{"id":785,"date":"2015-05-10T12:23:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-10T16:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=785"},"modified":"2015-05-10T12:23:05","modified_gmt":"2015-05-10T16:23:05","slug":"meet-the-press-51015-fiorina-against-obama-most-of-gop-on-trade-we-dont-know-whats-in-this-deal-devil-in-the-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2015\/05\/10\/meet-the-press-51015-fiorina-against-obama-most-of-gop-on-trade-we-dont-know-whats-in-this-deal-devil-in-the-details\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMEET THE PRESS\u201d 5\/10\/15: FIORINA AGAINST OBAMA & MOST OF GOP ON TRADE: \u2018WE DON\u2019T KNOW WHAT\u2019S IN THIS DEAL,\u2019 \u2018DEVIL IN THE DETAILS\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOP Candidate Carly Fiorina Answers Why She Was Fired from HP; Why Stock Went Up That Day; Her Opposition to Trade Deal When She Was For Free Trade in \u201804<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

MAY 10, 2015 \u2013 This morning\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press with Chuck Todd\u201d featured Sen. Dianne Feinstein<\/strong> (D-CA); Michael Leiter<\/strong>, former director, United States National Counterterrorism Center; Carly Fiorina<\/strong>, former CEO, Hewlett-Packard, and GOP presidential candidate; Jon Ralston<\/strong>, columnist for the Reno-Gazette Journal; a Mother\u2019s Day panel with Cathy Engelbert<\/strong>, CEO, Deloitte, LLP; Kishanna Poteat Brown<\/strong>, teacher, Prince George’s County, Md. Public Schools and Maria Shriver<\/strong>, special anchor for NBC News; and a political panel discussion with Matt Bai<\/strong>, national political columnist for Yahoo! News; Ruth Marcus<\/strong>, columnist for The Washington Post; Kathleen Parker<\/strong>, columnist for The Washington Post; and Michael Steele<\/strong>, former chairman of the Republican National Committee.<\/p>\n

Below are highlights, video clips, and a rush transcript of today\u2019s program. Additional show video is available online at www.MeetThePressNBC.com<\/a>. Join the conversation online with hashtag #MTP.<\/p>\n

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Fiorina on experience: \u201cI know more world leaders on the stage today than anyone running, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n

Let me start with the issue of various qualifications that voters look for in future presidents. \u00a0We asked a number of them in our NBC\/Wall Street Journal<\/em> poll, and the idea of somebody without any political experience at all, any elective office experience, actually made nearly 70% of those we surveyed uncomfortable or have significant reservations about. \u00a0You obviously do not have a background in elected office, you believe that that is something of an asset. \u00a0Voters don’t see it that way. \u00a0What do you say to them?<\/p>\n

CARLY FIORINA:<\/p>\n

Well, I’ve spent a lot of time with voters in a lot of places. \u00a0And I think many, many voters actually now are looking for someone from outside the political class. \u00a0They believe that we need to challenge the status quo of Washington. \u00a0I think I’m certainly not a political neophyte as you point out.<\/p>\n

I’ve run my own campaign, I have donors, I’ve had lots of others win, in addition, I have done a lot of policy work, advised secretaries of Defense, heads of C.I.A. and N.S.A., secretaries of State and the Homeland Security. \u00a0So I’m not a neophyte, but I do come to this run with some qualifications that others don’t have.<\/p>\n

I understand how the economy works. \u00a0I understand how the world works. \u00a0I know more world leaders on the stage today than anyone running, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton. \u00a0I understand how bureaucracies work. \u00a0And that’s important because our government has become a vast, huge, bloated, corrupt bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

I understand technology, which is an important tool. \u00a0And lastly, and equally importantly, I understand the executive decision making, which is making a tough call in a tough time, for which you are prepared to be held accountable. \u00a0Something that at least Hillary Clinton doesn’t have a track record of.<\/p>\n

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Fiorina: \u201cWhat exactly is in this [trade] agreement?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

VIDEO: <\/strong><\/em>http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1dVpHgw<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n

Here’s what you’ve said about free trade in 2004 as CEO. \u00a0You said, “Every job is important because each one represents an American’s livelihood and ability to raise a family. \u00a0Yet spending our time building walls around America will do nothing to help us compete for the millions of new jobs being created.”<\/p>\n

But surprisingly, and I have to say surprisingly, I was shocked that a Silicon Valley CEO is against Congress and most of the Republican Party giving President Obama this authority to negotiate this trade agreement. \u00a0Why are you against this considering you were arguably a free trader in ’04?<\/p>\n

CARLY FIORINA:<\/p>\n

Well, I stand by that statement in ’04. \u00a0I believe every word of it. \u00a0I also believe that the devil is usually in the details. \u00a0And that’s particularly true with this president. \u00a0The truth is, we don’t know what’s in this deal. \u00a0The truth is we know that we have trading partners who have violated agreements in trade deals, China being one of them.<\/p>\n

And so I think it’s important to understand some of the fine print of this deal. \u00a0For example, is China allowed to join this Pacific trading agreement later on in a couple years? \u00a0Yes or no? \u00a0This is being sold as an opportunity for America to strengthen its lead and its partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. \u00a0I certainly agree with that goal.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if the truth is in these details, that China gets to join later, then what exactly are we doing here? \u00a0I think the point is not that free trade is bad. \u00a0Free trade is good for this nation. \u00a0I think the point is, what exactly is in this agreement? \u00a0Because this administration unfortunately has a track record of burying things in fine print, whether it’s the Iran nuclear deal, or ObamaCare, or maybe this agreement, that turn out to be very different from their selling point.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/em><\/p>\n

Fiorina on HP record: <\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u201cI had to make some tough calls during some tough times.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

VIDEO: <\/strong><\/em>http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1H7Imzc<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

CARLY FIORINA:<\/p>\n

We went from lagging behind in every product category to leading in every product category. \u00a0And yes, in fact, we grew jobs here in the U.S. and all over the world. \u00a0You can’t just leave those facts out. \u00a0Because they are as vital to the record to the fact that yes, indeed, I had to make some tough calls during some tough times. \u00a0Tough times that many technology companies didn’t survive at all.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:<\/p>\n

Two facts here, why did HP’s board fire you? \u00a0And why, on the day that they did, the stock went up nearly 7%?<\/p>\n

CARLY FIORINA:<\/p>\n

Well, they did fire me. \u00a0I’ve been very open about that. \u00a0I was fired in a boardroom brawl. \u00a0We had board members who were leaking information out of the boardroom. \u00a0You know, the truth is this: \u00a0it is a leader’s job to challenge the status quo. \u00a0And when you do, you make enemies.<\/p>\n

I understand that well. \u00a0But the track record of the people of Hewlett-Packard and I, over an almost six-year period, is crystal clear. \u00a0The stock has gone down during my tenure, as did every other single technology company. \u00a0And I think what you’ll find, if you follow the stock market at all, is every time there is a change with a company, the stock tends to go up, whether it’s splitting the company, which the current CEO just announced.<\/p>\n

The stock market is not a good arbiter of success over the long term. \u00a0The average holding of stock today is less than 90 days. \u00a0It is more a reflection of current emotion and conventional wisdom and anything else. \u00a0And a CEO cannot run a company that’s based on conventional wisdom or current emotion. \u00a0A CEO’s job is to build sustainable value over the long term for as many employees, as many customers, and as many communities as possible.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Additional clips from today\u2019s program and web-exclusive video:<\/p>\n