Interview With Michael Medved of The Michael Medved Show

SECRETARY RICE: It's a pleasure to be with you.

QUESTION: Well, thank you. It's a difficult circumstances because of the events yesterday in Baghdad. Cynics are saying that the explosion in the Iraqi Parliament building and the destruction of the bridge over the Tigris River show that the surge isn't working and we should admit defeat and basically go home. Your response, Dr. Rice.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, this is a policy, a strategy that is just beginning. General Petraeus has only briefly arrived. Our augmentation of our forces, the reinforcements are not even in place yet. It is a policy and a strategy that we believe is beginning to take steps, small steps forward it's progress in small ways, but this is just the beginning of the strategy to help secure Baghdad. It's also the case that these are -- there are a lot of very evil terrorists who are going to continue to try to make it unsafe for the Iraqi people and it's not surprising that they're going to try at the beginning of this effort to shake our will and to show that it's not working. But I can tell you, I spoke this morning with the Speaker of the Parliament of Iraq and he was strong. They met today anyway, those who could get there met today, because they wanted to demonstrate to the terrorists that they are not going to be cowed by terrorism.

QUESTION: And speaking of terrorism, there have been now front page articles in both the New York Times and in the Wall Street Journal about a terrorist organization -- labeled as such by our government -- Hamas and indicating very disturbingly that Hamas is getting increased levels of aid not just from Europe but from the United States despite our official embargo on aid to that organization and to that government. Is it still the policy of the United States that Hamas is a terrorist organization that we do not want to benefit?

SECRETARY RICE: It is -- the policy of the United States is that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It's the policy of the United States not to fund Hamas. And what we are doing is we are getting resources to the Palestinian people through nongovernmental organizations, through humanitarian organizations. We are supporting the security reform in the Palestinian territories of forces that are loyal to Abu Mazen. That's a very important thing to do because you don't want it to be the circumstance that Hamas's forces are being funded and Abu Mazen's are not. He, Abu Mazen, is the President of the Authority. The forces are supposed to be under him. And so what we're doing is a part of an international effort to help him, but we are not funding Hamas.

QUESTION: There's talk in the Middle East, Madame Secretary, where you've launched very aggressive new diplomatic efforts, there's talk of a prisoner swap involving hundreds of Palestinian terrorists being set free in return for the kidnapped Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. Does the United States support that kind of prisoner exchange?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, our view is that Gilad Shalit ought to be released and released unconditionally and he ought to be released as soon as possible. I don't want to try to get into the details of the efforts of the Israeli Government to release him. I don't want certainly to get into details that I don't know and we're not privy to this. It's certainly not something that we would be participating in.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, one of the big concerns of the American people it would seem the last couple of days has been this whole huge controversy over radio host -- now fired radio host -- Don Imus. You are perhaps the most powerful African American woman in the history of our country. Do you believe that CBS made the proper decision in firing Don Imus for his hateful and unacceptable comment?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I'm not going to comment on what CBS should or shouldn't have done. I'm very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn't belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people. And you do have to remember these are young women. These are the ages of people's young daughters. They're 18 and 19-year-old women. And what were they doing except, showing that they're really fine athletes, playing under extraordinary pressure in which for them was a dream season. And it gets ruined by this disgusting -- and I'll use the word "disgusting," -- comment which doesn't belong in any polite company and certainly doesn't belong on any radio station that I would listen to.

QUESTION: You've been subjected -- we were talking about this before -- to some racist abuse yourself from the left side of the political spectrum. Has anyone ever apologized to you for some of those cartoons or radio comments or anything of that nature?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, you know, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. (Laughter.) And I really don't care because, you know, I'm a mature woman. I know myself. It doesn't bother me in the least. And I think not the bit of it because I actually feel kind of sorry for somebody who feels that that's the way that they're going to have an effect on me because they're not. But this is very different -- these are young college students. You know, I was a college professor and these are in some ways vulnerable people because they are -- they're young. And I just thought that it was an attack on women's sports, first of all, and secondly an attack on very accomplished young black women in a way that was really offensive.

QUESTION: You obviously have your hands full administering the foreign policy of the United States of America. Do you have any comment at all that you want to make on the forthcoming presidential campaign? Are you a little bit surprised to see it beginning so early?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, a little bit. But no, look, I understand American politics very badly. (Laughter.) I've always said I'm much better at understanding international politics than American politics. I just know that I've got a job to do for the rest of this President's term. That's what I'm concentrating on. And the American people always manage to make their selection in a way that is consistent with our democratic values and that's all that matters. I haven't thought much about it myself. I'm thinking more about these days how to get other people to hold elections that are free and fair around the world.

QUESTION: Well, God bless you for that. And by the way, thank you for being such an outstanding interpreter of Brahms. I thought your performance with Yo-Yo Ma was a real peak in the Administration.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you. It was a highlight for me of my life. He's a magnificent artist and a great guy.

QUESTION: Well, thank you, Madame Secretary.