'Meet the Press' transcript for Jan. 27, 2008

MR. RUSSERT:  Many conservatives point to your ubiquitous partner on the campaign trail, Joe Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000.  There you are.  Lieberman, who is pro-abortion rights, pro gun control, pro gay rights, against the Bush tax cut, he has a very liberal Democratic record on these social and cultural issues, and yet you seem to embrace him on the campaign trail.

SEN. McCAIN:  Well, I embrace him anywhere and at any time, including the fact that we were responsible for the establishment of the 9/11 Commission and the implementation of the recommendations on so many issues.  But my admiration for Joe Lieberman on the number one issue that faces this nation and the world is without bounds.  He stood up against his own party and said, "We can succeed in Iraq.  We have to support this surge.  We can't wave the white flag of surrender." I am so proud of him for his steadfastness, and I'm proud to have him a--as a partner and a friend.  And I know that one of the things all of our constituents, Republicans and Democrats in America, they want us to work together.  They want us to work together.  And I'm proud to have worked with Joe Lieberman on a number of issues.  Right now the approval ratings of Congress, as you know, are very, very low.  And one of the reasons is they're frustrated is that we won't sit down together, a Lieberman and McCain, and establish a 9/11 Commission and come up with those recommendations and implement them.  I'm proud of my partnership with him and other Democrats where I've been able to get things done, but--the way Ronald Reagan did, but maintain my fundamental conservative principles.

MR. RUSSERT:  If the Senate passed your bill, S1433, the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Bill...

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...would you as president sign it?

SEN. McCAIN:  Yeah, but we--look, the lesson is it isn't won.  It isn't going to come.  It isn't going to come.  The lesson is they want the border secured first.  That's the lesson.  I come from a border state.  I know how to fix those borders with walls, with UAVs, with sensors, with cameras, with vehicle barriers.  They want the border secured first.  And I will do that, and, as president, I will have the border state governors secure--certify those borders are secured.  And then we will have a temporary worker program with tamper-proof biometric documents, and any employer who employs someone in any other circumstances will be prosecuted.  That means a lot of people will leave just, just normally because they're not going to be able to get their job. Then, of course, we have to get rid of two million people who have committed crimes here.  We have to round them up and deport them.  As far as the others are concerned, we were in an ongoing debate and discussion when this whole thing collapsed, and part of that, I think, has to be a humane approach.  Part of it has to be maybe people have to go back to the country that they came from for a period of time while we look at it.  But the principle that the American people want, secure the borders, reward no one ahead of someone who has either waited or has come to this country legally because they have broken our laws to come here.  But I'm confident--look, there's, there's humanitarian situations.  There's a soldier who's missing in action in Iraq.  His wife was here illegally.  America's not going to deport her.  We have humanitarian circumstances.  America's a generous Judeo-Christian valued nation, and we can sit down together.  The--all leading Republican candidates now just about agree that with--using those principles that I just articulated, we can fix it.  But secure the borders first.

MR. RUSSERT:  But you would sign your bill...

SEN. McCAIN:  It's not going to come across my desk.

MR. RUSSERT:  It won't pass.

SEN. McCAIN:  I--if pigs fly, then--look...

MR. RUSSERT:  So it's dead.

SEN. McCAIN:  The bill, the bill is dead as it is written.  We know that.  We know that.  And the bill is going to have to be, and I would sign it, securing the borders first and articulating those principles that I did.  That's what we got out of this last very divisive and tough debate.  And we have to get those borders secured.  That's what Americans want first.

MR. RUSSERT:  Rush Limbaugh, one of the leading voices in the conservative movement, said this the other day, "I'm here to tell you, if either of these two guys, Mike Huckabee or John McCain, get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party.  It's going to change it forever, be the end of it.  A lot of people aren't going to vote.  You watch."

SEN. McCAIN:  Well, all I can say is that I'm proud of winning Republican votes in New Hampshire and South Carolina, I know that there's a broad base of our party.  I am a proud conservative.  I think that when a lot of Americans, a lot of Republicans review my credentials, they'll vote for me.  But also, I believe that most Republicans' first priority is the threat of radical Islamic extremism.  Now, I know the concerns about the economy...

MR. RUSSERT:  More than the economy?

SEN. McCAIN:  More than the economy at the end of the day.  We'll get through this economy.  We're going to restore our economy, and many of the measures we're taking right now--although it's very difficult now.  This transcendent challenge of radical Islamic extremism will be with us for the 21st century. We are in two wars.  We're in two wars.  We have young Americans sacrificing as we speak.  I'm most qualified to be commander in chief with the knowledge, the experience, the background and the judgment.  And part of that judgment, I was the only one that's running that said Rumsfeld's strategy failed, we got to do the Petraeus strategy.

