CQ Transcriptswire

SPEAKERS: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.

CINDY MCCAIN, SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN’S WIFE

SEN. JOHN KERRY, D-MASS.

[*] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS (voice-over): Good morning from the Republican convention in St. Paul. Welcome to a special edition of “This Week.”

McCain shakes the race.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: She’s not from these parts, and she’s not from Washington.

GOV. SARAH H. PALIN, R-ALASKA: I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Obama rocks the house.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILL.: They have not served a red America or a blue America; they have served the United States of America.

STEPHANOPOULOS: As the GOP takes the stage, how will Governor Palin play? Can McCain match Obama’s speech and smother his bounce?

Questions this morning for McCain’s best friends, his wife, Cindy, and Senate Lindsey Graham . John Kerry counters for the Democrats.

Then...

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: I ask you not simply to trust me, but to trust your values, our values.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Can McCain capture that Reagan magic? Or will Gustav dampen this party? That and the rest of the week’s politics on our roundtable, with George Will, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, and Matthew Dowd.

And, as always, the Sunday funnies.

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is John McCain ’s choice. Here’s what her know about her: Her name is Sarah Palin . That’s all we know. That’s everything we know.

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of “This Week,” with ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos, live from St. Paul at the site of the Republican National Convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello again. As the Republicans gather here in the Twin Cities, Gustav is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. Senator McCain and Governor Palin will head to the emergency command center in Mississippi today with Governor Haley Barbour .

And unless Gustav stalls considerably over the next several hours, White House officials tell me that President Bush will almost certainly not attend the convention. Plans are being made to have him address the delegates and the nation by video tomorrow night. Convention officials are also considering turning that opening session into a telethon for hurricane victims. We’ll have more on what Gustav means for this convention later in the program, but we begin with our exclusive headliner, Cindy McCain, and her take on her husband’s stunning choice of a running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: To serve as vice president beside such a man would be the privilege of a lifetime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: When I spoke with Mrs. McCain on the trail in Pennsylvania yesterday, she began by telling me what it was like behind the scenes on the team’s first bus trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

C. MCCAIN: It was a lot of fun. As you know, we’re a large family, and they have a large family. We had a lot of fun with kids yesterday and had a lot of fun getting to know each other, the families. And I’m so proud of my husband. I think he’s made a marvelous choice.

STEPHANOPOULOS: He told the radio station here in Pittsburgh that he didn’t want to make the choice until you got back from Georgia. And I think you met with Governor Palin right before her final meeting with Senator McCain. What made you think this is the right pick?

C. MCCAIN: I just -- knowing my husband, and knowing his spirit and the way he operates, and what he thinks, and then having -- getting to know her a bit -- they’re a perfect match. They’re a perfect match in...

STEPHANOPOULOS: How so?

C. MCCAIN: Because she’s a reformer. And she thinks outside the box, the way my husband does. They think -- they think about what’s best for the country and what’s -- you know, Washington is just a quagmire. It’s a mess right now.

And both of them have been serious reformers. And the governor, particularly, where she’s been in the state of Alaska, what’s she done -- gone up against her own party, her own government in the state of Alaska -- I mean, there couldn’t be a better match for my husband.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You know what Democrats are saying. It’s a desperate choice. She’s just not ready to serve as commander-in- chief.

C. MCCAIN: No, no, no. I completely disagree, and I know my husband does, too. She is heavily experienced in what she has done.

She was -- she started out like everybody else -- a member of the PTA, small government at home, then a mayor, now the governor. She comes with the kind of experience behind her. And also, I might add, a son who is about to deploy to Iraq. She comes with say more experience than...

STEPHANOPOULOS: What did you tell her about that? Because, of course, you have a son...

C. MCCAIN: Yes, I did.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... serving.

C. MCCAIN: I did. I asked her, you know, how do you feel about this? Are you -- you know, this is two things you have to do, is not only possibly be a vice presidential candidate, but also, you know, listen, to worry about your son. And she looked me square in the eye and she said, “You know something? I’m a mother. I can do it.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: But she has no national security experience.

C. MCCAIN: You know, she -- the experience that she comes from is with what she’s done in the government.

And, also, remember, Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So it’s not as if she doesn’t understand what’s at stake here.

