Today on "Street Signs," CNBC's Erin Burnett interviewed Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) on the financial crisis. At the end, on a lighter note, Burnett asked her a question about Gov. Sarah Palin and lipstick.
Videos and transcript below.
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
CNBC's Erin Burnett: WALL STREETS TROUBLES ON THE FEDERAL RESCUE PLAN PHONE THE FRONT BURNER FOR NORTH HILLARY CLINTON. SHE WRAPPED UP A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT TIMOTHY GEITNER. SENATOR CLINTON, THANK YOU SO MUCH. IT'S A GREAT PLEASURE. YOU HAVE BEEN IN A MEETING MUCH OF THE DAY WITH THE NEW YORK FED PRESIDENT. WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT?
Sen. Clinton: WELL, I WANTED TO REVIEW WITH THE NEW YORK FED SOME OF THE PARTICULARS ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN NEW YORK, AS WELL AS THE BROADER NATIONAL AND GLOBAL IMPLICATION. YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED, WHAT WE'RE HAVING TO DO HERE. AND AS A SENATOR FROM NEW YORK I NOT ONLY HAVE THE OBVIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT OUR FINANCIAL MARKETS, BUT ALSO THE IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT HERE IN NEW YORK, AND EVERYTHING THAT I CAN DO TO TRY TO MAKE SURE WE STABILIZE THIS SITUATION, SAVE JOBS, AND YOU KNOW, GET OUR MARKETS MOVING AGAIN, GET THEM UNCLOGGED, IS WHAT I'M FOCUSED ON.
Burnett: DO YOU THINK FED PRESIDENT TIMOTHY GEITHNER WOULD BE THE RIGHT PERSON TO BE THE CZAR OF THE POOL OF AS SETS?DID YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT HIS ROLE MIGHT BE?
Sen. Clinton: NO, NOT AT ALL. THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE DISCUSSED. WHAT I DID TALK ABOUT WAS A PROPOSAL THAT I HAVE BEEN MAKING FOR ABOUT A YEAR, THAT WHAT WE NEEDED WAS SOMETHING SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAD DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION, HOMEOWNER'S LOAN CORPORATION, WHICH WORKED VERY EFFECTIVELY TO BUY UP MORTGAGES, ABOUT 1 MILLION HOMES WERE SAVED. OVER TIME, THOSE MORTGAGES WERE SOLD AND, FRANKLY, THE TREASURY MADE MONEY ON IT. I THINK IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT WE START CONSIDERING SUCH AN ENTITY LIKE THIS. I HAVE SPOKEN SEVERAL TIMES WITH SECRETARY PAULSON, AND OBVIOUSLY OTHERS WHO ARE CRAFTING THIS PROPOSAL. AND IN THE IMMEDIATE SHORT RUN, TO HAVE TREASURY RUN IT MAY BE THE ONLY CHOICE. BUT THAT IS NOT A GOOD LONG-TERM DECISION. SO, I HAVE SPOKEN WITH CHAIRMAN FRANK. HE SHARES MY VIEW THAT WE NEED SOME KIND OF AN ENTITY LIKE THE OLD HOLC, HOME OWNERS LOAN CORPORATION, TO BE PREPARED WE SHOULD START WORKING ON THE LEN SLATION NOW TO TRY TO GET SOMETHING LIKE THAT UP AND GOING SO WE CAN HAVE ONE PLACE IN THE GOVERNMENT TO DO THESE MORTGAGE MODIFICATIONS AND REPLICATE THE SUCCESS THAT WE HAD 70 YEARS AGO.
Burnett: DO YOU THINK WE HAVE THE TIME, THOUGH? IT SEEMS LIKE IN SOME SENSE, MAYBE I'M TOO FAR AHEAD HERE, THAT THE TRAIN MAY HAVE LEFT THE STATION IN TERMS OF THIS PLAN BEING BEING ACTUALLY STRUCTURED THAN THE HOLC WAS OR DO YOU THINK WE CAN TAKE MORE TIME IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES, AND STRUCTURE THIS POOL VERY DIFFERENTLY?
