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Daschle Withdraws From Consideration for HHS Secretary

Aired February 03, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's so important, it encompasses so much of our economy, and we understand that the system that we currently have whereby Americans pay more for health care and get less from it than virtually any industrialized country on the planet underscores that this is bigger than any one group or any individual.

QUESTION: But given the fact that you now have to start all over trying to find someone to lead this effort -- you don't think this is going to --

GIBBS: No, because I think there are obviously many people in this administration that are working on this issue right now. We're looking for a new nominee. But the problem has existed for quite some time, and the work toward a solution to make health care more affordable won't stop or won't pause while we look for that nominee. Major?

QUESTION: Since you brought up the process with Secretary Geithner, Max Baucus put out a statement saying he thinks if allowed to stay, Tom Daschle would have been confirmed. John Kerry put out a statement saying it was a mistake to withdraw his nomination. Why would the White House believe it's a good idea to disappoint democrats who are their natural allies on health care by preemptively taking away from them someone they believe could have been confirmed, as Mr. Geithner was, despite his tax problems, and they believe would have been --

GIBBS: Major, I think I'd address those questions to Senator Daschle, who taking all of my answers into account on these subjects, made a decision to withdraw today, a decision that the president --

QUESTION: The health care reform agenda, not Senator Daschle's. The natural allies of yours appeared to be a, believing he could have been confirmed and disappointed this was done in their view prematurely. What's your explanation to them?

GIBBS: My explanation to them is if you want to know the decision-making process of Senator Daschle, that's the best person to address that question to.

QUESTION: How seriously would the White House consider Howard Dean to be a health and human services secretary?

GIBBS: I've been given many opportunities to play the name game, and how do I spin the wheel and start today. QUESTION: Assuming that Daschle stays in the private sector, will he be able to lobby the administration on health care and will he be in any way involved in health care?

GIBBS: I assume that Senator Daschle's passion for health care isn't diminished by today's announcement. As you know, Senator Daschle's -- has not been and is not a registered federal lobbyist, therefore, based on the rules that the government -- stringent rules that the government sets out, he can't lobby the federal government.

QUESTION: If loopholes and exceptions are built in for various appointees into lobbying in the past, and if key appointees are shown to have had problems in terms of not having paid back taxes, is there a risk that this administration in its ethics practices begins to look like every other that preceded it?

GIBBS: No, I think -- I'll be happy to provide you the names of the people that have already said that this administration has laid forward in executive orders the strongest ethics and accountability rules of any administration in the history of this country.

QUESTION: Robert --

GIBBS: Hold on.

QUESTION: Weren't there exemptions a little --

GIBBS: No. In fact, the very same people that said that applauded the fact that you are going to have a few exemptions to allow people that are uniquely qualified to serve their country. I'll be happy to provide you the quotes from Norm Morenstein and Thomas Mann that both address the fact that we, the bar that we've set is higher than any administration in the country's history has ever set, and their quotes for understanding --

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) But is the opinions on the government watchdog groups on the loopholes and exemptions?

GIBBS: I have read the quotes of government watchdog groups much like you have for many years, and I think those two are -- no, I'm not saying - golly. We should play the "jeopardy" version of this. No, I think I would hazard to guess that your network has shown either or both of those as experts on congressional reform. I'm simply holding them to the very same fair and balanced standard that many in your network have.

QUESTION: You've had a couple of setbacks today. Does this have any impact on the president's broader agenda, starting with the economic stimulus package which you want to have some republicans onboard?

GIBBS: No. In fact, he's worked today on that. That's what his focus is. He's had conversations with republican governors to build support for an economic recovery plan. We're not losing sight of what's important on the president's agenda to get moving forward. The president will make a stop fairly shortly at a local school and talk about the valuable investments that are contained in -- that are contained in the recovery plan that make long-term investments in 21st century classrooms, and ensuring the very best schools for our children, ensuring that those schools are led by the very best teachers and principals that our children can get. All of those are long-term investments that will leave a lasting footprint for long- term economic growth. So the work on this continues. It hasn't stopped. Jonathan?