It’s also about making decisions and being targeted in what she thinks. She has a -- she has a great mind. And she has a very serious direction in where she goes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s talk about your national security experience. You made an extraordinary trip this week.

C. MCCAIN: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: While the Democrats were at their convention in Denver, you went to Georgia. Why now?

C. MCCAIN: Well, number one, I couldn’t get in any earlier, as you know. But Georgia is in a state of turmoil with what’s happened.

I saw thousands and thousands of refugees, and heard the stories, and watched their eyes, and saw their desperation in what’s going on.

I mean, when you talk to a mother who says, “My child was raped,” I mean, it’s despicable what’s going on.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And what did you hope to accomplish with your trip?

C. MCCAIN: Making sure that the Georgians know that the United States of America is by their side. I don’t represent the government or anything, but, from the humanitarian aspect, it’s very important that we continue to get aid in.

As you know, the Russians are blocking us at every point. And we have to worry about these people surviving a winter.

And, of course, the land mine issue is critical. They’ve -- everything is mined. You saw what happened on the railroad tracks. I mean, these guys are -- are bad guys.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And what do you think -- what more do you think we should be doing right now to address this situation?

C. MCCAIN: Well, from a humanitarian aspect, to continue to pressure with regards to getting aid in, encouraging our neighbors to do the same thing, and, more importantly, keeping the pressure on. This is a democracy. It’s a wonderful, young democracy. We can’t let it go.

We can’t let, you know, a country come back in and take it back down to -- to a Soviet-style government. This is democracy, and that’s what we’re all about.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You told Time magazine that this is the kind of work that makes you tick. How so?

C. MCCAIN: Yes. I love doing this kind of work. It’s part of my fiber.

And I’ve told other people, I think, years ago, when I first became a mother, I mean, I began to see things through different eyes. And when I see mothers looking to me, or anybody else that’s there from a humanitarian aspect, and desperate -- I mean, the only thing you want as a mom is for your kids to be healthy and safe.

And when I see other mothers look at me and ask the same question, I mean, I can’t -- I have to. I have to help.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And if your husband does win in November, was what we saw this week a model of what you’d like to do as first lady?

C. MCCAIN: Yes. Yes, and more so. And more so. I think it’s important. The United States is the best at what we do. We’re the ones that give the most and give the earliest every time something happens.

And I’d like to continue that and also encourage others to get involved. You don’t have to cross an ocean to be of help.

STEPHANOPOULOS: While you were in Georgia, the Democrats, as you know, were having their convention. And they were not shy at all about putting your wealth, your family’s houses, front and center. Fair?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, D-KAN.: I’m sure you all remember that girl from Kansas who said, “There’s no place like home.” Well, in John McCain ’s version, there’s no place like home, or a home, or a home, or a home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Fair?

C. MCCAIN: No. Listen, my father built -- he had nothing. He and my mother sold everything they had to raise $10,000. Now, that was a lot of money then. Now, for what my father built, it’s not much.

My father is a great American dream. And that’s what we want for every American, the ability, with hard work, be able to build a business, support your family, and provide in a way that’s -- that’s good.

I’m proud of what my dad and my mother did and what they built and left me.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And when Barack Obama says the problem is that John McCain just doesn’t get it...

C. MCCAIN: Oh...

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... because he’s out of touch because of this?

C. MCCAIN: My husband was a Navy boy. His father and mother were in the Navy. I mean, there’s nothing elitist about that.

I’m offended by Barack Obama saying that about my husband. He grew up, you know, with -- in his family, traveling all over the country, being stationed everywhere, and watching his father leave for years at a time. He’d go to war.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you thought it went too far?

C. MCCAIN: I do. I do. I really do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And what do you hope to do on Wednesday night when you address the convention?

C. MCCAIN: Oh, introduce my family, number one, let people know a little bit, not only about me, but about what makes me tick and why I’m here, and, obviously, why I support my husband, and why I think he’d be a marvelous president.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mrs. McCain, thank you very much.

C. MCCAIN:

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And for more from the convention, I’m joined here in the Twin Cities by Senator McCain’s best friend, Senator Lindsey Graham .

Welcome.

GRAHAM: Not a lot of competition for that title. STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get to Gustav right away.

GRAHAM: Yes, sir.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We now know that President Bush almost certainly will not be here tomorrow night because the hurricane is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. I know you’re in touch with the high command of the McCain campaign. What other changes are being planned?

