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Obama to Hold News Conference at 2:00 P.M.; Vice President Mostly Absent During Crisis; Debt Ceiling Deadline Approaching; Government Shutdown Battle Continues
Aired October 08, 2013 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington. President Obama getting ready to go before the cameras and the microphones about an hour from now on this, day eight of a partial government shutdown. Earlier, the president called the House speaker, John Boehner, but it wasn't exactly the conversation that Boehner has been seeking. Here is what the speaker said before he spoke to the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Americans expect us to work out our differences. But refusing to go negotiate is an untenable position and, frankly, by refusing to negotiate, Harry Reid and the president are putting our country on a pretty dangerous path. Listen, there has never been a president in our history that did not negotiate over the debt limit. Never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, what did the president say during that phone conversation? Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is standing by over at the White House. So, what is the administration, the White House, saying about the phone call, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting to note, Wolf, that the president's phone call to House Speaker John Boehner came shortly after the remarks from the House Speaker earlier this morning. White House officials saying the president essentially told the speaker that we are where we are right now, that the president is not going to negotiate larger issues like the budget or health care until this threat of a government shutdown and a debt default have been resolved.
And so, that is where things stand right now. Really no progress versus, you know, day seven, date eight is not that much different, Wolf, at this point. But the president is going to be taking questions in the briefing room at the White House in less than an hour from now or at least is scheduled to do so.
And it is important to note that this is basically the president's first press conference of this shutdown. And so, he'll be taking questions and one of those questions will likely be what House Speaker John Boehner said earlier this morning that he just wants to sit down, that he just wants to negotiate, that there has never been a president who hasn't negotiated over a debt ceiling. I imagine that those will be some of the questions that this president faces.
But he's also going to be faced, I think, Wolf, with other questions about the debt ceiling itself. What exactly might happen to this country if we go into default? The administration has not clearly laid that out. The treasury secretary, Jack Lew, has been warning that it is risky and dangerous for the nation to go over into default after October 17th but things have not been laid out specifically as to what might happen.
And there's also the issue, Wolf, of the health care exchanges online. Healthcare.gov, as you know, Wolf, has been experiencing some pretty severe glitches and delays over the last several days of people who have been going to that Web site, trying to sign up for health insurance. I imagine those are some of the questions the president will be facing in about an hour from now.
BLITZER: The president, basically, has a free week, open schedule all of this week because he was originally supposed to be at the -- in Asia for the economic cooperation summit there so nothing was really scheduled until he canceled that entire Asia trip in the past few days.
So, once again, he's going out. He wants to make a statement. But what's different this time is he's actually going to take reporters' questions and I assume there will be a few tough ones out there in the brief -- he's going to do this in the briefing room, right?
ACOSTA: That's right. And, you know, it is important to note that he did do an interview with CNBC last week. He did an interview with the A.P. over the weekend. You remember, Wolf, he went over to the Taylor Sandwich Shop right by the White House on Friday, made that dramatic walk out of the grounds of the White House through the gates. He was sort of taking questions from reporters as he was leaving and coming back in. He took some questions from reporters inside the sandwich shop. But nothing like this. Nothing like a formal, I guess, press conference, if you want to call it that.
Although, we should point out the White House in its guidance to reporters says that the president delivers a statement and takes questions so this may not be a full-blown news conference that goes for 45 minutes to an hour. We're just going to have to wait and see as to what the president allows and what he wants to do during this -- during this event in about an hour from now. But he has not really taken questions from just the press, in general, so it will be interesting to see what comes his way.
BLITZER: I'm sure it'll be lively. It'll be good. And we'll, of course, have live coverage here on CNN. Jim Acosta, don't go too far away.
It's a central question in the budget stalemate. Are there enough votes right now in the House of Representatives to pass legislation to fund the government with no strings attached? The answer is yes and no. A CNN survey shows there are 218 House members who say they would support a bill with no special provisions. That's the so-called clean C.R. or continuing resolution. That's one more than the minimum needed to pass the measure 217. The tally includes all 200 Democrats and 18 Republicans but the Republicans are not willing, at least so far, to force the Speaker John Boehner to bring that kind of continuing resolution to the House floor.
