An Unforgettable Interview About Hillary Clinton

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," October 26, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the "Radio Factor!"

BILL O’REILLY, HOST: "Back of the Book" segment tonight, a new book about Hillary Clinton (search) and her run for the presidency. It's called "The Case for Hillary Clinton," written by FOX News analyst Susan Estrich. I spoke with Susan last night, and it was, well, interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'REILLY: I guess you want Senator Clinton to be the next president of the United States, right?

SUSAN ESTRICH, AUTHOR, "THE CASE FOR HILLARY CLINTON": That's the idea.

O'REILLY: All right. Why?

ESTRICH: I think the best qualified candidate should win. I think the best qualified candidate should win, Bill, and I think in this one the best qualified candidate is going to be a woman, and it's going to be an historic election. And I think it's going to be very exciting to see a woman, to be there that night and hear the words, "We've elected our first woman president."

O'REILLY: Is it all about gender? How about what's good for the country?

ESTRICH: No! I think it's not all about gender, although the gender piece will be exciting. I think she's also incredibly smart.

I think what New York voters have seen in pushing her numbers through the sky is what other people are going to se, which is this is a mature, grown-up woman who staked out a moderate position and is going to emerge as really kind of unbeatable.

O'REILLY: Why does Senator Clinton support the war in Iraq?

ESTRICH: Well, you know, that's an interesting question. I think what she actually supported was giving the president authority.

O'REILLY: No, no, she's held on to supporting the war in Iraq.

ESTRICH: I think it's about the boys and girls who are over there. And I think she's turned out to be a lot more supportive of the troops and a lot more moderate in her own views than people thought she would be.

O'REILLY: What would she do differently than President Bush in Iraq?

ESTRICH: I think — I would hope — look, I can't speak for her on that. I'm not her mouthpiece.

O'REILLY: I know, but the reason I'm asking you this question, Susan, is you're supporting her for president but these are fundamental questions and you don't know. I don't know, either. Nobody knows.

ESTRICH: Well, but I can support — I agree with you. But I can support her values. I can support her competence. I don't think anybody can...

O'REILLY: All right. Well, let's have Mother Teresa (search) be president then. Values — you've got...

ESTRICH: I don't think she's been in equivalent situations.

O'REILLY: What would Senator Clinton do...

ESTRICH: I can look at Condi Rice (search) and say she is not managing that war quite as well as I'd like her to.

O'REILLY: You can pick anybody apart. But look, we don't know what Senator Clinton thinks about Iraq. I think that's fair to say.

ESTRICH: We know some of what she thinks.

O'REILLY: How about illegal immigration? What will she do to abort it, to stop it?

ESTRICH: We know some of what she thinks about that. You know, she's taken a much tougher stance there, as well. But...

O'REILLY: Whoa, whoa, who, whoa. Susan, Susan, what's the tougher stance? I mean, what is she going to do?

ESTRICH: Well, I think she is going to prosecute. But I don't think she is going engage in...

O'REILLY: Prosecute who?

ESTRICH: Prosecute illegal immigrants.

O'REILLY: Really? Hillary Clinton is going to prosecute to poor illegal immigrants? Really?

ESTRICH: No, not the poor ones, just the rich ones. How about that?

O'REILLY: Let's put it down we don't know what she's going to do on the border. How about...

ESTRICH: Let's not.

O'REILLY: ... government funded health care.

ESTRICH: Let's go through the tick list and I'll bring it back. She's not going to...

O'REILLY: You write a book, "The Case for Hillary Clinton," but you don't know what Hillary Clinton thinks about anything.

ESTRICH: Yes, I can.

O'REILLY: Let me ask you another one.

ESTRICH: ... to her list. Sure.

O'REILLY: They're easy. You got a book, "The Case for Hillary Clinton," but you don't know...

ESTRICH: Give me an easy one.

O'REILLY: Here is an easy one.

ESTRICH: OK.

O'REILLY: Does Hillary Clinton support universal health care? That is health care for all Americans, paid for by the government?

ESTRICH: No.

O'REILLY: She doesn't?

ESTRICH: No.

O'REILLY: Are you sure?

ESTRICH: She doesn't, yes, I'm sure. Isn't that too bad?

O'REILLY: Who gets health care? Who gets it?

ESTRICH: The lucky people get it.

O'REILLY: The lucky people. Who might they be?

ESTRICH: That's true. There it is.

O'REILLY: The lucky people. Is there any definition of the lucky people? Or there's just a lottery that we just...

ESTRICH: No, it's not a lottery. Obviously, some people get it through their employer and some people are going to be able to buy into it.

O'REILLY: But we don't know exactly who.

ESTRICH: Because — no, I'll tell you exactly who. But, you know, we're playing a game, so we're having fun in the spin zone. Anyways...

O'REILLY: The no-spin zone and I'm not playing any games. I want to know what the woman believes in and where she stands.

ESTRICH: I'll tell you as much as I can.

O'REILLY: All right. "The Case for Hillary Clinton." Susan Estrich, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Content and Programming Copyright 2005 Fox News Network, L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2005 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, L.L.C.'s and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.