Agents for the Clinton-Gore administration's Justice Department entered the Miami home of relatives of the 6-year-old Cuban refugee and forcibly removed the boy, sending him back to Cuba with his father.
In an interview on the CBS program "60 Minutes," Clinton said:
• That could well have cost the Democratic candidate "lots of votes" in Florida, throwing the victory to Republican George W. Bush.
"And if it did," Clinton said, "I feel very bad about it, because this wasn't anything that anybody dreamed up."
• More votes for Gore may have been lost in West Virginia when the Clinton-Gore administration failed to move swiftly to block imports of cheap steel.
"I don't think they're right about it," he said, "but they did blame us for the closing of a steel mill there."
• Critics were wrong in saying Gore underused him on the campaign trail.
"I don't believe the rest of us should second-guess the leader of the team, including me," he said.
• Even though he disagreed with the Supreme Court's halting of the hand recounts of votes in Florida, Americans should accept the decision, which he suggested was political.
Was he surprised the court took the case?
"No," he said, "not after eight years in Washington, I wasn't. They had the power to do it, and they did it."
• It's "worse than idle speculation" to suggest first lady Hillary Clinton has her cap set on becoming president.
"What I've urged her to do," he said "is, No. 1, solidify her roots and her ties with the people of New York state, have an agenda for New York.
"Have an agenda for America, because every senator is a senator on American issues, too.
"Stay on the forefront of ideas. Keep pushing and getting things done, and, you know, the future will take care of itself."
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