GRAHAM: They’re being talked about right now today. John and Governor Palin are going to Mississippi to talk with Governor Barbour today about what to expect. And the goal is to make sure we get it right, that we let the country know, the people on the Gulf Coast know...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Because of Katrina.

GRAHAM: Yes, that we’re not going to do anything here inappropriate. To use this convention to raise money to help people who are going to be affected by the hurricane, and to make sure that we send the right signal to the people in harm’s way.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator McCain yesterday raised the prospect of postponing the convention. Is that one idea that could make some sense, concentrating the convention into Thursday night and basically putting it off for three days?

GRAHAM: It might, depending on how this thing plays out. The goal is to make sure that you take the conservative approach, that we’re not seen to be out of touch with people who could have everything they worked for lost. And no one here, no one in Senator McCain’s inner circle, wants to do anything to be insensitive to what is coming. And I think what is coming is a major blow to the Gulf Coast.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you would advise Senator McCain to be there.

GRAHAM: I’d advise Senator McCain to go down as is, today, to figure out what can I do? And I don’t want him to get in the way down there. I want him to be briefed in a way that doesn’t get in the way of preparing for the hurricane, and to take action to show solidarity with the people on the Gulf Coast, and not to distract from their problems.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s go to the stunning choice he made the other day of Governor Palin as running mate. I want to show everybody what you said about Senator McCain’s criteria for vice president back in May. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: He’ll pick a vice presidential nominee that he thinks will help the country if something happened to him, lead the country if something happened to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that the criteria Senator McCain used, someone who could lead the country if something happened to him?

GRAHAM: I think what he was looking for is a partner to tell a story about what he wants to do in Washington. The idea of Washington being broken is accepted by most Americans. The Congress is at 12 percent approval rating. Who are the 12 percent and what do they like? John has a reputation of being a guy pushing the institution called Congress, and Senator -- excuse me, Governor Palin -- what she’s done in Alaska is what we would hope to do in Washington. That’s why he picked her.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But is she ready to serve on day one? It sounds like you’re shifting the criteria.

GRAHAM: Oh, I think so. I think so. Compared to Barack Obama , absolutely. She has done things that Barack Obama would never dream of. To go in her state and say, “I’m not going to build a bridge to nowhere,” a $400 million appropriation that was passed by brute force in the Congress between two senior members of the congressional delegation, very powerful figures in Washington, and for her to say to the citizens of Alaska “we’re not going to do this because this is not necessary and it’s wasteful,” to take on her own Republican...

STEPHANOPOULOS: But she turned against that, only she campaigned for it in her 2006 race, and turned against it in 2007 only after it became a national joke.

GRAHAM: Well, the point is, she had the courage to say “we’re not going to do it, because it’s not the right signal we want to send to everybody else from Alaska.”

She took on the Republican Party chairman and called him unethical. She took on the attorney general, who eventually resigned because he was doing things that were inappropriate.

I’m in politics. I voted against the bridge to nowhere. I was one of 14. Scared the heck out of me, because I knew what was going to come my way. I can’t imagine being the governor of the state and telling the people who were able to secure the bridge, “we’re not going to do it.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: But what national security experience does she have?

GRAHAM: She’s been a governor. She’s been in charge of the National Guard. More than Obama. What has he done? What has he done? What has Senator Obama done in terms of managing a war? The only time he’s been involved in war is when he voted in Iraq. He voted to cut off funding to people in the war. He opposed the surge, said it wouldn’t work, that it would make things worse. His judgment when it comes to matters of war had been terrible.

She’s tough. She’s talented. She’s ready to lead.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But Senator, Karl Rove and other Republicans, when Governor Tim Kaine was being considered, said the National Guard experience was irrelevant. That’s what President Bush said about Governor Clinton back in 1992.

What do you say to this Republican delegate from Mobile, Alabama, Todd Burkhalter? He says this, “We’re in a global war, we’re in a global economy, so it’s less than honest if someone says that this woman is qualified to lead America right now.”

GRAHAM: I would say that compared to Senator Obama, she is qualified beyond belief to change the culture in Washington. That is...

STEPHANOPOULOS: But that’s the argument you’ve been using against Senator Obama.

GRAHAM: The argument I’ve been using...

