Transcript: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

ByABC News
December 7, 2008, 1:27 PM

Dec. 7, 2008 — -- ABC'S "THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS"

DECEMBER 7, 2008

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning and welcome to this week. Our headliner this morning, the secretary of state.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: The terrorists can't get away with this kind of attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Just back from India and Pakistan, with advice for Hillary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: I know her to be somebody who has what you need most in this job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And a look back at eight years of crises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: I think that we've had a good run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Condoleezza Rice reflects.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Our economy is in a recession.

UNKNOWN: You don't know if you're going to have a job the next day or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: After staggering job loss, will Congress bail out the big three? What more must be done?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: We're busting our guts.

UNKNOWN: Don't let us down. Don't let America down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: An exclusive interview with the head of the United Auto Workers, Ron Gettelfinger.

George Will, Cokie Roberts, Peggy Noonan and E.J. Dionne debate all the week's politics on our roundtable.

And, as always, the Sunday Funnies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TONIGHT SHOW HOST: This week, they will flip the switch on the White House Christmas tree, which has over 25,000 lights on it -- one light for every CEO that's looking for a bailout.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello again. We begin today in one of her final interviews as secretary of state, with Condoleezza Rice. Madam Secretary, welcome back to "This Week."

RICE: Thank you. Good to be with you, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you are not coasting in your final days. Just back from India and Pakistan, of course, after those horrific attacks in Mumbai.

And it was reported in the Pakistani press that you were quite tough with the Pakistanis. I want to show something that was written in "Dawn," the Pakistani newspapers.

It says that Rice told Pakistan, "There is irrefutable evidence of involvement of elements in the country in the Mumbai attacks, and that it needs to act urgently and effectively to avert a strong international response. Sources said she pushed the Pakistani leaders to take care of perpetrators. Otherwise, the U.S. will act."

What exactly did you ask the Pakistanis to do, and will the U.S. take unilateral action if they don't?

RICE: Well, I did say to the Pakistanis that the argument that these are non-state actors is not acceptable. In fact, non-state actors acting from your territory is still your responsibility.

Obviously, there are issues of arrests of people who might have been involved. First, of course, to involve themselves very transparently in the investigation.

There may have been support elements -- not of the Pakistani government, but within Pakistan -- that were helping these terrorists.

STEPHANOPOULOS: There's one report that said that you asked for them to turn over and arrest the former head of Pakistani intelligence.

RICE: Well, I don't want to get too detailed about this. This is counterterrorism work. And obviously, I don't want to tip their hand or ours.

But this is a time when Pakistan must act. They must act in concert with India, with the United States. Great Britain is helping.

The thing to remember, George, is that this is a civilian Pakistani government, democratically elected, good basis of legitimacy. They want to do the right thing. I was absolutely convinced that President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, the other officials with whom I spoke, understand that this is also Pakistan's fight, because Pakistan is trying to root out terrorism and terrorists within Pakistan.

So, I did feel that there was a good, strong commitment there. But now we have to see follow-through.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, we need to see arrests.

And to be clear, if those arrests aren't made, if the perpetrators aren't brought to justice, do you believe that India has a right to take action?

RICE: I said to India that the issue here is an effective response.

And I understand the frustration and the anger in India. In fact, it felt a little bit to me like the United States post-9/11. I certainly understand that.

But in this case, there are actions that India could take that could make the situation worse. And we don't need...

STEPHANOPOULOS: A military strike.

RICE: We don't need a crisis in Southeast Asia. What we need is the two parties, Pakistan and India -- by the way, who have developed far better relations than they had when we faced this kind of crisis in2001-2002.

And the good thing is that I do believe that there is a desire on both sides. India and Pakistan, despite their long history, they are really not each other's primary threat and enemies...

STEPHANOPOULOS: And that's the message the United States is trying to send.

But I could imagine an Indian official saying, wait a second. The United States has been sending drones over Pakistani territory, striking at Pakistan for months. Why shouldn't India be allowed to dothe same?

RICE: Well, again, the regional dynamics here are important to keep in mind.

We don't need something that will set off unintended consequences and a more difficult situation. And I do believe that India's leaders understand that.

This is not 2001-2002, when there was virtually no communication between the two countries. The leaders of India and Pakistan -- encouraged by the United States -- have gone a long way to improvingtheir relations.

In fact, the Pakistani foreign minister was in India just about the time of the attacks.

So, I think that this is something that can be worked through. But it requires strong action, and it requires strong action now. And it requires concrete action.

STEPHANOPOULOS: While you were in India and Pakistan, a new report came out by a commission that was set up by Congress to look at the connection between weapons of mass destruction and terrorists.And it had an absolutely chilling conclusion. I want to show it for our viewers. It was called "The World at Risk" report.

And it said, "Unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013. Americans' margin of safety is shrinking, not growing."

Do you agree with that conclusion?