Bill Clinton

Yes, I've been very involved in it, and I feel that we're doing the right thing and we have a chance to put an end to the misery and to limit once and for all the possibility that this could spread into a wider war that can involve our…

So it is convenient for them, and it is good for us. So we'll be working--we talked for a long time today. I talked with the Secretary of State and my National Security Adviser and Mr. Holbrooke; we had an extended talk and we agreed on…

Yes. Well, they're coming to New York, as I understand it, in part for the United Nations. Mr. King. And since they're here, why not?

We just released that information, I think, from our plane. Ambassador Holbrooke, who is handling those negotiations for me, has been working very hard. I believe that a combination of factors, including the firm resolve of our NATO allies…

No, it's not dead. And because I think Mexico is beginning to come back, I think it is not jeopardized. I still believe it was the right thing to do. Mr. King. Wouldn't change it?

It's very difficult to predict. I'm going to be President, work on being President, and let them make their own decision. NAFTA Mr. King. E-mail question. With Mexico in an economic and social tailspin, is NAFTA dead or jeopardized?

I don't know. One of the things I learned is that you can't predict, just as nobody predicted that much that I would be nominated and elected. Mr. King. Correct.

No. I have no opinion about that. Let the Republicans pick their nominees. All I'm saying is, my obligation is to try to make sure that people like that caller can make the most of their own lives, and education is perhaps the critical…

Well, I think it is a terrible mistake to neglect education funding in favor of building prisons. On the other hand, you still have to have strong criminal justice laws. The crime rate is going down in almost every State in the country…

We've also tried to improve public health through improving the food testing, like dealing with the problems with E. coli that caused the deaths from eating the meat. Mr. King. Would you say you've kept your promises?

We have, first of all, faithfully advanced the cause of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Secondly, we have done a great deal to try to promote public health in dealing with problems like the cryptosporidium problem that--that was…

Yes. What have we done in the last 4 years to help the environment? Mr. King. We don't hear a lot about Clinton and environment?

Well, right now I like a lot of--the changes in the Senate bill that were made in the last 2 weeks were very good. If that's the direction the Congress is going in, we're going to have a great welfare reform proposal. But it still could…

Yes, because of--it is an incredible gift, with all the difficulties, to be given the opportunity to meet these challenges. And as I said, I honestly believe, when the history of this era is written people will say this was the period of…

Oh, I think the American people--I would hope the American people would judge any candidate based on his or her merits, without regard to race or gender. That's what I hope, and that's the America I've worked for all my life. If you look…

I did. And I think it all depends. I think it depends on who the candidate is, what the person says, what the issues are. But the main---- Mr. King. What Powell would be for?

Well, because we still have troubles and because it's an unsettling time. If you look at what's happened all over the world, you've got this global economy that's going from an information society to a technology and--I mean, it's going…

Well, I think they're in disfavor right now because the American people have seen them fighting in the Congress and they've seen few results since the last election and because in the previous election they didn't understand what results…

Well, as you know, I've worked with him and I like him and I think he's got a very compelling life story and he's a very appealing man. And I think his book will do very well. I have no idea what he's going to do, and I can't--I don't…

He will unless he decides not to. I think--you know, he's plainly the most influential and effective Vice President in the history of the country, what he's done with technology, what he's done with the environment, what he has done with…

Because there is so much work that needs to be done. In the next 60 days, in the working out of this budget, we're going to define in some measure what our country is going to be like for the next several years. And I just want to continue…

It's a pro forma thing. Everyone knows I intend to run again. And again, I would like to put it off as long as possible. I---- Mr. King. Because?

He was not, although I know him quite well, and I expect that he will be very supportive of this. Mr. King. Because he said recently on a show we did on television that he would be very supportive. Mr. President. Yes, he--I know him quite…

Well, it depends what happens. But what I'd like to do is to work as much as I can. Even on this trip we've done several official things. This morning I was up in San Francisco with 19 executives of major information firms announcing that…

It is if you have to do it full-time. And I just determined that the best thing to do would be to try to handle the fundraising in a regular way this year and try to get it out of the way so I could spend as much time as possible being…