Blitzer talks to Secretary Clinton
As CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer travels through the Middle East and North Africa he spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In Blitzer’s one-on-one interview with the Secretary she discussed the crisis in Japan, the situation in Libya and her future political intentions. Parts of this interview will air today during The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on CNN and CNNI. Videos, interview highlights and transcript are after the jump.
Please credit all usage of the interview to CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Hillary Clinton says that she will not serve a second term as Secy. of State, nor will she run for president again
EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the nuclear disaster in Japan may be worse than Three Mile Island.
EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Hillary Clinton tells CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Americans don’t need to leave yet, but the U.S. is monitoring the situation.
EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Hillary Clinton urges negotiation in Libya and says there is no positive outcome from violence by either side.
Secretary Clinton on Japan
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: You met with the Japanese foreign minister.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes.
BLITZER: Is there anything he asked of the United States that the U.S. can’t deliver on?
CLINTON: No. He has been very forthcoming in thanking us for the assistance we and other nations have provided. The government of Japan has been very grateful, publicly and privately, for our civilian and military help. But the extent of what they are dealing with is unlike anything that any of us have had to confront.
So there is a lot of effort being put into planning and trying to — trying new things. You know, flood them with seawater. Try to put the fires out. So I think that our experts are literally in there with the Japanese experts searching for solutions to what is this very fast-moving, dynamic situation.
BLITZER: Gee, I want to move on, but what worries me is that they’re adlibbing right now. This is all uncharted territory.
CLINTON: Well, Wolf, it is uncharted. I mean there’s no — there’s no book you could take off the shelf and say, OK, if a 9.0 earthquake hit and then a massive tsunami floods the entire region where you are, what do you do? I mean this is the kind of contingency planning that I think most people did not believe was necessary.
Well, we’re going to have to rethink that. If you look at the earthquake activity over the last 10 years, if you look at other weather problems that seem to have intensified over the last 10 years, everybody’s going to have to go back to the drawing boards. And it’s not only about nuclear power, it’s about infrastructure, it’s about coal-fired plants, oil-fired plants. I mean we’re going to have to look very carefully at all of our pre-existing assumptions.
Secretary Clinton on Gadhafi
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Let’s talk about Libya. It looks like Gadhafi has won.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: No, I would not accept that premise.
BLITZER: He’s moving ahead and he’s beginning to go directly toward the rebels in Benghazi.
CLINTON: Yes, that is true. He is moving ahead and so is the international community. There is a greater urgency and intensive effort in reaction to the Arab League statement on Saturday. And what we’re seeing in New York right now is intensive negotiations over what the international community could agree to that would protect innocent people in Libya and try to prevent Gadhafi from wreaking havoc, murder and mayhem on his own people.
Secretary Clinton on her future political intentions
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: We only have a minute left. So let me do a few political questions and then I’ll let you go. You can give me short answers.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I’m out of politics, you know, Wolf.
BLITZER: You can give me short answers if you want.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Well, you’re not really political.
If the president is reelected, do you want to serve a second term as Secretary of State?
CLINTON: No.
BLITZER: Would you like to serve as Secretary of Defense?
CLINTON: No.
BLITZER: Would you like to be Vice President of the United States?
CLINTON: No.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Would you like to be President of the United States?
CLINTON: No.
Full Transcript
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Madam Secretary, thanks very much for joining us.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let’s start out with Japan right now.
CLINTON: Yes?
BLITZER: Is the United States urging its citizens to get out of Japan, as some other countries are beginning to do, like France and maybe even Germany?
CLINTON: Well, first, Wolf, the safety of American citizens is always our highest priority. And we are literally monitoring this minute by minute. We have Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy experts on the ground in Japan working with the Japanese. And we are doing everything we can to help them try to get this disa — this triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, nuclear reactors under control. So if there is a necessity, in our view, to encourage that, we will do so.
BLITZER: Because, you know, there are a lot of American diplomats and dependents —
CLINTON: Yes.
BLITZER: — military personnel, tourists —
CLINTON: Right.
BLITZER: I guess the question is, is it time for folks to start leaving Japan?
CLINTON: Well, we are monitoring that. And we are listening to the experts because we want to make a — an informed decision if a decision becomes necessary.
BLITZER: So as of now, it’s — you’re not telling people to leave?
