JAMIE GANGEL:  No.

RUSH:  Well, good.  Then we're both clear.

JAMIE GANGEL:  Do you think you ever cross a line?

RUSH:  Do I think I ever cross a line?  Yeah, probably. Look 15 hours a week, no script, no guests, some phone calls thrown in. Anybody who does that is going to say some things, "Oh, wish I hadn't said that," but you just come back and apologize for it.

JAMIE GANGEL:  But these days, some of Rush's biggest critics are other Republicans.  Someone recently called you kryptonite for the Republican Party, that if Rush Limbaugh defines the Republican Party and politics, moderate Republicans say they will never be able to attract the moderates, the independents, the women to win national election.

RUSH:  Well, look --

JAMIE GANGEL:  They are saying you are ruining the Republican Party.

RUSH: (yawning)

JAMIE GANGEL: Okay, your turn.

RUSH:  Oh, you're through?  The Republican Party nominated the ideal, the perfect Mr. Republican Candidate in 2008, John McCain.  He was the guy that was going to go get the moderates; he was going to get the independents; he was going to walk across the aisle; he could work with the Democrats.  The Republicans got shellacked.  The Republican Party is not a party of liberal, independent moderates.  The Republican Party wins when it is unabashedly conservative.  And it's going to continue to lose. It's going to continue to lose until it realizes that.

JAMIE GANGEL:  You do scare Republican politicians.  I mean, GOP Party Chairman Michael Steele, at his peril, he criticized you, he said you were just an entertainer --

RUSH:  Yeah?

JAMIE GANGEL:  -- and he said you were incendiary and divisive.

RUSH:  That's right.

JAMIE GANGEL:  You went after him.

RUSH:  Yeah.

JAMIE GANGEL:  I've never seen anyone apologize quite so quickly.

RUSH:  Well, you know, you'd have to ask him why he apologized, but the reason I went after him is not because he said those things about me.  It's because he's off message.  Michael Steele should be out there raising money and planning on ways to get people to vote for Republicans.

JAMIE GANGEL:  Should a radio talk show host have that much power?  Is that a good thing?

RUSH:  Well, I dispute that there's that much power.  But I'll accept the premise of your question in order to give you an answer.  Should a talk show host have that kind of power?  I believe in the free market.  And if the free market creates that, with my participation in it, then it is what it is.

JAMIE GANGEL:  I hate to ruin your reputation.

RUSH: (laughing)

JAMIE GANGEL: But off camera you are polite, you are courteous, you have old-fashioned manners.

RUSH:  Absolutely, Jamie.

JAMIE GANGEL:  What happens when that microphone goes on?

RUSH:  I am the same guy. 

RUSH ARCHIVE: Our president, "Barack Hussein Obama! Mmm, Mmm, mmm!"

RUSH:  I'm one of the most fun-loving, outgoing guys, and I'm not an actor.

JAMIE GANGEL:  How much of what you say is entertainment and how much do you believe?

RUSH:  Well, I believe everything.  But there's satire.  One thing I do that you won't find anywhere else in the media, I combine two different elements:  satire, irreverent humor with serious commentary.  I go back and forth within a moment's notice.  I'm not controversial.  Everybody that listens to me agrees with me.

JAMIE GANGEL:  You're not controversial?

RUSH:  No.  I'm not controversial, bombastic, outrageous.  You know what? I think that's just a factor of political correctness.  I do not allow myself to be constrained by people saying, "You can't say that."  So I say nothing that's shocking or surprising; it's just nobody else has the courage to say it anymore because they're afraid that they'll offend somebody.  I don't have those fears.  I'm a communicator.  I'm a broadcaster.

JAMIE GANGEL: No apologies? 

RUSH:  No.  No, of course not.

END TAPED INTERVIEW

JAMIE GANGEL:  And, Matt, that's just the beginning.  Tomorrow, Rush unleashed.  He talks about his personal life, why he says his addiction to painkillers was the best thing that ever happened to him.  And, in his usual blunt style, he's gonna tell us what he really thinks of everyone, from Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin to Glenn Beck, former presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush.  And a special guest dropped by during the interview, someone who sounds an awful lot like former President Bill Clinton.  Take a look.

RUSH: (doing Bill Clinton impression) I hear Bill Clinton's name and I can't help it, I just start channeling the guy, and I can't -- look, do you realize how quick and shafty I am, Jamie?  The Democrat Party's going to be really, really sad when I'm gone, because I'm the glue holding 'em together.  I mean -- I mean I'm wealthy, I sold a lot of books, I tell people I'm rich all the time, how my tax rate is, and I still scored two million bucks from that stimulus plan that was supposed to create jobs.  Ha-ha.  How clever am I?

JAMIE GANGEL:  He is something else, Matt.  He just jumps out of the screen.  Matt?

MATT LAUER:  He's fascinating, there's no question about it.  It was a great interview Jamie, thanks --

JAMIE GANGEL:  Thank you.

MATT LAUER:  -- and we look forward to more of it tomorrow.

MEREDITH VIEIRA:  Terrific interview.  He is so out there.  Says what he thinks.

MATT LAUER:  No question.

END PART ONE TRANSCRIPT