Let's bring in our Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash. She's watching what is going on. So, it's a dilemma right now. Here's the -- I guess, the key question. If these 18 Republicans are willing to go ahead and vote in favor of a clean bill without any strings attached, no Obama care, nothing else, just to get the government back working, why wouldn't they be in favor of a procedural vote that would go around the speaker and let this vote come up?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of reasons. Some of the Republicans who say that they're willing to do this, buck their party, would be willing to do it if the bill was in front of them. It's one thing to vote for something that they believe is right. It's another thing to really actively work to undermine the leadership of the House Republicans and that is John Boehner. And that's effectively what they have to do to work hand in glove with Democrats to defy John Boehner and the House Republicans and, perhaps, for more of them more importantly, the conservative base of the party who would absolutely go nuts, frankly, lots of them, and try to find primary challenges even for some of them who wouldn't traditionally have primary challengers from within. So, that's a big reason.
The other reason is just timing. The so-called discharge petition, which is the mechanism Democrats would have to use in the House to get around this, it takes a long time. It wouldn't happen probably until the end of October which would likely be after -- I guess we hope they work out a deal in another way.
BLITZER: The debt ceiling has to be resolved by October 17 and some people are saying combine everything, get it all resolved by October 17th. Work out some way. But with the president saying he's not going to negotiate on those issues and the speaker saying he won't accept them without negotiations, some concessions on the part of the administration. It looks like a stalemate is at hand right now.
BASH: Yes.
BLITZER: But in the meantime, the Senate is going forward. The majority Democrat -- the Democratic majority in the Senate with legislation to raise unconditionally the debt ceiling for a year, right?
BASH: That's right. We're going to likely see the first procedural vote on that in the Senate as soon as this week. And that's really going to be a key thing to watch because, obviously, Democrats have the majority in the Senate. But as we have seen with so many votes before, they don't have a filibuster-proof majority. They don't have the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
So, the question, at this point, is whether or not enough Republicans will break with their party in the Senate and vote. Say, you know what? I don't want the economies to crumble. I want to make sure that the debt ceiling is raised and vote with the Democrats there. It's unclear where the votes are. It doesn't look like, at this point, the 60 votes are there. But what the bill would be is to extend the debt ceiling, raise it through the next election so that we don't have to go through this until after November 2014.
BLITZER: It seems like we go through this every few months.
BASH: Yes, we do.
BLITZER: It's getting tired.
Right now, Gloria Borger is with us as well, our Chief Political Analyst.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: (INAUDIBLE.)
BLITZER: Gloria, do you see any movement at all, any openings on the part of the speaker or the part of the president of the United States?
BORGER: No. But, you know, they had the phone call and they both came out saying, you know, no negotiation. I think there are lots of members looking for some kind contrivance, some kind of way to get out of this so it doesn't look like it was hatched by the president and it doesn't look like it was hatched by the speaker but rather that it was hatched by members of Congress. There's talk of a super committee. We have been there before, by the way, right?
So, we don't -- you know, at this point, I don't think see any progress. I mean, the thing that is working in terms of getting some kind of deal is that the clock is ticking and that enough members of Congress understand how catastrophic it would be if they did not raise the debt ceiling. So, they have to try and figure out a new definition for the word negotiate. They have to figure out a way to get around it. And, you know, I'm hopeful but I'm not overall optimistic. Let me put it that way.
BLITZER: The president says he's not willing to negotiate. The speaker says you must negotiate.
BORGER: So, let's call it something else.
BLITZER: So, maybe they are willing to talk.
BASH: They just don't want to have a conversation.
BLITZER: A conversation. What's wrong with that?
BASH: Well -- so, let's call it (INAUDIBLE.)
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Have a conversation.
BORGER: But they -- but the question is can they talk through surrogates? And, you know, in effect, that's what a super committee might be is a -- is a bunch of surrogates. So, can you take it out of the hands of the principles in some way, shape, or form and let other people do it? Now, I don't know if that would be acceptable to Democrats, Dana.
BASH: They're already -- the House Republicans are going to vote today on another idea that Gloria is talking about to --
BORGER: And Democrats (INAUDIBLE.)
BASH: -- right, right. To say -- to say, let's put together a group of negotiators. They are not calling it a super committee, because that baggage that failed. Yes.
BORGER: Bad karma.
BASH: Bad karma. And put together a group of negotiators, have them work on issues relating to government funding, issues relating to the debt and deficit. The problem though is still the fundamental difference between the two which is they seem to want to have that group of negotiators work something out before they pass a raising the debt ceiling. Before they open the government.
BLITZER: A lot of people now are paying attention to --
BASH: (INAUDIBLE.)
BLITZER: -- there seems to be a thunder of silence right now as far as the vice president of the United States.
BORGER: (INAUDIBLE) silent you hear it, right?
