JANUARY 13, 2009

SPEAKERS: SENATOR-DESIGNATE ROLAND BURRIS, D-ILL.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR

[*] ROBERTS: Well, Roland Burris’ fight is over. The man appointed by the embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will be sworn in and take his seat in the Senate -- probably happen later on this week.

Right now, he is live in Chicago.

I guess we should probably call you Mr. Senator-Designate at this point -- you haven’t been sworn in yet. As we said, that’s probably coming later this week. And I’m wondering, how do you feel that the same people who swore that you would never be seated in the United States Senate are now calling you Senator Burris? How are you feeling about all of that?

BURRIS: Well, naturally, I feel great. And I can understand what their -- what their positions were. They were concerned about the rules and the regulations, and (inaudible) and who comes to that body. That person must come with the right and proper credentials...

ROBERTS: Right.

BURRIS: ... because that is the most exclusive body in the nation and probably, one of the most powerful bodies in the world. So I understand what...

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Let’s take a moment just to remind people of what was said by Democratic leaders in a joint statement. They said, quote: “Anyone appointed by Governor Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic caucus.”

BURRIS: Yes.

ROBERTS: You know, you outfoxed them all, Mr. Burris, simply by sticking your guns, you know, even risking public embarrassment when you went there and they said “No, we’re not swearing you in, we’re not going to seat you back there on January 6th.” What was it that gave you the strength to continue this fight?

BURRIS: Well, number one, I knew, as a former attorney general of my state, that my appointment was legal and it met all constitutional and statutory requirements to be seated. And based on that, I certainly pushed forward.

It’s also my interest and desire to be a public servant. As a young kid growing up in a small southern Illinois town, I set two goals at the age of 16: One was to be a lawyer, and the other goal was to be a statewide elected official of Illinois. And I had an opportunity to serve. That is my, you know, my whole purpose in life as I see it, is to be a public servant. And the opportunity presented itself again after having been out of office for a few years, and an opportunity to get back into the service of my state, and I certainly -- I look forward to doing that.

ROBERTS: Well, what was the turning point, Mr. Burris? Was it when Senator Diane Feinstein said you have every right to be seated in the Senate, or was it when Governor Blagojevich’s people leaked this idea that there had been a telephone call between Governor Blagojevich and Senate Leader Harry Reid , in which he had turned down three other African-American candidates as being too weak, and it just so happened that that was one of the phone calls that was supposedly wire-tapped?

BURRIS: Well, John, I don’t -- I don’t really know too much about that background.

I think the turning point came when people began to see my credentials and they, you know, saw me and my desire to serve. I think that that’s when the public opinion -- and by the way, a lot of persons who still think that I was wrong by not doing that, but we’ve gotten, you know, just hundreds and hundreds of calls from all over the country, you know, encouraging me to, you know, to stick to my principles and to, you know, continue to seek to be seated. So I got a lot of encouragement from friends and family. And, of course, when my wife encourages me to do that, I know what I’m doing is right.

ROBERTS: There is just one other important question that I want to ask you briefly here. Will you run -- will you stand for re- election in 2010? Or stand for election, I guess, it would be your first time.

BURRIS: We can’t answer -- yes, I can’t answer that question now. I have to get my Senate legs under me and, you know, get the rules and regulations down. And we’ll make that decision in due course.

ROBERTS: All right, well, we’ll be watching closely and looking forward to your swearing in, Mr. Senator-designate. Roland Burris, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks for being with us.

BURRIS: Thank you very much, John, I really appreciate the opportunity.

ROBERTS: We’ll see lots more of you, I’m sure.

END

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JANUARY 13, 2009

SPEAKERS: SENATOR-DESIGNATE ROLAND BURRIS, D-ILL.

GRETCHEN CARLSON, FOX NEWS ANCHOR

[*] CARLSON: Last week the Senate sent him packing, but this week Democratic leaders will indeed swear in Rod Blagojevich’s selection to fill the vacant Senate seat of Barack Obama .

Illinois Senator-designate Roland Burris joins me live this morning.

Good morning to you, Senator-designate.

BURRIS: Good morning.

CARLSON: Thank you so much for sharing your time with us today.

I have to wonder if one of your first plans for business might be to send Senator Dianne Feinstein some flowers.

