Excerpts from Clinton's Interview with CNN's "The Situation Room"

On her reaction to the TIME cover
BLITZER: You did well there. All right. Let me get your reaction. The current issue of TIME magazine you've probably seen. You see a cover like this and it says "And the Winner Is…", and you get a little asterisk, you know, what do you think when you see something like this?
CLINTON: I think it's a great picture of Barack. (LAUGHTER)

On remaining in the race
BLITZER: So you're staying in at least through May 31st and June 3rd…
CLINTON: That's right.
BLITZER: … which is the last -- you're not going anywhere.
CLINTON: I'm not going anywhere, Wolf…
BLITZER: All right.
CLINTON: … except to Kentucky and Oregon, and Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico.

On OPEC criticism
BLITZER: Because Barack Obama says this, and I'll just read it to you. He says: "You said you've been in the White House for eight years, you had two terms as a United States senator, and haven't said a word about OPEC. And now suddenly you're going to take it right to OPEC."

CLINTON: Well, he's wrong about that. I have voted, actually, in the Senate on several occasions to try to get the president of the United States to do something about OPEC. Obviously President Bush wasn't inclined to do so, the Republican Congress before him was not inclined to do so.

On McCain and climate change
CLINTON: But now I think it's clear to everyone, even the Republican nominee, Senator McCain, who has been very eloquent in the last few days, talking about how we have to cap greenhouse gas emissions, this is not a Republican or Democratic issue.

On economists who criticized her gas tax “holiday”
CLINTON: I think there's that old saying. You can find an economist to say nearly anything. Some of the economists were against it because they misunderstood my policy. They thought it wasn't paid for.
And I would agree with those who said we can't afford a gas tax holiday that will add to the deficit, that will take money out of the highway trust fund. Others are against the mechanism of a windfall profits tax.
They think that doesn't necessarily work well and the cost will be passed on…Sometimes economists are not right…Franklin Roosevelt during the New Deal, a lot of economists said that's a terrible idea, you're going to be priming the pump, you're going to be putting people to work. That's a terrible idea, that's a betrayal of the American capitalist system. But he said we've got to put people to work.

On the troops and milestones
BLITZER: You've criticized Senator McCain for suggesting U.S. troops could stay there perhaps for 100 years. But you yourself back in 2005 suggested you know what? If there's a peaceful environment like along the lines of Korea, Germany or Okinawa, maybe it wouldn't be that bad for a long term U.S. military presence in that kind of environment. Is the criticism, Senator McCain has made similar comments, is it warranted?

CLINTON: Well, I think it is for this reason, that there isn't any significant milestone that the Iraqi government has met. It's a very different situation than Germany or Korea…I don't believe that they will serious attempt to meet those milestones until they are absolutely convinced we are going to withdraw. I believe that is the best way to focus their attention.

On Barack Obama on Hamas and Israel
BLITZER: Here is what McCain said about Barack Obama and I want to get your reaction. He said, "I think," this is McCain, "I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. I think people should understand that I would be Hamas' worst nightmare. If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly." McCain was referring to a statement by the North American spokesman for Hamas endorsing, in effect, Barack Obama. Is McCain right?
CLINTON: No, I think that that's really an overstatement, an exaggeration of any kind of political meaning and I don't think that anybody should take that seriously.
BLITZER: Do you have confidence that Barack Obama as president would be a strong supporter of Israel?
CLINTON: Yes, I do, I believe that that would be the policy of the United States and it's been our policy for 60 years.

On her reference to an AP story about Obama's support among white voters
BLITZER: Now, your great friend and supporter Congressman Charlie Rangel said and I'm quoting now. "It's the dumbest thing you could have said."
CLINTON: Well, he's probably right.
BLITZER: Explain.
CLINTON: Well, absolutely. I was referencing an AP article and obviously I have worked very hard to get the votes of everyone and I have campaigned hard, I understand that we've got to put together a broad coalition in order to win in the fall. We've got to get to that 270 electoral vote margin and I know Senator Obama has worked hard to reach out to every community and constituency.

On not dropping out
CLINTON: I don't believe in quitting. You may not win in life, but you do the best you can. You go the distance. You don't walk off the court before the buzzer sounds. You never know. You might get a three-point shot at the end.

Full Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us now, Senator Hillary Clinton of
New York, the Democratic presidential candidate.

