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McConnell Speaks After GOP's Midterm Victory; Obama Press Conference Begins. Eric Cantor Talks Elections Results; Obama Getting Ready to Address the Nation; Obama Gives Speech Following Democrat Election Defeat.

Aired November 05, 2014 - 14:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: There he is, the new Senate majority leader, not officially yet. There will be a lame-duck session of the U.S. session, but in January, he just predicted he'll become the new majority leader in the United States Senate.

The Republicans have at least 52 Senators in the next Senate that he says could have based on what's still happening in Alaska and Louisiana up to 54 Republican Senators.

He also warned very specifically against the president taking unilateral action, executive action to deal with the illegal immigration crisis here in the United States. He says if the president wants a deal with illegal immigration, he should deal with the Congress legislatively. In his words, that would be a big mistake, he would wave a red flag in front of a bull, poking him in the eye of the Republican majority in the House and Senate.

Let's get some immediate reaction. Jay Carney is a CNN contributor, former White House press secretary.

What did you think?

JAY CARNEY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR & FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I thought it was generally positive. I think that Senator McConnell wisely came out with a conciliatory tone and talked about his conversation with the president and their shared view that there were areas where they could cooperate. He made the point several times that we have a long history in this country of divided government. In fact, as often as not, Congress is held or one house of the Congress is held by the party that's not in the White House. And it often can be a recipe for getting things done that people actually want done.

The things he held out are potential areas of agreement, trade. Trade bills that Republicans are interested in seeing passed. There will be Democratic support for, at least enough to get passed and get the president's signature. Corporate tax reform, something President Obama has put forward already in office. Now those are not likely things that will excite many Americans. They're not likely things that Americans went to the polls looking to Congress to get done. But if they are done, they will create positive momentum.

BLITZER: Will the president walk away from his commitment to change the immigration laws in the United States? CARNEY: This is a huge question because of the warning that Senator

McConnell just gave, I think that the White House will have to decide, the president will have to decide, about the imperative. There's a commitment the president made to take action if Congress won't. I think there's an opportunity to explore whether this Congress will. The Senator said that he believes the majority of his members want to act on immigration reform, so maybe there's an opportunity there.

BLITZER: The president is about to speak himself in the East Room of the White House, full-scale formal news conference. You've been there and been in meetings before he goes out there. He'll open with a statement. Four years ago when Democrats lost the House, he used that word "shellacking."

CARNEY: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: The Democrats suffered a "shellacking." I assuming they are finding another word right now.

CARNEY: I think that was his word last time.

(LAUGHTER)

CARNEY: Maybe he'll come up with his own. Might be a good one for last night.

What I think the president will say today is that he heard the message that Americans don't like what they're seeing in Washington. He will take some responsibility for that. I think it would be a mistake, and I don't think he'll make that mistake, to suggest it wasn't about him at all. It was, in part, about him. He's the president. He's the most visible political feature in the country. And when Americans are mad about politics, mad about Washington, the president has to bear some of that responsibility.

I think he, too, will be conciliatory, but he'll also talk about what everyone was sent to Washington to do, which was work for the people and not for the party. And I think we have to see whether Senator McConnell is true to his word. I think it's important to remember that Senator McConnell, when he was minority leader, complaining about the Senate being run by the Democrats, he articulated that his sole goal as leader of the Republicans in the Senate was to defeat President Obama politically. That is not the kind of noble calling for bipartisanship that he now wants to hear from the White House or Democrats.

BLITZER: Let's remind our viewers what the president said four years ago when the Democrats lost the majority in the House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now I'm not recommending for every future president that they take a shellacking like I did last night. (LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: You know, I'm sure there are easier ways to learn these lessons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A lot of us remember when he used the word "shellacking," but you say he's going to come up with some similar word.

(CROSSTALK)

CARNEY: I think he will.

(LAUGHTER)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: There's great piece in the "Wall Street Journal" today -- and maybe, Jay, you can shed light on this. That there are discussions in the White House about telling the president not to characterize it in any way, shape or form, because that will become the headline immediately, the way "shellacking" did.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: And the thumping.

BORGER: And thumping.

TAPPER: To be fair George W. Bush.

BORGER: So there were discusses about not doing it.

(CROSSTALK)

CARNEY: The way this works is that there will be a discussion about, and I'm sure there was already, earlier today, a discussion already about how to describe it in language that won't become the focus.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Hold on.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I looked it up on Webster's and there's an enormous amount of words for "shellacking."

BLITZER: Jake, you've got a special guest that you've invited. Go ahead and introduce him.

TAPPER: That's right.