STEPHANOPOULOS: So how does she meet the standard that John McCain is setting?

GRAHAM: When you look at her resume of being a governor versus his resume of being a senator, he’s been gone more than he’s been there. She’s been in office since 2006. She’s vetoed budgets that were excessive. She has given money back to the people of Alaska by tax cuts. She’s reformed institutions that are incredibly broken. She’s been bold. She’s been a leader. She’s put her own political career at risk, and Senator Obama has been gone more than he’s been here. And he’s never challenged his own party to do anything different.

So John McCain is trying to tell the American people, “I got it. You think your government’s broken? So do I. I picked somebody that knows how to fix broken governments. I picked somebody who will stand up to powerful people in her own backyard, and together we’re going to change this place.”

Joe Biden’s a wonderful man, but there’s not a change bone in his body when it comes to budgets and spending.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But he does have more national security experience than Governor Palin.

GRAHAM: He has national security experience, but experience and judgment need to come together. He voted against the first Gulf War. He opposed the surge. He wanted to partition Iraq.

I think Governor Palin has the characteristics of a leader that can take over on a moment’s notice, but the most qualified person to be commander-in-chief of all four is John McCain .

STEPHANOPOULOS: So Senator McCain wins and, God forbid, tragedy strikes. You’d feel confident, safe and secure a year from now if Governor Palin were president?

GRAHAM: I would dread the day that Senator Obama took the oath and become commander-in-chief...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s not what I asked.

GRAHAM: Well, let me tell you, here’s my choices. My choices is to elect him, Barack Obama , who got it incredibly wrong in Iraq, who would sit down with Ahmadinejad and change the whole dynamic of the Mideast by empowering a nut and sending every wrong signal to extremists and moderates. His judgment in these areas have been terrible, proven to be terrible.

I would be proud to call her my president. I think she could step in and fulfill the agenda domestically and internationally that John McCain wants to set for the country.

Compared to Barack Obama , I think she’d make one hell of a commander-in-chief.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Our next guest is Senator John Kerry . I want to show a bit of what he said at the Democratic convention. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: Senator McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into Candidate McCain, who is using the same Rove tactics, the same Rove staff, the same old politics of fear and smear...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Your response?

GRAHAM: I don’t know what the heck he’s talking about. Who have we feared or smeared? We’ve -- we’ve run ads questioning whether or not Barack Obama is a celebrity or a leader. We’re putting questions out there about Senator Obama.

What has he actually done? He’s been in the Senate since 2006. He’s been gone more than he’s been there. He’s never reached across the aisle to do one hard thing.

And when it came to Iraq, he went two-and-a-half years without visiting the country, never sat down and talked to General Petraeus about how the surge is going, declared the surge a failure, never got engaged at all, went to Iraq because we made him go, shamed him into going, comes back and says the surge still hasn’t worked, and I wouldn’t have changed my vote.

So what we’ve tried to do is expose the guy for the calculating politician that he is. And Governor Palin, whether you think she’s a good choice or not, I can tell you, she’s got a resume of taking on hard issues and standing up to tough people.

If you can take on Ted Stevens and that crowd in Alaska, you can handle the Russians.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Graham, thanks very much.

GRAHAM: Thank you.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So let me turn now to Senator Kerry. He’s joining us today from Massachusetts.

You heard Senator Graham there, Senator Kerry. Good morning, first of all. What’s your response?

KERRY: Thank you. Well, he just admitted the case. He just said, “We’ve exposed him for being the calculating politician that he is.” And Barack Obama in his own speech said he’s not going to attack John McCain ’s motives, but you just heard them attack John McCain ’s motives, calculating.

The fact is that Barack Obama has shown judgment that has been correct. I mean, everything Lindsey -- you know, Lindsey Graham is very glib, he’s very good. But let me tell you something: He just didn’t tell you the truth.

John McCain has been wrong about Iraq. He bought in to the neoconservative theory that, by military invasion of Iraq, you could transform the Middle East. That has been proven incorrect. The Middle East is in shambles. America has lost credibility.

In fact, Iran is stronger today. Hamas is stronger today. Hezbollah is stronger today. And the United States of America that the president is supposed to protect is weaker today in the region and in the world.

Al Qaida is reconstituted and is now in 60 countries, not in the four countries that it was at the time of Afghanistan, when the war began.