Senator Clinton, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: Congratulations on your win yesterday in West Virginia. Big win
for Senator Clinton.

CLINTON: Well, it was a big win. And it was a very gratifying one
because I campaigned hard there and I think that the issues that I've
been championing, on the economy and health care, really resonated with
the voters of West Virginia.

And as I have said many times in the last couple of weeks, no Democrat
has won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia. So I
took that as a good sign.

BLITZER: You did well there. All right. Let me get your reaction. The
current issue of TIME magazine you've probably seen. You see a cover
like this and it says "And the Winner Is…", and you get a little
asterisk, you know, what do you think when you see something like this?

CLINTON: I think it's a great picture of Barack.

(LAUGHTER)

CLINTON: You know what I think is that this is the closest election
we've ever had, that anybody can remember. Each of us has brought
millions of new people into the process. I think I've now been
privileged to receive the votes of 17 million Americans.

And that's pretty much the same as Senator Obama. The delegate race
remains close. We have contests yet to go. People have been trying to
end it. And the voters just won't let it happen.

As a recent poll suggested, 64 percent of Democrats want to see this
continue. And I think for good reason, because it's one of the most
substantive, exciting, energizing political events I can remember in my
lifetime.

And there is no winner yet. You have to have, now with the special
election of a Democrat from Mississippi, 2,210 delegates to actually say…

BLITZER: You're including Florida and Michigan.

CLINTON: Which we have to. We have to include them.

BLITZER: Because in -- they're going to be meeting, the Rules Committee
of the DNC…

CLINTON: Right.

BLITZER: … May 31st.

CLINTON: That's right.

BLITZER: They have to make a decision.

CLINTON: Right.

BLITZER: What do you want them to do?

CLINTON: Well, what I would want them to do is to seat the whole
delegations based on the votes that were taken because I think the
voters who came out, over 2.3 million of them in both states, clearly
believed that their votes would count.

And they may have violated the DNC rules, but other states did as well.

BLITZER: Right now the DNC says that the number is, what, 2,025 or 2,026.

CLINTON: That's just not a practical answer. That would mean that only
48 states would determine who the nominee of the Democratic Party is.
And that's not the way the election was (ph).

BLITZER: So you're staying in at least through May 31st and June 3rd…

CLINTON: That's right.

BLITZER: … which is the last -- you're not going anywhere.

CLINTON: I'm not going anywhere, Wolf…

BLITZER: All right.

CLINTON: … except to Kentucky and Oregon, and Montana, South Dakota, and
Puerto Rico.

BLITZER: These remaining states. Let's talk about some of the issues,
the key issues, the economic issues. Issue number one, the economy. Gas
prices…

CLINTON: Right.

BLITZER: … right now. You've said in recent days you want to get tough
with the major oil exporting countries, OPEC, because of the huge cost
per barrel, the resultant price of a gallon of gas.

But when you say get tough with OPEC, what does it mean when you have
members of OPEC like Ahmadinejad of Iran or Hugo Chavez of Venezuela,
Gaddafi of Libya, how do you plan on getting tough with them?

CLINTON: Well, I actually have a four-part program that I would put into
effect were I president today to deal with these rising gas prices,
which are going to hit $4 soon. And it's an enormous burden on people
who drive any considerable distance.

BLITZER: So what kind of leverage do you have on OPEC?

CLINTON: Well, four things, and I'll get to OPEC quickly. I would go
after the energy traders and speculators. I think they are adding to the
cost of a barrel of oil. I believe there is significant evidence of that.

So I would launch a Department of Justice-Federal Trade Commission
investigation and really try to rein them in and close what's called the
"Enron loophole." I approve and voted for what the Congress did
yesterday, which is to quit filling up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
and I would even release some money.

I have advocated a gas tax holiday that is paid for, that is not what
Senator McCain wants, he wants one that is not paid for. And Senator
Obama doesn't want one at all. But I would pay for it out of the record
profits of the oil companies.

Nine countries that are members of OPEC are members of the WTO, the
World Trade Organization, where they have agreed to certain rules that I
believe OPEC by definition violates. Also we have never used anti-trust
laws in our country to really go at the heart of what is a monopoly cartel.

There is something fundamentally wrong and outdated in having the
oil-producing countries getting together a couple of times a year and
saying, OK, here's how much we're going to produce and here's how much
we're going to charge for it.

And I think there is enough market power in the world, if we use the
tools available to us, to rein that in.

