CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Scooter Libby Indictment

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BLITZER: It's been a major story we've been following all afternoon here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the Democrats effectively shutting down the Senate for a few hours, calling for a closed secret session to protest what they say is a conspiracy, collusion between the Republican majority in the Senate and the White House over the intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. Also coming on the heels of the indictment of the White House -- the vice president's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Joining us now, the number two Democrat in the U.S. Senate, the whip, the minority whip, Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Good to be with you.

Senator Frist says this was a slap in his face, a stunt by the Democrats. What do you say?

DURBIN: This was a victory for the American people. The American people have a right to know whether any elected official misused intelligence to mislead our nation into war.

You know, in this democracy, the informed consent of the govern (ph) is critical for this government to work. We now know that because of misinformation and disinformation the American people were not told the truth about Iraq before the invasion.

The Democratic Senate caucus stood its ground this afternoon for three hours. And at the end of that standoff we have an agreement. By November 14, we will have a schedule for completing this important investigation so the American people will know the truth.

BLITZER: Couldn't you have achieved those same results by going and speaking in a collegial way with the Republican majority?

DURBIN: Wolf, we tried it for a year and a half. As of last July, in 2004, Senator Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said we're working on this, it will be done right away. And nothing happened.

We had to take this unusual move. It's allowed under the rules, but it is an unusual move to dramatize the need for this Senate to act, for the Senate Intelligence Committee to keep its word.

BLITZER: Are you saying that Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, is not an honorable man?

DURBIN: No, sir. I did not say that at all.

What I'll say is that he dragged his feet. The committee did not respond to its promise that it would complete what's called phase two investigation to bring the facts before the American people. Because of this standoff this afternoon, we'll have an agreement by November 14 to schedule the completion of this important investigation.

BLITZER: Senator Jay Rockefeller, the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, effectively was accusing the Republican majority in the Senate of doing the work of the White House, refusing to engage in this investigation into prewar intelligence because it was embarrassing to President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

DURBIN: I don't know any other conclusion that you could draw, because the first phase of the investigation, whether our intelligence agencies made mistakes with information they gave us before the war was completed long ago. The second phase, as to whether any member of the administration misused intelligence, mislead the American people, just was dragging on and on and on.

Senator Rockefeller has had the patience of Job. And he finally reached the end of his patience this week, and he joined us on the floor to really forge this important agreement that we will have this investigation finally completed.

BLITZER: How long were you, the Democratic minority in the Senate, preparing, planning this maneuver, which came as a total shock, a total surprise to the Republican majority?

DURBIN: We planned it yesterday.

BLITZER: And walk us through the process how this came about.

DURBIN: I'm not going to tell you how we came to our strategy or the playbook or anything like that. But we sat down and said, how long are we go going to wait?

We spoke to Senator Rockefeller and said, "Do you have any indication that the Senate Intelligence Committee is going to keep its word to the American people to complete this investigation?" And he said no. And we realized we had to take this extraordinary action.

Keep in mind this isn't about a simple political victory. It's about the American people being informed as to whether anyone in the administration misused the intelligence they had and mislead the American people into believing we had to invade Iraq.

BLITZER: Did you pounce on the Republicans at this point because you smell blood, you sense the president has been weakened by a series of events?

DURBIN: I think the timing really reflects the fact that Senator Roberts told us last year he couldn't do this because of an election. Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the last election, and nothing has happened in the past year.

We felt that we were running out of time, we're nearing the end of this session. It's time for this important investigation and this important information to be released to the American people.

BLITZER: Senator Dick Durbin, thanks for joining us.

DURBIN: Thank you, sir.

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