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CLINTON:
Maybe this gives perspective. We were mainly concerned with whether or not those under assault already had sent in their absentee ballots. Bottom line: if you do nothing you are on track to win. If you do something, you stand a good chance of losing if something goes wrong. Benghazi was crawling with battle-hardened militias with our missiles.
LBT:
You have taken a lot of heat for claiming that the Benghazi incident was spontaneous and resulted from the Youtube video. Do you feel that this was a mistake on your part?
CLINTON:
Remember, like Secretary Rice I only had the intelligence provided by the CIA’s talking points.
LBT:
But didn’t your own deputy Ms. Nuland edit out the CIA’s initial talking points that indicated the assault was organized and involved terrorists?
CLINTON:
This goes back to my statement before. I have deputies out in front of me for a reason. I don’t ask Vicky [Nuland] about what she’s doing out in front of me. I let her do her job, and she did an outstanding job protecting the [State] Department.
LBT:
Don’t you think that your critics will impute Ms. Nuland’s information to you since she is your top deputy?
CLINTON:
They can try, but the public does not have that level of sophistication. Let me tell you one thing you will never find. You will never find an email from Vicky to me informing me of the CIA’s initial talking points. You’ll also never find an email from me to Vicky telling her to strip the talking point of references to terrorists.
LBT:
What if I check your nightstand?
CLINTON:
[
Laughing.] Very clever. You’ll make me nostalgic if you're not careful.
LBT
Let’s get back into the personal.
CLINTON:
Let’s do.
LBT:
There have been rumors for decades now that you harbor affections for members of the fairer sex. Are these rumors accurate?
“I do feel that many women can appreciate the beauty of the female form, and I happen to be one of those women that does appreciate it.”
CLINTON:
You don’t mess around do you! Oh, geez… Well, now that I’m out of government and Chelsea is an adult and has a family of her own I guess I can say what I want. That comes with age, too, you know. Age gives us a certain freedom to speak our minds. [
Sighs.] Let me put it this way, I feel more in touch with my sexuality at this age than at any time in my life. And – this might not be exactly what you want me to say – I do feel that many women can appreciate the beauty of the female form, and I happen to be one of those women that does appreciate it.
LBT:
Spoken like a true politician.
CLINTON:
[
Laughs.] Now remember, I’m not a politician anymore so I’m not sure how to take that.
LBT:
Indulge me one follow up. Are you a butt or a chest woman?
CLINTON:
Oh, you are bad! I have no idea what you’re talking about. [Motions to her butt.]
LBT:
Many of your opponents claim that Benghazi will impact a Clinton run in 2016. What do you think?
CLINTON:
The American people have a wonderful tendency to forgive and forget oversights and misstatements – progressive voters in particular. They might not read newspapers and never receive firsthand information. One comforting thing I like to think about is Marion Berry.
LBT:
The former mayor of Washington, D.C.?
CLINTON:
Yes. In 1990 he was videotaped smoking crack in a hotel room with a prostitute. He went to jail, in fact. By 1994 he was back in the mayor’s office. This tells us more about the voters in D.C. than about Barry as a politician. Now I don’t think a steelworker in Pittsburgh or a social worker in Eugene, Oregon are as forgiving as the voters in D.C., but it sure is compelling.
LBT:
You’ve had such a long public life. What do you think the most important thing you’ve learned has been?
CLINTON:
Good question. I think that when you’re in public office sometimes it feels like everyone is against you. The right-wing likes to make fun of me for saying “right-wing conspiracy” on the Today Show when Bill was president. But it feels that way, and you’ve got to remember that no matter how bad things seem to get that it’s very, very hard for your enemies to remove you once you're in office.
LBT:
So it’s important to hang in there.
CLINTON:
Hang in there, indeed. Like the kitty poster.
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