Transcript for Sept. 10

MR. RUSSERT: And we’re back with the vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney. Let me show you what Mr. Khatami from Iran, visiting the United States, had to say and read it to you and our viewers.

“Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami warned that U.S. military action in the Middle East has backfired, producing greater terrorism, imperiling the future of Iraq and damaging America’s long-term interests.

“But the danger of even great instability in the region will ultimately prevent the U.S. from launching military strikes against Iran over disputes about its nuclear intentions, he predicted. ...

“America will not make the” same “mistake of attacking Iran. ... Iran is not Iraq.” Is he right?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, we certainly understand Iran is not Iraq. I’m not sure I would agree with much of what else he said. Obviously, we’re concerned about what Iran is up to. We think their pursuit of enrichment capability that would allow them ultimately to produce nuclear weapons is fundamentally a problem for that part of the world. That’s a view shared by most of our friends in the international community.

MR. RUSSERT: How do you stop them?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, we’ve started through the process of working with the other nations involved. The EU 3, the Russians and the Chinese, we’ve got resolutions for the U.N. Security Council, a tough resolution in July, that basically calls on them to give up their nuclear aspirations. And since they have not responded affirmatively to that, we’re now in the process of negotiating with the U.N. Security Council members and part of that P5 process on a set of sanctions that could be approved by the United Nations and imposed on Iran.

MR. RUSSERT: Will we do anything to stop the Iranians from having a nuclear bomb?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: We have said repeatedly that we think they should not have a nuclear bomb. And we have also made it abundantly clear we want to solve the problem diplomatically. But the president has always emphasized no options have been taken off the table.

MR. RUSSERT: Is there a problem with our country and the world if the president came forward and said, “I have intelligence which says Iran is this far advanced,” and people in the world and the people in the country say, “Is that the same intelligence that you had on Iraq, Mr. President?”

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, the—of course, much of the information that’s been available on what Iran is doing is the result of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Inspectors have been kicked out of Iraq.  Obviously, here you’ve got more access from an international body that I think most people wouldn’t question.

MR. RUSSERT: But you rejected their intelligence leading up to Iraq.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: I asked you on this very program...

VICE PRES. CHENEY: That’s correct.

MR. RUSSERT: ...about ElBaradei and you said he’s wrong.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Yes. It wasn’t consistent with our report.

MR. RUSSERT: But he was right about Iraq.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I haven’t, I haven’t looked at it. I’d have to go back and look at it again. But your point, Tim, in terms of the credibility of the reporting, there’s not much dispute within the international community—and that includes the Russians, that includes the Europeans—that in fact the Iranians are pursuing capabilities that would allow them to produce nuclear weapons.

MR. RUSSERT: Do we have the military wherewithal to take out the Iranian program?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I, I don’t want to speculate on military options. It’s not wise. And Rumsfeld would probably object.

MR. RUSSERT: What about North Korea? Do we have the military capability...

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Tim, I’m not going to speculate on military capabilities.

I think it’s not helpful to do that.

MR. RUSSERT: But their, but their potential has increased three- and fourfold. Our estimates are now they could build 12 nuclear bombs.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I’m not going to speculate, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn back home, domestic politics, and talk about the whole situation involving Scooter Libby, your former chief of staff, who was indicted by Patrick Fitzgerald. This was a document that was released in the investigation. It’s a New York Times op-ed piece with your handwriting on it.  And that handwriting says, “Or did his wife send him on a junket?” referring to Ambassador Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, who was a CIA, CIA agent. Did you, in any way, authorize Scooter Libby to release her name or her occupation to the press?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Tim, Scooter Libby is, he’s a good man. He’s a friend of mine. He’s somebody—one of the most competent and capable people I’ve ever known. He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence. But there is a legal matter pending, there is going to be a trial next year, I could well be a witness in the trial, and much as I would like to talk about, and I certainly have strong opinions about the case, I think it’d be totally inappropriate for me to do so.

MR. RUSSERT: There was a story in the National Journal that Cheney authorized Libby to leak confidential information. Can you confirm or deny that?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I have the authority as vice president under executive order issued by the president to classify and declassify information. And everything I’ve done is consistent with those authorities.

MR. RUSSERT: Could you declassify Valerie Plame’s status as an operative?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I’ve said all I’m going to say on the subject, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think the president should pardon Scooter Libby?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I’ve said all I’m going to say on the subject, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: You wouldn’t support a pardon?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I’ve said all I’m going to say on the subject.

MR. RUSSERT: How about Richard Armitage, who’s come forward and said that he was the original source for Robert Novak some years ago?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Does he need a pardon?

MR. RUSSERT: Are you upset or concerned...

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Tim, I’m not going to discuss the subject. I understand why you want to ask about it, but the fact of the matter is it’s a matter pending before the courts, and since I could be a witness, I think it’s inappropriate for me to say anything more.

MR. RUSSERT: The New York Times today, “Cheney’s power no longer goes unquestioned,” suggesting that your support of issues regarding the treatment and prosecution of terror suspects, of the national NSA surveillance eavesdropping policy, has weakened your influence within the White House.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Is that a question?MR. RUSSERT: Yes, sir. Has it?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I, I haven’t read the story in any great detail. It looks like one of those thumbsuckers that’s done periodically. It’s probably as valid as the ones that were done saying I was in charge of everything.  Obviously...

MR. RUSSERT: Were you?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: ...I give my advice to the president, the president makes his decisions. Sometimes he agrees, sometimes he doesn’t.

MR. RUSSERT: When you were on this program, you did talk about being on the dark side, that we’re going to have to get involved intelligence and do some things with shady characters and so forth. Is that what we’ve done the last five years?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: We have done everything we could think of to make the nation safe. That’s our number one obligation. The, the oath that the president and I take when we’re sworn in up there on Capitol Hill is always to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. And we’ve done everything within our power and within the Constitution to in fact pursue that objective. And that’s meant that we have gone after, for example, we set up the terrorist surveillance program, which has been instrumental in, in identifying key communications involving our adversaries, just as the financial tracking program has been vital in terms of tracking the money, and the detainee program, which has allowed us to collect some extraordinarily valuable intelligence from the terrorists we capture. It’s all been done in a manner that’s consistent with the president’s authorities, with the Constitution, with our treaty obligations and with the blessing of the lawyers. So any suggestion we’ve gone beyond where we should have, I would just—I would take issue with. The fact of the matter is I see part of my job is to think about the unthinkable, to focus upon what, in fact, the terrorists may have in store for us, and make sure...

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