CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript

Interview

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BOB SCHIEFFER: So, Governor Haley Barbour down there in Mississippi, you've been in politics for a long time. And you well know when you start talking about cutting aid to Israel, it's sort of like talking about cutting people's Social Security. It's one of those third rails of American politics. Did Rick Perry set himself up for a new controversy here with these remarks last night?

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR (R-Mississippi): Well, if I heard him right, he said we're going to have what Jimmy Carter calls zero-base budgeting and everybody will have to justify every year what they get. I don't think he-- he talked about the special relationship we have with Israel. And I don't think there's any way in the world that a Republican President or a Republican Congress would have a zero balance for Israel at the end of the day. But the idea of zero-base budgeting, starting every account out at zero is not new or partisan and a lot of people think it's a good idea.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Governor O'Malley, you're a Democrat. And I must say after those comments last night, boy, the Twitter lines and all the internet lines began to light up--what's he talking about? What's your take on that?

GOVERNOR MARTIN O'MALLEY (D-Maryland/Chairman, Democratic Governors Assn.): Well, I-- I think what's-- what's happened in the course of these Republican presidential debates is a lot of sort of erratic statements, a lot of behavior that is not really in keeping with some of the longer traditions of the party of Lincoln. So you see a real pandering to extremists. You see a pandering to the Tea Party extremes of the Republican Party. And so this is another one in a long series of things that don't really add up to a lot of practical sense.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Lindsey Graham, I want you to listen to this because something else that got a lot of attention last night was Iran, and what to do about its nuclear capability. And we saw Mitt Romney who is one of the Republican front-runners say, "If push came to shove and nothing else worked, we'd have to take military action against Iran." Listen to what he said here.

MITT ROMNEY: And if all else fails, if after all of the work we've done, there's nothing else we can do besides mil-- take military action, then of course you take military action. It is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Okay, Senator Graham, does that mean that we might get in a war with-- with Iran over whether it is-- that would be required to take out their nuclear capability? Would you be for that?

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-South Carolina): Totally. Absolutely without any doubt, the Iranians if they develop a nuclear weapon, Bob, the whole region is going to want a nuclear weapon, then you march down the road of armageddon. You open Pandora's Box if you attack Iran. If they get a nuclear weapon, you empty Pandora's Box. That's the world we live in. So I support the idea of a military option at the last resort. But now their capability is so redundant, you'd have to do more than go after the nuclear program. You have to neuter this regime, destroy the air force, sink their navy, go after the revolutionary guard and try to get to people in the country to overthrow the regime. We need a regime change. If they get a nuclear weapon, the world is going to go into darkness.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You know, one of the things that the people have been asking about all week is, did Rick Perry sort of end his chances to get the nomination with some of the stumbles he made when he couldn't remember some of the things that he himself had advocated to reduce the size of government? I want to-- I want to get your all's take on this. That came up last night when Scott Pelley of CBS News, one of the moderators, asked him a question.

SCOTT PELLEY (CBS News Republican Debate): If you eliminate the Department of Energy--

RICK PERRY (CBS News Republican Debate): Glad you remembered it.

SCOTT PELLEY: I've had some time to think about it, sir.

RICK PERRY: Me too.

(Crowd cheering and applauding)

BOB SCHIEFFER: So he got a big round of applause. Governor Barbour, is Rick Perry back in the race now or-- or what's the deal here?

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR: We'll see. I mean, he's a-- he obviously is right to be self-deprecating about it, to make fun of himself for making a mistake. Americans appreciate that, that you can admit you're wrong and--- and-- make-- make light of yourself. Well, how he comes back remains to be seen. You know, Bob, we do have the-- the habit this election year in the Republican side for thinking that whatever happened in the last seven days means we know what's going to happen in the next seven weeks, that it will show us that path. That hasn't been the case. I don't expect it to be the case. And so we'll just have to see if Rick Perry's strategy now-- some people are saying he's going to focus totally on Iowa. If he does, you know, does he get it back going there? He's-- he's-- he's a guy with a really good record as governor, who has stumbled. We'll see.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Gov-- Senator Graham, what-- what's your-- what's your take-away here just on Rick Perry and where he is now?

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: He did better last night. I think it was a reassuring debate. I thought he was very good on foreign policy. Time and money. He's got time and he's got money. And if you've got time and money, anything can happen in politics. He's got a good record to sell being a Texas governor. He needs more good debates. But Newt was gone just a couple of months ago. So I've been with McCain where he was out, sixth in a fifth person race. And you never know what's going to happen. He's got time and money and talent. So I think he can come back.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Governor O'Malley, I suppose you have some thoughts on what you hope happens here. What-- what is your take-away from these debates so far from the Democratic side?

GOVERNOR MARTIN O'MALLEY: Well, I thought one of the more jarring things, I mean for all of the humor and the self-deprecating back and forth that you just saw on that clip. What was really disturbing is how little serious thought many of these Republican candidates who hold themselves out as the commander-in-chief that would be responsible for managing this big, complex organization, how little thought they've given to what it is they would actually do. That's what I took away from the debate so far. There's been no new ideas about job creation, no new ideas about growing our middle class, no new ideas about reinvesting in this great idea of America. And until that happens, you're going to see a very fluid field over there. And that's why you see the rise of people like Herman Cain as a protest vote because no one on their side yet is offering any new ideas or real solutions.

BOB SCHIEFFER: I have to say that on one point that Governor O'Malley makes here, nobody seems to be creating much excitement, including Mitt Romney, who seems to be sort of stuck just below twenty percent in the polls. Governor Barbour, what do you think? Who's up, who's down right now? And-- and where does that race go from here?

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR: Well, Bob, as I've told you before, this reminds me of a lot of past Democratic presidential contests like Jimmy Carter in '76, Bill Clinton in '92, where there is not really a front-runner. Mitt Romney is the best known of our candidates. He's not a true front-runner. And what we see people doing more than I've ever seen in my life, is instead of saying which one agrees with me most, which one do I like the most, they're saying, which one's got the best chance to beat Obama. That's what matters to me. It looks like a lot of--

BOB SCHIEFFER (overlapping): Well, who-- who do you think has the best chance?

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR: --voters are going to set Romney-- I've got to say, it looks like a lot of people kind of set Romney to the side and say I know a lot about him. I want to learn some more about these others. And that's why we're kind of going through Cinderella trying on the slipper. And it looks like maybe Newt's time's next and we'll go along. Then after we've gone through that cycle, people will seriously focus on, is it really Romney who is the most electable or is there somebody else that's come out that I think has the best chance to beat Obama?

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right.

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR: If this election is about President Obama's policies and his record, whoever we nominate will get elected.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. I want to ask you, Senator Graham, in about thirty seconds, where--- what's your take-away from this? Where do you think this goes?

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: Last night Ronald Reagan would have loved this debate. Six months ago, I was really worried that our party was drifting. Last night was a hawkish debate that talked about listening to commanders and not basing decisions in Iraq and Afghanistan, on polls. This President has rejected solid military commander advice to help his own re-election. I think we're going to win because the policies that he enacted-- President Obama enacted in his first two years have damned this economy for now and in the future. So we need a solid person on the economy, someone who will say I will listen to the generals, not make poll-driven decisions.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: He's going to be a one-term President if we get a solid nominee.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. I want to thank all of you. We are trying to have at least one candidate on every week. And Jon Huntsman joins us today from Spartanburg.

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