>>> DO NOT SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT IT WILL ALLOW THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES TO UNLEASH
A UNILATERAL ATTACK AGAINST
IRAQ.
IRAQ. >> ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES THAT
JOE AND I HAVE IN OUR RECORD IS
JOE VOTED FOR THAT WAR.
I HELPED LEAD THE OPPOSITION TO
THAT WAR WHICH IS A TOTAL
DISASTER.
DISASTER. >> IN 2002 WHEN THE CONGRESS WAS
DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT WE GO
INTO A WAR IN IRAQ, INVADE IRAQ,
I GOT UP ON THE FLOOR OF THE
HOUSE AND I SAID THAT WOULD BE A
DISASTER.
DISASTER. >> IT WOULD LEAD TO
UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS OF CHAOS IN
THE REGION.
THE REGION. AND I NOT ONLY VOTED AGAINST THE
WAR I HELPED LEAD THE EFFORT
AGAINST THAT WAR.
>> I LISTENED VERY CAREFULLY,
AND I CONCLUDED THAT THEY WERE
LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH.
AND I NOT ONLY VOTED AGAINST
THAT WAR, BUT I HELPED LEAD THE
OPPOSITION.
OPPOSITION. >> 27 PAST THE HOUR.
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS OFTEN
TOUTS HIS OPPOSITION TO THE IRAQ
WAR AND HAS USED THAT AGAINST
HIS PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS, BUT NBC
NEWS CORRESPONDENT HEIDI
PRZYBYLA IS HERE WITH NEW
REPORTING THAT HIS OPPOSITION TO
THE IRAQ WAR WAS MORE
COMPLICATED THAN HE PRESENTS.
SO HEIDI, WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT?
>> Reporter: HI, MIKA.
THE WAR IS REALLY SOMETHING THAT
BERNIE USED TO DISTINGUISH
HIMSELF MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE
FROM OTHER CANDIDATES AND TOOK A
CLOSER LOOK AT HIS STATEMENTS
AND THE VOTING RECORD FROM THE
TIME AND WE FOUND WHILE BERNIE
VOTED DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHER
DEMOCRATS, HE ACTUALLY LOOKED AT
THE SAME INTELLIGENCE AND MADE
THE SAME CONCLUSION, MIKA.
THAT WAS, THAT THE THREAT FROM
IRAQ AT THAT TIME WAS NOT
IMMINENT, AND THAT THE UNITED
STATES SHOULD WORK WITH THE U.N.
VERY SIMILAR COMMENTS THAT OTHER
DEMOCRATS, FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE JOE
BIDEN, WERE MAKING, AND THAT
BERNIE’S REAL FOCUS AT THAT TIME
WAS NOT ON THE QUESTIONING THE
INTELLIGENCE.
INTELLIGENCE. HIS REAL FOCUS WAS ON THE
UNILATERAL STRIKE.
UNILATERAL STRIKE. HE DID NOT WANT TO SEE A
UNILATERAL STRIKE BY THE U.S.,
DIDN’T WAN THE U.S. TO ACT
ALONE, THE DIFFERENCE, A BIG
DIFFERENCE, HOW THEY VOTED.
BERNIE, AS YOU SAW, REALLY DID
GO TO THE MAT TO SAY THAT
UNILATERAL STRIKE WOULD BE A BIG
MISTAKE, BUT THERE ALSO IS SOME
EVIDENCE HERE IN THIS VOTING
RECORD THAT HE WASN’T COMPLETELY
AGAINST THE IDEA OF WAR.
IN FACT, HE VOTED FOR AN
AMENDMENT, MIKA, VERY SIMILAR TO
ONE THAT JOE BIDEN FOUGHT REALLY
HARD FOR IN THE SENATE, THAT
MANY VIEWED AT THE TIME AS A
SUBSTITUTE FOR WAR.
IT WALEREALLY ALLOWED PRESIDENT
TO GO TO THE U.N. AND THEN COME
BACK AND POTENTIALLY ACT
UNILATERALLY, IF HE DIDN’T GET
U.N. SUPPORT, AND YOU SAY, WELL,
YOU KNOW, A LOT OF ANTI-WAR
DEMOCRATS VOTED THAT WAY.
HOWEVER, MIKA, SOME OF THE
DEMOCRATS WHO WERE MOST AGAINST
THE WAR DID NOT.
THEY OPPOSED THIS AMENDMENT, AND
I SPOKE WITH THEM, LIKE
REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA LEE, AND
SHE SAID TO ME, "SOME
MEMBERS" -- NOT TALKING ABOUT
BERNIE, DEMOCRATS IN GENERAL.
AT THE TIME, REMEMBER, EVERYBODY
WAS SCARED.
WAS SCARED. THOUGHT MAYBE IRAQ REALLY DID
HAVE DMD.
