Jorge Ramos Interview With Obama and Biden

Jorge Ramos THANK YOU SO MUCH, LET ME START WITH SOME NEWS, YOU ARE BETTER INFORMED THAN I AM, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BAIL OUT? IS THERE GOING TO BE AN AGREEMENT BEFORE MONDAY? Barack Obama Well... I had a conversation today with Secretary Paulson and the Congressional leaders; I think they are making progress. I hope that we have an announcement that there is an agreement, obviously this is very difficult, we should not have gotten ourselves in this situation in the first place. Now that we're here this is something that could affect all sectors of the economy, and it could be worldwide obviously given the size of the US economy and how interconnected global markets are. So we need to move carefully but we also need to move quickly. I'm confident we are going to get something in place some time very soon. Jorge RamosSENATOR BIDEN, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT, HOW DID HE DO? Joseph BidenI thought he did great, I thought it became awfully clear about who had the best judgment, Senator McCain, my old buddy, kept talking about judgment , and yet on both the economy and on foreign policy I think it was made clear that his judgment has been very bad; bad in Iraq, bad on the economic policy that he's been supporting the last eight years and so, in fairness to John, he has a very heavy load to carry, I mean to try to defend his record, and defend the last eight years it’s pretty tough, it's a pretty heavy lift. Jorge RamosWHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF AND JOHN MCCAIN FROM THE FIRST DEBATE? AND WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE FOR THE NEXT DEBATE? Barack Obama I thought it was a good conversation, I think that American people right now they are not interested in cute lines, they are not interested in, you know, being clever. What they are interested is how are you’re going to solve the serious problems that we are facing right now. It's a serious time, so I think politics is different in this election than it has been four years ago, eight years ago. I think, you know, you've got two wars, you've got the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and so they want substance, they want answers, and I think what became apparent yesterday was that on the economy there is a fundamental difference. John McCain wants to continue George Bush's policies. Since the financial crisis he's been trying to flip and you know pretend that he's really mad at the capitalists and mad at the CEOs. But that's not his track record over 26 years. He's been a deregulator; he's been a champion of letting the market do whatever it wants. And I think that on foreign policy what was telling was that his focus continues to be almost exclusively on Iraq. I mean I mentioned the fact that how we have completely neglected Latin America, how China is all throughout Latin America, throughout Asia, throughout Africa, creating relationships with other countries and investing in them and we are not there because all we are thinking about is Iraq . On both foreign policy and the economy I think John McCain is still looking backwards he is still caught up in the past. We need to look to the future. Jorge RamosJOHN MCCAIN TOLD ME IN AN INTERVIEW THAT WE ARE WINNING THE WAR IN IRAQ. DO YOU THINK WE ARE WINNING THE WAR IN IRAQ ? Barack Obama Well, you know, what I will do is I will quote John McCain's favorite military strategist David Petreaus, who said 'I don't talk in terms of victory or winning, because I am a realist I think that's the way we have to approach it. The question is not whether we are seeing some surrender like we saw in Japan after World War II. In these kinds of situations the question is having made a bad decision to go in, can we now create a stable enough situation that we can use the resources in places like Afghanistan that are getting worse, or here at home were we need a great investment and the next president has to make good decisions about what our priorities are and that is going to be one of my priorities is ending this war so we refocus our attention on what is really going to make us safer and stronger... Jorge RamosSENATOR BIDEN ,YOUR SON BEAU WILL BE DEPLOYED VERY SOON TO IRAQ. ARE YOU COUNTING ON BARACK OBAMA TO BRING HIM BACK FROM THE WAR? Joseph BidenNo, I am counting on, he is going to go to do his duty like every other American who is in the military. I am very proud of him. But what I'm counting is not whether we will end this war. This is not a question; we will end this war and look our military has won every single battle, our politicians led by John McCain and George Bush have lost most of the battles. The truth of the matter is John even got it wrong last night; John in election mode said 'my friend doesn't understand strategy and tactic.' Let me remind John the surge was a tactic. What was it for? To provide breathing room, remember that phrase? Breathing room. Why? So there could be a political settlement, the strategic objective was a political settlement. General Petraeus says 'no way out without a political settlement,' everybody says it, John is the only guy that doesn't get it. And Barack laid out a political alternative, a timetable to draw down our forces, replace them with Iraqi forces over 16 months. George Bush is essentially signing on to it. I'm about