CNN Inside Politics - Transcript
CNN Inside Politics - Transcript
Monday, July 18, 2005
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BASH: A short time ago, I spoke with Republican Senator Mitch Mcconnell of Kentucky, the majority whip. And we talked about several issues, beginning with the president's comments today about Karl Rove. I asked Senator McConnell if he thinks someone should have to commit a crime in order to be fired by the administration over the CIA leak?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MAJORITY WHIP: Well, the other point the president was making is everybody just take a deep breath. This is an investigation underway. The president has obviously indicated that he thought the standard ought to be that if somebody committed a crime, they ought not to be working for them. I think that makes a lot of sense to most Americans. In the meantime, I think we ought to move onto something else, because sooner or later, we're going to find out whether there was some activity here that warranted getting all upset about.
BASH: But, in terms -- politically, I guess I can ask you -- the president is somebody, as you know, who ran not once, but twice, on restoring honesty and integrity to the White House. Given that, is the bar committing a crime too low here?
MCCONNELL: Look, it appears to me, based on what we know at the moment -- and admittedly, we don't know everything -- that Karl Rove did absolutely nothing wrong. So I think we ought to go on and discuss some other issue more pressing before the country.
BASH: You say Karl Rove did nothing wrong. I just want to play...
MCCONNELL: Based upon what we know right now. I mean, that's why this investigation is going on to determine if anything improper happened, anything criminal happened. And at some point, I guess we'll find out the answer to that.
BASH: That's a fair point. I just want to play one thing for you, and that is a sound byte from Matt Cooper of "Time" magazine describing his conversation with Karl Rove. Let's take a listen.
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COOPER: Before that conversation, I had never heard anything about Joe Wilson's wife. After that conversation, I knew that she worked at the CIA and worked on WMD issues. But as I make clear -- made clear at the grand jury, I'm certain Rove never used her exact name and certainly never indicated she had a covert status.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: There you hear Matt Cooper saying that Karl Rove didn't use her name or perhaps didn't use the fact that she was covert. But he was giving information to Matt Cooper about this particular person, who was working at the CIA. Given the responsibility of somebody, who, as such a senior person, somebody with classified security clearance, I should say, is appropriate to be doing that?
MCCONNELL: Look, what we really don't know is what happened. And I assume, at some point, the investigator will wrap this matter up and there will either be indictments or there won't. In the meantime, we're not quite sure what happened, and it's probably better not to be commenting on a set of, you know, incidences where we're not even sure what the facts are.
BASH: OK. Senator, I will change topics, then, and go on to the Supreme Court. Senator Specter, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said over the weekend that he would like to see a moderate, somebody in the tradition of Sandra Day O'Connor nominated. Do you agree with that?
MCCONNELL: Look, I think the president's choice will be made known hopefully sometime in the near future and I expect to be able to support the president's nominee. But my own preference, I guess, would be for a strict constructionist. That's what the president said, you know, he wanted to do during his campaign back in 2000. He generally does what he says he's going to do. But regardless, I expect it to be a person of great intellect and high quality. And hopefully, this Senate will treat this nomination with the respect that it deserves during the confirmation process.
BASH: The other thing that Senator Specter said is that perhaps President Bush should consider somebody whose not coming from the bench already, not from one of the -- sitting on the Appellate Court, perhaps somebody with political experience. Do you think that's a good idea.
MCCONNELL: Look, I like a lot of others have taken the advantage, taken the opportunity to consult with the president's people. They have given us that opportunity. A huge number of us, about half the Democratic caucus and virtually all of the Republicans have had their say. I gave them my advice privately and I'd rather not give it publicly. I think our responsibility in the Senate, of course, is going to be to conduct this confirmation process in a dignified way that the American people can look at and conclude that the nominee, whoever he on or she may be, got a fair treatment.
BASH: One thing that you definitely are in charge of, or you're at least one of the people in charge of, is making the trains run on time and working on the mechanics of the Senate. Given that, what is your preference, perhaps what is your knowledge, about when the president should actually put up the nominee? Should it be this week in order to get things done, have that time frame for the background check, for courtesy calls, et cetera, before hearings start?
MCCONNELL: Look, the average time that the -- any nomination, even a controversial nomination, has taken on the Senate floor is four days. So it's not going to have any impact on the work we are doing in the Senate. The member's Judiciary Committee will be busy having hearings. But it's not going to in any way disrupt the flow in the Senate. We have every reason to believe we can get this new nominee confirmed before the first Monday in October when the Supreme Court begins its fall term.
BASH: That was Senator Mitch McConnell joining us from Capitol Hill. We thank the Senator for joining us.
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