Joining me now is former House majority leader, Eric Cantor, who lost a bruising Republican primary race earlier this year.

Congressman Cantor joins us now.

Congressman, Republicans have the Senate. Everything from the White House this morning sounds conciliatory. We're expecting to hear from the president any minute. Is there anything he can say that will signal to you and your fellow Republicans that he's genuinely willing to work with Republicans?

ERIC CANTOR, (R), FORMER CONGRESSMAN & FORMER HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Jake, I think that what the public really needs to hear from the president is he is committed to working with Capitol Hill, working with the Republicans, and that he's not going to demonstrate his "my way or the highway" way of operating that's been in the past. I think the big signal to Republicans in Washington is going to be whether this president is going to execute his executive order on the issue of immigration that's been so widely reported.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: If he does that, sir, does that just poison the well for the rest of the two years or can that be something that Republicans don't like, object to, but work with him on other things?

CANTOR: I think that that's the big signal. If he's serious about setting aside this "I've got a phone and a pen" attitude and working with members of Congress, I think that would be a big step forward for the president. And likewise, I think that we've got to see on the Hill, as leader McConnell just said, that there's a lot of undone business, and if you can see Congress, House and Senate, work together to get some of that done rather than to kick the can, that would also be helpful and a signal to the White House.

TAPPER: Are you at all concerned that Republicans, now controlling the House and now controlling the Senate, will overreach at all and take actions that alienate voters, that Republicans need to keep the majorities and win the White House in 2016? Specifically, issues that might have to do with women voters and issues with Latino voters?

CANTOR: Jake, listen, I was there. I know that my former colleagues and as well as the leadership want to get work done for the people of this country. And often there are some things or small groups of people that are able to thwart what it is the overwhelming majority of the conference in the House and caucus in the Senate and leadership wants to get done. I think with the expanded majorities in the House now, that John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, and the leadership team have the tools necessary to try and execute on an agenda that we put in place a while ago, and that is an agenda that speaks to the working middle class of the country. It says we'll help you through our conservative solutions to make it so that we can see a brighter future.

TAPPER: In other words, Speaker Boehner has had difficulty in the past wrangling a majority and that hemmed in his ability to cut deals with President Obama and to do things that you and other House leaders wanted to do. And this expanded majority, the biggest majority since Truman or maybe Coolidge even, that expanded majority gives Speaker Boehner more breathing room to be more moderate and to work with President Obama?

CANTOR: Yeah, I would think that the expanded majority and experience that leadership team has been through over the last several years. I don't think there is a member of leadership or most of the House members who would say shutting down the government, attempting to, or getting near default on the debt or any of those kinds of things are helpful in terms of the Republicans ability to garner the confidence on the country on how to lead. There's no question that people will eye 2016, and whether the Republicans can once again gain a national majority through the electorate college to win the White House, which is obviously where you can really implement the policies and change the direction of the country. There's a recognition of that amongst my former colleagues and leadership and the rest that. hopefully, we'll see a productive relationship between the two houses and the White House.

TAPPER: Were you surprised at all at how strong that red wave was as it crashed across the country from Maine to the West? I know that you were bullish on Republicans chances, but did you see Republicans winning in Maryland and Illinois?

CANTOR: You know, I know I spent time recently in Chicago. And I know that the Rauner campaign was doing a great job at outreach to nontraditional constituencies to win, and the state of that state is in some dire need of assistance, and so I do think that voters responded to that. But nationally, it is quite an anxiety or frustration with the way things are. I do think that when you see this Congress and the Republicans focusing on the goals that they want to achieve, that it should include this sense of decline that the middle class has had and how are we going to address that. How do you address the wage gap? I think there are some great proposals that have been put out there on the part of the House and the Senate that can respond to that, to working families, and how do we go and make it so that tuition doesn't continue to skyrocket, and how do we make it so healthcare is more affordable.

TAPPER: You're referring, when you talk about the Rauner campaign, Governor-Elect Rauner, in Illinois, you referred him to a nontraditional groups. He reached out to African-Americans. Governor Rick Scott also reached out in Florida and Latinos. But there are people in your party in Washington, D.C. Are worried this is just a sugar high. That Republicans have control for the next two years but demographics will be a problem in 2016 when, presumably, Republicans are facing off against probably Hillary Clinton, let's be honest. Are you worried about that? Do Republicans have two years to try to fix that demographic problem and reach out as Scott, in Florida, and Rauner did in Illinois?