HAVE DMD. SOME MEMBERS WANTED IT BOTH
WAYS.
WAYS. WE HAD ENOUGH INFORMATION TO
KNOW THERE WERE NO WEAPONS
THERE.
THERE. AND SO THE SANDERS CAMPAIGN
SAYS, LOOK, THIS WAS WAY TO STOP
THE WAR.
THE WAR. BUT WHEN I WENT BACK AND LOOKED
AT THE COVERAGE AT THE TIME OF
THAT AMENDMENT, IT REALLY WAS
FOR DEMOCRATS WHO WANTED TO
MESSAGE.
MESSAGE. IT WAS A MESSAGING TOOL TO SAY
TO CONSTITUENTS, WE’RE NOT
COMPLETELY AGAINST THE WAR.
JUST FOR WAR UNDER THE RIGHT
CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH IS WITH
U.N. SUPPORT.
U.N. SUPPORT. >> ALL RIGHT.
INTERESTING.
INTERESTING. JONATHAN LEMIRE?
JONATHAN LEMIRE? >> HEIDI, FOLLOWING UP ON THAT.
SEEMS THAT BERNIE SANDERS SEEMS
TO GET AWAY WITH NOT PROVIDING A
LOT OF DETAILS SOMETIMES.
DOESN’T ALWAYS GET THE SCRUTINY,
HIS RECORD ON GUNS OR THIS HERE
YOU’RE REPORTING.
YOU’RE REPORTING. HIS SUPPORTERS ARE PASSIONATE
AND WILL FOLLOW HIM ALL THE WAY
THROUGH EVEN IF HE’S NOT ABOUT
NAMING PRICE TAGS AND HOW MUCH
HIS PROPOSALS WILL COST.
SO MUCH OF HIS BRAND HAS BEEN
BEING AN ANTI-WAR CANDIDATE
PSHGS OH,
PSHGS OH, OPPOSED TO THE WAR IN IRAQ.
IS THIS GOING TO IMPACT HIS
VOTERS IN YOUR ESTIMATION?
>> IT’S UNCLEAR HOW IT WILL
IMPACT HIS SUPPORTERS.
REMEMBER, HIS DEMOGRAPHIC IS A
LOT OF YOUNGER VOTERS WHO
ACTUALLY WEREN’T AROUND FOR THIS
WAR.
WAR. WE ALL REMEMBER HOW THE FEAR AT
THE TIME OF POTENTIAL WMD REALLY
PERMEATED THE DISCOURSE AND HOW
THIS REALLY WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR
MANY DEMOCRATS, INCLUDING
BERNIE, TO BELIEVE THE BUSH
ADMINISTRATION, THAT THERE WERE
WMD.
WMD. IN FACT, IT WASN’T UNTIL 2003
THAT SANDERS REALLY STARTED TO
QUESTION WHETHER THAT
INTELLIGENCE WAS BEING
MANIPULATED.
MANIPULATED. WHEN HE MAKES THESE COMMENTS,
LIKE, I KNEW THEY WERE LYING
FROM THE START, WHEN I WENT BACK
TO THE SANDERS CAMPAIGN AND
ASKED, WHAT WAS HE TALKING
ABOUT?
ABOUT? I CAN’T FIND ANY REPORT OF HIS
QUESTIONS WMD, THEY SAID, WELL,
HE WAS REFERRING TO THE FACT
THAT THE THREAT WAS NOT
IMMINENT.
IMMINENT. FAIR ENOUGH.
FAIR ENOUGH. BUT THAT IS THE SAME AS MANY
OTHER DEMOCRATS AT THE TIME.
I FOUND COMMENTS FROM JOE BIDEN,
FOR EXAMPLE, STRESSING IN A
FLOOR SPEECH RIGHT BEFORE THE
VOTE SAYING, I STRESS THE WAR,
THE THREAT OF WMD IS NOT, IS NOT
IMMINENT.
IMMINENT. AND MY VOTE FOR THIS RESOLUTION
IS TO STRENGTHEN PRESIDENT
BUSH’S HAND IN GOING TO THE U.N.
SO YOU SEE THE OBJECTIVE WAS THE
SAME, IN TERMS OF GETTING U.N.
BUY-IN.
BUY-IN. THE VOTE VERY DIFFERENT.
BERNIE WAS VERY SKEPTICAL AND
VERY VOCAL.
VERY VOCAL. HE DID GO ALL OVER TELEVISION
AND ENGAGE IN DEBATES AND SAY
THIS IS A BIG MISTAKE.
THAT’S A BIG DISTINCTION WITH
SOME DEMOCRATS, FOR EXAMPLE,
LIKE HILLARY CLINTON, WHO DID GO
ON THE FLOOR AND SAY, THEY’RE
REBUILDING THEIR WEAPON
STOCKPILE, FOR INSTANCE.
>> HEIDI PRZYBYLA.