BURRIS: I’ve already talked with Senator Feinstein, and she was very, very supportive, very encouraging, and told me that she would certainly help me get orientated to the United States Senate. And I really appreciate the phone call -- and also Senator Feingold from Wisconsin made contact and expressed his support, and let me know whatever I need to learn or need from him, he would be willing to give it.

CARLSON: Yes.

BURRIS: So I’m very -- very honored that they would come forth in that fashion.

CARLSON: Yes, because Senator Feinstein was the first to come forward and say that you should actually be seated. And that started the whole ball rolling.

Which leads me to my next question, Senator Burris...

BURRIS: Absolutely.

CARLSON: ... which is whether or not you have any hard feelings against the Democrats that you will now be working with, including President-elect Barack Obama who just a week ago all said there was no way in heck that you should be the next senator from Illinois?

BURRIS; No, they did not say that I should not be. What they said was that -- you know, the person who was appointed by the governor should not be seated. But after considering the situation, and of course looking at my background and looking at the circumstances, the state legislature did not call for a special election. The governor says he wasn’t going to resign. So we didn’t want Illinois to be caught up in a situation, as difficult as times are now, with only one senator. So it would be fair to the state to have someone who can learn the procedures and rules and hit the ground running with the issues that we will be facing.

So I think that kind of played into their decision. And as things evolved, they saw that, you know, I was a legal appointment, and I was prepared and ready, willing and able to go.

CARLSON: Right. And part of that evolution was that meeting that you had with Harry Reid . And a lot of people speculated... BURRIS: A great meeting.

CARLSON: ... well, a lot of people speculated, sir, that he would try to force you into some sort of deal -- for example, that you would only sit in the seat until 2010.

Did any sort of deal-making options come up for you?

BURRIS: None whatsoever. Senator Durbin and Senator Reid -- because I knew Durbin. We go back 40 years. But I met Senator Reid for the first time, and we hit it right off.

As a matter of fact, we got to talking about a friend, mutual friend that we have out in Las Vegas. He said he’d gotten a phone call from the former attorney general of Las Vegas and she had spoken a good word for me. That was Frankie Sue Del Papa. We served as attorneys general together.

So we had a great, warm exchange of families (ph) and stories and experiences. So he was a very warm gentleman.

CARLSON: Let me ask you this, Senator Burris: Do you think it was wrong for race to be invoked into this entire decision-making process?

BURRIS: Well, in -- in terms of race -- in my whole career, I have never invoked race into any race, and I’ve been elected four times in my state of Illinois. I was the first black elected to a constitutional office in the state of Illinois, and never have I ever injected race in any type of campaign.

CARLSON: Right.

BURRIS: I did it on my merits.

And some individuals certainly can take that position. I mean...

CARLSON: Some did...

BURRIS: ... you must understand that...

CARLSON: ... and that was unfortunate.

BURRIS: Yes.

CARLSON: Before I go, because I don’t have a lot of time, if you were in the state house right now...

BURRIS: Sure.

CARLSON: ... would you vote to impeach Blagojevich, the man who appointed you?

BURRIS: Well, that’s a hypothetical, and I don’t (inaudible) respond to hypotheticals. I think what the house did was certainly constitutional duty and responsibility, and they saw that what the governor had done in their eyesight was impeachable, and they took...

CARLSON: So you would not take a stand today on whether or not you would vote to impeach Blagojevich?

BURRIS: I am not -- I am not in that position. That is not my prerogative to comment on that. The house members did their -- took their position. And I say that I support their decision.

CARLSON: All right.

Senator-designate Roland Burris, we appreciate your time this morning. It looks like you’re going to be sworn in later on this week. Congratulations to you.

BURRIS: Thank you so much. Thank you.

END

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JANUARY 13, 2009

SPEAKERS: SENATOR-DESIGNATE ROLAND BURRIS, D-ILL.

MEREDITH VIEIRA, NBC ANCHOR

[*] VIEIRA: Roland Burris, now senator-designate from the state of Illinois, is with us exclusively. Mr. Burris, good morning to you, sir.

Burris: Good morning, Meredith.

VIEIRA: Well, you certainly called this one right from the start. When you were appointed you said, “I will be seated.” It has been a couple rough weeks, though, for you. At what point did you realize that the tide was turning and that you would take a place in the Senate?

Burris: Well, Meredith, I really never doubted that I would be seated. It was just a matter of going through the process and making sure that the Senate rules were abided by and making sure that the other requirements that they are asking of me were in place.