Sen. Clinton: WELL, I THINK IT CAN BE SEQUENTIAL, ERIN. THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT WE HAVE TO GET THIS INFUSION OF CASH INTO OUR MARKETS AND BEGIN TO BUY UP THESE ILLIQUID ASSETS, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. BUT I THINK WE NEED A COMMITMENT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION THAT WE WILL BEGIN WORKING ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS, BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU HAVE AN AD HOC ARRANGEMENT, WORKING OUT OF THE TREASURY. I DON'T THINK THAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GO ABOUT THIS. BUT THAT CAN BE HANDLED, YOU KNOW, IMMEDIATELY AFTER WE GET THROUGH THIS IMMEDIATE CRISIS. I DO BELIEVE, HOWEVER, THAT PART OF WHAT NEEDS TO GO INTO THE PROPOSAL IS THE AUTHORITY FOR MORTGAGE MODIFICATION. THAT THAT HAS TO BE PART OF THE OPPORTUNITY THAT THE TREASURY WOULD HAVE SHARED WITH THE FDIC, WHICH AS YOU KNOW IS TRYING TO WORK OUT SOME OF THE MORTGAGES FROM INDY MAC. THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR TREASURY TO GET THAT KIND OF AUTHORITY. BEING GIVEN BROAD DESCRIPTION UNDER THE PLAN AS PROPOSED. AND I THINK THAT WE DO HAVE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THAT TO SET THE FRAMEWORK IN PLACE IN THIS PROPOSAL THIS WEEK IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. BUT THEN I'M ADVOCATING THAT THE CONGRESS COME BACK, AFTER THE ELECTION, AND WE'D PREPARED WITH THE WORK FROM OUR TWO BANKING COMMITTEES AND THEIR CHAIRMAN, CHAIRMAN FRANK AND CHAIRMAN DODD, SO WE'RE PREPARED TO ACT ON WHATEVER AUTHORITY IS ADDITIONALLY NEEDED. THE THIRD PART IS THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK THAT HAS TO BE PUT IN PLACE. WE CAN NEVER GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN, IT'S TOO DANGEROUS. SO WE'VE GOT TO BEGIN TO REGULATE IN A SENSIBLE WAY. I'M CONFIDENT AND OPTIMISTIC WE'LL WEATHER THIS. ONCE WE ACTUALLY START WORKING ON THE PROBLEM AND EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THAT IT'S A PRIORITY FOR OUR COUNTRY.
Burnett: JUST A COUPLE OF MORE QUESTIONS. ONE OF THEM, YOU MENTIONED CONGRESSMAN FRANK. I SPOKE TO HIM THIS WEEKEND, ON SATURDAY, ACTUALLY, AND HE EXPRESSED TO ME HIS PASSION FOR INCLUDING LIMITS ON CEO COMPENSATION FOR BANKS THAT WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE POOL. THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT IS ADAMANTLY AGAINST THAT, BECAUSE THEY WANT TO GET THE PROBLEM DEALT WITH, MAYBE EVENTUALLY WE'LL DEAL WITH CEO COMPENSATION BUT NOT PART OF THIS PACKAGE. ARE YOU GOING TO SUPPORT HAVING CEO COMPENSATION LIMITS AS PART OF THE DEAL THIS WEEK?
Sen. Clinton: WELL, LOOK, I SHARE CHAIRMAN FRANK'S VIEW, THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE FAIR TO THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER AND WOULD ALSO, YOU KNOW, PUT IN AT LEAST SOME ACCOUNTABILITY. IF WE CAN GET IT THIS WEEK I WANT A COMMITMENT WE'RE GOING TO ADDRESS IT VERY SHORTLY, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AS PART OF A BROADER LOOK AT WHAT WE NEED TO DO. YOU KNOW, REALLY WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW IS TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING. BUT THE PATIENT IS NOT WELL. THIS IS NOT JUST A FINANCIAL CRISIS. THIS IS AN ECONOMIC CRISIS. SO THERE IS MORE WORK TO BE DONE AND I THINK THE WHOLE QUESTION OF, YOU KNOW, EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION HAS TO BE ROLLED INTO WHAT WE LOOK AT GOING FORWARD.
Burnett: SENATOR CLINTON, FINAL QUESTION, I KNOW YOU'RE TIGHT ON TIME. A PICTURE IN THE NEW YORK POST CAUGHT MYT ATTENTION THIS MORNING. SARAH PALIN REACHING OUT TO A GIANT TUBE OF LIPSTICK, SORT OF A LIFE SIZED TUBE OF LIPSTICK. I HAVE TO ADMIT, IT'S FUNNY ABOUT. I'VE BEENED FASCINATED WITH HER VIEW AND THE PHENOMENON OF SARAH PALIN. BUT DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THAT LIPSTICK AS A METAPHOR FOR BEING A WOMAN OR FEMALE POWER IS INSULTING IN THIS ELECTION?
Sen. Clinton: WELL, I WANT TO KEEP MY FOCUS ON THE REAL CHALLENGES, ISSUES AND EVEN CRISIS THAT WE FACE. BEING ABLE TO SMILE FROM TIME TO TIME HELPS BREAK THE SERIOUSNESS OF WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH. OBVIOUSLY I THINK WE CANNOT AFFORD FOUR MORE YEARS OF THE FAILED POLICIES WE'VE HAD FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS. I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE COULD AVOIDED ALL OF THE PROBLEMS BUT IF WE HAD PEOPLE AWAKE AND ON THE JOB IN THE EXISTING REGULATORY AGENCIES, WE COULD HAVE LIMITED THE DAMAGE. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY DOUBT THAT WE NEED DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP IN THE WHITE HOUSE STARTING IN JANUARY.AND I'M ALL FOR LIPSTICK. I WEAR IT MYSELF. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, LET'S STABILIZE OUR FINANCIAL MARKETS AND I THINK THE BEST PEOPLE TO DO THAT ARE NOT THE PARTY THAT HAS HELPED GET US INTO THE MESS RIGHT NOW.
Burnett: SENATOR CLINTON, FAIR POINT ON THE LIPSTICK. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Sen. Clinton: THANKS, ERIN.