QUESTION: Were there conversations aside from that of Governor Lynch calling the White House to talk about the appointment, were there conversations after that at all between this White House and --

GIBBS: I don't understand your question.

QUESTION: Were there conversations between this White House and Governor Lynch aside from his first phone call that you mentioned earlier calling to talk about the appointment?

GIBBS: I don't have a list of every time a governor's called the White House. Again, about the --

QUESTION: The seat? That's the only conversation had between this White House and Governor Lynch.

GIBBS: Let me just be clear so there's nothing misunderstood. This White House is not involved with picking who will be the next senator, or who would be the next senator if somebody were to be selected to be the commerce secretary. That is -

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

GIBBS: We weren't involved in picking which party they were.

QUESTION: You said today Governor Lynch first called on the White House to talk about the matter. After that, there was no communication between this White House and Governor Lynch about the seat?

GIBBS: I don't know of any more calls than what I talked about. Again, Jonathan, I want to be clear that the person that -- the sole responsibility, the sole person for selecting the next U.S. senator from the state of New Hampshire is the governor.

QUESTION: Senator Gregg said he wasn't going to take the job. It would change the balance of power.

GIBBS: There may have been conversations between senators and governors from the state of New Hampshire, and I would direct those questions to them.

QUESTION: Robert, in the situation with Daschle, what is the breakdown in the vetting process as it relates to not getting the information from the appointment on tax issues and other issues that are coming up?

GIBBS: April, I appreciate the opportunity. I'm not going to spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror.

QUESTION: But it's an embarrassment to this administration. Do you acknowledge that there is a breakdown in the vetting process?

GIBBS: The president is confident in the process. And is confident in who serves this administration.

QUESTION: Another question on the -- how is the president going to handle Africa and the issues out of Africa, and high terrorism issues, issues about oil, as you have Qaddafi now as the head of the African Union?

GIBBS: I don't have anything specific on Qaddafi. Obviously the president and many on his national security team understand the importance of the continent of Africa, and the role that it plays in our security. I'll leave it at that. David?

QUESTION: Thanks, Robert. Let's take a step back, can I ask you to take a step back. On the campaign trail the president often talked about changing the ways of Washington. If we look at some appointments that have had some bumps, Tom Daschle, he wasn't a lobbyist, but he's made a lot of money giving strategic advice to lobbyists. George Mitchell more or less did the same thing. Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Timothy Geithner, lobbied for eight years for Goldman Sachs and a host of issues. And you have the number two man at the defense department, too and they are all lobbyists. Is it more difficult than you or the president imagined to actually change the ways of Washington, or are you somewhat hindered by relying on some of the same old players in Washington?

GIBBS: I think the president would say to you that he didn't believe that we were going to change the way Washington has worked the past three decades in the first two weeks of this administration. I think that's accurate to believe. I would point you to, again, a set of ethics requirements that exceed any that have come before it. Anybody that walks in and serves in this administration will -- can never walk out of it and lobby this administration. Is changing the way Washington works going to be more than a two-week job? Yes, it is. And thankfully we've got four years to try it.

QUESTION: Will there be other questions of other nominees, or are you perhaps changing your perspective on some of this as you move along?

GIBBS: Again, the president is quite confident in the staff that surrounds him and the staff throughout the executive branch.

QUESTION: Robert, did the -- just to be clear in the history of what just happened, did the vetting team just not know all the details, or did they not appreciate --

GIBBS: I appreciate the opportunity, once again, to answer the question that has been asked here. I'm not going to spend the day or --

QUESTION: This isn't -- GIBBS: I understand.

QUESTION: Is there a way that you can you still figure out a way to give us a little insight as to whether or not the vetting teams did know and just didn't appreciate it?

GIBBS: Again, I'm not going to spend the rest of the day looking in the rear view mirror.

QUESTION: -- you've gone through all of the rigmarole of saying how are you going to vet, and then now there's a problem and you've acknowledged an embarrassment and you don't want to talk about it. This is happening now, it's not a hypothetical situation. It's something that we want to find out about.