BLITZER: Because Barack Obama says this, and I'll just read it to you.
He says: "You said you've been in the White House for eight years, you
had two terms as a United States senator, and haven't said a word about
OPEC. And now suddenly you're going to take it right to OPEC."

CLINTON: Well, he's wrong about that. I have voted, actually, in the
Senate on several occasions to try to get the president of the United
States to do something about OPEC. Obviously President Bush wasn't
inclined to do so, the Republican Congress before him was not inclined
to do so.

So we're going to have, I hope, a Democratic president and a Democratic
Congress. That is the time when we'll be able to take on this unfinished
business when it comes to energy.

BLITZER: Looking back, did the Clinton administration, during eight
years of your husband in the White House, do enough toward energy
independence?

CLINTON: Well, they certainly tried, between both the president and the
vice president. And my husband often says laughingly that tax credits
and energy programs were the only things that he couldn't get the
Republican Congress to even look at, because obviously they had a very
different view about what we should be doing.

But now I think it's clear to everyone, even the Republican nominee,
Senator McCain, who has been very eloquent in the last few days, talking
about how we have to cap greenhouse gas emissions, this is not a
Republican or Democratic issue.

We need a long-term strategy, like the one I've outlined on my Web site,
hillaryclinton.com, you can read all about it. And we need a short-term
strategy to try to provide relief to citizens right now.

BLITZER: You were recently asked about your proposal to have a holiday
on the gas tax. And you would pay for it by having a windfall profit tax
on ExxonMobil and some of the other big oil companies and then when you
were pressed for economists who would endorse your idea, you said you're
not going to put your lot in with economists.

CLINTON: Right!

BLITZER: Which raised questions. Are you not going to believe in what
economists say?

CLINTON: No, but I think there's that old saying. You can find an
economist to say nearly anything. Some of the economists were against it
because they misunderstood my policy. They thought it wasn't paid for.
And I would agree with those who said we can't afford a gas tax holiday
that will add to the deficit, that will take money out of the highway
trust fund. Others are against the mechanism of a windfall profits tax.
They think that doesn't necessarily work well and the cost will be
passed on.

My attitude is I think we could design such a windfall profits tax that
would work, that would be enforceable and that would not be passed on. I
have been advocating a windfall profits tax on the oil companies to
supplement a strategic energy fund that I have recommended for more than
three years and it's because I think that there is such a disconnect
between what the oil companies have been raking in as profits and any
comparable investment or effort that they've made to produce those profits.

There does seem to me to be an opportunity here. Both to take away the
subsidies for the oil companies, which clearly don't need our tax
dollars to make these huge profits and to try to impose a windfall
profit tax.

BLITZER: But you will consult with economists, you believe in
economists, and if you're president of the United States you'll work
with economists because when you said, "I'm not going to put your lot …"

CLINTON: Not totally. Not totally. Sometimes economists are not right.
And I think there are political …

BLITZER: Most of the economists have criticized your plan.

CLINTON: Well, again, some of them didn't understand it and some of them
don't believe it could be done but you listen to all kinds of advisers
but then you have to try to make up your mind. Franklin Roosevelt during
the New Deal, a lot of economists said that's a terrible idea, you're
going to be priming the pump, you're going to be putting people to work.
That's a terrible idea, that's a betrayal of the American capitalist
system. But he said we've got to put people to work.

Well, I think we've got to reign in the oil companies and there are
certainly economically appropriate ways of doing that.

BLITZER: When it comes to the war in Iraq, another issue on the minds of
Americans right now, you've criticized Senator McCain for suggesting
U.S. troops could stay there perhaps for 100 years. But you yourself
back in 2005 suggested you know what? If there's a peaceful environment
like along the lines of Korea, Germany or Okinawa, maybe it wouldn't be
that bad for a long term U.S. military presence in that kind of
environment. Is the criticism, Senator McCain has made similar comments,
is it warranted?

CLINTON: Well, I think it is for this reason, that there isn't any
significant milestone that the Iraqi government has met. It's a very
different situation than Germany or Korea.

BLITZER: But if they were to meet those milestones and if there were a
peaceful environment.

CLINTON: But Wolf, I don't, I don't think, I think you're confusing kind
of cause and effect. I don't believe that they will serious attempt to
meet those milestones until they are absolutely convinced we are going
to withdraw. I believe that is the best way to focus their attention.

