'Meet the Press' transcript for June 29, 2008

MR. BROKAW: Welcome back to this special edition of MEET THE PRESS, concentrating on the American West, which will be a crucial battleground in this election year. And we're joined now by the familiar figure of Governor Schwarzenegger of California, here at the Reagan Library in California.

And Governor, you were the guest of Tim Russert several times.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R-CA): Several times, and he always did great interviews with a lot of humor, tough questions, but we had a great time, and I really miss him, I have to say that. And he was--I remember when I ran for governor, he called me, and he says, "If you make that, if you win, then I will take care of the rest." And I said, :What are you talking about?" And he says, "I will get you to run for president. I will make sure that we change the Constitution." Well, it never happened, but anyway, I miss him very much.

MR. BROKAW: Oh, I can't make the same promise, but I can...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Come on, Tom. You can.

MR. BROKAW: I can--I can...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: You have the power.

MR. BROKAW: I can continue the tough questions.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: OK.

MR. BROKAW: When you ran for governor in 2003, you ran as a fiscal conservative who would change the system. You would bring businesslike techniques. Now you're facing a $15 million deficit here in California. Unemployment is running at about 6.8 percent. You've got the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. If you were the CEO of a public company, the board would probably say, "It's time to go."

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Are you always that positive? I can't believe it. Well, first of all, let just say that we are very happy that since I've come into office that we've changed a lot of things and improved California and got California back on its feet, and started paying off some of the debt and started to rebuild California for the first time in four decades, and fixed worker's compensation, and all kinds of great things happened. And the most important thing is that I was able to bring Democrats and Republicans together. Now, that doesn't mean that when you are doing a good job that the economy doesn't go down eventually. What goes up must come down, and I think that we see that nationwide. We see other states are struggling, the country is struggling, people are struggling, and I think we see it now all over the world. And I think the key thing for it is to again, bring everyone together and just start right away with an economic stimulus package, which of course is done on a national level, but also each state has the responsibility to do that.

MR. BROKAW: But when you came in, Governor, you said that spending was out of control here, and your rate of increase in spending is about the same as your predecessor, Governor Gray Davis. It's running about, what, 34 percent since you took office upward.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, Tom, as you know, you've been around long enough to know that the numbers are misleading, because we've paid off a lot of debt, and that is counted in the spending. So I'm very proud that we paid off a lot of the debt, and that we got the economy going again, and that we also got the state jump-started in rebuilding again, the roads, the levees, the schools, expanding our universities, building more career educational facilities. And we're now in the middle of negotiating, also, water infrastructure so that we can secure the water and provide reliable, safe, good water for the people of California, not two or three years from now, but 40, 50 years from now. So I think there's all kinds of great things happening. The key thing is to continue moving on and moving forward. If it is infrastructure, if it is health care reform, education reform, and all the things that we set out to do, and we're going to continue on. Like I said, the most important thing is that both of the parties work together to accomplish all of those things, because with just one party you could never do it.

MR. BROKAW: It appears that the people, however, have some real questions about your leadership. Your approval rating has gone from, what, 60 percent in December down to about 40 percent recently. It's tough to govern under those circumstances.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Not at all. I'm having a great time as governor of California, and it is a very challenging job and I've always known that when I get into that it would be a challenging job, but it's the most exciting job and it also is a job that gives me the satisfaction to serve the people of California, because I think that California has given me everything that I have. If it is my body building career, my acting career, the money that I've made, everything, my family, everything is because of California. So this is a way of giving something back. And I don't shy away from the challenges, never did. I'm very, you know, persistent in continuing moving forward. So, you know, it's, it's all about leadership and bringing people together and solving those problems. That's the key thing. And California is the greatest place in the world, and we're going to keep it that way.

