BLITZER: And Olympia Snowe is joining us now from Capitol Hill.

Senator Snowe, thanks very much for coming in.

SNOWE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: When you said "When history calls, history calls," explain. What did you mean?

SNOWE: Because these are historic times. It's an historic endeavor in reordering $2.4 trillion in health care expenditures that we provide on an annual basis, and that it's important that we grapple with an issue that's only going to get worse over time.

We know that rising health care costs and the trends that have been predicted, that this really will put our health care system in jeopardy, employer-provided coverage in jeopardy, family coverage in jeopardy. So, if we don't begin to address this issue now, it will grow exponentially worse. So, this is an historic time in which to confront this monumental issue.

BLITZER: But you realize you're not going to get everything want, just as the president is not going to get everything he wants. If this is an historic moment, you're going to have to accept 80 percent or 90 percent of what you want. Is that right?

SNOWE: Well, I think that's true for each and every one of us, both in Congress, as well as the president. He certainly understands that, and I do as well.

We're going to have to reconcile those differences. And, of course, here in the Senate, is to achieve more than 60 votes. I hope we can get broader support than just 60, frankly.

In the past, when we've passed landmark legislation such as Social Security and Medicare, the Civil Rights Act, we got some broad bipartisan support. I would hope that would be the case in this instance as well.

If we take the time, you know, Wolf, to sort through these issues and to figure out what can work, what can't work, it might be helpful to building a broader foundation for the support of this legislation that ultimately I think would create more confidence among the American people that we're, you know, going to get this right.

BLITZER: Is the so-called public option, a government-run health insurance company, in effect, to compete with the private insurance companies, is that a deal-breaker for you?

SNOWE: It's not something that I could support. I have been opposed to a public option.

I think it creates a disproportionate advantage for the government sector. I think it certainly could carve out the private sector. It could be more costly, more bureaucratic. I think we need to do everything we can to enhance innovation.

I could see a fallback mechanism as similar and comparable to what we did in the Part D prescription drug program that was never used, but it was there in the event we could not provide competitive choices to people in any part of the country. And the same would be true in this instance, although we would define affordability and make sure that there were affordable choices available to people in all parts of the country so no one falls through the cracks, and that would happen simultaneously. It wouldn't be that there would be a hiatus or a break in time.

It would happen concurrently. We would measure affordability by examining the bids offered by insurance companies.

BLITZER: Are you with Senator Schumer, Harry Reid, the majority leader, Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee? They are now saying, you know what? They need to go after the health insurance companies by removing the protection, the antitrust protection that they have had since 1945.

SNOWE: Well, I think that there are other ways of addressing the issues that are concerned with the insurance industry. I'm not so sure that I would go that far, but certainly there are many things to argue about with respect to the insurance industry.

Most notably, this week, when they issued a report with inaccurate data, not including many of the tax credits and subsidies that were based in -- that were included in the legislation upon which they would base their report, so they skewed the information concerning the legislation. That's disconcerting and troubling given the fact they certainly stand to benefit with half a trillion dollars' worth of tax credits and subsidies to buy their insurance products.

BLITZER: Do you believe other Republicans, your colleague from Maine, Susan Collins, George Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, other Republicans, when the dust settles, when the final piece of legislation comes forward, might join you in supporting it?

SNOWE: Well, you know, I think each and every member of the Senate will look at the Finance Committee provisions and develop a comfort level, determine what he or she can support, not support. I would suspect we're going to have hundreds of amendments offered on the floor of the Senate. Hopefully, that would improve the legislation.

I certainly will be working with my colleagues, Democratic centrists, my Republican colleagues, to do whatever we can to improve the legislation and modify it so that we can engender the broad support that it truly deserves to address this issue at this moment in time. If we don't address it now, Wolf, frankly we're deferring it for generations, frankly, because we've seen in the last century, we could not attempt to reconcile the differences over 100 years.

And if we do it -- if we postpone this issue now, it's going to adversely affect millions of Americans who are going to find that health insurance is going to become more unaffordable and more out of reach, as it already is. It will just be infinitely worse.

BLITZER: When history calls, as you say, history calls.

SNOWE: Yes, that's right. BLITZER: Senator Snowe, congratulations, also. "GQ" magazine says you're one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington. You must have been happy. Or surprised to hear that?

SNOWE: Yes, surprised.

BLITZER: Surprised, good word.

SNOWE: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

SNOWE: Thank you. Thank you.