as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to get dropped on my desk at some point an agreement between Maliki, the head of the Iraqis and George W Bush. What's it set? What's it call for? A timeline to draw down our troops. John is the only guy that doesn't get it. Jorge RamosLET ME ABOUT LATIN AMERICA; IT WASN'T MENTIONED IN THE DEBATE. Barack ObamaI mentioned it. Jorge RamosJUST A FEW WORDS, RIGHT? Barack ObamaBecause yeah, I would have loved to have a longer conversation. It wasn't one of the main questions posted by the moderator. Jorge RamosLET ME ASK YOU ABOUT HUGO CHAVEZ, HE HAS EXPELLED THE US AMBASSADOR FROM CARACAS, HE HAS INSULTED THE UNITED STATES LIKE NEVER BEFORE. SO HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ON MEETING CHAVEZ? Barack ObamaNo, uh, again. My attitude is that as President I have an obligation, I have a duty if I think it will make the United States safe to be willing to meet with anybody at a time and place of my choosing. Now, Chavez I think has benefited from trying to make himself out as some major adversary of the United States. Often times because the failings of his own country playing to anti-American sentiment has helped to boost his popularity. But if in fact we are more engaged in Latin America, if we are dealing with the people in Latin America with dignity and respect and as equals, and if we say to them, we are not just interested in stemming the drug trade, we are not just interested in the things we are interested in, but we also want to hear from you. How can we make your economy stronger? How can we lift people up? How can we promote democracy, and not assume that simply because somebody like, you know, the President of Brazil has decided to go an slightly leftward way that somehow he must be unfriendly of United States. You know, if we can make a shift in attitudes towards Latin America, that can make an enormous difference and I think will be more effective than isolating Chavez than simply trying to say that he is an adversary, we never talk to him. Jorge RamosBUT ARE YOU CONCERNED, SENATOR BIDEN, THAT RUSSIA WILL BE CONDUCTING MILITARY EXERCISES IN VENEZUELA OR THAT IT'S GOING TO BE HELPING VENEZUELA TO BUILD A NUCLEAR FACILITY? Joseph BidenWell, let me tell you what I'm concerned about. There is no Russian policy; you had a President of United States say he looked into Putin's eyes and saw his soul, you have John McCain with no alternative offer to the newly bellicose Russian attitude toward the near abroad as they call it and this case with Chavez, you have President who doesn't have any energy policy and John McCain that offers none. The only reason Russia is in this position is they are floating in a sea of high-priced oil, they are able to intimidate Europe by threatening to cut off their gas, natural gas coming into Europe through Germany and etcetera, and we have no policy. Look, this administration and John McCain who’s shared the view, there is no policy; they have no Latin American policy, remember what happened the first time that we had a little bit of trouble in Venezuela, what did our ambassador say? Our ambassador for Latin America talked about well maybe we should talked about overthrowing a democratic governor. That helped us a great deal, didn't it, in Venezuela? It helped us a great deal throughout Latin America. I mean, they don't have policy, they don't know what to do. So I am concerned, I am concerned, that if they were to win the election, if this were to continue this policy I think our children's generation is in trouble for a generation because your are not going to be able to pass a law saying well you know we want to change that relationship now, we want change the fact that Korea is a nuclear peninsula, or that Chavez now has been able to, with Russian help, basically overthrow the Colombian government. Or that they've been able to, I mean, you can't change that. So now is a critical moment and we have to be engaged. And I might point out to John McCain and others, you know, the single element, the single best poster boy for the devil was Libya, you know we talked about Libya and Kaddafi and he was a terrorist, he blew up Americans in a plane. What did George Bush do? He made a deal with them. And what was the deal? The deal got away, got rid of the nuclear facilities, and they changed. And so, you know, this idea of John's not talking…he said, he wouldn't even talk with the Spanish leader, Spain is a member of NATO, they are fighting next to our kids in Afghanistan! Jorge RamosLET ME TALK ABOUT MEXICO. AS YOU KNOW VIOLENCE IS EXPLODING IN MEXICO RIGHT NOW. THE SITUATION SEEMS TO BE OUT OF CONTROL AND THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT SAID THAT IT HAS TO DO WITH DRUG TRAFFIC AND THAT UNLESS THE UNITED STATES REDUCES SHARPLY THE CONSUMPTION OF DRUGS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT VIOLENCE WILL CONTINUE. IS THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT RIGHT? Barack ObamaWhat is absolutely true that we have to have a partnership and that means that Mexico has to do a better job of preventing drugs flowing north, the United States has to do a better job of preventing guns and money flowing south and we do have to deal with the demand side of the equation. So the emphasis on treatment, making sure that we are taking public health approach to drug consumption in this