So the bottom line is that the Republicans are trying to hide the fact that they have failed on their watch to make America safer.

And now, now, George, you have a choice, where John McCain has proven that he’s not a maverick, he’s erratic. He’s crossed the line from maverickism to -- I mean, it’s unbelievable what’s happened, because he himself said...

STEPHANOPOULOS: But let me -- let me stop you right there. What do you mean -- let me stop you right there, Senator Kerry. You said he’s erratic. What are you talking about there? Is that referring to the choice...

KERRY: Well, I’ll tell you exactly...

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... of Governor Palin?

KERRY: I will tell you -- absolutely, because what has happened is John McCain -- you know, we’ve been warning against the third term of George Bush. With the choice of Governor Palin, it’s now the third term of Bush-Cheney, because what he’s done is he’s chosen somebody who actually doesn’t believe that climate change is manmade. He’s chosen somebody who has zero -- zero -- experience in foreign policy.

The first threshold test of a president of a nominee in choosing a vice president is to prove to the American people that the person that you’ve chosen can fill in tomorrow, that they come with the requisite experience to lead the nation in foreign policy and in national security.

You know, she may be -- I mean, I’m sure she’s a terrific person. I’m not attacking her. I think John McCain ’s judgment is once again put at issue, because he’s chosen somebody who clearly does not meet the national security threshold, who is not ready to be president tomorrow.

And there’s just no way to...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: You heard Senator Graham, though. He said that she has more experience than Senator Obama.

KERRY: That’s just ridiculous on its face. I mean, John -- you know, Barack Obama has been in the United States Senate. He has not been absent more than he’s been there. She’s been a governor for, what, the two years now, Barack Obama and the four years?

But, moreover, Barack Obama has traveled abroad. Look at the trip Barack Obama took. I mean, it is remarkable to me that the Republicans would try to denigrate a trip that a candidate for president takes where he attracts more -- more attention, more support, if you will, than a sitting president of the United States of America.

That’s what you need in leadership for a president. You need somebody who can go to Europe and say to them, “We need more help in Afghanistan.” He actually called the Europeans to account on their -- on their need to be, frankly, more front-and-center in the effort to deal with Afghanistan than President Bush has.

I think that’s leadership, and I think the United States of America is well-served if we have a president who’s able to do that.

But coming back to this choice for a moment...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Kerry...

KERRY: ... let me just say...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask you another question right now...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... because, Senator, Howard Wolfson -- excuse me. Let me just ask you another question. Howard Wolfson, Senator Clinton’s former communications director, said that this pick might just work to draw women to the Republican ticket. Are you worried about that?

KERRY: Well, with all due respect to Howard, you know, I have much more respect for the Clinton supporters than that sort of quick- blush take with -- I mean, how stupid do they think the Clinton supporters are, for Heaven sakes?

Do they think Clinton supporters supported Hillary only because she was a woman. For Heaven sakes, they supported Hillary because of all the things she’s fought for, because she fights for health care, which John McCain doesn’t support; she fights for children and children’s health care, which John McCain voted against; she fights for a windfall profits tax on the oil company, which John McCain opposes.

I mean, for Heaven sakes, the people who supported Hillary Clinton are not going to be seduced just because John McCain has picked a woman. They’re going to look at what she supports.

The fact that she doesn’t even support the notion that climate change is manmade -- she’s back there with the Flat Earth Caucus. And I don’t see how those women are going to be fooled into believing -- I think it’s almost insulting to the Hillary supporters that they believe they would support somebody who is against almost everything that they believe in.

STEPHANOPOULOS: OK. KERRY: What John McCain has proven with this choice -- this is very important, George. John McCain wanted to choose Tom Ridge. He wanted to choose Joe Lieberman. He wanted to choose another candidate, but you know what? Rush Limbaugh and the right wing vetoed it.

And John McCain was forced to come back and pick a sort of Cheney-esque social conservative who’s going to satisfy the base.

What John McCain has proven with this choice is that John McCain is the prisoner of the right wing, not a maverick.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Kerry, I’m afraid that’s all we have time for today. Thank you very much for your time.

KERRY: Thank you.

END

.ETX

Aug 31, 2008 9:43 ET .EOF

Source: CQ Transcriptions

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