World Exclusive: Donald Rumsfeld — Transcript

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1. 0:00every war has its own signature images
2. 0:02and when it comes to Iraq and
3. 0:04Afghanistan The Sight and Sound of
4. 0:05Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon Podium
5. 0:08is woven into American history his
6. 0:10defiant management of those Wars made
7. 0:12the former Secretary of Defense one of
8. 0:14the most polarizing political figures of
9. 0:16the post 911 age but in this his first
10. 0:19television interview since 2006 you will
11. 0:22see Donald Rumsfeld as never before he
12. 0:24reveals both a tender side and valuable
13. 0:27insight into the decisions that have so
14. 0:28many young Americans Still In Harm's Way
15. 0:31tonight here with the world exclusive is
16. 0:33Diane Sawyer I've answered that question
17. 0:3615 times formable com said they said or
18. 0:39even if they said what you said they
19. 0:40said although the title of Donald
20. 0:42rumsfeld's Memoir known and unknown is
21. 0:45based on one of his famous lectures to a
22. 0:47confounded press as we know there are
23. 0:50known known there are things we know we
24. 0:53know we also know there are known
25. 0:55unknowns that is to say we know there
26. 0:57are some things we do not know but
27. 1:00they're also unknown unknowns the ones
28. 1:03we don't know we don't know Donald he
29. 1:05has been a singular force in American
30. 1:07history elected to congress when he was
31. 1:0930 years old the youngest Secretary of
32. 1:12Defense ever under Gerald fors and then
33. 1:15the oldest brought back by the son of a
34. 1:17man who had been his
35. 1:19adversary George HW Bush was said to
36. 1:22have believed it was Rumsfeld who had
37. 1:23pushed him out of a shot at a national
38. 1:25campaign and into the CIA what was your
39. 1:28estimation of George H W bush I never
40. 1:31worked for him admire him enormously no
41. 1:35no no I I was kind of disappointed in
42. 1:37him he decided he wanted to leave people
43. 1:40with the impression that he didn't want
44. 1:41to go to the CIA and that someone made
45. 1:43him go there and it was probably
46. 1:44Rumsfeld or something I didn't find that
47. 1:46impressive so his son calls you in I was
48. 1:52amazed I was
49. 1:54amazed and it shows a lot about George W
50. 1:57bush that he's his own man Mr President
51. 2:00just nine months into the Bush
52. 2:02Administration suddenly rumsfeld's
53. 2:04office seemed to shake a plane had hit
54. 2:07the Pentagon he raced toward the smoke I
55. 2:10came around that corner down there and
56. 2:12uh it was uh it was just in flames and
57. 2:15smoke we could see him helping carry the
58. 2:18stretchers of some of the Wounded this
59. 2:21was the first war of the 21st century I
60. 2:23had to impose a sense of urgency into
61. 2:25the department there wasn't a guy book
62. 2:27or or a map or some program that said
63. 2:30here's how you do this we had to figure
64. 2:32it out and he told us as all this was
65. 2:35unfolding on the national stage he was
66. 2:38also struggling with a family crisis
67. 2:41rumsfeld's son addicted to drugs he
68. 2:44would disappear sometimes for months the
69. 2:47president consoled him president said
70. 2:51you were in
71. 2:55tears I think that's right
72. 3:02he he reached out and said you know tell
73. 3:05me about it and you start talking about
74. 3:07it and it's hard to talk about it
75. 3:09because it's a a wonderful human
76. 3:15being that you love and you you want him
77. 3:18to be better and he is God bless him the
78. 3:23parallel demands of home and what he
79. 3:25says was happening after
80. 3:279/11 he writes that the president asked
81. 3:30him to review what it would take to go
82. 3:33to war with Iraq the president and I had
83. 3:36many discussions about war preparations
84. 3:38I do not recall his ever asking me if it
85. 3:43was the right decision no one asked no
86. 3:46one pulled the room said is this is the
87. 3:48right decision no the president talked
88. 3:50about it and people talked discussed it
89. 3:52with him discussed elements of it and I
90. 3:54didn't hear people feeling strongly that
