In an interview with Hillary Clinton aired on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning, co-host Charlie Rose wondered why the Democratic frontrunner was running: “Why do you want to be president? I mean, you’ve had a remarkable life....You’ve been in the White House. There it is over there....Is it about history?...Is it about the first woman?”
Clinton easily hit the softball: “No, no. I mean that would all be an extra added part of it, but for me, I really love this country and I think this will be one of those watershed elections where we're either going to get the economy to work for everybody or we are going to see increasing inequality and unfairness in a way that we haven't seen since, you know, the 1920s.”
Following the 8 a.m. ET hour exchange, fellow co-host Gayle King praised Clinton’s willingness to take on the office: “And she still wants the job despite no matter who’s in the office, somebody’s always gonna be mad at you. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, someone’s always gonna be mad. And she knows all the ins and outs and still wants that job.”
Rose gushed: “She's smart. The other thing you get is she's smart.”
In part one of the interview, aired during the 7 a.m. ET hour, Rose focused on foreign policy. At one point he referenced Obama administration failures in Libya, but did hold Clinton personally accountable or mention Benghazi:
Is there some lesson we need to learn, and it maybe applicable to Syria, don’t get rid of a strongman until you have somebody that can come in there because you do not want chaos and you do not want the kind of circumstance if Libya, because what you have in Libya now is an increasing force of ISIS?
After that exchange, King applauded Clinton for being “very candid.” Rose chimed in: “Yeah, and engaged.”
In 2014, Rose began a fawning sit-down with Clinton by describing her as “a friend” a reciting a Maya Angelou poem about the then-likely Democratic presidential candidate.
Here is a full transcript of part two of the interview aired during the 8 a.m. ET hour of the December 1 show:
8:05 AM ET
CHARLIE ROSE: We have more now from our conversations with Hillary Clinton. We talked with the Democratic presidential candidate at the Hay-Adams across from the White House only on CBS This Morning. Clinton addressed criticism of her ties to Wall Street. As secretary of state she met with dozens of corporate executives and long-time political donors.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Clinton’s Case; Democratic Candidate on Working as Sec’y of State]
HILLARY CLINTON: The fact is I saw a lot of people when I was secretary of state and I worked really hard to increase exports from American businesses. I saw a lot of business people. I saw a lot of union leaders. I saw as many people as I could fit in the day who needed something from their government. You know, somebody – Fred Smith would call me up from FedEx and say, you know, “The Chinese government’s taking away our permits, we’ve been in China for decades doing Federal Express.” Or Corning, a company that I knew well from my time in the Senate. You know, “They're trying to, you know, put a tariff on us that is going to drive us out of business.” You know, I worked really hard to get more jobs for Americans and that meant representing big business and small business and everybody in between.
ROSE: Have you suffered from the fact that they say you’re too close to Wall Street? Has that hurt your image, in your judgment, running for president?
CLINTON: I don't think so. I have stood for a lot of regulation on big banks and on the financial services seconder. I also represented New York and represented everybody from the dairy farmers you know to the fishermen.
ROSE: From Wall Street to the dairy farmers.
CLINTON: Yeah, everybody. And so, yes, do I know people and did I, you know, help rebuild after 9/11, yes, I did. But that has nothing –
ROSE: And did you take money from them? They would say.
CLINTON: Yeah, but that has nothing to do with my positions. Anybody who thinks that they can influence me on that ground doesn't know me very well.
ROSE: Why do you want to be president? I mean, you’ve had a remarkable life.
CLINTON: Yeah, I have.
ROSE: You’ve been in the White House. There it is over there.
CLINTON: There it is, right. Well, I'm not doing it to move back in, although it's a wonderful place.
ROSE: So why are you doing it?
CLINTON: Because I really –
ROSE: Is it about history?
CLINTON: No.
ROSE: Is it about the first woman?
CLINTON: No, no. I mean that would all be an extra added part of it, but for me, I really love this country and I think this will be one of those watershed elections where we're either going to get the economy to work for everybody or we are going to see increasing inequality and unfairness in a way that we haven't seen since, you know, the 1920s.
We're either going to figure out how to live together despite all of our differences, show respect for people and for human rights, civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, workers' rights, or we're going to really have the balance shift dramatically against the kind of democracy that I believe in that I think works best for America. And we're either going to lead around the world or we're going to take a back seat and pay a big price for it.
ROSE: But you know a lot of people think the biggest problem for America is Washington. That’s the problem. And that's part of – reflected in some of the politics that we see.
CLINTON: Yes, that's true. But look at the way our founders set it up. They set up this separation of powers and they made it really difficult to get things done and some years it's really hard and we're in one of these periods where we have a minority within the other party that doesn't believe in compromise, doesn't believe in reaching consensus. They truly –
ROSE: But there you go attacking them, that's not the way to do it.
CLINTON: No, no. No, because part of what you have to do is make it clear to everyone else who is in that party that there is room for negotiation? You can see the whole interview with Hillary Clinton tonight on my PBS program.
NORAH O’DONNELL: What do you think her biggest challenge is? What does she talk about in terms of where you see her biggest challenge?
ROSE: Well, I think she has to make the case for her presidency, you know? She makes it with policy, but she has to make the case that in the 21st century she is the right person to lead. She talks about leadership all the time and what the country needs to do and what we need to do, as I mentioned, in the early hours. So that's the challenge for her. And I think the challenge also, as I talked to her about, is reaching out to the constituencies of the future. I mean, there’s a direct difference between the support of young people, independents, and Latinos for Barack Obama than it is for Hillary Clinton, at this moment.
O’DONNELL: A different coalition.
GAYLE KING: And she still wants the job despite no matter who’s in the office, somebody’s always gonna be mad at you. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, someone’s always gonna be mad. And she knows all the ins and outs and still wants that job.
ROSE: She's smart. The other thing you get is she's smart.