country is very important, and we have to be mindful that there is a illegal flow south as well. So I'm supportive of the Merida initiative, I think that we have to partner with the Calderon government to recognize that he is trying to do something very difficult which is to root out not just a drug trade but all the corruption that surrounds the drug trade and that is going to require a lot of resources. Jorge RamosSENATOR THE LAST TIME THAT WE SPOKE YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW IF A FENCE WOULD WORK TO STOP UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS FROM CROSSING FROM MEXICO TO UNITED STATES. NOW IF WERE YOU STILL UNSURE, WHY DID YOU VOTE ALONG WITH SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN TO AUTHORIZE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FENCE? Barack ObamaWell, here is what I said that I'm skeptical that…you can't build a fence along a border like the one between the United States and Mexico. There maybe areas were having barriers could actually prevent the kinds of flows into the United States, some of which really dangerous for the potential undocumented worker as well. But what I do think we have to do is to get serious about border security in combination with cracking down on employers like the ones in Iowa that were hiring 13 and 14 year olds to engage in some of the most dangerous work there is, meat packaging and we got to have a system to lift undocumented workers out of the shadows and provide a pathway to citizenship. Now, what we are seeing is because the decline in the construction industry in particular but the economy slowing down generally, that the flow of undocumented workers is slowing and that remind us once again that to the extent we are working with Mexico to relieve poverty there and provide jobs and opportunity. That is going to be the best recipe for us to be able to deal with this thing long term. Jorge RamosSENATOR BIDEN LET ME TALK ABOUT THE NEXT DEBATE, YOU SAID THE FOLLOWING: "HILLARY CLINTON IS AS QUALIFIED OR MORE QUALIFY THAN I AM TO BE VICE-PRESIDENT. QUITE FRANKLY, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BETTER PICK THAN ME". DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS? Barack ObamaHe was just being modest. He is a modest person. What can I tell you? Joseph BidenHillary Clinton is a good friend of mine, a close friend of mine, and there is a, I guess it's in short supply these days, but there is such a thing as being a gentleman and being gracious. Hillary Clinton is very qualified, I think I am fully qualified and prepared to be his vice-president, I hope a value added, and I know I'm as qualified as Hillary and anyone else, but she is a qualified woman. And look there is, you know, there is still room in politics for being graceful. Jorge RamosHOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THE DEBATE? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS SARAH PALIN'S GREATEST STRENGTH? Joseph BidenWell, the way that I'm preparing for the debate is making sure that I fully understand what John is proposing. This debate is not about Sarah Palin or me in one sense, it's about my being able to lay out clearly what an Obama administration is going to do and what John McCain will or will not do. To the extent that it is about Sarah Palin and me, I think the voters will determine after the debate is over about how we handled ourselves, whether we seem to be qualified if (God forbid) it ever occurred that we had step up to the office. Jorge RamosLET ME JUST FINISH BY ASKING YOU. IF YOU REALLY THINK THAT LATINOS WILL DECIDE THIS ELECTION? 10 MILLION LATINOS ARE GOING TO BE GOING TO THE POLLS. Barack Obama I think that if you look at the states that are in play: New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Florida; those states, there is no doubt that Latino vote can be the swing vote. In the case of New Mexico it's the majority of the vote. Latino vote is going to be absolutely critical in this race. I do think people are going to vote because they've got to make a decision about do we want to continue 8 more years of failed economic policies that have hit Hispanics harder than anybody. Unemployment has risen faster in the Hispanic community, the levels of people without health care in the Hispanic community is higher. Do we want to continue to see the demagoguing of the immigration issue which frankly has come up mucho more out of the Republican side than out of the Democratic side, or do we want a President that is going to be serious about dealing with this issue? On all these things so much is at stake that I'm absolutely confident that they're going to have record turnout in the same way, I think we are going to see a record turnout in the American population generally. Jorge RamosAND LATINOS WILL DECIDE THE ELECTION? Joseph Biden In those state yes and by the way they'll have a gigantic impact in every state. My little state of Delaware… Barack Obama Ohio. Joseph BidenBy the way we are going to do fine in Delaware. My little state of Delaware, one of the few states grew in the whole east coast all the way to Illinois, all the way from Maine to Virginia, we grew over 25 percent in the last 17 years, of that 25% is Latino in my state. Jorge RamosTHANK YOU SO MUCH Joseph BidenThank you Barack ObamaAlways good Jorge Ramos MUCHAS GRACIAS Joseph Biden Ok Barack ObamaDe nada