Transcript: Barack Obama on ‘Meet the Press’ | December 7, 2008

(Source: MSNBC)

Dec. 7: President-elect Barack Obama

MR. TOM BROKAW:  Our issues this Sunday:  In 44 days, Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the United States.  His new team is almost complete.  But since Election Day 2008, the list of challenges facing the incoming president has only grown:  that terrorist attack in Mumbai, growing turmoil in the financial markets, the worst unemployment in 15 years, and the auto industry on the verge of bankruptcy.  Tough problems all waiting on the desk of our exclusive guest, the president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama.

And yesterday in Chicago I did sit down with the president-elect, Barack Obama, to talk about those topics and much more.

President-elect Obama, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.

PRES.-ELECT BARACK OBAMA:  Great to be here.  Thank you. Read more

No Doubt About It – Lieberman is Still A Punk

… And the Senate Democrats Got Punk’d

In April of this year, when asked by a Fox Radio host whether or not Barack Obama might be a Marxist, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-CT, replied, “I must say that’s a good question …”

He did stutter out a “I’d hesitate to say he’s a Marxist,” toward the end of an incoherent answer to the question, but come on – hesitate?  That’s a good question? 

Democrats, face it.  When Joe Lieberman went in with John McCain for president, he went all in.  That comment from April was just the beginning of a Spring, Summer and Fall’s worth of inanity from poor old Joe.  Oh, and Senate Democrats – face this.  You didn’t do the right thing and put Lieberman out on his pathetic ass and he made you all look like idiots today on Meet the Press.

Here’s one of my favorites from this mealy-mouthed, sanctimonious douche bag:

MR. BROKAW: You’ve always, as a public servant, held other people accountable. You were the only one to speak out on the floor, for example, against Bill Clinton during the time of the impeachment. Holding yourself accountable, looking back over the last six weeks, two months or so, what are the statements that you most regret?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, I don’t want to go into the details. Let me just say this, I don’t regret having supported John McCain because I sincerely believed in his experience and his extraordinary record of working across party lines to get things done. …

What an ass!  Brokaw didn’t ask him if he regretted supporting John McCain.  He asked him if he had regrets over anything he said on the campaign trail.  The first thing Lieberman says in answer is essentially, “I support John McCain.”  Can someone ask this guy to shut up?  I can’t believe we had the chance to relegate him to the back benches and he’s still out there running his mouth – to no good. If you saw the interview or read the rest of the above quote or the whole transcript, you come away thinking that this guy will say anything – or nothing.

Here’s another good one:

MR. BROKAW: But you’re being judged not just by your fellow senators, but by Democrats across this country as well, because actions do have consequences. Here’s what you had to say at the Republican National Convention about the choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate, right after you disqualified, in effect, Barack Obama because he wasn’t yet ready. Here’s what you had to say about Sarah Palin.

(Videotape, September 2, 2008)

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Now, I’m honored to say just a word about the great lady that John McCain has selected as his running mate.

The truth is, she is a leader we can count on to help John shake up Washington.

That’s why I sincerely believe that the real ticket for change this year is the McCain-Palin ticket.

(End videotape)

MR. BROKAW: Did you honestly believe that she was more qualified than you–you were on the short list for John McCain at one point–or than your friend Joe Biden to be the vice president of the United States.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: It’s so sweet of you to run that clip and ask me that question this morning, Tom. Look, I, I got into this in December of 2007 to support my friend John McCain, who I’ve worked with on a host of different issues–climate change, lobbying and ethics reform, national security–because I thought he was better prepared than any of the candidates at that time–because everybody was in the race–to be the president we needed. I’m going to leave the political commentary and analysis looking backward to others. I’m focused on going ahead, now empowered to be chairman of homeland security by my colleagues in the, in the caucus and empowered to work in the caucus with the president-elect and his team to try to get our economy going again and protect our safety.

Lieberman didn’t answer the question, did he?  To answer that question honestly, he would have had to have said, “I was wrong.”  Apparently Lieberman gave up straight talk at the same time his good friend John McCain did.

Lieberman says he hasn’t felt close to the Senate Democrats since the Democratic Party supported Ned Lamont – the primary-elected Democrat in Connecticut’s 2006 U.S. Senate race.  Lieberman lost to Lamont in the primary and ran in the fall and won as an Independent.  Since then, Lieberman has more often than not cast aside Democratic ideals and policies in a two-year fit of pique. 

I wonder if this has ever occurred to Joe: If he wouldn’t have lost a Democratic primary, perhaps he would have had the support in 2006 of the Democratic Party.  It would have seemed somewhat un-democratic to not support Lamont.  Elections do mean something, Joe. 

It’s too bad this 2008 election didn’t end up meaning more for Lieberman.  Thanks, Senator Reid.

