'This Week' Transcript: Sen. John McCain

March 6, 2011 — -- AMANPOUR: This week -- jobs. Employment numbers just out lookbetter than they have in two years. But how real is the recovery?How can America keep putting people back to work? We'll have aspirited debate. And I'll be joined by Diane Sawyer. And we ask, howimportant is it to buy things that are made in America?

In Libya, an uprising erupts into civil war. Colonel Gadhafitold me his people love him.

MOAMMAR GADHAFI: All my people with me. They love me, all.

AMANPOUR: But his forces are now battling a rebel army in thestreets. We'll have the latest. And my exclusive interview withSenator John McCain. He's calling for American military intervention.

And we meet the women warriors behind the uprising. Could theybe al Qaeda's worst nightmare? "This Week," America and the worldstarts right now.

Welcome to our viewers here and around the world. These days,Americans have had to think hard about where the United States standsin the world, how the American worker fits into a new and changingglobal economy, and what stance the United States should take aspeople fight for basic freedoms around the Middle East.

We turn first to jobs, issue No. 1 for the American people. Andthis week, finally, some good news to report. For the first time inalmost two years, the unemployment rate has dropped below 9 percent.192,000 jobs were created in February. It's progress, but for manyAmericans, it's not enough. Amid the frustration, concern that somany manufacturing jobs have gone overseas, which raises a provocativequestion. If Americans bought more products made in America, would itmake a difference? And would giving up all those products made withcheap labor overseas be too expensive?

All week long, my colleagues at World News with Diane Sawyer havebeen reporting on their effort to answer that question. Here are thehighlights from their series, "Made in America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We need to out-innovate, out-educate,and out-build the rest of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made in America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Made in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made in America.

OBAMA: We want to create and sell products all over the worldthat are stamped with three simple words, made in America. That's ourgoal.

DAVID MUIR: We searched all over the country for one very braveand willing family. Meet the Usrys (ph). Mom, dad, son, daughter,and the dog, Amber. They were like so many other families who toldour producers their house must be filled with plenty that is made inAmerica. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to think we buy more Americanthan the typical family.

MUIR: But what would happen when we start to pick things up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is made in China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the cross?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honduras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made in Honduras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're covering the world here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made in Thailand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Usually you're looking at what's on theplate, not underneath it, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So here's the test.

The table is made in Thailand.

MUIR: And the chairs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mexico.

MUIR: And we had a fork from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saint Pattern's (ph).

MUIR: This one's from Korea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the plate is from Japan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything made in America on thistable?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't appear to be that way.

MUIR: Even the children's rooms.

What about your Texas hat here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's see. Bangladesh.

MUIR: So this is your room, huh? And little Ellis. And herprized American Girl dolls. Right there, what does it say? Made in--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China.

MUIR: In the 1960s, nine of every 10 products Americans boughtwere made in America. Today, more than half of what we buy is foreignmade. So we wondered, could the Usrys manage without any foreign madeproducts at all?

So we're going to ask you, if you would leave your own house inour hands? And they did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye, David.

MUIR: You're really going to leave me with your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all yours.

MUIR: Take one last look.

Back inside, we kept going. It was every room of the house. Thebedroom. The bedspread, Pakistan. Night stand, Indonesia. The lamp,China.

This is where it's all going. Anything foreign made from insidethat house, right in here.

The stove, ripped out. The refrigerator, gone. The piano. Thatis a heavy piano. And every inch of that trailer filled. And withthe sun setting, the Usrys were about to return to this. And this.And this. Their living room, with one lone vase.

What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. It's quite barren.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of our appliances are gone.

MUIR: We did leave the kitchen sink because the kitchen sink wasthe only thing made in America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything but the kitchen sink. Thankyou.

MUIR: But now would come the real challenge. Helping the familyscour the country for items to replace what we took away.

Enter the best shopper I know. Armed with her Blackberry and herlaptop, Sharyn Alfonsi.

SHARYL ALFONSI: Hi.

(CROSSTALK)

ALFONSI: We immediately started working the computer and decidedto start small.

Hi, I'm trying to find out if a certain coffee maker was made inthe USA. What's made in America?

(CROSSTALK)

Frustrating, but worth asking, because economists say if we alljust spend 1 percent more on American made goods right now, 18 cents aday, that would be 200,000 new jobs today.

And then the moment that made even us sweat. The trucks. Allsix of them coming down Snow White Drive. Would it be enough to fillthis home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow, our American-made room. Oh, wow, wow.This looks great. All American-made?

ALFONSI: All American made.

MUIR: Twenty-four hours ago, you thought this was impossible?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you saw how empty the house was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit skeptical that we'd be able topull it off. Or you guys.