Everything we try including the most recent effort with the surge has
not resulted in the gains that were either hoped for or forecasted. I
believe we've got to bring our troops home. There are continuing
missions, guarding our embassy, Special Forces perhaps dealing with al
Qaeda. But that's a very different scenario than what we have today.
Therefore I would begin to bring our troops home.

BLITZER: The Israelis are celebrating their 60th anniversary right now
as an independent state. Here is what McCain said about Barack Obama and
I want to get your reaction. He said, "I think," this is McCain, "I
think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the
United States. I think people should understand that I would be Hamas'
worst nightmare. If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people
can make judgments accordingly." McCain was referring to a statement by
the North American spokesman for Hamas endorsing, in effect, Barack
Obama. Is McCain right?

CLINTON: No, I think that that's really an overstatement, an
exaggeration of any kind of political meaning and I don't think that
anybody should take that seriously.

BLITZER: Do you have confidence that Barack Obama as president would be
a strong supporter of Israel?

CLINTON: Yes, I do, I believe that that would be the policy of the
United States and it's been our policy for 60 years.

BLITZER: Because the criticism he gets from McCain and his supporters is
that he would be willing to meet unconditionally with the leader of
Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made and given the statements Ahmadinejad has
made about destroying Israel, that doesn't reassure, let's say, Israel.

CLINTON: Well, I objected statement was made back in an early debate
because I don't believe that a United States president should commit to
meet unconditionally with leaders of rogue nations. That doesn't mean
you don't eventually meet with them in appropriate circumstances but not
without conditions.

BLITZER: Let's talk about an issue that's come up in this campaign. An
issue of race in the campaign. You were widely quoted in that "USA
Today" interview. I'll read it to you.

"This was just an AP article posted that found how Senator Obama's
support among working, hard working Americans, white Americans is
weakening again and how you know whites in both states who have not
completed college were supporting me. I have a much broader base to
build a coalition on."

Now, your great friend and supporter Congressman Charlie Rangel said and
I'm quoting now. "It's the dumbest thing you could have said."

CLINTON: Well, he's probably right.

BLITZER: Explain.

CLINTON: Well, absolutely. I was referencing an AP article and obviously
I have worked very hard to get the votes of everyone and I have
campaigned hard, I understand that we've got to put together a broad
coalition in order to win in the fall. We've got to get to that 270
electoral vote margin and I know Senator Obama has worked hard to reach
out to every community and constituency.

So I'm going to continue to do that. I think that's what's in the best
interest of our party and how we will win in November.

BLITZER: As someone who has championed civil rights all of these years
and you see all these stories coming up that he's getting 90 percent of
the African American vote. You're doing well with these white, working
class voters as you did in West Virginia, for example, Pennsylvania, in
Ohio.

How does that make you feel when you see this issue all of the sudden
explode out there?

CLINTON: Well, I obviously regret people exploiting an issue like that
because I think it's not only unfounded but it's offensive. I think
people vote for me because they think I'd be the better president. I
think people vote for him because they think he'd be the better
president. I think people vote for me because they believe I'll fight
for them.

I think they vote for each of us for whatever combination of reasons
that appeal to the individual voter. That's the way it's supposed to be
in America. And I've worked very hard to make it clear to people in this
campaign that we need a champion back in the White House.

I am not one who believes that we're going to be able to come to
Washington in 2009, hold hands with everybody and take on the drug
companies and the oil companies and the health insurance companies and
everything we have to do and that just somehow that will all happen. I
think politics is the hard boring of hard boards as Max Weber said and
from my perspective, people who know how hard it will be to create the
changes we need are attracted to my candidacy. People who feel that
maybe life hasn't been fair, the odds are stacked against them. They
want somebody who is going to go to bat for them.

BLITZER: At cnnpolitcs.com we invited people to submit a question to our
I-Reporters. A couple came in that I want to play for you. Get your
brief response. This was from someone named Billy Sutton. He is a
Clinton supporter turned Obama supporter. But watch this.

CLINTON: Mm-hmm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton, I have a question for you. I was
wondering why do you believe that so many of your strongest Democratic supporters would vote
for McCain over Sen. Obama if you were not to win the nomination?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Well, I've heard that from both my supporters and Senator
Obama's supporters.

BLITZER: Because the exit polls show that -- a big chunk of it.

