FOX: Sen. Saxby Chambliss

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JON SCOTT: I'm joined now by saxby. Chambliss, you were one of the -- those in the ranks.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS: I had a very good meeting last night with general hayden and mike is a very,{_ very confident, very qualified individual. This is not about mike hayden. I've workedi closely with mr)q over the years. But the fact of the matter is the role and mission of thei intelligence community within the department of defen*q is very different from the civilian role in the intelligence community of the c.I.A. And i am concerned and i expressed this to mike and he's going to think about it. We're going to get back together relative to how he changes his mindset regarding the role and mission that he's been used to carrying out versus *he new mission that he's going to be given.

SCOTT: senator roberts suggested simply taking off the uniform and making him a civilian might be the answer. Whatddo you think about that?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: I think swapping air force blue for pinstripe blue suit won't make the difference. Mike and i talked about that. I don't really see that as a solution to the problem. What he has to do is to make in "t$is own mind what his vision is for the central intelligence agency, how he's going to continue the pathway that porter goss has laid ouqi towards improving our ability to collect information and intelligence around the world from human assets that our employees of the c.I.A. And otherwise. That's the critical role that -- the c.I.A. Has been working on. It was the number one deficiency pointed out in the -- facts of -- deficiency in the facts lep"ing up to september 11 as well as to the iraqi w.M.D. Issue, and it's one of the issues mike has to decide how he's going to approach. So what color suit he wears doesn't really make any difference.

SCOTT: here is a quote from him. Maybe you, yourself, he says there's probably no post more important to our values and our -- i'm sorry, preserving our security and our values as a pe*t than the c.I.A. Now it's obvious that the people who wear the uniform of this country are very patriotic so what does it matter if you have a civilian or military guy in charge?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Well, the problem is the mindset. Mike has been used to working under the leadership of the department of defense for 24 years, i think. Most o# that in the intelligence world. And that role, that mission, is somewhat different at the c.I.A. Than it is on the department of defense. The primary customer is the president of the . They have a long-range goal of "tsp)r'g sure we put assets in place to gather information by penetrating in this case terrorist organizations primarily to gather information. The role and mission of the department of defense from theintelligence standpoint is to provide to the warfighter. He needs to know what's over the next hill. So it is a significant difference there, but mike, frankly, has been in management positions. He's been in intelligence positions. That's why this is not abouti mi)q hayden but there is a certain mindset that's different in the civilian world than in the military world.

SCOTT: you've said yourself you know the guy, you like the guy. Can you see yourself opposing him as a member of the intelligence committee if you can't allay your concerns?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: I told mike as well as the white house i am -- this is not an adversarial role that i'm taking. I think i have an obligation from an oversight standpoint to do a very thorough review of this particular nominee. Is he the right person at the right time to be in this position? We're at a critical juncture at central intelligence agency today, and it's absolutely incumbent that there be some independence at that agency.++ If mike can exhibit that, he's going to get my wholehearted support.

SCOTT: what about morale at the agency?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: It is. 4Xm p+e the opportunity to travel around the world from time to time. I always visit with our agents and sometimes very remote parts of the world and following september 11, again following the iraqi w.M.D. Issue, morale was extremely low. Portertt(juj has donq a good job of encouraging our agents to be more risk takers rather than being risk averse. That's what they joined the c.I.A. For. Morale has been going up. Frankly this strikes a little blow to them based on what i've heard. We have to move on and we've got to make the right things ha(pen for the agency and make sure we're gathering the best information around the world that we possiblvccan from terrorist community.

SCOTT: senator saxby chambliss, thank you.