MUIR: We were skeptical, too. But we found it. In fact, toomany American companies to count. Just the living room. Harden,upstate New York. Lee Industries, North Carolina. Mohawk rugs,Georgia. The drapes, New Jersey. And the mirror, Missouri.

But it doesn't come cheap. At least not everything. The lamp,$250. But the drapes, just $40 at J.C. Penney. Remember that firstlabel we checked?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is made in China.

MUIR: That cost them $80. And the American options we found ofcomparable quality, the same price range, a little cheaper, $73 up to$89. The one loaned to us with the rest of the furniture, $250. Wepaid the shipping.

ALFONSI: And the kitchen. Just when we ripped that stove out ofthe wall, we realized we were in trouble. Yes, we scooped upfiestaware for $35 and the glasses for less than a dollar. But thenthe appliances.

The only 100 percent American-made appliances we could find werethe legendary Viking, Subzero, and Wolf. High end and highlyexpensive. But there was another option, a compromise. We did findsome appliances half-made in the U.S. and they were about half thecost of what we bought.

MUIR: The old bedroom set, $1,758. The new one, $1,699. TheAmerican goods, less expensive, and just as durable. And thoseworkers who made it all in their Virginia factory, so proud to tellus, made in America. (END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Well, now I'm with Diane Sawyer, and the team who putthis series together, David Muir and Sharyn Alfonsi. Thank you all.And it is quite stunning to see a house which is then completelyemptied of everything, because nothing was made in America.

DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: You just start from the question, howmuch of in your shopping cart was made in America? How much of whatyou have in the living room, around you right now as you're watching?

AMANPOUR: What kind of reaction did you get?

SAWYER: Most people think about half. Isn't that what we --

(CROSSTALK)

SAWYER: Yes, at least half. And then the revelation. And thatwas the first thing we wanted to do. It's just a wakeup call aboutthe reality around us.

We know it's a global economy, but the thousand pressure pointsthat create what really establishes jobs.

However, I loved knowing that my neighbors are making things thatI'm buying. That's one factor among other factors. We thought peopleshould start asking the question.

AMANPOUR: What really will put the jobs back where they're meantto be here in this country?

ALFONSI: Well, if you look at it, every economist we spoke tosay, you might say it seems very simple, but the reality is, if youmake something in America, it creates American jobs. It is thatsimple. At the same time, of course it's more complex than that. Wedon't want to be bemoaning the loss of the lightbulb. We don't make asingle lightbulb in the United States. What we want to be thinkingabout is the next lightbulb and being -- manufacturing in smart areas,in areas that create high-value jobs.

MUIR: It's funny, economists say don't worry about the plasmascreen that we had to remove from the Usrys' house. They have no TVin the living room or their bedroom now. They said we should bethinking about the next generation of televisions that interconnectthe Internet and On Demand and everything else.

AMANPOUR: And to get that next generation of innovators, you'regoing to need the next generation of great education. Where does thatreally play into this manufacturing debate?

SAWYER: Well, it's everything, as we know. And we think that ifyou look at the whole path ahead for the -- for America, for what wewant to achieve, you see the convergence of what we are making, whatour aspirations are, and is our education serving what we want to be?

AMANPOUR: Thank you so much. And Diane and the team will becontinuing their made-in-America reporting in this next week and inthe next several weeks.

And when we come back, my exclusive interview with Senator JohnMcCain. I'll ask him about jobs, as well as the escalating violencein Libya and what can be done about it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back. Senator John McCain has one eye on thejobs picture here in the United States and another on the unfoldingrevolutions in the Middle East. And he's just returned from a trip tothe region, so we have lots to talk about today. And we're glad tohave him here with us at the Newseum.

Senator McCain, thank you for joining us.

MCCAIN: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Let me ask you first about the report that we justsaw. What does it say to you about that empty house but particularlyits impact on jobs here in the United States?

MCCAIN: Well, I think it's obviously a recognition of thereality and the trends, that cheaper, lower-cost labor products willusually prevail over the products made in higher wage and incomecountries.

But I would also point out that, if you'd emptied that house, ifyou'd left a computer there or an iPad or an iPhone, those are builtin the United States of America. And as the president said,continuously, and I agree with him, innovation is the key to us beingable to restore our economy.

And that's got to be exports. We've got to have free tradeagreements. I'm glad the president is supporting the South Korea freetrade agreement. We basically abandoned Colombia and Panama. Allthese other countries are concluding free trade agreements amongstthemselves while we are being left behind. And that's very harmful.

Small statistic: two years ago, 40 percent of the imports ofagricultural goods in Colombia were from the United States of America.They concluded free trade agreements. Now 20 percent is there. So wehave the ability to outcompete any other country in the world andoutinnovate.

AMANPOUR: Well, to that end, then, what do you make, and how doyou react to the good job news over the last month, that 192,000 morejobs have been added and the unemployment rate has dipped below 9percent?