MR. BROKAW: Let's talk national politics for a moment. Most analysts that I know say that John McCain would have a very, very hard time carrying this state in the fall. I don't think that that will come as any surprise to anybody who watches politics. But you also have 19 congressional seats held by Republicans here in California. How many of them will survive?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that the Republicans have a good shot of keeping all their seats. I mean, that all depends in the end of what the mood of the state of the nation is at the time of the election. I think the key thing is, is for Washington to show that they can work together and get things done. This year, I have to say, I'm very disappointed of what has happened. There's a lack of, of, of action in Washington. They cannot even get done the littlest things. Just recently with the tax credit for renewable energy, which, you know, started in the early '90s and now it, it's, it runs out at the end of December, by the end of this year, and they cannot even get that done. Immigration reform or the infrastructure of the United States, health care. There's so many issues that are so important, they can't get anything done. So, I think that the people are frustrated, people are angry because they look at that and they say, "Well, wait a minute. We just changed the leadership there. First it were the Republicans in and we thought that they can't get anything done. Let's put the Democrats in power, now they can't get anything done, either." So, I think that the people are angry about that, and rightfully so. So, I think depends of what the mood is if anyone would lose a seat or two. I doubt it.

MR. BROKAW: You endorse Senator McCain as the presidential candidate, saying he was a crusader who had the best interests of the environment in mind. Now, he's in favor of offshore oil drilling and he wants to build 45 nuclear plants. Do you still stand by his record in that regard?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I'm very proud of him. I'm 100 percent behind him. That we don't agree on everything, that's clear; nor do I with my wife. I mean, it doesn't mean that we should split, it just means that we don't agree on certain things. I don't think that you will find that everyone agrees on everything. And he is terrific with the environment. He has been there four years ago and stood by my side when I talked about the environment, when I talked about the--fighting global warming and putting together a good energy policy and starting with the green building initiative or start building the hydrogen highway in California and the million solar roof initiative. He was there and he supported me on every step of the way, so he's the real deal when it comes to the environment. I think he has great ideas and there are some things, like I said, I don't agree with, but there's a lot of things I do agree with. And I think that he will be a bresh of--fresh breath of air in Washington when he becomes president, because we really would have, for the first time, a really strong energy agenda and a great way of fighting global warming.

MR. BROKAW: Let me ask you about something that Tom Friedman has written in The New York Times about President Bush and energy policy. It was entitled "Lead or Leave." He said that the president two years ago said we're addicted to oil. "Now," he says, "we have" a "new Bush energy plan: `Get more addicted to'" it. It's "hard," according to Mr. Friedman, "to find" "words to express what a massive, fraudulent, pathetic excuse for an energy policy this is." Do you agree with him on that very harsh assessment of the president?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I'll tell you that we have always had a good relationship with the White House and with President Bush, and there were certain things that were done very well and we worked together very well, and there were other things where I have spoken out, where I disagreed with, which was on environmental issues. I don't dwell on the negative. The fact is that we have had a good relationship with him. And I think that, you know, it's easy to, you know, kick someone when they're down and to just be part of, you know, let's attack Bush, type of thing. But I don't go for that. I think that he's done great work, and in some things that he has failed. And I think that he probably knows that. The key thing is now to look forward. We in California have never paid much attention to the federal government's action when it comes to the environment because there was a lack of leadership. We moved forward very aggressively here, and we started looking into a future and really did things that were, you know, very unique for the United States, and we led the way.

MR. BROKAW: We talked about the housing crisis here in California. You have 72,000 homeowners who are in one stage or another of foreclosure; 20,000 have already lost their jobs, or lost their homes, in California especially. When real estate goes south, it drags the economy with it. It's about construction and home furnishings and appliances. It's about tax revenues. Is this going to be bad for a long time? Is it going to be a longer recovery than anybody anticipates at this point?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, first of all, let me just say that it is sad when you see the kind of people that are unemployed, and how tough it is to get a job, and this is why we want to pump in as quickly as possible the billions of dollars to get people back to work, especially in the construction business. But I, I, I am as amazed as everyone else of how quickly that came. And the housing crisis, the mortgages--the subprime mortgage crisis and all this kind of things, because I've had last year in the spring, meetings with economists and they said to me that for the next two years the economy in the United States is going to be strong, the economy worldwide is going to be strong. There is nothing that is indicating any decline at all.

