CNN’s Roberts Prods Hillary on MoveOn's Petraeus Ad

As if she were president already, Hillary Clinton went on CNN’s "American Morning" as well as the morning shows of the "Big Three" networks on Tuesday to sell her new health care proposals, a day after their unveiling. At the close of the "American Morning" interview, co-host John Roberts brought up the controversial "Betray Us" ad by MoveOn.org. He twice asked the junior senator from New York if she wanted to distance herself from the ad. Both times, she skirted the question by talking about General Petraeus and his record of service, instead of the ad itself.

Besides Roberts, Harry Smith of CBS News, ABC’s Diane Sawyer, and NBC’s Matt Lauer interviewed Clinton on Tuesday morning. Out of the four, Roberts was the only one who brought up the issue of the ad.

A transcript of the exchange between Roberts and Senator Clinton, which took place near the bottom of the 7 am Eastern hour of Tuesday’s "American Morning."

JOHN ROBERTS: Senator, we've got to let you go in a second, but I just wanted to touch on other issue. You were one of the senators who voted unanimously for General Petraeus's confirmation. And we saw that MoveOn.org [ad] last week calling him 'General Betray Us.' Obviously, you didn't have that opinion when you voted for him. Do you want to distance yourself from that ad?

SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I've never had that opinion, and I've said publically on numerous occasions, including at the last hearing, how much I respect General Petraeus, his service to our country. Obviously, I have a disagreement with Republicans and with President Bush about what direction we should be...

ROBERTS: Right.

CLINTON: ...heading in Iraq.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: So, was that MoveOn.org ad over-the-top?

CLINTON: Well, I certainly speak for myself, and I am a very strong admirer of General Petraeus, his record of service for our country, the dedication he has brought to a very difficult job that many of us think does not have a military solution.