CLINTON: As of this minute. But, again, we are in close touch with our embassy. I spoke with the ambassador yesterday. He’s in constant touch with the State Department and the White House. We will make a decision if we believe that it is in the best interests of the health and safety of American citizens.
BLITZER: How worried are you about the potential for radiation and — and for — for poisoning, in effect, to affect a lot of people?
CLINTON: Well, Wolf, I’m very worried. This is a catastrophe. We know this — prior to events at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl had consequences. But what we’re seeing unfold in Japan is on a much greater scale.
BLITZER: Greater than Three Mile Island?
CLINTON: Well, I think what we know now is it has the potential to be. And we know that, you know, the Japanese government, the U.S. Navy and others are testing for radiation exposure. There is a level of even increased radiation exposure that is not considered detrimental to human health and safety.
Above that, obviously, we have to start to worry.
BLITZER: Are you confident that we’re getting the full story from the government of Japan?
CLINTON: I believe based on the feedback I’m getting from our experts — because I’m not a nuclear expert. I don’t pretend to be. There was a lot of confusion, as there would be in any disaster. I mean, if you’re hit first with an earthquake and then you’re hit with a tsunami and then you’re trying to figure out what’s happening to your nuclear reactors, it takes some time to get a handle on that.
I think now, our experts are probing deeply to get every piece of information they possibly can so that we can make our own judgments. As I said earlier, we will make the judgment as to whether to advise Americans to move or to leave based on our analysis. And, of course, that’s what we owe the American people.
BLITZER: Have you spoken to the U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who’s an expert on the subject?
CLINTON: I have not directly spoken to him, but I have had many reports because Steven’s a nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize winning, and he’s deeply involved in consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon, all of us who are working to try to understand and then take appropriate action.
BLITZER: I know you’re not an expert on this whole issue of nuclear energy but you’re a former United States senator. You know something about it. Is it time for the U.S. to reconsider nuclear power?
CLINTON: Well, I think we’re going to have to ask a lot of hard questions after what we’ve seen happen because all of the planning could not have foreseen what we have been witnessing. And, obviously, citizens who live near nuclear plants, that was an issue that I was concerned about when I was a senator from New York. I lived near a nuclear plant in New York. Citizens near nuclear plants that are on or near earthquake faults, everybody is going to have a lot more questions than they had before. And they deserve very thorough, science-based answers.
BLITZER: You met with the Japanese foreign minister.
CLINTON: Yes.
BLITZER: Is there anything he asked of the United States that the U.S. can’t deliver on?
CLINTON: No. He has been very forthcoming in thanking us for the assistance we and other nations have provided. The government of Japan has been very grateful, publicly and privately, for our civilian and military help. But the extent of what they are dealing with is unlike anything that any of us have had to confront.
So there is a lot of effort being put into planning and trying to — trying new things. You know, flood them with seawater. Try to put the fires out. So I think that our experts are literally in there with the Japanese experts searching for solutions to what is this very fast-moving, dynamic situation.
BLITZER: Gee, I want to move on, but what worries me is that they’re adlibbing right now. This is all uncharted territory.
CLINTON: Well, Wolf, it is uncharted. I mean there’s no — there’s no book you could take off the shelf and say, OK, if a 9.0 earthquake hit and then a massive tsunami floods the entire region where you are, what do you do? I mean this is the kind of contingency planning that I think most people did not believe was necessary.
Well, we’re going to have to rethink that. If you look at the earthquake activity over the last 10 years, if you look at other weather problems that seem to have intensified over the last 10 years, everybody’s going to have to go back to the drawing boards. And it’s not only about nuclear power, it’s about infrastructure, it’s about coal-fired plants, oil-fired plants. I mean we’re going to have to look very carefully at all of our pre-existing assumptions.
BLITZER: Let’s talk about Libya. It looks like Gadhafi has won.
CLINTON: No, I would not accept that premise.
BLITZER: He’s moving ahead and he’s beginning to go directly toward the rebels in Benghazi.
CLINTON: Yes, that is true. He is moving ahead and so is the international community. There is a greater urgency and intensive effort in reaction to the Arab League statement on Saturday. And what we’re seeing in New York right now is intensive negotiations over what the international community could agree to that would protect innocent people in Libya and try to prevent Gadhafi from wreaking havoc, murder and mayhem on his own people.
