Clinton: ‘I’ll be fully recovered’ for ‘whatever I choose to do’

>>> state has survived four years in office in the most travel-intensive job there is. she survived 1 million mile us in the air, visits to 112 nations. it took a fall in the bathroom to bring her down, but she is back up and has emerged for an exit interview with nbc's andrea mitchell today, during which she said it's tougher these days to pull off the sweeping diplomatic achievements of the old days.

>> reporter: brian, hillary clinton said today that her first challenge taking over was to restore the world's confidence in america's leadership but she did acknowledge that it is tougher in the current world to achieve those big breakthroughs, as some of her predecessors did.

>> i kidded our mutual friend, henry kissinger . think how impossible it would have been for him to sneak off to china in an age of cell phones, twitter, facebook, everything else.

>> what do you think didn't go well? what went wrong?

>> well, benghazi went wrong. that was a terrible example of trying to get the right balance between being in a threatening place or not being there.

>> but in retrospect, shouldn't a cable warning of a security threat from an ambassador in a conflict zone , shouldn't that get the highest possible attention immediately?

>> well, that's what we are hoping to make sure does happen in the future. the security professionals get it right far more than they get it wrong.

>> reporter: she has seen upheavals around the world in egypt, in syria and setbacks with vladimir putin 's russia. when she campaigned against barack obama , she said she was better prepared to handle world crises. there's a phone in the white house and it's ringing.

>> when that phone call rings at 3:00 in the morning, who should -- who is best prepared to answer it in 2016 ?

>> well, that is to be decided by the american people , but one thing i've learned is that the phone rings day and night .

>> reporter: after a fall damaged her left eye, temporarily requiring glasses with a special prism, will health be a factor in decide building to run again?

>> i'm healthy enough and my stamina is great enough and i will be fully recovered to do whatever i choose to do, but i don't have any decisions made e.

>> are you convinced that the original fall that led to the concussion, are you convinced that that fall was caused by dehydration? have your doctors ruled out any vascular thing?

>> it was virus. i had a vicious viral attack that, you know, caused all of the unpleasant things that viruses can cause. and i've certainly gained a great deal of knowledge and sympathy for people who go through that, whether it's on the athletic field or the battlefield or in your bathroom, as it was for me.

>> in 2012 , in december, you told my friend, barbara walters , that you had no intention of running for president.

>> right.

>> in december of 2001 , you told tim russert you had no intention of running for president.

>> and i didn't.

>> so, things change . but do you feel that -- that joe biden , as the vice president, has the right of first refusal, as it were, within the party or is it an open competition if you decide to run?

>> well, american politics is always an open competition but i have no -- you know, i have no position on any of this.

>> reporter: for now. clinton said she can't imagine waking up next week and having nowhere to go. she says maybe i'll go back to sleep for a change. draefrmts mitchell at the state department for us tonight. andrea, thanks.