WEBVTT 00:00.040 --> 00:02.300 Hi Governor . It's Casey from K TVs . 00:02.300 --> 00:04.930 How are you ? Hey case , how you doing , 00:04.930 --> 00:07.340 cowgirl ? I am fabulous thank you . 00:07.340 --> 00:10.040 How's your trip to Iraq so far ? It's 00:10.040 --> 00:12.040 been great . It's been great . It's 00:12.040 --> 00:14.207 been a wonderful trip . Good . So what 00:14.207 --> 00:16.429 are some of the things that you've seen 00:16.429 --> 00:18.540 over there so far and that you've got 00:18.540 --> 00:20.790 to do ? Well actually on sunday I flew 00:20.790 --> 00:22.957 to Washington D . C . Monday morning I 00:22.957 --> 00:25.340 had , I had lunch or excuse me 00:25.340 --> 00:28.090 breakfast with with Secretary Rumsfeld 00:28.090 --> 00:31.310 and General Blum , General Pace . And 00:31.320 --> 00:33.487 we were briefed and then shortly after 00:33.487 --> 00:35.376 we got on a plane flew to Shannon 00:35.376 --> 00:37.376 Refuel , that's in Ireland and from 00:37.376 --> 00:40.080 Ireland . Equate , we arrived here 9 10 00:40.080 --> 00:42.247 o'clock . I don't know what time we've 00:42.247 --> 00:44.247 gone through so many time zones and 00:44.247 --> 00:46.469 Tuesday morning and we were only here a 00:46.469 --> 00:48.660 short time . And we got on a military 00:48.660 --> 00:51.420 transport and flew with 100 troops on 00:51.420 --> 00:54.230 up to Baghdad . And when you fly into 00:54.230 --> 00:56.452 Baghdad , the way it works is you're at 00:56.452 --> 00:58.508 30,000 ft and just before you get to 00:58.508 --> 01:00.563 the airport , you dropped right down 01:00.563 --> 01:02.674 and land because you want to minimize 01:02.674 --> 01:04.619 the uh the opportunity that people 01:04.619 --> 01:07.760 would have to shoot at you . We landed 01:07.760 --> 01:10.230 in Baghdad and then we got in the 01:10.230 --> 01:12.452 helicopter and we flew about 200 ft off 01:12.452 --> 01:14.619 the ground over to the green zone . We 01:14.619 --> 01:16.508 had a meeting at the embassy with 01:16.508 --> 01:18.780 Ambassador Khalilzad spent the night at 01:18.790 --> 01:20.734 the embassy next morning . We were 01:20.734 --> 01:22.734 briefed by General Casey , the four 01:22.734 --> 01:24.901 star that runs the whole rodeo in Iraq 01:24.901 --> 01:27.710 And then I'm traveling with Governors 01:27.720 --> 01:30.120 mitt Romney and Matt Governor Matt 01:30.120 --> 01:33.210 blunt from Missouri and we flew up to 01:33.210 --> 01:35.570 balad and on up to Crip , I met with 01:35.580 --> 01:38.530 Montana's red horse . These are the 01:38.540 --> 01:42.110 construction folks for the Air National 01:42.110 --> 01:43.832 Guard and they're just doing a 01:43.832 --> 01:45.721 wonderful job up there , building 01:45.721 --> 01:47.721 housing and building warehouses and 01:47.721 --> 01:50.030 some very tough conditions . It was 116 01:50.030 --> 01:53.500 degrees today . Wow , wow . What 01:53.510 --> 01:55.510 happened ? How are the troops doing 01:55.510 --> 01:57.621 over there ? Well , I got to tell you 01:57.621 --> 01:59.843 the morale is high , not only among the 01:59.843 --> 02:01.843 Montanans , but virtually everybody 02:01.843 --> 02:03.566 I've spoken to and I've had an 02:03.566 --> 02:05.621 opportunity to speak to hundreds and 02:05.621 --> 02:07.954 folks know that they've got a tough job , 02:07.954 --> 02:10.232 they know that they're making progress . 