Kerry Camp Reaction to UBL Tape

This is a partial transcript of "The Big Story With John Gibson," Oct. 29, 2004, that has been edited for clarity.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JOHN KERRY, MASSACHUSETTS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Give me the chance to lift this country up, and every day I will go to that oval office and I'll be able to look you in the eye and I will be able to say, "I've got your back."

Four days to lift America. Let's make it happen. Thank you. God bless you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GIBSON, HOST: Will voters have John Kerry's (search) back on Tuesday? If they do put Kerry back in the White House, it's a good bet my next guess might be serving somewhere in the administration. Kerry Foreign Policy Adviser Jamie Rubin (search) joins us from our Washington bureau.

So Jamie, you've had a little more time than Marc Racicot (search) to invent a reaction, but I have to know what you think of the Bin Laden tape.

JAMIE RUBIN, KERRY FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: Well, every time that Usama Bin Laden (search) or his deputy, Al Zawahiri have made a statement or reared their heads, John Kerry and John Edwards (search) have had the same clear and consistent message, and that is this: the American people are united in their determination to defeat Al Qaeda.

And if John Kerry is elected President, he's going to use all of his energies, all of his power, all of his effort to destroy the Al Qaeda network, to destroy their leaders, to crush their networks. And he will rest at nothing to keep the American people safe by destroying Al Qaeda abroad and protecting America at home.

GIBSON: Jamie, I'm tempted to ask you if this is the time to dust off one of the catch phrases from the Kerry campaign that the President diverted America's attention from Bin Laden and went to Iraq. Why am I not hearing that from you?

RUBIN: Well, John Kerry has made that point and I think it's been very clear and effective. And I know that at this time, with this kind of message coming from the leader of Al Qaeda, the message that John Kerry wants the American people to hear is very simple and very straight, and that is, that the American people are united in their determination to defeat Al Qaeda.

And if John Kerry is elected president, he's going to use all his energy, all his power to destroy them.

GIBSON: OK Jamie. The Reuters wire coming out of Dubai, the writer there, says this is an obvious attempt on Bin Laden's part to influence the American election, attacking George Bush personally, talking about George Bush personally, and by the way, also talking about John Kerry. Do you see it that way?

RUBIN: Well, I don't want to speculate on what the motivations of Usama Bin Laden might be. To do that, you'd have to get in his head, and that's not a place I want to be.

All I can tell you is that it really doesn't matter. What matters is that whoever wins this election, the American people will remain united in their determination to defeat Al Qaeda. And if John Kerry wins, as I certainly hope he will, he's going to use all his energy to destroy Usama Bin Laden and all the terrorists.

GIBSON: Now Jamie, your career's been built on international relations, but you are up to your eyebrows in politics lately. And so forgive me, but there is a temptation to think that one campaign is going to say, "See, they didn't get him." And the other campaign's going to say, "See, the war is still on. Trust me; I'll chase him down better than the other guy."

Why do I get the sense that neither Marc Racicot nor you want to get near this?

RUBIN: Well, I definitely wouldn't want to speak for Mark Racicot either, but I can speak for what I said earlier, and that is that when Usama Bin Laden has made these statements, or Zawahiri has made these statements, John Kerry has always viewed this thing in a clear and decisive way. And that is that what they need to hear back is our determination to defeat them.

GIBSON: All right. But do you worry this reinforces the President's claim that he is the one who's been fighting the war on terror and after all the polls show he has quite a lead on John Kerry in that regard with the public?

RUBIN: Well, throughout this campaign, John Kerry has given speeches and made very powerful statements laying out in very clear terms the effectiveness that he will bring to the job of commander in chief.

And having worked in this area for a long time, I can tell you that the plans that he's laid out, the way in which he will get support from others to finish the job in Afghanistan, to build up our homeland security, spend the money we need to spend on ports, on chemical plants, and other steps, I'm convinced that John Kerry will fight a more effective war on terror than this administration.

GIBSON: Well, we shall see. Jamie Rubin, formerly of the Clinton administration and now Kerry Foreign Policy Adviser. We'll see what falls out from this Bin Laden tape.

Jamie, thanks a lot.

RUBIN: Thank you.

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