South Carolina Democratic debate transcript

Biden: I thought you were going to read Tom Friedman's quote saying I was the only one who had a plan on Iraq. You ought to read that one, too. I thought that was the one, when you said Tom Friedman.

Now, all kidding aside, it is a simple proposition. We have to make a equivalent of what Freedman was talking about, a Manhattan Project.

We have to fundamentally shift the way we do it. The way we started off -- Barack and I have a bill to make sure that every automobile sold in the United States is a flex-fuel automobile; every gas station in America, by the year 2009, has to have 10 percent of it's pumps pumping E85 ethanol.

We also have legislation in requiring we invest $100 million a year for the next couple of years while this president is president in order to be able to find lithium battery technology to be able to power our cars.

We also have legislation talking about capping emissions. Cap them now; not wait. Cap them where they are now. Time's running out.

But you have to be willing to make multi-billion dollar investments over the next 10 years and set hard goals in order to be able to get to the point where we are no longer dependent.

Williams: Senator Biden, thank you.

Governor Richardson, Fidel Castro is still alive. How do you feel about normalizing relations with Castro's Cuba?

Richardson: I have to answer a fundamental question that requires a presidential answer, and that is -- I think you said if two of our cities were attacked, what would I do?

Williams: Yes.

Richardson: I would respond militarily, aggressively. I'll build international support for our goals. I'd improve our intelligence, but that would be a direct threat on the United States, and I would make it clear that that would be an important, decisive, military response, surgical strike, whatever it takes.

Williams: All right. Grant you a few more for the answer on Castro.

Richardson: Well, I believe that what we need to do is find ways to deal with a post-democratic Cuba. It's going to happen. The second thing I would do, Brian, is I would bring Cuban-Americans in New Jersey and Florida into the dialogue. The third thing is I would change the Bush administration policy which is limiting family visits, which is limiting remittances from Cubans into Florida.

But the reality is that we should be planning for a post-Castro Cuba, and that means re-evaluating the embargo. That means also finding ways that we ensure that Cuba becomes democratic, with trade unionism, with free elections.

And we should be engaged in a policy right now.

Williams: Thank you very much, Governor.

Senator Gravel, your two terms in the Senate representing Alaska have sat on top of, of course, a huge reserve of oil. With the French system as the model, is the United States, in your view, woefully behind in its use of nuclear energy?

Gravel: No, not at all. I think there had to be a maturation process. And I'm the one that started the nuclear critique in this country.

I'm also the one that denied the boots on the ground for George Bush today, when I filibustered the end of the draft.

And I'm also the one that brought about the Alaska pipeline by one vote in the Congress.

So when you ask about the energy issues or the other issues, let me just tell you -- I wanted to answer the question on the war and on what's going on.

We are mischaracterizing terrorism. Terrorism has been with civilization from the beginning. And it will be there to the end.

We're going to be as successful fighting terrorism as we are fighting drugs with a war. It doesn't work. What you have to do is to begin to change the whole foreign policy.

The Republicans, who are charging Democrats about not going for the defense of this country, my God, this invasion brought about more terrorists. Osama bin Laden must have been rolling in his blankets...

Williams: Senator...

Gravel: ... how happy he was over our invading Iraq.

Williams: Time has expired. Staying on the notion of the environment, which somewhat unbelievably is where that question started, what in your personal life, Senator Obama, have you done personally to make for a better environment? Personal life...

Obama: Well, you know, we just had Earth Day. And we actually organized 3,000 volunteers to plant trees, which...

Williams: I mean, like light bulbs...

Obama: Well...

(Laughter)

I thought the tree thing was pretty good.

Williams: Well, yes, but...

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