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[CLINTON ON CNN DEFENDING OBAMA COMMENTS] [USA] FTG OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) ON CNN'S THE SITUATION ROOM DEFENDING COMMENTS BY SENATOR BARACK OBAMA CALLING HER "BUSH-CHENEY LITE" 16:14:29 BEGINNING OF SEGMENT INTRODUCED BY WOLF BLITZER / JOHN KING SEGMENT BLITZER: There's no letting up in the war of words under way between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that began on our debate stage Monday night. Today, Obama is accusing Clinton of embracing a Bush-Cheney lite brand of diplomacy, and now Clinton is firing right back. Let's bring in our chief national correspondent, John King. Tell us a little bit more about what's going on. But you spent time with Senator Clinton today. JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I did. And this is in the middle of this remarkable back-and-forth between the two top candidates in the Democratic race for president. Senator Obama started the latest round this morning. He's campaigning up in New Hampshire, and he pinned what Democrats would consider a most unfriendly label on the Democratic front-runner. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't want a continuation of Bush/Cheney. I don't want Bush-Cheney lite. I want a fundamental change. It's time to turn the page on how we do business and say to the world, we are ready to lead. We are ready to lead by deed and example. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Now, it's safe to assume being compared to the current president and vice president didn't go down too well with Mrs. Clinton. In an interview with CNN, she suggested her rival was abandoning his promise of smear-free campaigning. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is getting kind of silly. You know, I've been called a lot of things in my life, but I've never been called George Bush or Dick Cheney, certainly. You know, you have to ask, whatever has happened to the politics of hope? (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Amid all this sniping, both senators holding firm on the question that started the dustup back Monday night, Senator Obama's statement that he would be quickly to meet as president with the leaders of rogue nations that President Bush has refused to deal with. Leaders like the president of Iran and Venezuela and Cuba. Mrs. Clinton says it's irresponsible to make such a promise up front without first doing some delicate diplomacy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: If we want fundamental change, then we can't be afraid to talk to our enemies. We can't be afraid. I'm not afraid of losing the P.R. war to a dictators. I'm happy to look them in the eye and say what needs to be said. I'm happy to tell them what I think. I'm not going to avoid them. I'm not going to be -- hide behind a bunch of rhetoric. (END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: I have been saying consistently for a number of years now, we have to end the Bush era of ignoring problems, ignoring enemies and adversaries. And I have been absolutely clear that we've got to return to robust and effective diplomacy. But I don't want to see the power and prestige of the United States president put at risk by rushing in to meetings with the likes of Chavez and Castro and Ahmadinejad. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Senator Clinton conceding in that interview, Wolf, that it's getting a little bit more personal a little earlier than she anticipated. She says, though, we're in an intense phase of the Democratic primaries. Her campaign thinking Obama is nervous because he hasn't been able to move the poll numbers by being the candidate of hope, as he likes to put it, by not attacking his rivals. The Obama says, no way. They think Mrs. Clinton represents the past and that voters will embrace his new approach. BLITZER: Because from his camp, you get the word, well, he raised a lot more money and a lot -- a significant -- significantly more money than she did, and he's narrowing the gap in some of the national polls. KING: He is. And they understand, the Obama camp, they cannot back down on this point, because the fundamental question here is not just what he said in the debate. It is the question of, is he experienced enough to be president? If they blink and give into Senator Clinton on this one, they believe in the Obama campaign it will open the door to even more attacks on that. They know on this one, the first big fight between the two at the top, they can't back down. BLITZER: All right, John. Thanks very much. 16:18:06 END OF SEGMENT