02:10.232 --> 02:12.399 They came here to do a job and they're 02:12.399 --> 02:14.399 prepared to finish it . Why did you 02:14.399 --> 02:16.510 decide to take the opportunity and go 02:16.510 --> 02:18.454 to Iraq ? I know that's an obvious 02:18.454 --> 02:20.490 question , but well , I'm , I'm the 02:20.490 --> 02:22.379 commander in chief of the Montana 02:22.379 --> 02:24.601 National Guard and I've been asking for 02:24.601 --> 02:26.768 14 months to go with the Department of 02:26.768 --> 02:28.990 Defense , gave us a call and said , all 02:28.990 --> 02:31.157 right , you want to go , we're going . 02:31.157 --> 02:33.220 And so I jumped at the chance and I 02:33.220 --> 02:35.590 think that uh , if political leaders 02:35.590 --> 02:38.030 are asking men and women in uniform to 02:38.030 --> 02:41.240 go in harm's way we owe it to them to 02:41.240 --> 02:43.770 go to the front to visit with them to 02:43.770 --> 02:45.826 hear from them personally , ask them 02:45.826 --> 02:47.881 the tough questions . Have them give 02:47.881 --> 02:50.048 you the tough answers . That's the way 02:50.048 --> 02:51.992 our system is built and I was very 02:51.992 --> 02:54.214 proud to be with our troops are men and 02:54.214 --> 02:56.381 women in uniform today and yesterday . 02:56.381 --> 02:58.580 What do you want ? People back here at 02:58.580 --> 03:01.440 home to take away from your trip or to 03:01.710 --> 03:05.220 um , see what you've done ? Well , I 03:05.220 --> 03:07.276 just would like the folks in Montana 03:07.276 --> 03:09.442 know that the men and women in uniform 03:09.442 --> 03:11.220 from Montana are doing us proud 03:11.220 --> 03:13.650 everywhere I go , people talk about a 03:13.650 --> 03:15.650 Montana and they know or a group of 03:15.650 --> 03:18.470 Montana's and , and we've got some of 03:18.470 --> 03:20.660 the most respected people in uniform . 03:20.670 --> 03:22.800 We've got hardworking folks , bright 03:22.810 --> 03:25.088 people , people that give it their all . 03:25.088 --> 03:27.530 And I'm just so proud of not just the 03:27.530 --> 03:29.641 Montana's , but all the men and women 03:29.641 --> 03:31.863 in uniform that are here . Uh , there's 03:31.863 --> 03:34.320 great morale and just one more thing . 03:34.320 --> 03:36.850 You know , every time I get on aircraft , 03:36.850 --> 03:38.961 every time I fly in and out , you get 03:38.961 --> 03:41.017 in the helicopter and you've got the 03:41.017 --> 03:42.794 gun boat and you've got several 03:42.794 --> 03:44.906 helicopters around you , you know , I 03:44.906 --> 03:46.961 always say a little prayer before we 03:46.961 --> 03:49.183 take off for you folks back home . Just 03:49.183 --> 03:51.294 remember the men and women in uniform 03:51.294 --> 03:53.350 wouldn't hurt safer . Does it really 03:53.350 --> 03:55.406 bring the reality of the situation , 03:55.406 --> 03:55.120 you know , back here in Montana , We 03:55.120 --> 03:57.342 watch it from CNN , but now you're kind 03:57.342 --> 03:59.509 of right there on the front lines with 03:59.509 --> 04:02.740 the soldiers . Well , it's , it's a war 04:02.740 --> 04:05.300 zone and the whole time I was in Iraq , 04:05.300 --> 04:08.930 I wore uh , a bulletproof vest 04:08.930 --> 04:10.986 protective cover . And of course the 04:10.986 --> 04:13.208 helmet . All the vehicles that we drive 04:13.208 --> 04:15.800 on the ground have reinforced metal 04:15.800 --> 04:17.856 that you close the door and the door 04:17.856 --> 04:20.380 weighs about £450 . I'm talking about 04:20.390 --> 04:22.557 for example , the door of a suburban . 