CANTOR: Sure I'm worry about it. I think we have a lot to learn from those two examples that you cited. I think most will say that mid terms elections is a much smaller turnout. It tends to be much more homogenous and the diversity of the turnout in the presidential years. I think everyone will recognize that, as well as the party's need to expand its appeal. And that's where I think that trying to get some things done, making sure that the operations of government, from the legislative branch in Congress, are addressed, so that Republicans can once again be seen as the party that can govern. And then how is it that we see the process going forward through the primary and the rest that the party puts forward an agenda and a platform that can appeal to working middle class of this country, that has been, in a way, felt that they have been left out of what's going on in terms of upper mobility. That should be the ultimate focus.

TAPPER: The tone I hear from you, sir, correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be this is an opportunity for Republicans but this is not mandate. Republicans have a chance now to show the American people that they can govern but nobody should overreach. Am I hearing you correctly?

CANTOR: I mean, Leader McConnell talked about Obamacare. President Obama is still in office. He's not going to repeal Obamacare. So, yeah, there will be an attempt. And a lot of members of the Senate never were forced to vote on Obamacare. So maybe the bill is brought up for that purpose. I don't think that many are going to say that they can go in and leverage and try to get a repeal of Obamacare. It's sort of "been there, done that." And, likewise, there are other things that need to take place, but I do think Republicans can do a lot of things, whether it's in the area of energy production, pipeline construction, whether it's in medical device tax repeal of Obamacare, these kinds of things may not be the big items, but certainly can begin to build the confidence that the Republican party can actually govern. I do think those are things that you'll see take place early on.

TAPPER: All right. Former House majority leader, Eric Cantor, Republican of Virginia, always a pleasure talking with you. Thanks for joining us.

CANTOR: Thank you.

TAPPER: Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, good interview. Thanks very much for that.

I want to quickly over go to the White House. Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent, is there in the East Room of the White House, getting ready. The president about to walk in.

Jim, he'll open with a statement and then start answering reporters' questions. This could go on for 45 minutes or an hour or so? What are you hearing?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This could go longer than an hour. That's something we'll have to wait and see. The president does have prepared remarks to make. The Teleprompters are up so we do expect the president to come in and make remarks before taking questions from reporters.

And this is a big moment in the presidency of Barack Obama. The wave that rose up against him in 2012 or in 2010 and took a break in 2012 continued last night and swept a lot of Democrats out of office. And so the key question over the next couple of years is whether we're going to see a period of compromise or combat.

And one of the key questions that you've been talking about is what the president will do with immigration reform. The president's aides said over the last several weeks that he's going to take executive action on immigration before the end of the year. Now a lot of Republicans are saying that's not a good idea. Mitch McConnell said within the last hour that would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull. So I assume the president will be asked that question during the course of this news conference.

There's also key foreign policy question of this nuclear deal with Iran. There's a deadline of that deal of November 24th. Lots of members on the Republican side who would like a say in that debate and probably would like to see the president kick that can down the road. And so a lot of questions for this president.

I think also, ultimately, what is his relationship with Mitch McConnell? The incoming Senate majority leader said he wanted to make Barack Obama a one-term president. Does President Obama want to make Mitch McConnell a two-year Senate majority leader? I think one of the things that might get resolved today is whether the bad blood that exists between these two leaders might be put to rest in the near future. We'll see if that transpires on Friday when congressional leaders come to the White House.

My sense of it, Wolf, in talking to people inside this administration is they feel very weary in terms of dealing with Republicans. They feel like they have given Republicans a chance to come over to their side of the table and compromise. They like to point out John Boehner was given a chance to do immigration reform and it didn't happen. The president feels really sort of like he has no choice. He's told the Latino community over and over again, just wait a little bit longer, your time is coming, we'll do immigration reform, and then it just doesn't happen. So the president is in a box, as Jay Carney was saying. It's a key question for this president.

There are legacy questions to be asked of this president as well. How is the last two years of his administration going to go down? Will it be marked by political combat with the Republicans side of the aisle? This is a president who said that he wanted to change that part of Washington.

But, Wolf, instead of mastering Washington and being on top of Washington, this is a president coming into this news conference today who sort of looks like Washington is on top of him. And it will be interesting to take his pulse and temperature and see where he is mentally and even physically after what was a very bad night last night -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Very bad night indeed. He'll meet for lunch with the bipartisan congressional leadership, the new Republican majority in the Senate and House Friday at the White House. We heard Mitch McConnell say that. The White House told us about that last night. Next week, he gets out of town and he'll go to China and Burma, a major trip to Asia.

Here's the question. A lot of foreign leaders may see this president as being weakened right now as a result of the huge Republican gains and may seek to take advantage, whether friends or foes. I assume they are worried about that at the White House. The president has a strategy to deal with that?