Sure enough, two, three months later we've seen the slowdown in the housing market, we have seen the subprime mortgage crisis appearing, we've seen our revenues shrinking in Sacramento and $200 million a month came in less than anticipated. Then it went up all the way to $600 million by December already. So this really I think was a big surprise to everyone. And I don't think anyone can really guess of how long it will take. We are very fortunate here in California because we have so many different economies. We have the real estate, we have the entertainment economy, we have biotechnology, we have high technology, we have agriculture. We have all these different economies so that gives us some strength even though we are suffering because of the decline of the housing market.

MR. BROKAW: But has California been on a binge that was just unrealistic? A lot of speculation about cashing in on the real estate market, buying the big SUVs to drive on the freeways, one passenger using all that energy?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, no, I think that, you know, there were big mistakes made by borrowers and there were big mistakes made by lenders. And I think that everyone was on such a roll and the real estate market always, every year, went up and up and up, and so people started speculating. And, of course, what happened was the housing market was like the do- com bubble, it was a housing bubble, and it finally--the whole thing collapsed. And now we have to just wait until we grow our way out of this situation. And I think that by next year we will grow out of it.

MR. BROKAW: You have a lot of propositions on the ballot again this fall. One of them would mean a constitutional ban on gay marriages. Do you support that?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I think the Supreme Court made a decision there. It was apparently unconstitutional to stop anyone from getting married. It's like 1948, the interracial marriage, when the Supreme Court of California has, you know, decided it was unconstitutional and then later on the Supreme Court of the United States followed, I think 10 or 12 years later. So I think it is, it's good that California lead--is leading in this way. I personally believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But at the same time I think that my, you know, belief, I don't want to force on anyone else, so I think we should stay with the decision of the Supreme Court and move forward. There are so many other more important issues that we have to address in California. So I think to spend any time on this initiative I think is a waste of time.

MR. BROKAW: There's another proposition that would require a waiting period and parental permission before a minor could get an abortion or the termination of a pregnancy. Do you support that?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes, I support that. I think there should be a notification of the parents, and I was always for that. And I have two daughters myself. I would not want to have someone in the school take my daughter to a clinic to get an abortion without telling me or my wife. I think one or the other should know. If my daughter decides she doesn't want to let me know but she feels more comfortable with my wife, that's perfectly fine with me, because my wife and I, we are partners in raising our kids. But someone, one of us both, should know, and I believe in that 100 percent.

MR. BROKAW: It's well known that your wife, Maria Shriver, endorsed Senator Obama early. Is that off-limits in discussion in your household, and if he wins and says he'd like to have her join him in Washington in some capacity...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well...

MR. BROKAW: ...would you think that's a good idea?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: First of all, I think that it's great that she has her own opinion about this, and I supported it 100 percent when she called me before she did the appearance at UCLA. And I told her, "Go ahead, do it. You know, I think that you feel very passionate about that, and I feel very passionate about the person I endorse, which is McCain." And I think that we have always been like that. She has always endorsed or, you know, supported the Democratic candidates, I've always supported Republican candidates.

It makes it interesting discussion at night at home when we have dinner. Sometimes she pulls in the cutouts of Obama or whoever candidate she's for and is putting it right next to my breakfast table, and I have to look at it, and then of course when he screws up in one way or the other, the kids carry out the cutout, and he has to be outside the house for awhile, and then they carry him in again. So we have those kind of things going on. But I--you know--there's--I can only take all of these things for so long. Eventually, you know, I also sick and tired of it. So one day at night, I remember being at dinner, I got up because I had it, and I got up, and I said, you know, "McCain is the man. He's the best man for this country and for the future, and Maria is absolutely wrong with that Obama fellow. Absolutely wrong." I was so lucky that Maria was out for dinner that night. It was easier to do that.

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