Fox News Interview - Transcript

Interview

Fox News Interview - Transcript

MS. KELLY: Well, Senator John Cornyn got a phone call from Norm Coleman yesterday, and he joins us live now from our D.C. bureau. Senator, good morning. No, not from our D.C. bureau. Good morning, sir.

SEN. CORNYN: Good morning, Megyn.

MS. KELLY: Where are you?

SEN. CORNYN: I'm in Austin, Texas today -- thank goodness.

MS. KELLY: (Laughs.) Okay. Nice.

Okay, so this -- this race in Minnesota is getting more and more interesting, and you know, the secretary of state coming out and saying they're going to -- they're going to try to win at any price. Is that appropriate?

SEN. CORNYN: Well, you know, the election's actually over, and now we're -- the campaigns are over, and now we're engaged in what should be a fairly straightforward process of conducting a recount in Minnesota. And the reputation of that state and its integrity of the ballot and the voting process is on the line. So I hope that Secretary of State Ritchie, along with the four judges who have been appointed to oversee the recount process, will make sure that it's completely fair and an accurate recount of those ballots.

MS. KELLY: You know, Senator, I -- it's unusual, at least for this reporter, to see a secretary of state come out and say so blatantly -- and I want to quote it -- "Their goal is to win at any price," then hours later to tell a group of reporters, "I haven't said their campaign is willing to win at any price." I mean, you rarely see that -- that direct a contradiction by a public figure. However, having said that, is it any particular surprise that the Democratic secretary of state is most likely rooting for the Democrat?

SEN. CORNYN: I don't think it's any surprise, but I think this should not be a matter of partisanship when it comes to the actual physical recounting of these ballots, which will take place here over the next several weeks. And thank goodness Minnesota has a process in place, this review board of four judges, along with the secretary of state, who will do it, and hopefully do it in a very straightforward and accurate way because the integrity of the ballot as well as a Senate seat in Minnesota is on the line.

MS. KELLY: Right. And to his credit, we should point out the secretary of state was the person in charge of setting up that panel of judges, and he did choose bipartisan folks to be on it, correct?

SEN. CORNYN: Correct. And I think that, you know, that ought to give people a lot of confidence that these nonpartisan judges will make sure that this is done in an accurate way.

MS. KELLY: Well, you know, a lot of folks have questions about that, Senator, as you know, because the vote count has gone up considerably for the Democrat in counties where Barack Obama's vote count did not go up anywhere near as much. In other words, it was a disproportionate gain for the Senate as opposed to at the top of the ticket, and some people think there's some funny business going on. Do you have confidence in the Minnesota results as they're going to come out?

SEN. CORNYN: Well, I don't really know yet. And I think what this points out is a major problem we have, Megyn, in this country when we have these close races, that there are really not the procedures in place to make sure that only people who are registered to vote and --

MS. KELLY: Right.

SEN. CORNYN: -- eligible to vote do in fact cast a vote --

MS. KELLY: Can actually do it.

SEN. CORNYN: -- and that their ballots are -- are counted accurately as quickly as possible. This is -- I think shows a flaw.

MS. KELLY: Let me ask you quickly, Senator, because I'm running out of time, and I wanted to ask you -- you spoke with Senator Coleman. What is he saying? How is he feeling?

SEN. CORNYN: Well, he feels confident in the outcome. He told me that these recounts tend to be pretty much of a procedural matter that don't ordinarily affect the outcome. I hope he's right because the balance of power of the United States Senate is on the line here, in Georgia and Alaska, and whether or not the Democrats will basically be able to run the table without any checks and balances, which I think are very important to the American people.

MS. KELLY: I know his campaign came out and demanded an apology from that secretary of state for making those remarks on MSNBC. We'll see whether that is forthcoming.

We appreciate you being here this morning, Senator Cornyn, with your insights on it.

SEN. CORNYN: Always be a pleasure, Megyn. Thank you.

MS. KELLY: All the best.

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