GIBBS: I understand. The two names for the nominations have been withdrawn. We're looking for new nominees for each of those positions.

QUESTION: How is the process going to be moving forth, that's what we're asking and a breakdown of it?

QUESTION: If you won't talk about the breakdown, something else this administration has prided itself on is being able to take on a lot at once, you know walk and chew gum at the same time. Is there a sense in the White House that maybe things have moved too quickly, that it's not necessarily a matter of not knowing the facts about the nominees, but not looking for nominees who can fit your new ethics and your new standards, and that maybe the process should be slowed down a little bit?

GIBBS: No. I think the problems that this country faces are many. The work we have to do to address those problems is obviously a lot. But it doesn't slow down. We've talked about it in here. The notion that probably in a very short period of time we'll be working on a recovery plan, which we are currently doing. We'll be working on some manner of financial stability that changes the way the money that had previously -- the ways the money had previously been spent stabilized our financial system, will be spent differently. We'll be working on financial re-regulation. We'll have news soon on executive compensation. I think that that's just on the economic issue. I don't think that what's happened today, or what could happen tomorrow is going to slow down the many challenges that we face.

QUESTION: Can you also describe just quickly, we haven't really gotten anything from you about the president's reaction to Daschle stepping down to these number of bumps in the road. Is he frustrated? How does he feel about it?

GIBBS: I know the president spoke with Senator Daschle. He was in his private study when they talked over the phone. But I have not talked to him since he made that phone call. I don't have the exact time. You had a question on Afghanistan.

QUESTION: There's growing concern among some quarters of the American society about this buildup in Afghanistan. Has this very savvy administration considered taking an electronic poll, some sort of referendum of the American people to see if they support this buildup in Afghanistan?

GIBBS: As I said yesterday, I know four weeks ago there was an announcement by an individual that didn't have the constitutional authority to order troops to a different part of the country, or different part of the world, that he may send 30,000 troops. Yesterday I was asked about a decision to send 15,000. I don't know if that's 15,000 additional troops, 15,000 less. The president is undergoing a comprehensive review of our policy in Afghanistan. The president has met with commanders on the ground, and those in the region dealing with Afghanistan and Iraq.

Those comprehensive reviews were what he believed was important to evaluate the current direction of our policy, and make some corrections as he goes forward under his administration. Obviously some initial decisions on that will need to happen soon. The president certainly isn't going to make those decisions without being in touch with the units that might be involved, or their families, and certainly without the coordination of congress. So before we talk about decisions that the president has made, I think it's important for the -- one, for the president to make those decisions, and two, for those decisions to be announced by the president.

QUESTION: The Bush administration made a terrible mistake, they never went to the American people to ask, do you want a broader war in Iraq or do you want any war in Iraq. Will the Obama administration make the same mistake?

GIBBS: I think it's safe to say that when the president makes a decision relating to -- bless you -- makes a decision related to our force structure in Afghanistan or our force structure in Iraq, or the health of our forces in making either of those decisions, that the president believes it's exceedingly important that he explain those decisions to the American people. Again, yet another reason that I would counsel you to wait until the president has made those decisions before we get off and running.

QUESTION: Thanks. Do you believe that cutting these nominees loose will help restore the president's credibility on changing the culture in Washington, and also, quickly just to follow up on the earlier Daschle questions --

GIBBS: Can I address your first question? I appreciate the question. But the decisions that these nominees made were to withdraw. So I think -- hold on. Hold on. Let me just -- I know people have questions, and they bring in questions, but I hope that the information that I provide you throughout the briefing might change the phraseology or the tensing of some of those questions.

QUESTION: Whether they chose to remove themselves, I'm not trying to imply who began the momentum on the issue.

GIBBS: I don't know how you've gotten such an implication. Go ahead. QUESTION: Do you believe that the decision by them and the acceptance by the administration to remove themselves from consideration will repair the president's credibility on the change message? Or do you believe that there was no credibility problem?