MR. RUSSERT:  The issue of your temperament has once again come to fore. This is from a colleague.

SEN. McCAIN:  Thad.

MR. RUSSERT:  "Thad Cochran of Mississippi"...

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  ..."who's known Senator McCain for more than three decades endorsed Mitt Romney." "Cochran said his choice was prompted partly by his fear of how McCain might behave in the Oval Office.

"`The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine,' Cochran said about McCain.  `He's erratic.  He's hotheaded.  He loses his temper and he worries me.'"

SEN. McCAIN:  Well, I--you know, I've known and loved Thad Cochran for many years, and I've always felt we had a very close and warm relationship.  My family goes back to the state of Mississippi.  His colleague, Trent Lott, of course, is one of my strongest and best supporters.  I have a wide circle of supporters, conservative and moderate--Richard Burr, Tom Coburn, Lindsey Graham.

MR. RUSSERT:  What does he base that on?

SEN. McCAIN:  I, I really don't know.  Do I feel strongly about issues?  And we all know, as much as I love Thad Cochran, he's an appropriator.  And I have fought him hard time after time after time on these pork barrel projects that he has been famous for, many of which, in my view, have been harmful to our economy and our environment.  So we've had, we've had strong words from time to time about pork barrel spending.  He's one of the great pork barrelers, and he's very proud of that.  He's very proud of his...

MR. RUSSERT:  He was a co-sponsor of your campaign finance bill.

SEN. McCAIN:  He was, and I appreciate that.  And there're many areas in which Thad Cochran and I have agreed.  But I have to admit to you, and I think it's very clear, we've had strong debate on the floor of the Senate about pork barrel projects.  In the last two years, the president of the United States has signed into law $35 billion worth of pork barrel projects, many of them sponsored, in all due respect, by my friends on the Appropriations Committee on the Republican side.  That could've meant $1,000 tax credit for every child in America.  That's where we have open and honest disagreements.  Sometimes we feel very strongly.  I feel very strongly about protecting the American taxpayer.

MR. RUSSERT:  Before you go, I want to show a tape of Bill Clinton, the former president, talking about you and Hillary Clinton.  Let's watch.

(Videotape)

FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON:  She and John McCain are very close.  They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they're afraid they'd put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  You accept the endorsement?

SEN. McCAIN:  I can--I thank Senator Clinton for his endorsement.  I don't--let me just say, I will have a respectful debate whether it is Senator Obama or Senator Clinton or whoever it is.  But it won't be boring.  It won't be boring.  We're going to be talking about more or less spending, higher or lower taxes.  We're going to be talking about the role of government in healthcare, and we're going to be talking about the, the struggle we're in against radical Islamic extremism.  It's going to be anything but boring.

MR. RUSSERT:  Is he being mischievous, trying to give you, give you the kiss of death in the Republican primary?

SEN. McCAIN:  I don't know.  I know that he is one of the most talented politicians that ever appeared on the American scene, and I only attribute to him the noblest of motives.

MR. RUSSERT:  If you were the Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton was the Democratic nominee, would you have to run against Bill and Hillary Clinton? And how would you do it?

SEN. McCAIN:  You know, I don't, I don't know, but I think it would be clearly a philosophical difference.  But I haven't, frankly--obviously Senator Obama's win last night makes him very, very competitive.  Senator Edwards is still in it.  I have to--look, I've only won two primaries, Tim.  I'm--I got a pretty massive ego, but not quite so much as I'm planning on that yet.

MR. RUSSERT:  If you don't win in Florida, what happens?

SEN. McCAIN:  Oh, I think, I think we have good polling numbers throughout the nation, and I think we go on.  I think it's going to be a close race here on Tuesday, but I, I think we got some good momentum.  General Norman Schwarzkopf, our friend Mel Martinez, the senator from Florida and Governor Charlie Crist.

MR. RUSSERT:  So you go on, you go on to super Tuesday win or lose?

SEN. McCAIN:  Oh, sure.  Governor Crist and Senator Martinez, the two leading Republican politicians, bound to give us a little bit of a boost.

MR. RUSSERT:  Senator John McCain, as always we thank you for sharing your views.  And be safe on the campaign trail.

SEN. McCAIN:  Thanks for having me on again.

MR. RUSSERT:  Coming next, what do the results in last night's Democratic South Carolina primary mean?  A big win for Obama.  What does it mean for super Tuesday?  What lessons can we learn for Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats?  And the Republicans--Romney, McCain, Giuliani--all in the Sunshine State.  The GOP primary is Tuesday.  Our roundtable--Maureen Dowd, Chuck Todd, Byron York--next, only on MEET THE PRESS.

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MR. RUSSERT:  Our MEET THE PRESS roundtable, the race for the White House 2008, with Maureen Dowd, Chuck Todd, Byron York, all after this brief station break.

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