BLITZER: Joe Biden -- you know, he usually, when there is a crisis --
BORGER: Right, right, right.
BLITZER: -- between the legislative branch and the executive branch --
BORGER: He comes in to save the day.
BLITZER: -- he served in the Senate for decades. He knows all of the players.
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: He helped resolve the last major fiscal cliff crisis --
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: -- and all of that. Where is Joe Biden right now?
BORGER: Well, he's probably over at the White House -- look, I have doing some reporting on this and there was a story about this earlier today in Politico. The point is this. Joe Biden has always been somebody who sort of came in and did the 11th hour deal when it came to the debt ceiling in 2011 and when it came to the fiscal cliff of last year. It is no secret, as Dana knows all too as well, that there are lots of Democrats, most prominent among them Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, who thought that the Democrats got the short end of the stick in some of these deals. So, he is not eager to have Joe Biden back in this.
But I've also -- I've spoken with people close to Joe Biden who say, what is Joe Biden supposed to do? There is no negotiation going on. This is a very different time. This fight is predominantly in the House, by the way, where -- and not in the Senate. And, by the way, Mitch McConnell, with whom Joe Biden has worked in the past, is -- has a tough re-election fight. He is not a leader in trying to get a deal worked out in all this. You're shaking your head because he's --
BASH: Absolutely right.
BORGER: -- nervous about it. What I was told though that might have gotten Harry Reid a little bit upset was that Biden and McConnell at the last principals' meeting, the only principals meeting, last week when the leaders met with the president, Biden and McConnell actually walked out together and had a bit of a conversation together. And I was told that it was nothing meaningful, nothing to talk about. It was sort of hi. How are you? How are you doing kind of conversation. No negotiation took place. So, there are a lot of sort of hard feelings, I would say.
BLITZER: But with -- was Biden in that meeting at the White House? So, when the president met --
BORGER: Yes. Yes, he was.
BASH: Yes, he was.
BLITZER: Because I was told there were only five people in there. But Biden was may -- was the sixth person in the -- in that room?
BASH: Biden was in there.
BORGER: Biden was in the meeting. I'm told also --
BASH: I was told he was.
BORGER: Yes. And I'm also told that Biden is in every meeting at the White House in which they're discussing these fiscal cliff. Do you -- I mean --
BASH: That makes sense to me.
BORGER: And there are hard feelings on matters of (INAUDIBLE.)
BASH: A lot of Democrats -- you walked -- you walk the halls in Congress, and I totally agree with Gloria, and talk to Democrats who are very loyal Democrats who --
BORGER: Right.
BASH: -- love Joe Biden, who will tell you privately they think that they got really gypped in a lot of the deals that we've seen over the past two years which is why we are where we are. And they feel that they are at a disadvantage for that reason. BORGER: And one more point that a Reid person made to me about why this is different this time is that Reid's caucus is totally united this time. He's not worried about his red state Democrats going off to a reservation. He's got a united caucus right now. So, there -- you don't really need somebody to come in and broker. A, there's no brokering to be had and, B, Democrats are in the same place on this.
BLITZER: I'm going to have Jim Acosta, our White House Correspondent, check to see was exactly in that meeting --
BASH: OK.
BLITZER: -- last week with the president. We know Harry Reid was there.
BORGER: OK. Well, here's what I was told.
BLITZER: Mitch McConnell --
BORGER: I was told that they talked informally after the White House meeting, so whether Biden was in for 100 percent.
BLITZERR: Well, it's important. If he -- if the vice president was not in the meeting when the president met with the Democratic and Republican leaders, the four leader of the House and Senate, that's significant if Joe Biden was not in that meeting. But we'll check and find out if he was there.
BASH: That's what we do here.
BLITZER: That's one phone call that Jim Acosta can make like that and we'll get the quick answer.
BLITZER: All right, stand by, guys. Once again, we are standing by for the president of the United States. President Obama will hold a news conference at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, about 45 minutes or so from now. He'll take reporters' questions and won't just go in the briefing room and make a statement as he often does. We'll, of course, have live coverage. Stay with us.
