'Meet the Press' transcript for Nov. 23, 2008

MR. BROKAW: Maybe that plan is what President Bush and President-elect Obama, under the Baker proposal, should be working on between now and January 20th.

MR. INGRASSIA: Well, that would be exhibit A in my book. I mean, I really think, you know, I agree absolutely with what Chuck said about the union pressure. I think, think the union's got to come to the party on this. I mean, even today, Tom, some of the Big Three car factories have to staff 20 percent above the staffing level that it would take to normally operate the plant because of absenteeism. I mean, you know, a simpler operating contract, the, the contract that they have out in California at the GM/Toyota joint venture, you just miss a certain number of days and you're out. There's no negotiating with bureaucracies about, well, is this an excused absence or not an excused absence? It's a simpler operating agreement. And the template already exists. They should take the corporate jets and go to California and find it.

MS. BURNETT: We need more clarity, though, on where these two and a half million jobs are going to come from because, as I say, I think that's a lot less than a lot of people on Wall Street were expecting to hear out of Obama, maybe a larger number. But if you're going to talk about restructuring here, you're going to lose jobs no matter what. And finding some sort of an immediate transition seems to be very important. And if you're talking about infrastructure, there's only about $18 billion of projects ready to go that you could really put people to work on. So there is this sort of no man's land that we're going to go into where you could have a lot of people looking for work in addition to where we are right now and not really having anywhere to go right, right yet.

MR. BROKAW: Yeah, I've told--I've been told by governors and mayors alike that it's about an 18-month ramp-up to any kind of realistic public works program.

We're going to talk about the Cabinet that is now beginning to take shape. The one that has been getting the most attention besides Tim Geithner as the choice of the secretary of the Treasury, as you might expect, Madam Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. The Clintonistas are back--Rahm Emanuel as the White House chief of staff, Eric Holder, the attorney general. What are the issues for Hillary Clinton beyond Bill? Or are those the big issues?

MR. TODD: Oh, I think it was the--that Bill was the big issue here. In fact, there were some very loyal Hillary loyalists very upset this week, thinking that Bill and his boys were, were, were messing the whole deal up by leaking the fact of how cooperative he was being. It was creating this--the drama that the Obama folks were trying to avoid. And it was my understanding that some, some Hillary loyalists made it clear to Chicago, this isn't us. This isn't the way we're going to be. We're not going to be this type of State Department. I think what's critical going forward is what is the relationship going to be with Jim Jones...

MR. BROKAW: Yes.

MR. TODD: ...who's the likely national security adviser and Hillary Clinton?

MR. BROKAW: Right.

MR. TODD: What you're seeing Obama develop here, yes, he's going to have some very strong, it's not a team of rivals, I call it a team of egos. And I mean that in a positive way. There's a lot of big personalities he's putting in his Cabinet, but he's also putting big personalities in charge of major things. NSA, he's doing this with Larry Summers, with the Council of Economics, with that position, and he's going to create one on green, on energy issues that's going to almost be an uber-Cabinet post over energy, interior and EPA.

MR. BROKAW: We should let our audience know that Jim Jones, well-known in the Washington circles...

MR. TODD: Right.

MR. BROKAW: ...former Marine commandant, has several languages, he was NATO commander, he is highly regarded across the board here. There you see him on the screen. He'll be a very, very strong voice in, in any White House. Eric Holder...

MR. ROBINSON: Mm-hmm.

MR. BROKAW: ...Obama's friend, number two in the Clinton administration in the Justice Department under Janet Reno.

MR. ROBINSON: Mm-hmm.

MR. BROKAW: But on the way out...

MR. ROBINSON: Right.

MR. BROKAW: ...he was involved in the Mark Rich pardon by waving it through...

MR. ROBINSON: Right.

MR. BROKAW: ...saying, "Take a look at it."

MR. ROBINSON: Exactly, looking, looking the other way and he has, in, in public statements since said, "Well, maybe I should've paid a bit more attention to, to, to that and taken, taken another look at it." The early signs are that, that Capitol Hill seems to be and Washington seems to be willing to say, "OK, that's in the past. Eric Holder is highly regarded by people on both sides of the aisle." As attorney general, he would be an, an, an interesting choice in--for me, in part, because he has very strong views on, on the issues or torture and, and detention at Guantanamo and that whole nexus of issues. It'd be interesting to see how he perceives--President-elect Obama has said he will make this a priority, closing Guantanamo and restoring America's honor and place in the world, as he, as he has, has essentially put it. So do we have some sort of investigatory commission? How does, how does he, how does he go about putting things right from the point of view of the new administration?

MR. BROKAW: And, Chuck Todd, you've been looking at the election results. One of the things that jumps out at you...

MR. TODD: Mm-hmm.

MR. BROKAW: ...is the Hispanic vote, obviously, was very powerful for the Democrats. Texas could go Democrat in four years or possibly eight years. Bill Richardson, who is the most high-profile Hispanic...

MR. TODD: Right.

MR. BROKAW: ...politician in the country now rumored for secretary of the Commerce.

MR. TODD: Boy, this came together sort of last minute, too. They were looking for a place for a well-known Hispanic. Some Hispanic supporters of, of Senator--of President-elect Obama were not happy that none of the big posts. You know, they've had HUD, they've had Energy, they've had, you know, that isn't what they were interested in. They wanted a seat at the, at the big boys' table and the big girls' table and so Commerce is an interesting thing. They're going to ramp up Commerce, they're going to roll it out, and this might actually be a good place for Bill Richardson. Commerce is America's cheerleader, sometimes, on business.

MS. BURNETT: But Commerce, Commerce and State need to work together, especially when you talk about protectionism and trade and obviously the relationship between Richardson and Clinton, is that going to magnets, egos coming together or hitting on the other side of the magnet?

MR. TODD: It's potentially...(unintelligible). We'll see.

MR. BROKAW: Yeah, but we also have Daschle, Napolitano, and maybe a holdover in Bob Gates, who is the secretary of defense, so we've got a lot to talk about in weeks to come.

We'll have to leave it right there for now, however. Thanks very much. I'll be right back.

(Announcements)

MR. BROKAW: That's all for today. We'll be back next week with a special Thanksgiving weekend edition. Among our guests at that time, I'll have an exclusive interview with first lady Laura Bush. Next Sunday right here on MEET THE PRESS on Thanksgiving weekend. Happy Thanksgiving in the meantime, everyone. Because, if it is Sunday, it's MEET THE PRESS.

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