MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

Interview

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SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Well, I--I"m--I"m not sure I can explain the mysteries of the Senate to you, but I think this is the result of a careful effort over the last several weeks and months to address the concerns that were raised by critics of the treaty and by a number of Republicans.

And, as you point out, we have heard from Senator Alexander, from Senator Corker, and several other Republican senators in the last two days, who have made strong statements in support of passage of this treaty. So, that"s very good news. I"m confident that we"re going to have a strong bipartisan vote tomorrow.

MATTHEWS: It seems to me that the members--and I don"t want to make a value judgment. Well, I will. The senators who knew the most about this on the Republican side voted for it.

You"ve got Senator Lugar, who is an expert on arms. You know, he"s done so much with the Soviet arms, especially.

SHAHEEN: Right.

MATTHEWS: Johnny Isakson, a member of your committee from Georgia, Bob Corker, who is from Tennessee. It seems like their education on this issue, as committee members, was helpful to making them--making them make a case for it.

SHAHEEN: Well, that"s right.

We actually had 12 hearings in the Foreign Relations Committee. We heard from 21 witnesses. Over 900 questions have been posed by senator to the administration and answered. And I think those answers and the witness testimony, the number of people in the foreign policy and national security and military establishment, both Democrat and Republican, who have come out for this treaty have really answered the questions of the critics in a way that I think that has gotten agreement that passing New START is in the best interests of the country.

MATTHEWS: I"m older than you, Senator, and I remember--and Howard Fineman will be here in a minute--some of us remember what it was like to hide under our school desks to--

SHAHEEN: Well, I remember that, too.

MATTHEWS: -- to prepare for a possible nuclear attack--a nuclear attack.

Just speak to us, us boomers, what does this treaty mean in terms of the possible outlandish threat of a nuclear exchange between us and the Russians? What does it mean?

SHAHEEN: Well, about 95 percent of nuclear weapons are controlled by the United States and Russia.

It means that we are voluntarily reducing those numbers of weapons. It means we"re going to have on-site inspections. We have been over a year now without inspectors on the ground in Russia gathering intelligence about what"s happening there.

And it is also important as we think about addressing any loose material or loose nukes, so to speak, that might get into the hands of terrorists.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

SHAHEEN: And for all of us who remember the Cold War days, when we got under our desks, when we had nuclear drills, it"s good news to see this leadership from the United States and from Russia.

MATTHEWS: Thank you so much. Have a nice, merry Christmas up there in New Hampshire--

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