BLITZER: It sounds like it’s going to be too little, too late.
CLINTON: Well, I’m not prepared to accept that. I think that there was no appetite anywhere in the world, with a very few exceptions, for unilateral action, because unilateral action was specifically prohibited by the Security Council. And I — I know from our own experience now, that it’s better to have the international community behind you if you are able to do so.
And once the Arab League said, look, we want you to take action against a fellow member of the Arab League, which was extraordinary, there has been a redoubling of efforts. Now, there are countries that are deeply concerned about doing anything. But a lot of their doubts have been ameliorated by the strong stand of the Arab League.
BLITZER: It wasn’t such a strong stand, Madam Secretary. They said they would support a no-fly zone. But they also said you can’t bomb the air defense systems of Libya. So you — the United States is not going to do a no-fly zone and not go ahead and take out their anti-aircraft batteries.
CLINTON: Well, no one is, because that would put pilots in danger and part of what is being discussed in detail is what is the level or Arab leadership and participation in any actions that would be authorized by the Security Council?
BLITZER: If the Arab League wants a no-fly zone, they have air forces. Saudi Arabia has a lot of F-15s and F-16s. Qatar has a an air force. United Arab Emirates, Jordan.Why don’t they do a no-fly zone?
CLINTON: Well, I think that they, too, recognize that it is the Security Council which should authorize any such action. But as part of the deliberations in the Security Council in New York, as we speak, there is a lot of effort to really detail what Arab participation and leadership would be, because, obviously, the Arab League statement is an important step, but it needs to be followed up on.
BLITZER: Here’s what I’m afraid of — and a lot of people in Libya are afraid of it and friends of Libya, that there’s a about to be a bloodbath in Libya right now. And the world is just going to let it happen. It sort of reminds me — I went to Rwanda with President Clinton in 1998, and he was very moved. He said, you know, I knew what was happening in the Oval Office, but I didn’t do anything and I regret that. It was one of the biggest mistakes in my life.
And I’m concerned right now that the world is sort of talking about this, but Gadhafi is about to start slaughtering people.
CLINTON: Well, you know, Wolf, I get up every day and I look at reports from around the world. We have violence in Cote d’Ivoire. We have violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We have flare-ups of violence in many other parts of Africa. We have a lot of problems that are crying out for resolution. But not every one of those can be unilaterally addressed by the United States.
That is why I think President Obama has been absolutely correct in saying Gadhafi has lost legitimacy to govern. If there is to be any action taken against him to try to help the opposition and to protect the civilians, it must be authorized by the international community, because you hear the same things I hear.
You know, on the one hand, people say, OK, United States, go do this. On the other hand, people say, well, if the United States does that, it’s just because they’re after the oil or they’re — and, no, we don’t want any ambiguity. Only the Security Council can authorize action and if they do authorize action, there needs to be a true international response, including Arab leadership and partnership.
BLITZER: Won’t Russia and/or China veto any such resolution?
CLINTON: Well, let’s put it to the test. Let’s put it to the test, because I think that both of them, from everything I am aware of, have really changed their thinking because of the Arab League statement. That was a — that was a mind changer in many parts of the world. And now we are moving as quickly as we can to determine whether or not people are willing to sign up for the Security Council authorization of action that would include a variety of actions.
BLITZER: It sort of reminds me — and I hope I’m wrong — of what happened to the Shiites in Iraq after the first Gulf War, the Kurds in the north, when the U.S. encouraged them to rise up against Saddam Hussein and then let them down and didn’t come to their aid and thousands of people were slaughtered.
The President of the United States said Gadhafi is — is gone. He will go. And these people stood up and now they’re potentially on the verge of being slaughtered.
CLINTON: Well, let’s not jump to any conclusions yet, Wolf. And, also, in the Iraq situation, as you remember, a no-fly zone was imposed and Saddam —
BLITZER: Only after a lot of Shiites —
CLINTON: Well, a lot of —
BLITZER: — and Kurds —
CLINTON: — a lot of —
BLITZER: — were killed.
CLINTON: — and — and part of the reason that the international community reacted was because we did not want to see that. But on the ground, people continued to be killed. And the no-fly zone did not get rid of Saddam Hussein.