Also, the House speaker, John Boehner, thinks -- says he wants to talk to the president, have a conversation with the president. But one Republican lawmaker says Boehner faces a rebellion, a rebellion, if he compromises. Republican Congressman Paul Brown of Georgia, he's up on Capitol Hill. He's standing by live. We'll discuss with him right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Once again, the president of the United States will have a formal news conference in the White House Briefing Room right at the top of the hour. We'll, of course, have live coverage. He'll being speaking -- making an opening statement on the partial government shutdown, the looming debt ceiling. He's scheduled to make that statement and take reporter's questions at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. There you see everyone getting ready in the Briefing Room for the president. In the meantime, both sides clearly digging in on this, day eight of the partial government shutdown, nine days before the debt ceiling deadline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I want to have a conversation. I'm not drawing any lines in the sand. It's time for us to just sit down and resolve our differences.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: You want to talk about discretionary spending, you want to talk about the farm bill, you want to talk about postal reform, you want to talk about health care. We'll talk, but open the government, extend the debt ceiling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The speaker says he does want to have a conversation with the president. They had a phone conversation today. Apparently not much achieved. One Republican lawmaker says the speaker faces a rebellion if he decides to compromise. Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia is joining us now from Capitol Hill.
Congressman, thanks for coming in.
REP. PAUL BROUN (R), GEORGIA: Glad to be with you, Wolf.
BLITZER: How difficult of a position is the speaker in right now from your perspective?
BROWN: I'm very proud of the speaker. You see the American people have spoken very clearly. They don't want the government shutdown. They do not want America to default upon its debt. But they don't want Obamacare. And that's what this whole issue is all about. Obamacare is already destroying job creation. It's already hurting our economy. It's going to destroy the occupation (ph) relationship. It's going to destroy the quality of health care in America. It's going to destroy budgets, from family budgets, to business budgets, all the way up to the federal budget, and it must stop. And that's what this fight's all about.
BLITZER: But you know, of course, and you're a physician, you know it's the law of the land. It was passed by the House and Senate, signed into law by the president. The Supreme Court approved it saying it was constitutional. The president was reelected by 5 million votes. So it is the law of the land right now, as you well know.
BROUN: Wolf, it's the flaw of the land in actuality because it's hurting our economy, it's hurting the American people. We already see reports all across America where people are losing their jobs. I talked to a businessman who has over 200 employees that are full-time and he's going to release them all and hire people back part-time. We're having people all over this country hurt by Obamacare. It must go. Right now the government is spending too much, taxing too much, regulating too much, borrowing too much. Both parties are guilty. And it must stop. And that's what this fight's all about. Obamacare is the flaw of the land and it must go away.
BLITZER: So what would it -- what would it take for you, congressman, to vote in favor of reopening the federal government, ending the government shutdown?
BROUN: Wolf, I voted over and over again to try to reopen parts of the government and we must reopen the government and I'm all in favor of that. Republicans are all in favor of that. But the thing is, we've got a law on the land, a flaw of the land, Obamacare, that is hurting our economy. It's hurting the American people today and it's hurting the most --
BLITZER: What would it take - so be specific - be specific, what would it take for you to vote in favor of ending the government shutdown?
BROUN: Well, I want to see Obamacare reschedule for the implementation. We need to defund it, we need to delay it, we need to put it on the shelf and stop this implementation because it is destroying our economy today.
BLITZER: But you know the president is not going to - you know the president -- the president's not going to do that, congressman.
BROUN: Well, the American people are hurting. If they demand - if enough American people demand that this thing be put on hold, that we delay the implementation, we defund it for now, that we just put it on hold and reschedule the implementation until we can do something that makes sense. My patient option act is the thing that makes sense because my patient option act literally will lower the health care costs for all Americans.
BLITZER: All right.
BROUN: It will provide access to good, quality health care for everybody in this country and it's going to save Medicare from going broke. That's the kind of policy we must put in place instead of Obamacare.
BLITZER: So, I just want to - I just want to be precise. As far as the government shutdown, you demand at least some concession on Obamacare. What about raising the nation's debt ceiling by October 17th? What would it take for you, congressman, to vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling?
BROUN: Well, nobody wants to see America default. And, in fact, we will not default. It's absolutely critical that we not default. But President Obama just the other day said that raising the debt ceiling was not going to cost a single dime. He said it's not going to grow our deficit by one single dime. How preposterous is that? Our American people are saddled with a debt that's totally unsustainable. Every single man, woman and child in this country right now today has a part of that debt of $53,000 per person.
BLITZER: All right. So - but I just want to be precise.
BROUN: It's unsustainable. It has to quit. BLITZER: What concession would you like to see the president make that would enable you to vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling?
BROUN: I'd like to see us pass my balanced budget amendment, which is the only one that - it's the - it's the best one out there. Family businesses, families themselves have to live within their budget and we must balance our budget. We must balance - pass a balanced budget amendment.