My appointment was legal. It’s constitutional by Illinois’ constitution -- by Illinois statute -- and by the United States constitution. So, regardless of the condition of the governor, his appointment was legal. And so, you know, being a former attorney general, I had a little knowledge of the law and knowing that we must then just go through the process so that our senators would have a clear understanding.

(CROSSTALK)

VIEIRA: Mr. Burris, there were reports -- there were reports that Barack Obama had contacted Senator Harry Reid and said to him, in effect, “Don’t let this become a distraction, this whole appointment situation.” What do you know about that conversation between the two and with Obama’s role in helping to resolve the situation?

BURRIS: Meredith, I have no knowledge what the president-elect did with Majority Leader Reid. I have no knowledge of that.

VIEIRA: And you have not spoken to him?

BURRIS: Other than -- other than what was in the press, no, I have not spoken to President-Elect Obama. No, I have not.

VIEIRA: Speaking of the press, sir, let me read to you -- this is from an editorial in the Chicago Tribune this morning, and it raises questions about -- that some people have about you becoming senator. I’m quoting now: “Every time voters see Roland Burris, they’ll think of that other notorious R.B., Rod Blagojevich. Burris wants this Senate seat so desperately that he’ll even accept it from a guy who allegedly tried to sell it.”

How are you going to get people to take you seriously as a senator?

BURRIS: They need to look at my record, what I’ve done for 20 years in Illinois government, what I’ve done over the years as a citizen of our state, working with our young people, working in various areas of what we’d call breaking the glass ceiling; you know, becoming the first black vice president of -- officer of the biggest bank in our state, becoming the first African-American ever elected to state-wide office in Illinois.

I mean, I have a record that I’ve compiled that certainly says who I am. It’s not a matter of who appointed me; it’s a matter of my service to my state and what my ambitions are in terms of serving the public. I am a public servant. That’s what I sought out to do as a young man at 16 years old. I set two goals: One goal was to be a lawyer, the other goal was to be a statewide elected official and a public servant. So I...

(CROSSTALK)

VIEIRA: Let me ask you to weigh in on something, then, Mr. Burris, if I could.

BURRIS: Sure.

VIEIRA: The governor of Illinois is facing an impeachment trial, and last week, your colleague in the Senate, Dick Durbin, called on him to immediately resign. So now I’m asking you, please, to weigh in. Do you believe that the governor should resign or be removed from office?

BURRIS: Well, that really is not my purview. He has stated that he would not resign. So my, you know, calling on his resignation would not have any effect whatsoever. My vision is that you’re innocent in this legal system until you’re proven guilty. And if he’s proven guilty of the charges brought against him, then he should get the punishment to the full extent of the law. That’s how we work in the system.

So my calling on him to resign would have no effect. Everyone else has done it. So, I mean, it doesn’t -- it would impact what I say about his situation.

VIEIRA: All right, Senator-designate Roland Burris, thank you so much for your time this morning, sir, and congratulations.

BURRIS: Thank you, and my pleasure.

END

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SPEAKERS: ROLAND BURRIS, FORMER ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL

RACHEL MADDOW, HOST, “RACHEL MADDOW SHOW”

[*] MADDOW: We now welcome to our show, for the first time, officially, the junior senator from Illinois, Roland Burris. Mr. Senator-designate, congratulations and thanks for coming on the show tonight. BURRIS: Thank you, Rachel. And you did put the designate on there which is the official title for me right now.

MADDOW: Senator-designate is the right thing to say?

BURRIS: That is correct.

MADDOW: OK.

BURRIS: Until I take the oath of office.

MADDOW: Do you know when you will take the oath of office?

BURRIS: Well, it’s between getting my family together and Vice President Cheney. We are trying to match our schedules. It will be on Wednesday or Thursday and it will have to be -- if we can’t get Vice President Cheney, then we will use another distinguished senator to swear us in.

MADDOW: Not very many people in America have the occasion to say getting my family together with Vice President Cheney.

(LAUGHTER)

MADDOW: You are in a very small amount of company. Mr. Burris, you are now the sole African-American in the United States Senate. You have arrived there by a very circuitous path. After you are sworn in, and you officially become senator, what’s your first priority?

