Jan. 15 Democratic debate transcript

Williams: We're back in Los Angeles for our final segment of our live debate coverage.

Did I...

Russert: Las Vegas.

Williams: All right. OK. Wow, it is a tough crowd. It is a tough crowd.

And I'm up $130 from last night, which is OK. I owe the city of Las Vegas my thanks.

We're back in Las Vegas tonight with our live debate coverage.

Thanks for saving me on that, Tim.

Question for Senator Clinton. In 2006, you railed against Karl Rove and the Republicans for playing what you called the fear card.

But on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, you said this: "I don't think it was by accident that al Qaeda decided to test the new prime minister, Gordon Brown, immediately. They watch our elections as closely as we do, maybe more than some of our fellow citizens do.

They play our, you know, allies. They do everything they can to undermine security in the world. So let's not forget you're hiring a president, not just to do what a candidate says he or she wants to do in an election. You're hiring a president to be there when the chips were down."

You were suggesting, it's been suggested that you would be a better president to deal with a possible terrorist attack than, perhaps, Senator Obama.

Clinton: Well, what I said is what you quoted, and I'm not going to characterize it, but it is the fact. You know, the fact is that we face a very dangerous adversary, and to forget that or to brush it aside, I think, is a mistake.

So I do feel that the next president has to be prepared because we are up against a relentless enemy. And they will take advantage of us. They will certainly, as they have over the last several years, continue their attacks against our friends and allies around the world.

You know, we haven't talked as much about homeland security as I think is necessary in this campaign. Maybe I feel it acutely because I do represent New York.

But the highest and greatest duty of the president of the United States is to protect and defend our country. And at the end of the day, voters have to make that decision, among all of us, Democrats and Republicans, who are vying for the votes.

Because it is a critical question. It always is. There are, you know, reasons going back in our history why that is so.

But in this time, in this period, where we're going to have to repair a lot of the frayed relationships coming out of the Bush administration, where we're going to have to summon the world to a concerted effort to quell the threat of terrorism, to root them out wherever they are, it's going to be one of the biggest jobs facing our next president.

And I feel prepared and ready to take on what is a daunting but necessary responsibility.

Williams: Senator Obama, if you look just outside where we are tonight, they're building 40,000 new hotel rooms in this city.

National security is never far from their minds in Las Vegas, either.

You are fond of saying you won't use 9/11 as a kind of hook.

Do you think some of that goes on in both parties?

Sen. Obama:  Well, I think there's no doubt that we've been dominated by a politics of fear since 9/11. Now, some of that's understandable.

We have real enemies out there. The tragedy in New York was a trauma to the country that it is going to take a long time for us to work out.

And Senator Clinton did good work in terms of helping the city recover. But I have to say that when Senator Clinton uses the specter of a terrorist attack with a new prime minister during a campaign, I think that is part and parcel with what we've seen the use of the fear of terrorism in scoring political points. And I think that's a mistake. Now, I don't want to perpetuate that.

I think that's part of why we ended up going into Iraq and made a big strategic error that has made us less safe. Resources that could have been spent on homeland security have been spent in Baghdad. Resources that could have been spent hunting down bin Laden have been diverted to Iraq.

And that's what happens when your judgment is clouded. And what I intend to do as president of the United States is to be honest and straightforward with the American people about how I'm going to implement all the 9/11 Commission report findings, make sure that we are hunting down bin Laden, getting out of Iraq so that we can refocus our attention on building the networks and alliances that are required to reduce terrorism around the world.

That's going to be my priority, and that's part of the reason I'm running for president of the United States.