BLITZER: All right. So, but you're not demanding - you're not demanding any concessions on Obamacare in order to raise the debt ceiling, is that what I'm hearing?
BROUN: Well, Obamacare must go. It's destroying America and it's going to continue to -
BLITZER: But as far as raising the debt ceiling, are you linking Obamacare to raising the debt ceiling?
BROUN: Well, we've got to stop the out of control spending, Wolf, and that's the bottom line. And Obamacare just spends too much, taxes too much, regulates too much and borrows too much. And it's just - it's going to be the biggest spending issue of the federal government if we don't put it on hold. And that's what I'm fighting for is to put it on hold -
BLITZER: All right.
BROUN: To delay it, to defund it, so that we can get the American people policy that makes sense for them and my patient option act is that solution.
BLITZER: I just want to be precise. As far as ending the government shutdown, you do want a link to some aspect of Obamacare but you're not necessarily requiring a link to Obamacare to vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling. Is that accurate?
BROUN: Wolf, I want to get the American people the relief that they need from this out of control spending and I'll do everything that I possibly can to do that. And Obamacare is going to destroy everything that we know as a nation. So we've got to focus on doing something to work for the American people. That's what I'm in this process of doing, is working for the hard working Americans. Barack Obama has given his big business buddies an exemption.
BLITZER: All right.
BROUN: We've got to exempt America from Obamacare, and that's what I'm fighting for.
BLITZER: You obviously hate Obamacare. And I was intrigued because I saw a quote -
BROUN: I'm a doctor. Wolf, I'm a medical doctor.
BLITZER: I know you're -- I know you're a physician. I know you're a physician. You were a little bit more extreme on that "National Review" online article. I'm going to read to you the quote you said, and you just tell me if you're still sticking by what you said to the "National Review" online. You said, "America is going to be destroyed by Obamacare, so whatever deal is put together must at least reschedule the implementation of Obamacare. This law is going to destroy America and everything in America, and we need to stop it." Do you still stand by all those pretty extreme words?
BROUN: Well - well, I've already told you, today, Obamacare is going to - is already destroying job creation. It's already hurting our economy. We've just got to put Obamacare on hold. We've got to defund it, delay it and hopefully eventually repeal it and replace it with my patient option act, which is the only thing that really makes sense for the American people. It makes sense for good quality health care. It makes sense economically. It will help all Americans be able to buy insurance and have access to good, high quality health care for all Americans. And that's the kind of policy that we need to put in place, not Obamacare.
BLITZER: All right, I know you hate it, but I just want to be precise, and then I'll let you go. America is going to be destroyed, you say, by Obamacare. America? This, the United States of America is going to be destroyed if this law is fully implemented? Is that what I hear you saying?
BROUN: It's already destroying jobs. It's going to destroy (INAUDIBLE). It's going to destroy everything -
BLITZER: I know you say it's destroying jobs, but you're not saying America, the United States of America, this country of ours, will be destroyed by Obamacare? That's what you're quoted here as saying. I just want to give you a chance to revise and amend if you'd like to.
BROUN: Well, it's going to take us off the edge economically. It's going to destroy our economy. And it's going to push us into a total economic lapse of America. And that's exactly what I mean by it's going to destroy America.
BLITZER: All right. Congressman, thanks very much. You're running for that Republican Senatorial nominate in Georgia, the Saxby Chambliss seat, right?
BROUN: That's correct.
BLITZER: All right. We'll have many opportunities -
BROUN: In fact, that's exactly what I'm -
BLITZER: We'll have many opportunities to discuss -
BROUN: I'm fighting for America and -
BLITZER: We'll have many opportunities to continue this conversation, if you're willing. Thank you so much.
BROUN: Absolutely. Thanks, Wolf. God bless you. BLITZER: Congressman Broun of Georgia, appreciate it very much.
All right, keeping your food safe, despite this partial government shutdown. There's information we need to share with you. We're going to tell you about an investigation into a salmonella outbreak that made hundreds of people sick.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're waiting for President Obama. He's going to be walking into the White House Briefing Room about a half an hour or so from now, right at the top of the hour, not only making a statement on the government shutdown, the need to raise the nation's debt ceiling, but also then answering reporters' questions. A news conference with the president, we'll have live coverage. We're building up to that right now.
In the meantime, we're getting new details right now about a salmonella outbreak that may have sickened hundreds of people in 18 states. The apparent source of the outbreak, Foster Farms, a California poultry producer, says it's working with investigators. The chicken in question was mainly distributed in California, Oregon and Washington State.