So, I think that there needs to be a realistic understanding of what it is that can be accomplished by any of these actions, which is why there is a discussion about what is the broadest range of authorities that can be granted.
BLITZER: Did you support the decision by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send ground forces into Bahrain to fight the opposition?
CLINTON: Absolutely not. And we find what is happening in Bahrain to be alarming. We have spoken out against it, both publicly and privately. We have made it clear to the highest levels of the government of Bahrain that what they are doing is pursuing the wrong track, that there is no answer to the demands for political and economic reform through a security crackdown.
We are reminding the government of Bahrain, they have an obligation to keep medical facilities open and facilitate the treatment of the injured. And we are urging, in the strongest possible terms, publicly and privately, that they immediately begin to negotiate with the opposition.
At the same time, we’re telling the opposition, you cannot use violence. You should return to the negotiating table. There is no positive outcome through this kind of stand-off and security alone is not the answer.
BLITZER: How concerned are you that the Shiites in Bahrain, if they emerge victorious, would align themselves with Iran?
CLINTON: Well, there is no room for anyone to be pursuing their own agenda in Bahrain, no matter who it is. The agenda should be the agenda of the people of Bahrain, all of the people. And they have been very clear, that when they began, there were certain demands they had. And the government of Bahrain reached out and said let’s have a dialogue. And then the opposition backed off. And pretty soon nobody was talking. And the demonstrations were continuing. And unfortunately, we now see the use of force, which we absolutely deplore.
So, there is, clearly, other agendas at work. But the only agenda that should matter is the future of the people of Bahrain. And the sooner we get to a political and economic reform agenda, the better off we will be. And that’s what we are urging.
BLITZER: It sounds to me like the strain in the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia right now is about as serious as I’ve seen in a long time.
CLINTON: Well, we do not agree with all of our friends all of the time. That is a truism. We probably don’t agree with any of our friends all of the time. And we —
BLITZER: But this is a pretty big deal.
CLINTON: Well, this is a big deal because the United States supports the democratic aspirations of the people in this region. What started in Tunisia, what was brought to full follower in Tahrir Square, where we were this morning, responds to the deepest values and ideals of the American people.
Now, we understand that change can be, you know, concerning and has to be managed, just as the Egyptians are trying to manage their transition. But there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the United States stands for democracy and freedom.
Now, we do business and have relations with and call as friends and partners many countries around the world who we work with on many important issues that do not meet those criteria. But we always raise those issues and we are certainly raising them now.
BLITZER: We only have a minute left. So let me do a few political questions and then I’ll let you go. You can give me short answers.
CLINTON: I’m out of politics, you know, Wolf.
BLITZER: You can give me short answers if you want.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Well, you’re not really political.
If the president is reelected, do you want to serve a second term as Secretary of State?
CLINTON: No.
BLITZER: Would you like to serve as Secretary of Defense?
CLINTON: No.
BLITZER: Would you like to be Vice President of the United States?
CLINTON: No.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Would you like to be President of the United States?
CLINTON: No.
BLITZER: Why not?
CLINTON: Because I have the best job I could ever have. This is a moment in history where it is almost hard to catch your breath. There are both the tragedies and disasters that we have seen from Haiti to Japan and there are the extraordinary opportunities and challenges that we see right here in Egypt and in the rest of the region.
So I want to be part of helping to represent the United States at this critical moment in time, to do everything I can in support of the president and our government and the people of our country, to stand for our values and our ideals, to stand up for our security, which has to remain first and foremost, in my mind, and to advance America’s interests.
And there isn’t anything that I can imagine doing after this that would be as demanding, as challenging or rewarding.
BLITZER: President of the United States?
CLINTON: You know, I had a wonderful experience running and I am very proud of the support I had and very grateful for the opportunity. But I’m going to be, you know, moving on.
BLITZER: I asked my viewers and followers on Twitter to send questions. And a lot of them said, ask her if she’ll run in 2016 for the presidency.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: A lot of folks would like you to do that.
CLINTON: Well, that’s — that’s very kind, but, you know, I am doing what I want to do right now and I have no intention or any — any idea, even, of running again. I’m going to do the best I can at this job for the next two years.
BLITZER: Well, you’ve got your hands full. So good luck.
CLINTON: Exactly. Thank you.
BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.
CLINTON: Thanks, Wolf.
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