WHEN: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16 AT 12:00PM ET
WHERE: "POWER LUNCH"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a FIRST ON CNBC interview with Senator Hillary Clinton live from Las Vegas with CNBC's Bill Griffeth and Sue Herera on CNBC's "Power Lunch." During the interview, Clinton will discuss the economy and her campaign, among other topics.
BILL: WELCOME BACK.FRESH FROM LAST NIGHT'S DEBATES IN LAS VEGAS, WE'RE PLEASED TO WELCOME SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON. WELCOME BACK TO "POWER LUNCH."
SENATOR CLINTON: THANK YOU SO MUCH, BILL. IT'S GREAT TO TALK TO YOU AND SUE.
BILL: SINCE YOU WERE WITH US LAST, THE ECONOMY HAS TAKEN CENTER STAGE. YOU HAVE AN ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE. SENATOR OBAMA HAS A SIMILAR PACKAGE IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT OF DOLLARS. SENATOR EDWARDS HAS TALKED ABOUT STIMULUS AS WELL. ROBERT SAMUELSON IN "NEWSWEEK" MAGAZINE IS NOT IMPRESSED. HE CALLS THIS LOLLIPOP ECONOMICS SAYING THAT IN A $14 TRILLION ECONOMY, $70 BILLION IS, AT MOST, NOTHING MORE THAN POLITICAL SYMBOLISM AND, AT WORST, A SMALL DROP IN THE BUCKET. WHAT DO YOU SAY?
CLINTON: WELL, I THINK THAT WHAT I'M PROPOSING HAS TO BE PART OF A LARGER SET OF BOTH FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICIES.YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE HURTING. THEY ARE LOSING THEIR HOMES. THEY ARE LOSING THEIR JOBS. I'VE MET THEM HERE IN LAS VEGAS AND AROUND THE COUNTRY. AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE MOVE QUICKLY TO TRY TO STEM THE BLEEDING. IT ALSO WILL HELP, I BELIEVE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE BUILD UP A LITTLE MORE CONFIDENCE IN THE ECONOMY AGAIN. WE HAVE BIG PROBLEMS. YOU KNOW THAT. YOU REPORT ON THEM EVERY DAY. BUT I HAVE PROPOSED A WAY TO PUT A MORATORIUM ON HOME FORECLOSURES FOR 90 DAYS TO SEE HOW MANY WE CAN WORK OUT TO PREVENT A CASCADE OF FORECLOSURES WITH ALL THE CONSEQUENCES THAT REPRESENTS. I'D LIKE TO SEE INTEREST RATES AND MORTGAGES FROZEN FOR FIVE YEARS, WHICH I THINK COMPLEMENTS THE MONETARY POLICIES THAT THE FED IS PURSUING. I ALSO WANT TO SEE MORE TRANSPARENCY FROM THE SERVICERS AND BROKERS. AND TO PUT TOGETHER A $30 BILLION FUND THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, GIVE SUPPORT TO COMMUNITIES TO PREVENT WHAT I THINK WILL BE A MUCH WORSENING HOUSING MARKET WITH ALL OF THE CONSEQUENCES THAT REPRESENTS. I WANT TO PUT $650 IN THE HANDS OF PEOPLE WHO NEED HELP PAYING THEIR ENERGY BILLS. MAKE SURE WE'VE GOT A GOOD ROBUST UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION SYSTEM. YOU KNOW, WITH THESE LAYOFFS GOING ON, YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH CITIGROUP THE OTHER DAY. AGAIN, I THINK IT'S CONTAGIOUS. I WANT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE. I WANT, NUMBER ONE TO GET SOME MONEY INTO THE JOBS OF THE FUTURE. THE CLEAN ENERGY JOBS. WE CAN PUT PEOPLE TO WORK HERE IN NEVADA, IN CALIFORNIA, ACROSS THE COUNTRY. ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK THAT IS GOING TO BUILD US A BETTER ENERGY FUTURE AND MOVE US AWAY FROM OUR ADDICTION ON $100 A BARREL OIL. AND I ALSO HAVE IN RESERVE A CONTINGENCY OF $40 BILLION FOR ADDITIONAL TAX REBATES.
NOW I THINK ALL OF US ARE COMING FORWARD ON THIS. I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE ECONOMY. I'VE TALKED ABOUT IT WITH YOU SOME WEEKS AGO. BECAUSE I COULD FEEL THAT WE WERE GOING TO END UP WHERE WE ARE TODAY, SLIDING INTO A RECESSION. THE PRESIDENT GOING HAT AND HAND TO THE SAUDIS, BASICALLY SAYING, PLEASE HELP US OUT AGAIN. WE'VE GOT TO GET FOCUSED ON WHAT WE NEED TO DO. SHORT, MEDIUM AND LONG TERM. AND THAT'S GOING TO REQUIRE NEW LEADERSHIP.