ABC "Good Morning America" - Transcript
Interview
ABC "Good Morning America"
MS. ROBERTS: The Olympic torch is burning, and so is the continuing controversy over the Beijing Games, from China's recent crackdown in Tibet to its record of human rights abuses. Some are even calling for a boycott.
Now, just back from a visit with her longtime friend, the Dalai Lama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is weighing in.
SPEAKER PELOSI: It's a sporting event, and if it's a sporting event, then it should proceed.
It's interesting, though, that the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, said she would not attend the opening ceremonies
MS. ROBERTS: But President Bush has said he will be there.
SPEAKER PELOSI: President Bush has said that. And when the president goes there, I hope he will talk to the Chinese government, as he gives them credibility at that time, about the loss of jobs in America because of barriers to our products going into China, the danger to our medical supplies and our food supply because of the lax regulation in China, the list goes on.
MS. ROBERTS: And if we are saying this far out that we will not boycott, does it take away some leverage you may have in getting the Chinese government, when it comes to human rights, to do the right thing?
SPEAKER PELOSI: Well, I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table. I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do. There's a difference between that ceremony and the actual athletic events.
But I don't think China should have gotten the Olympic Games to begin with, but they did get them with the promise that they would open up more and have better respect for human rights and freedom of expression. They have not honored that.
MS. ROBERTS: Back home, Pelosi's become a focal point in a tense presidential race, after 20 prominent Clinton backers sent a letter criticizing Pelosi's suggestion that superdelegates vote for the candidate leading in pledged delegates, which seemed to favor Barack Obama.
(To Speaker Pelosi.) When you received the letter, what was your reaction?
SPEAKER PELOSI: It wasn't important to me. What I exactly said is I think it will be harmful to the Democratic Party if the superdelegates were perceived to overturn the will of the people. Now, these superdelegates have the right to vote their conscience and who they think will be the better president or who can win. But they also should then get involved in the campaigns and make their power known there.
MS. ROBERTS: How long can this continue to go on? How long until somebody steps up in the Democratic Party and says, we've got to decide this, this is just too harmful.
SPEAKER PELOSI: Well, I think the election has to run its course. I think that for all that I have said about respecting the will of the people, that the inference to be drawn from that is we have to continue the election in terms of hearing from the people. I do think that it is important for us to get behind one candidate a long time before we go to the Democratic National Convention, if we expect to win in November.
MS. ROBERTS: Senator Clinton has said she's going to take this to the convention. If the math holds, she would still be slightly behind Senator Obama. Is there somebody in the Democratic Party -- Al Gore has already said he's not going to step up and say anything. Is it Howard Dean? Is it you? Who from the Democratic Party steps up and says, no, that's enough?
SPEAKER PELOSI: Well, I would not assume that Senator Clinton would not be going to the convention as the frontrunner. We don't know what these next elections will do. We do not know what the conduct of the campaigns in the next four to six weeks will produce. So, if you're the candidate for president, you certainly are saying that you're going to the convention. You can't say anything but.
And in the end, Senator Clinton may well be going to that convention as the nominee. But I do think that as it evolves, one of them is going to have to realize the numbers, whether it's Senator Obama, and he would step aside, or whether it's Senator Clinton.
MS. ROBERTS: The one that loses, do you see as the vice president?
SPEAKER PELOSI: No --
MS. ROBERTS: You've said earlier that you don't --
SPEAKER PELOSI: -- I don't see that.
MS. ROBERTS: Why don't you see them as on the ticket together?
SPEAKER PELOSI: I just don't see it. All these years in politics, making judgments about candidacies and chemistry, I just don't see it.
MS. ROBERTS: But even with the extended campaign, Pelosi believes either Democratic candidate will beat John McCain, who's out on a biographical tour he's dubbed "Service to America."
SPEAKER PELOSI: Well, Senator McCain wants to talk about his biography, and God bless him for it. He's a patriotic American. We admire him for that. But our candidate will be talking about the future, about a bigger vision for America. America cannot afford four more years of George W. Bush, and that's what John McCain is. We need change, and I think the American people have spoken very clearly as to their desire for it. And now we have to measure up to their expectations.
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