91. 3:56he should or
92. 3:58shouldn't um there
93. 4:01the Paul was against it but I've never
94. 4:03saw even the slightest hint of that
95. 4:05sodam Hussein and his regime are
96. 4:08concealing their efforts to produce more
97. 4:10weapons of mass destruction you
98. 4:13believed
99. 4:15absolutely
100. 4:17categorically Saddam Hussein had weapons
101. 4:20of mass destruction I don't do a lot of
102. 4:23things categorically anyone who's been
103. 4:25around intelligence gathering knows that
104. 4:27it can be wrong I mean colen Pal's been
105. 4:29around around for longer than anybody in
106. 4:31terms of he said he was devastated of
107. 4:33course he was everyone was but my Lord
108. 4:36he's the guy who had more experience
109. 4:38than anyone else he worked hard with
110. 4:40George tenant with Ki rice he prepared
111. 4:42his speech he went up to the UN he made
112. 4:44his case and he wasn't lying the idea
113. 4:47that he was lying or duped is nonsense
114. 4:51he believed it our military believed it
115. 4:53our military got chemical weapon suits
116. 4:55on to protect them but you were wrong oh
117. 4:59my goodness intelligence was certainly
118. 5:00wrong if you had known he did not have
119. 5:04them I didn't know if you had I didn't
120. 5:07if you had I have no idea I have no idea
121. 5:11what you know today can help you on
122. 5:14things you're thinking about tomorrow it
123. 5:16can't help you with things you were
124. 5:17thinking about back then back then there
125. 5:19was reasonable confidence that he had
126. 5:22these weapons I also must say that that
127. 5:25President Bush and I both pressed to
128. 5:28have him leave the country at the end
129. 5:31Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave
130. 5:34Iraq within 48
131. 5:37Hours their refusal to do so will result
132. 5:40in military conflict I wanted to avoid a
133. 5:42war and so did the president in his book
134. 5:45Rumsfeld writes a chapter about the
135. 5:47deteriorating situation in Iraq called
136. 5:49too many hands on the steering wheel he
137. 5:52has strong opinions about the
138. 5:54shortcomings of his former colleagues
139. 5:57National Security adviser condalisa rice
140. 5:59she'd never served in a in a senior ad
141. 6:03Administration position she'd been an
142. 6:05academic and you know a lot of academics
143. 6:07liked to have meetings and Secretary of
144. 6:09State Coen Powell he did not in my view
145. 6:11do a good job of managing the people
146. 6:14under him and there was a lot of leaking
147. 6:15out of the state department and the
148. 6:17president knew it and uh and it was
149. 6:20unhelpful not long after the invasion
150. 6:23Iraq began to
151. 6:25unravel casualties are mounting and
152. 6:28rumsfeld's critics say his ferocious
153. 6:30position in favor of a lean Paar down
154. 6:33fighting force suppressed debate about
155. 6:35sending in more troops you write in the
156. 6:38book in retrospect there may have been
157. 6:40times more troops could have been useful
158. 6:44it's possible were you too slow to react
159. 6:47to the change do you revisit that did
160. 6:50you say did that cost lives well you
161. 6:53know in in a war um many things CA lives
162. 6:57but there are lessons to be learned sure
163. 7:00there will be all kinds of people trying
164. 7:01to learn the lessons of Afghanistan Iraq
165. 7:04war on terror everybody is so eager to
166. 7:07know what is the lesson you learned
167. 7:10about you oh my
168. 7:12goodness um I don't really think that
169. 7:16way I wasn't worried about me I was
170. 7:18worried about the country but rumsfeld's
171. 7:20critics also say that from the beginning
172. 7:23his press conferences seem to show a man
173. 7:25in denial what plan was there to restore
174. 7:28Law and Order
175. 7:30think what's happened in our cities when
176. 7:32we've had riots and problems and
177. 7:35looting stuff happens you say I realized
178. 7:38I made a mistake oh once those words
179. 7:40come out sure I what I said was
180. 7:42perfectly fine and rational once you you
181. 7:45do a bumper sticker you're asking for
182. 7:47trouble fortunately it's the only
183. 7:48mistake I've ever made no not quite