What’s important is the policy. We have to get this right, as a country. I think King Abdullah’s warning…

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=4873#more-4873

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. Nice smackdown of McCain's insane "more troops" strategy

Great interview, thanks for posting!

[ProSense]

11. Speaking of McCain

DUer Beachmom posted this must-read diary at Kos:

Kerry smacks down McCain: Iraq is not about "Who lost Vietnam"

[seabeyond]

2. refreshing to be able to listen to kerry talking the issue, minimal

interruption and little aggressiveness on the part of the media talking head. i hope this trend continues. will help dems to be able to get that message and plan out that media continually tells us we do not have. which of course, is and has been full of shit

[sandrakae]

7. I have watched all 5 interviews this week and I see a media tide changing.

All interviewers let him speak and did not interrupt him. I really think media tide is changing.

[YvonneCa]

3. Thanks...

...KG. My thoughts from an earlier post:






>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


“HOME RUN, Senator Kerry! You hit it out of the park!”

When I turned on the television to watch this interview early this morning, I was expecting a re-play of Senator Kerry’s ‘Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer’ interview from earlier in the week. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the Senator was ‘live’, especially considering the leak of the Rumsfeld memo.

Because of the news about this memo, Senator Kerry was finally proven right BY RUMSFELD HIMSELF…and given the opportunity to say to the WHOLE COUNTRY what those of us here have been hearing him say for a long time: We need a political solution to the war in Iraq. He laid out his plan clearly before the American people. I just hope they are watching.

Now, those of us who know how important it is to elect a President in 2008, based on intelligence and experience, rather than on polls and superficial political traits, such as ‘likeability’, need to push the media (CNN and others) to show clips from Georgetown, October 26, 2005 and Dissent, April 22, 2006…where Senator Kerry passionately called for EXACTLY what he spelled out today. Then, we will have ‘our’ President.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:patriot:

[sandrakae]

9. We need to get him on meet the press. Here is an email link.

[e-mail] <[e-mail]>

[flpoljunkie]

4. Why did Kerry say he would vote for Robert Gates even before they hold hearings?

Found his reasoning for this disappointing, particularly after reading this from Robert Parry, Consortium News, on Robert Gates.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/120306.html

Barnes reported that the younger George Bush didn’t consult either his father or Baker about appointing Gates – and only picked the ex-CIA chief after a two-hour face-to-face meeting at which Bush sought assurances that Gates was onboard with the neoconservative notion about “democracy promotion” in the Middle East.

"Two days before the election, the President summoned Gates to his ranch near Waco, Texas,” Barnes wrote. “It was the first time they’d talked about the Pentagon position. … It was only the two of them. No aides participated in the meeting.

"The President wanted ‘clarity’ on Gates’s views, especially on Iraq and the pursuit of democracy. He asked if Gates shared the goal of victory in Iraq and would be determined to pursue it aggressively as defense chief.

"He asked if Gates agreed democracy should be the aim of American foreign policy and not merely the stability of pro-American regimes, notably in the Middle East. Bush also wanted to know Gates’s ‘philosophy’ of America’s role in the world, an aide says, and his take on the pitfalls America faces. ‘The President got good vibes,’ according to the Bush official."

[seabeyond]

5. mabe and htis is just a guess, but doesnt matter WHO bush puts

in. bush isnt listening to anyone is going to stay the course. gates is not where the battle or the war is. i think kerry is pragmatically focusing on the real issues, not trumped up ones to take one away from the issues. gates is irrelevent

[flpoljunkie]

6. Kerry gave different answer to Mother Jones recently--said he'd follow hearings, keep open mind.

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2006/11/gates_doubtful_dozen.html

John Kerry, D-Mass., through a spokeswoman, was the only member to fully answer Mother Jones' questions:

Q - What do you think of Robert Gates as the new Secretary of Defense?

A - It was about four years overdue for Don Rumsfeld to go. Where do we go from here? We need honest questions and substantive answers, and I'm going to follow the Gates confirmation hearings very closely to determine his willingness to push and adopt a new strategy in Iraq. Obviously it is encouraging that Robert Gates opposed this war from the beginning, but we need to understand where he thinks the policy needs to go today.

Q - You voted no in 1991, how would you vote today?

A - I had concerns way back then because I'd been so involved in the Iran Contra investigations and the BCCI investigations. I had reservations, and I voted them. He did things as CIA Director that assuaged some of those concerns. That's why I'll follow these hearings closely and with an open mind.

Q - Is this a decision for a lame-duck Congress to make?

A - The question is whether we have a thorough debate and what it reveals. I think people are going to take this confirmation very seriously in light of the kind of mess we've had at DOD the last six years.

[seabeyond]

10. 3 weeks have gone by since the interview and a lot of things have happened

in that amount of time. i am not seeing an inconsistancy. he must have gotten information that allows him to be where he is.

btw: all a guess you understand. not his spokeperson. kerry can answer himself given the opportunity

[AtomicKitten]

14. I guess his corruption-fighting days are over.

"I had concerns way back then because I'd been so involved in the Iran Contra investigations and the BCCI investigations. I had reservations, and I voted them. He did things as CIA Director that assuaged some of those concerns. That's why I'll follow these hearings closely and with an open mind."

... and now even before the hearings he declares he will vote for Gates? Sheeesh.

[Mass]

8. I am not sure either, but it seems to be a concensus among Democrats in the Senate

to let this confirmation go.

It may be because Gates is the best we can hope from Bush. It may be because it is a clear improvement compared to Rumsfeld. We will know that during the hearings that should take place later this month.


Also, Kerry was heard by the Baker-Hamilton commission earlier this week, which means he had the opportunity to speak with Gates and to see where he stands on Iraq. May be he sees that Gates is among those who thinks something needs to be done and that you cannot stay the course. I think I remember reading that Gates was for talking to Iran and Syria to find a solution.

I can only speculate, of course.

[beachmom]

12. We need Rumsfeld out, and we need to change the Iraq policy

Kerry is currently negotiating with the White House (he's even called Condi Rice) to try to get them to compromise and start pulling out troops. This happened after that interview in Mother Jones. You can't really fight Bush on Gates and then get him to listen to you on anything else.

Yes, I would rather have somebody better than Gates, but given Bush is the president, we're not going to get somebody better. Plus I have read recent quotes from Gates that he has talked of diplomacy with Iran, so there ARE some positive aspects to him.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. Kerry is still our best. nt

[flpoljunkie]

15. I tend to agree.