'Meet the Press' transcript for Jan. 13, 2008

MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, many people opted for those cheaper mortgages. They could've had a fixed mortgage at a higher rate, but they opted for a cheaper one. Should they not bear some responsibility?

SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I think all of us should. But I'd say three things about that. The bankers, the mortgage lenders, the brokers, all bear a lot of the responsibility, because many of the practices that were followed were just downright predatory and fraudulent. There is no doubt about that. I started talking about this last March. A lot of people got into subprime loans who frankly could've been in a conventional fixed-rate loan. They were basically told that this was a better opportunity for them. Should they take responsibility? Yes, but look at what will happen if we continue this cascade of foreclosures. Housing values are down. They're down 6 percent. That's over $1.3 trillion in housing values in the last year. So everybody bears some responsibility. I went to Wall Street last month to tell Wall Street they had to be part of the solution because they sure had been part of the problem.

What I have proposed would begin to stabilize the situation as it is today. You know, even Alan Greenspan said give money to homeowners so that they can be able to withstand the pressures of this mortgage crisis. I would do it a little differently, but I think the--we're seeing the same problem. If we allow these foreclosures to continue, we are going to be facing even a deeper and longer set of economic problems. So I think we've got to take action now.

MR. RUSSERT: You say you've been deeply involved in the eight years of the Clinton administration. One of the powers given to a president is the power of pardon. At the end of the president's second term, he granted 140 pardons, including one to Marc Rich, someone who had been convicted of tax evasion, fraud and making illegal oil deals with Iran. Were you involved in that pardon?

SEN. CLINTON: No. I didn't know anything about that.

MR. RUSSERT: No one talked to you whatsoever?

SEN. CLINTON: No. No. Unh-unh.

MR. RUSSERT: His ex-wife gave $109,000 to your campaign.

SEN. CLINTON: Well, no one talked to me about it, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: Nobody?

SEN. CLINTON: Nobody.

MR. RUSSERT: Your two brothers proposed people for pardons and you were paid money. One brother, you asked to give the money back.

SEN. CLINTON: That's right. That's right.

MR. RUSSERT: Were you aware your brothers were involved?

SEN. CLINTON: No, I was not.

MR. RUSSERT: If you're president, will you make a pledge that your family will not recommend people...

SEN. CLINTON: Absolutely. Absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: And you'll file--follow Justice Department guidelines?

SEN. CLINTON: Yes. Yes. Well, number one, I want to have a much more transparent government, and I think we now have the tools to make that happen. You know, I said the other night at an event in New Hampshire, I want to have as much information about the way our government operates on the Internet so the people who pay for it, the taxpayers of America, can see that. I want to be sure that, you know, we actually have like agency blogs. I want people in all the government agencies to be communicating with people, you know, because for me, we're now in an era--which didn't exist before--where you can have instant access to information, and I want to see my government be more transparent. I want to make sure that we limit, if we can't eliminate all the no-bid contracts, the cronyism, I want to cut 500,000 government contractors.

MR. RUSSERT: But follow Justice Department guidelines on pardons?

SEN. CLINTON: Absolutely. Absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: Back in 1998, a very painful period for you, beginning of the Lewinsky scandal, you said, "This may be the result of a vast right-wing conspiracy." Do you believe that the vast right-wing conspiracy still exists?

SEN. CLINTON: Oh, I don't know. I haven't paid much attention to it for about 10 years. I really don't have any idea. I know that I've been involved in, you know, championing causes I care deeply about for a very long time. And that does sometimes draw a little bit of controversy and criticism. Some of it's organized, but you know, I'm just too busy to worry about that.

MR. RUSSERT: The voters who voted for you in New Hampshire were asked also who would be the most likely to unite the country. And it was quite interesting. This is what they said: Obama 51, Clinton 28. That's a state that you carried, yet they say that Barack Obama would unite the country. Why?

SEN. CLINTON: Well, I believe that my record of uniting New York, of going to the Senate, when people said I wouldn't work with Republicans and Republicans wouldn't work with me, is evidence. You know, I am willing to find common ground wherever I can, Tim, but I also know you have to stand your ground. I don't believe that the political system in Washington will immediately just lie down and give up. You know it better than anybody. The interests are deeply entrenched. You know, they've gone after me consistently for 16 years and I bear some scars from that because I have stood up against them on universal healthcare, for example. I'm proud of those scars because yes, I will find common ground and create solutions to our problems, but I am against a lot of what those on the other side want to do to our country.

MR. RUSSERT: A lot of Democrats have--are concerned about that, as to whether you can win a general election. Again, this is New Hampshire. Who's most likely to win the general election? Again, they say Obama by a margin of 44 to 35. The Wall Street Journal and NBC News had a poll where we matched Clinton-Huckabee to Obama-Huckabee. Let me take you through that. Clinton is 46; Huckabee 44. Obama is 48; Huckabee's 32. And when you look at the independent voters, it's Clinton 35, Huckabee 46; Obama wins independents 40 to 35. Obama gets 20 percent of the Republican vote. Why is that? Why is there--independents and Republican resistance to you?

SEN. CLINTON: You know, Tim, one think I think everybody should've learned after New Hampshire is let's not pay so much attention to polls, you know. We need to let voters actually make up their minds, and voters who will see and judge each of us in the Democratic primary and then in the general election. You know, there are other polls we could put up done by other networks and other kinds of outlets that have different results. I don't pay much attention to any of that. I think that the fact is that we're taking our case to the American people. We're taking it on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis. And I'm very--you know, I'm very gratified by the positive response. But I didn't pay attention to polls before New Hampshire and I'm not going to start paying attention to it after New Hampshire.

Whoever is nominated, and it's likely to be Senator Obama or myself, will get a fresh look by the people of America, will get an increased amount of, you know, questions about who we are and where we're from. Because all of a sudden it becomes real. You've covered this for a long time. You know, when my husband ran in '92, he finally clinched the nomination in June in California. He was running third behind President Bush and behind Ross Perot. Others of our candidates on both sides of the aisle start out behind and wage a winning campaign.

So I think what people who are concerned about electability should be looking at is number one, who can be the best president, the best president from day one, who is prepared, who has taken tough positions, because you're going to have to take them. You know, Senator Obama voted present 130 times in the state Senate. When you're president, you can't vote present. You have to make a decision. Sometimes it's a split second decision. You don't have time to, you know, think about it. You've got to actually decide. So I'm going to take the case to the country as the nominee that I've been tested, I've been proven. I have the experience we need to make the changes we want and I think that's a winning case, and, you know, whomever the Republicans nominate.

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