BURRIS: Well, my first priority is to learn the rules and regulations of the august body. And, of course, in terms of legislation and problems with the country, is to certainly look at what President Obama would have sent to us and then begin work on the stimulus package so that we can get people in this state and in the nation back to work, so people can earn money. Their earnings will allow them to, of course, to spend and then improve our economy.

We must also do infrastructure legislation and -- I mean, infrastructure funding so that we can do our roads and our bridges and our water for purification and greening of our cities. So, I’m ready to hit the ground running on those issues that are impacting our state and our nation.

MADDOW: One of the issues that has divided Senate Democrats, although that may be too strong a word at this point, there’s at least discussion among Senate Democrats, is on the issue of that stimulus package. How much of it should be government spending in the fewer sense, and how much of it should be tax cuts? Do you yet have an opinion on whether or not tax cuts should be a major part of this initial approach to the economic crisis?

BURRIS: Yes. I noticed that President-elect Obama has, you know, made some amends to what he offered on the campaign trail. And, of course, that is to try to bring more people in. And I’m pretty sure the Senate and the House will put their impressions on that legislation. So, it will come out maybe not as President Obama has sent it, but it will come out to the best interest of the people of America.

MADDOW: The questions and controversies, and the long process surrounding your appointment have taken up a lot of the Senate’s time and attention over the past week, and they really settle in now at the start of the 111th Congress. Do you have any regrets about having accepted this appointment and fighting for the seat in this way even if it did make you into sort of a distraction for the Senate at a critical time?

BURRIS: Well, definitely, Rachel, I have no regrets, because my whole goal in accepting that appointment from the governor was to be a person and a public servant on behalf of Illinois. I didn’t want Illinois to go into this 111th Congress short-handed. And so, with the strength of my community and friends and supporters, all, you know, encouraging me to move forward, I found, you know, no regrets whatsoever, because my whole life I’ve set out to be a public servant. And that’s what I love to continue to do and now, I have the opportunity to even help us in this distinguished august body in the United States Senate.

MADDOW: Now that the question of your appointment seems all but settled, there is still the question of your ongoing relationship with Governor Blagojevich. I know that before you were appointed to the Senate, you called the evidence against the governor pretty appalling. President-elect Obama has called on the governor to resign. Do you agree with Mr. Obama on that?

BURRIS: Well, what I said at the time when our attorney general had brought an action to have the governor to step aside that if what was true and is proven in the court, naturally, the governor should suffer the consequences of his actions should they be proven. But we also understand that you are innocent until you are proven guilty. And so, we end up with a situation where the governor’s going to have to face, you know, the consequences that, you know, we say that he made for himself.

But that does not, in any way, cause me to, you know, condone his actions or say that his actions were, you know, they were reprehensible. If what they say is true -- I mean, proven to be true, then there is no way that I can, you know, condone that type of behavior of the chief executive seeking to sell a Senate seat. And that is, you know, just unconscionable.

MADDOW: The Illinois House of Representatives has voted to impeach him. The vote was 114-1. We know that the Illinois State Senate will take up a vote to convict and possibly remove him from office. And that will happen shortly. If you were in the Illinois State Senate right now, do you know how you would vote?

BURRIS: That is too hypothetical. I’m not a senator, Rachel. And I don’t even want to, you know, go down that path, because I am not -- I will not be privy to the evidence that will be submitted. You know, this is cross-examinations. So, you know, there is still a burden of proof on the prosecutors in this case to, at least convince 40 of our state senators that what the governor has done is a convictable offense after the impeachment. You recall President Clinton’s situation when he was impeached by the House, but they could not get a conviction in the Senate and he continued to serve out, you know, very successfully, the rest of his term.

MADDOW: One last quick question. Do you agree with the decision of the House -- to impeach him?

BURRIS: Oh, yes. The House had to take on this constitutional responsibility. And, certainly, they are carrying out their duties and they’ve come to that conclusion. I was not there to listen to all their evidence, either, but I certainly would say that they have made their proper decision the same way they have to pass on legislation.

So, yes, I think they took what position they had to take based on what information they had, to follow the law with the impeachment process.

MADDOW: Roland Burris, the senator-designate from Illinois for the next couple of days until he is sworn in, whereupon he will be the junior senator from Illinois -- thank you so much for coming on the show tonight. Congratulations on surviving this odyssey, sir.

BURRIS: It’s my pleasure, Rachel.

END

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