ACOSTA: As you know, Wolf, they tried to knock down these questions before when the president drew that red line in Syria, and then Vladimir Putin made moves in Ukraine, there were a lot of reporters are making that connection, wondering whether foreign leaders were making that connection, saying this president is weak and he wouldn't follow up with what he said with action.

And so, yes, when the president goes to China next week, keep in mind the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin will be in China at the APEX (ph) summit. There's a chance the president will come face to face with Vladimir Putin. They're not planning on a former bilateral meeting but they may meet on the sidelines. It's a question for this president, has his standing been diminished? Will world leaders look at what happened in Washington on Tuesday night and say, this is somebody that's on his way out of office and a lame-duck whose feathers have been plucked?

So I think the president could resolve a lot of those questions today. If he shows a willingness to do compromise, he might find some willing partners on the other side of the aisle.

Wolf, as you know, you have talked to Senator Bob Corker from the Foreign Relations Committee on a number of occasions. This is someone on the other side of the aisle who has expressed a willingness to work with the president on key foreign policy issues.

But, Wolf, keep in mind, the president has a lot on his plate already, before even going into midterm elections. He had ISIS. He had Ebola. The administration today said they want to commit $6.2 million, asking that of Congress, to fight Ebola. He still has to deal with those things, and those problems have not gone away.

And so I think more than anything, Wolf, this is a break for the president. This is an opportunity to pivot away from this turmoil and dysfunction in Washington and perhaps to refresh himself and reset things somewhat. As we know, in the second terms of many administrations, presidents look to foreign policy, not only for legacy reasons, but also to get a break from Washington, wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Get ready to sit down. Jim Acosta, hopefully, you'll get to ask the president of the United States a question at this news conference.

He's about to walk in. We saw the White House chief of staff over there, so once he's in there, president momentarily will be walking in.

Jay Carney is with us, president's former press secretary and now a CNN contributor.

What happens in the minute or two or three before a major news conference like this with the president?

CARNEY: There will have been some prep beforehand where they talk about what the statement will be, and speech writers will have worked on it with the president because this is one that will matter to him, so it was probably edited pretty heavily to make sure it says exactly what he wants it to say. And then they'll be some going over the likely questions. We know what those likely questions are. I know that my former colleagues know and the president knows. And that's going to be, can you still be relevant? Can you compromise? Are you going to sign an executive order on immigration? Are you just a lame- duck? There will be questions that challenge and aim at provoking him to be dismissive of the results of last night.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Does he do a formal rehearsal where staffers say a specific tough question, an irritating question sometimes, and you've had a lot of those.

CARNEY: I think sometimes there is a little of that. There's nothing formal. We never had, in my experience, a formal set piece mock press conference. But there would be -- we would throw out some questions just to give him a sense of what we expected him to hear and what the tone might be so that he was ready for it. He's pretty savvy. He understands and he does follow what's happening. I think he has a good feel.

BLITZER: Jake, do you want to ask him a question.

TAPPER: Yeah.

During the last few years, McConnell and Vice President Biden negotiated a lot of things. Biden being an old Senate hand and having known McConnell for decades, literally. But then Biden was sidelined. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader now, the Senate soon-to-be minority leader, objected to it. He didn't care for it. Biden was sidelined. Do you think, in a new Senate, with Mitch McConnell as majority leader, Biden's role will go back to what it was because he and McConnell could cut deals.

CARNEY: In short, yes. I think that that channel was always an effective one. Both those men have deep respect for traditions of the Senate and the role the Senate plays in getting compromises through. And in our experience, my experience in the White House -- and it was McConnell in that situation where we were trying to deal with Republicans in both houses who tended to come in and work through Joe Biden and with the president to pick up the pieces after the House failed to get something done. Looking at Eric Cantor, I know that he experienced some heart-stopping moments when that leadership simply could not get anything through.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Do you think Biden has an easier time dealing with McConnell than he did with Harry Reid?

CARNEY: Harry Reid is a close ally. But when it comes to reality of now who holds the power, and the Republicans will hold the power, there will be a clarity to it. I think a shared objective, initially, at least in his first six, eight, 10 months, demonstrating they can get something done. I think the vice president will be effective in that. BLITZER: We're told the president is about to walk into the East Room

of the House and begin with his opening statement, a statement that clearly has been carefully crafted, drafted. The president wants to be precise. He'll read the statement, and he has a teleprompter in there, and then he'll open it up to questions and answers. The president would stay in the White House East Room at least 45 minutes, we're guessing, maybe an hour.

Here comes the president of the United States right now. He knows not only people in the United States but around the world are watching.