GIBBS: I think the president, as I said earlier, the president understands that changing the way Washington works is not a one or two or even a 15-day project that it's something that encompasses work that he does and has to do each and every day as the president of the United States. The president has set the highest ethical standards for this administration. And has spoken often of an ethic of responsibility that he expects all of us to meet. That work -- he expects nothing less from anybody that would serve in this administration.

QUESTION: The president as was referred to earlier met with congressional leaders last night, giving interviews with the anchors today. Is he worried about losing control of the message on this? And is he concerned about the status and the posture of the legislation right now?

GIBBS: No, I think the president believes that the efforts last week have passed this through the house, was an important first step. The president meets with members of congress virtually every day, or talks to them on the phone. And we're happy to speak with a vibrant working free press about the issues that surround an economic recovery plan. I think the president certainly is -- works hard every day to make sure that this administration and that congress are working toward meeting the deadline the president has set, to get action on his desk, so that we can get help and relief to the American people.

QUESTION: So the president would be satisfied if something along the lines of the house bill went --

GIBBS: Well, I think the basis for -- and the fundamentals in the house bill meet many of the tests that the president laid out. And I enumerated them yesterday. Do you have a proposal that if he signed would create more than 3 million jobs and put people back to work? The president believes that's the case. Do we have a proposal that does so in a way that's accountable and more transparent than any piece of legislation of that size, or of even a smaller size? And he believes that the fact that we're going to put individual projects on a website meets that test.

The legislation, does the legislation meet the test of putting money into the pockets of middle class and -- middle class families that have watched their incomes dwindle over the past few years? Yes, he believes it meets that test. Are we going to make the critical investments that will help our long-term economic growth? He does believe that it meets that test as well.

QUESTION: Real quick question. (INAUDIBLE) with the replacement for Mr. Daschle at HHS, would that person, whoever it is, retain the health policy czar?

GIBBS: I don't know the answer to that at the moment. Once we have that person --

QUESTION: How about the other nominees that have already been announced for health positions, are they going to still --

GIBBS: There's no changes in that.

QUESTION: Has the president made a decision yet on what position to take regarding the buy American legislation?

GIBBS: No, the administration's review of those provisions continues. And I'll let you know when we have more on that.

QUESTION: Did he notice the protests from Europe this morning about that?

GIBBS: Say it again.

QUESTION: Did you notice the growing anger from Europe --

GIBBS: I did not ask him if he noticed developments there. Thank you, guys.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Ok, if you're just tuning in, the big story of the day, Tom Daschle withdrawing his nomination to be health and human services secretary. Obviously the majority of the reporters asking Robert Gibbs about the vetting process, asking about what did the president know or not know. Also wanting to know if there will be any changes made -- let's go straight to Capitol Hill. Go ahead, talk to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- looking for a new nominee for secretary of health and human services. Yes?

QUESTION: Do you have any impressions about Senator Daschle? Did he do the right thing? Should he have withdrawn?

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN, (R) NEVADA: I've made some comments already and I don't mind adding to those. I think there were some serious problems with Senator Daschle, with his tax problems. But also the fact that President Obama has said that he wants to stop the revolving door. That he doesn't want lobbyists as part of his administration. I don't know how you get paid $2 million by a lobbying firm and not call yourself a lobbyist. That just seems disingenuous to me and I don't think passes the smell test. So I personally think that Senator Daschle was going to face some tough questions. And to stop an embarrassment from happening for this president, I think he saved the president from being embarrassed next week in a public hearing.

QUESTION: Did you get a chance to talk to Senator Daschle last night? Was that meeting amicable? Did you get the sense that he would be withdrawing his name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't really have any more to say.

QUESTION: Do these withdrawals of these nominations affect the ability of the president to seek solutions to move his policies forward?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: You all want to talk about nominations, we think the biggest issue of the week is not who's going to staff the administration, but what we're going to do for the country's economy. And as we've said repeatedly, we need to fix housing first, and then put more money in the hands of American taxpayers. And the amendments that we're going to be offering, which deal with the real problem, not who's going to be the president's staff, are what we hope to focus on this week.

