Video: Palin willing to forgive, not forget (Updated)

Asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer if she was "willing to forgive and forget" CBS late night talk show host David Letterman, Governor Sarah Palin said today that she was always ready to forgive anyone who asks for forgiveness, but:

"It goes beyond, though, David Letterman's crude, sexist, perverted joke about a 14-year-old girl being -- quote/unquote -- knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

The governor said it was a "weak, convenient excuse" for Letterman to claim his joke was intended to be at the expense of her older daughter Bristol, rather than 14-year-old Willow:

"My 14-year-old was there with me at the game. She was the only [daughter] there with me."

Here is the video of that segment of the interview which will air on The Situation Room this afternoon:

Gov. Palin also told Blitzer that she's not ready to say whether she will run for a second term as governor of Alaska in 2010 or contend for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012:

"What I'm trying to get done for Alaska right now is to get that Alaska gas line built. We need those energy sources flowing through North America. That's what my focus is.

Blitzer followed up by asking her if she had made any private decision about her political future, and the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee replied:

"No decision that I'd want to announce today."

In response to critics of her natural gas pipeline project, Gov. Palin said long-term demand for the clean-burning energy source will be on the upswing:

"By probably 2030, we'll see about a 40 percent increase in demand for natural gas. Domestically, we have the supply. The resources are up there in Alaska, and it's time that we build this infrastructure and flow that very valuable resource into hungry markets throughout the U.S."

Calling critics of the proposed pipeline "short sighted," the governor said the project is "right for our nation’s security and for our environment, for our economy":

"It’s a great venue that we have, a vehicle called AGIA, the Alaska Gas Line Inducement Act, and believe me, Exxon, the largest company in the world, and TransCanada, the best pipeline building company in the world, I’m sure they would not have aligned and committed to building this project had they not crunched the numbers and figured out that for their bottom line."

When the Situation Room host asked her for her opinion on President Obama's performance on the job so far, Gov. Palin said she thinks he is "growing government way too quickly":

"He's digging that hole of debt for our country that we're going to pass on to our children and our grandchildren, expecting them to pay off debt for us. It's a selfish thing that we're doing right now if we think that is OK," she said.

Alaska's governor also said that Obama shold show "more passion" in support of Israel:

"I would certainly like our president to stand very, very strong and bold in his statements about our protection of Israel that so many of us believe in."

Blitzer pressed her on the issue, asking if ahe was suggesting that Obama is not pro-Israel enough. Palin responded:

"I'm sure he is pro-Israel. I would have liked to see more passion in the talk he gave regarding our friends in Israel, our strongest ally, making sure they know that we are here for them. We're going to stand by their side; we're going to help them."

Update: CNN video of the full interview is here, and Andrew Malcolm has the full transcript here.

- JP