CLINTON: Both his supporters and my supporters might stay home or not
vote for the other, and I just have to say as strongly as I can, Billy,
that that would be a terrible mistake. Anybody that has ever voted for
me or voted for Barack has much more in common, in terms of what we want
to see happen in our country and in the world, with the other than they
do with John McCain.

So I'm going to work my heart out for whoever our nominee is. Obviously,
I'm still hoping to be that nominee. But I'm going to do everything I
can to make sure that anyone who supported me, the 17 million people who
have voted for me, understand what a great error it would be not to vote
for Senator McCain -- Senator Obama and against Senator McCain. And I
know that Senator Obama has said he would do the same to campaign for me.

So you know, in the heat of a primary campaign, people get -- their
passions are high. They feel intensely. That's all understandable. But
once we have a nominee, we're going to have a unified Democratic Party.

BLITZER: Because Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, among
others, says the best way to heal this Democratic Party, irrespective of
who gets the nomination, is for the two of you to be on the ticket.

CLINTON: I know. I think he made a speech or wrote something to that
effect. And it's premature for either of us to talk about that. I think
both of us are committed to doing everything we can to win in the fall.
I certainly am.

And I will do -- I will do whatever it takes, because I know what four
more years of basically the same Bush policies would mean to America,
even though they would be carried out by someone else. They are more of
the same. We cannot afford that.

BLITZER: We also got a variant of this question from a lot of our
viewers. This was from a McCain supporter. He asked this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you continue to stay in the race for the
Democratic nomination? Barack Obama is well ahead (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
delegates. And now ahead of you in the superdelegates, many of whom have
switched to him after he won by a large margin over you in the North
Carolina primaries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Well, I'm -- I'm really touched that a McCain supporter would
be so concerned about our primary. But let me say that after my big win
last night in West Virginia, the delegate difference is extremely
narrow. It is -- people have gone to conventions and fought out
nominations with far fewer delegates. We have a close, close race here.
And is a matter of inches. And we're going to keep going until someone
gets 2,000 -- 2,010 delegates. That's the way our system works.

BLITZER: John Edwards has said he gives you a lot of credit for being
willing to stick in there and fight it out. He, as you know, dropped
out. And I guess the question is how do you do it every single day?

CLINTON: You know, Wolf, something happens every single day that just
lifts my spirits and energizes me. A lot of the people who have worked
their hearts out for me in this primary season, they're not quitters in
their own lives. The single mom in Indianapolis who's never given money
to anybody and gives me $20 a month out of her paycheck. And goes to my
headquarters every lunch hour to work for me.

Or the little boy who sells his bicycle from Kentucky. Or the
88-year-old woman dying in a hospice in South Dakota who just demands
that her daughter bring her an absentee ballot. These are people who I
feel like I'm representing and that I have a very personal connection to.

So you know, I don't believe in quitting. You may not win in life, but
you do the best you can. You go the distance. You don't walk off the
court before the buzzer sounds. You never know. You might get a
three-point shot at the end.

And so we're going to finish this process. It's been a privilege and an
honor to have met so many Americans, been to so many of the beautiful
places in this country, and I feel like I'm doing it for the right
reasons. And I still believe I'd be the better president and the
stronger candidate against Senator McCain.

BLITZER: We have one final question, because we're out of time, and it
involves your daughter, Chelsea. I've been watching her since she was a
little girl. She came to Washington back in '93, in the '92 campaign,
and now she's a grown woman. And she's out there, campaigning for you,
every single day. I think she's in Puerto Rico right now.

And I know you talk to her every single day.

CLINTON: Right.

BLITZER: What goes through your mind, when you have your own daughter
out there, working as hard for you as she is?

CLINTON: Well, it's one of the most incredibly gratifying experiences of
my life, as a person and as a mother. (Inaudible.) I get very emotional.
She is an exceptional person, and she's worked so hard, and she's done
such a good job that I'm just filled with pride every time I look at her.

Obviously, we are very close. We are in communication all the time. But
she is doing this because she believes I'd be a good president, but also
because she cares so much about our country's future. She did grow up in
the White House. She knows what a difference a president makes.

If anybody ever doubted what difference a president makes, after seven
years of George Bush, I think the doubts should be put to rest. So she's
doing it because she's my daughter, but she's doing it because, as she
says, she's a young American who cares about our future.

BLITZER: But she's doing it because she loves you.

CLINTON: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Senator Clinton, thanks very much.

CLINTON: Thanks.