04:22.557 --> 04:26.420 So this is the real deal . What do 04:26.420 --> 04:28.760 you hope to take away as not just as 04:28.760 --> 04:32.520 Montana's governor but as Montana an 04:32.520 --> 04:35.880 american from your trip to Iraq ? Well , 04:35.890 --> 04:38.310 I think it's important for for not just 04:38.310 --> 04:41.010 myself but everybody to recognize how 04:41.010 --> 04:44.120 important it is to protect the 04:44.120 --> 04:46.360 resources that we're so dependent on 04:46.360 --> 04:49.830 around the world . 40% of all the oil 04:49.840 --> 04:52.062 that we consume around the world . That 04:52.062 --> 04:53.951 closing the strait of Formosa and 04:53.951 --> 04:56.680 that's Saudi Arabia and kuwait Iraq 04:56.680 --> 05:00.430 Iran . And so if there was some 05:00.440 --> 05:03.260 instability and that that route were to 05:03.270 --> 05:06.930 close so we'd have to $300 oil within 05:06.940 --> 05:09.800 just a few days . So it is probably the 05:09.800 --> 05:11.900 most strategic of areas around the 05:11.900 --> 05:14.067 world . And it's important that we get 05:14.067 --> 05:16.500 this right . And I thought I heard 05:16.500 --> 05:18.500 during your previous interview that 05:18.500 --> 05:20.667 you've got a chance to talk about your 05:20.667 --> 05:23.000 coal gasification process . How's that 05:23.000 --> 05:25.820 going over so far ? Well that was 05:25.820 --> 05:27.931 actually a month or so ago . I was in 05:27.931 --> 05:29.876 Washington D . C . And I had I had 05:29.876 --> 05:32.220 dinner with the Kuwaiti ambassador . So 05:32.220 --> 05:34.490 I reached in my pocket and I pulled out 05:34.500 --> 05:37.180 a vial of that synthetic fuel and I 05:37.180 --> 05:39.291 opened the cap and let him smell it . 05:39.291 --> 05:41.236 And he said , no , no , I know all 05:41.236 --> 05:43.402 about that . And we know that when the 05:43.402 --> 05:45.569 price of oil gets about $30 a barrel , 05:45.569 --> 05:47.690 that there's a lot of other potential 05:47.690 --> 05:49.801 synthetic fuels that can compete with 05:49.801 --> 05:51.912 us . And um , there's not much we can 05:51.912 --> 05:53.857 do about the world's consuming oil 05:53.857 --> 05:55.801 faster than we can produce it . Is 05:55.801 --> 05:57.801 there anything else you want to say 05:57.801 --> 05:59.801 about your trip , what you're doing 05:59.801 --> 06:01.912 over there ? I know that you're going 06:01.912 --> 06:04.023 to be going to Pakistan and Kabul and 06:04.023 --> 06:06.134 then Germany next . Anything else you 06:06.134 --> 06:08.079 want to say to the folks back here 06:08.079 --> 06:10.357 while I've got you on the phone ? Well , 06:10.357 --> 06:12.579 that's the dangerous thing . You know , 06:12.579 --> 06:14.746 I flew plum around the world , I don't 06:14.746 --> 06:16.801 know , 10,000 miles of 11 plane to a 06:16.801 --> 06:18.857 helicopter , the helicopter or plane 06:18.857 --> 06:21.023 another helicopter and fly through war 06:21.023 --> 06:23.190 zones . And I finally get up to Tikrit 06:23.190 --> 06:25.246 and I meet with the Montana National 06:25.246 --> 06:27.890 Guard and the very first question I got 06:27.900 --> 06:31.130 from them . The very first question was , 06:31.140 --> 06:34.530 where's jake ? So , you know , I told 06:34.530 --> 06:36.697 him , look , he's uh , he's a two year 06:36.697 --> 06:38.863 old dog . He's smart for two years old 06:38.863 --> 06:40.808 and he knew it was going to be 116 06:40.808 --> 06:42.974 degrees . So he decided to stay home . 06:42.974 --> 06:45.308 Oh , that's great . I love it . Perfect . 06:45.308 --> 06:47.419 Well , that's all I have for you . So 06:47.419 --> 06:49.530 I'll let you love your next interview 06:49.530 --> 06:51.697 and good luck over there . All right . 06:51.697 --> 06:52.620 Thank God bless you .