Video and Transcript: Joe Lieberman on Meet the Press | November 23, 2008

Transcript Located Below Video

 

(Source: NBC’s Meet the Press)

Editor’s Note: Lieberman was the third guest. Below is the section of the transcript with Tom Brokaw interviewing Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-CT.

MR. BROKAW: Joe Lieberman, plus our political roundtable after this brief station break.

(Announcements)

MR. BROKAW: Senator Joe Lieberman, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS. You were last here in early August at a time when you were supporting John McCain. Before we get to that and the consequences of it all, I want to ask you about President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus program that we’ll hear more about tomorrow, but we’re already getting the broad outlines of a two and a half million job program of some kind. Apparently based on what Mr. Daley was saying, it will include not just public works, but some incentives for the private sector as well. Read more

Transcript: T. Boone Pickens on ‘Meet the Press’ with Tom Brokaw | November 16

Editor’s Note: This is a portion of the program Meet the Press from November 16, 2008.

(Source: CQ Transcriptswire)

BROKAW: (…) It is “Green Is Universal” all week here at NBC, and the issue of energy dependence is certainly key in that discussion. And joining us now, a very familiar figure, the legendary Texas oil man, T. Boone Pickens.

Welcome, Mr. Pickens, from Dallas this morning.

PICKENS: Good morning, Tom.

BROKAW: You just heard that very spirited discussion. Do you think the Big Three automobile dealers should survive?

PICKENS: You know, I — it’s not my subject. But I wonder, you know, what you’re going to do about the next industry. Is it going to be the airlines?  Or what if Toyota and Honda want some help, too?  I — I don’t know. I don’t know where it stops.

BROKAW: Well, let me talk about what you have been talking about on television and everywhere else these days, which is converting to wind-driven general — generation of electricity and transferring natural gas to big public transportation.

I am told that, given the perilous state of the economy, the decline in oil prices, which has not made it as urgent in the minds of a lot of consumers, that you find yourself now at a very difficult crossroads financially in your own situation, and you’ve had to call a halt to your development plans. Read more

Video: John McCain on Meet the Press | October 26 | 10 Days to Election

Transcript: John McCain on Meet the Press | October 26 | Ten Days to Election

(Source: NBC’s Meet the Press)

MR. TOM BROKAW:  Our issues this Sunday:  With just nine days to go, polls show Obama widening his lead over McCain while the Republican vice presidential nominee comes under increased criticism.  What will be McCain’s final message to undecided voters?  We’ll ask the candidate himself.  For the first time in nine months, our exclusive guest, Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain returns to MEET THE PRESS.

Then, insights and analysis on the presidential battleground states and the battle for congressional control, including a filibuster-proof U.S. Senate. Our political roundtable weighs in:  Charlie Cook, political analyst for the National Journal, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report; Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News correspondent traveling with the McCain campaign; and Chuck Todd, political director of NBC News.

But first, we’re live here in Waterloo, Iowa, with the Republican nominee for president, John McCain.

Senator, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS. Read more

Video: Powell Endorses Obama; Chuck Todd on Meet the Press | October 19

Transcript: Colin Powell on Meet the Press Endorses Barack Obama | October 19

(Source: NBC’s Meet the Press)
MR. TOM BROKAW:  Our issues this Sunday:  He served as President George W. Bush’s secretary of state and was once called the man most likely to become the nation’s first African-American president.  He has been courted by both the Obama and McCain presidential campaigns and said this last month:
(Videotape)
GEN. COLIN POWELL (RET.):  I have been watching both of these individuals.  I know them both extremely well, and I have not decided who I’m going to vote for yet.
(End videotape)

MR. BROKAW:  Is he now ready to make an endorsement in this presidential race?  What are his thoughts on the major issues facing the country and the world?  Our exclusive guest this Sunday, former Secretary of State General Colin Powell. Read more

Transcript: Second Presidential Debate, Obama and McCain, Belmont University, October 7

(Source: Congressional Quarterly)

Oct. 7, 2008

SENS. MCCAIN AND OBAMA PARTICIPATE IN A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE, BELMONT UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

SPEAKERS: SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILL., SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ., TOM BROKAW, MODERATOR

BROKAW: Good evening from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m Tom Brokaw of NBC News. And welcome to this second presidential debate, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Tonight’s debate is the only one with a town hall format. The Gallup Organization chose 80 uncommitted voters from the Nashville area to be here with us tonight. And earlier today, each of them gave me a copy of their question for the candidates. Read more

Video: Joe Biden on Meet the Press, Sunday, September 7, 2008

Video Includes Full Show with Tom Friedman and Roundtable

Transcript: Joe Biden on Meet the Press, Sunday September 7, 2008

(Source: NBC’s Meet the Press)

updated 12:05 p.m. ET, Sun., Sept. 7, 2008

MR. TOM BROKAW: Our issues this Sunday: Senator McCain accepts the Republican Party’s nomination for president of the United States. Read more