GIULIANI'S 'SURPRISE' OVER MCCAIN COMMENTS

From NBC/NJ’s Matthew E. Berger
HENDERSON, NV. -- On the day of Bernard Kerik’s indictment, Giuliani faced the media and received four questions about Kerik. While the indictment’s timing had been known for days, Friday brought new attacks from Democrats and John McCain, questioning Giuliani’s judgment and leadership because of his association with his former police commissioner, now accused of tax fraud.

But when asked about McCain’s remarks, Giuliani feigned disbelief that his longtime friend -- and someone Giuliani has been careful not to criticize on the campaign trail -- had attacked his leadership.

“I'd be very surprised if John did that,” he said. “John is a very good friend. I probably have about 20 quotes from John since all of this became public ... [describing] me as a hero.”

He went on to say he believed McCain saw him as a hero, and would be surprised if he said anything on the contrary. “John prides himself on being a straight shooter and nothing has changed, and John has made all these comments since these things have come out,” he said. “I really doubt that he's changed his mind about that. I'd be really surprised if he did.”

Giuliani couldn’t have been that surprised, though. His campaign had already responded with a snarky quote from Communications Director Katie Levinson, mocking McCain for his campaign’s poor financial standing. And that was followed up by an e-mail with 12 quotes from McCain praising Giuliani. It seemed unrealistic that no one had told the candidate what McCain had said.

After eating a chicken pita sandwich and spending a long period of time chatting with the restaurant owner’s family, Giuliani seemed relaxed in relaying both his mistake in not vetting Kerik more thoroughly and his view that it was just one mistake in a long record.

“This was a mistake,” he said. “I've made mistakes. This is not the only one I've made. But if you look at the full context of the decisions I've made, and look at the amount of correct decisions, I really doubt there is anyone running for president that has the concrete results that I've had.”

He also said he did not believe the Kerik trial would be a distraction throughout the race. “No, not at all,” he said. “I think that I have a very, very long and complete public record with numerous decisions that I've made. And people evaluate you in the context of all of the decisions that you've made.”

Giuliani was careful not to comment on the trial directly, including whether or not he would be called to testify.

It did not go unnoticed that the retail stop at Crazy Pita, about 15 minutes off the Las Vegas Strip, occurred at 3:15 p.m. Pacific time, or 15 minutes before the start of network evening news on the East Coast. It allowed for Giuliani to not look like he was avoiding the media, but also to not get his reactions on the news all day Friday.