QUESTION: On the support for housing and the amendments you're talking about, do you have a sense that there's democratic support for that, some democrats have said well there's going to be housing help and mortgage help with the T.A.R.P. anyway. It was going to be there, why do it now, we can make room for other things in the stimulus? What are you hearing?

MCCONNELL: It's Senator Ensign's proposal. I'll just say before the amendments are offered, I can't tell you how they're going to come out. But we're going to offer constructive alternatives. Senator McCain has a proposal that I think will attract very many republicans. Senator Ensign just described his. Senator DeMint has one. We will have a number of different republican proposals that we think would make a much better package.

And be targeted at the problem than squandering money on things, you know, like fixing up the mall, which has now been removed, or spending money modernizing or sprucing up the commerce department. And Senator Coburn has an amendment right now that will point out whether or not it's appropriate to be giving tax breaks to Hollywood movie producers in this particular environment. So I think there's a lot of work to be done on this bill. We're going to have lots of amendments and lots of votes. I can't tell you in advance who's going to be where.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

QUESTION: What signal did you send in blocking the $25 billion that democrats were trying to add to the bill?

MCCONNELL: It just expanded the size of it. I think most of my members feel that you can get the job done with a lot less than a $1 trillion spending package. And so what we are hoping to do is to pare it down and target it right at the problem. Rather than have it keep ballooning upward and upward and upward. Someone said if you add in the interest we'd have to pay on this debt, it's really a $1.3 trillion package. Bear in mind we all know we're likely to get additional requests for money related to the financial system.

All kinds of hints are being heard that we're going to get yet another request. We haven't passed this year's omnibus appropriation yet. We need to sober up here and take a look at what we're doing. Everybody agrees that there ought to be a stimulus package. The question is, how big, and what do we spend it on. The house bill is an embarrassment. The senate bill on the floor is not markedly better. Our goal will be to pare it down and to target it right at the problem.

QUESTION: Will republican tax amendments be offset so that if adopted, they wouldn't also make the package bigger?

MCCONNELL: I'm not going to get into the composition of each amendment, but I've given you the strategy for the amendments, and it will play out in the course of the week.

PHILLIPS: Ok. What happened here was the debate was going on, on the senate floor there with regard to the stimulus package. You heard Senator Mitch McConnell saying we're still trying to figure out how big this should be and what we should spend the money on. It's one of our top stories that we have been talking about today and what it means for you. What kind of money you're going to get, how it's going to affect your home, your job, your pocketbook.

Well within all of that, in monitoring that debate we brought you the news, it happened just about an hour and 20 minutes ago. Tom Daschle coming forward and withdrawing his nomination to be health and human services secretary. The controversy over not -- or the tax debacle rather involving his driver and his car. And that's what we've been listening to at the White House briefing. Robert Gibbs taking questions from reporters about the vetting process, about the third person now within the administration to have issues with regard to taxes. The second person now stepping down due to those issues.

All of our best political team on television, of course, talking to us on every angle of this. What it means for the Obama administration, what it means for a new Washington. What it means for cleaning up all the ethical issues as politics carry on in Washington in ways that, well, America's hoping Obama would put a stop to. No doubt a perception problem for the Obama administration. Tough day on day 15 of the administration and a big step back. So Tom Daschle once considered a cabinet shoo-in, he's dropped out. Now what? We're going to talk about that.

And who will the president lean on for his health care plan. And also there is a stimulus believe it or not. In fact, there are two, and what's in the big recovery plan for you. We're going to get into that. Hello everyone I'm Kyra Phillips live here at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. We've got Ed Henry covering this for us, from the White House, of course. He was right there in the briefing. Candy Crowley in Washington with us as well. Tackling the news that has been developing today.

Ed, let's go ahead and start with you. I love it. You asked the questions we all wanted to know, what's going on with the vetting process? Is it the vetting process that failed? Or is it Tom Daschle and Barack Obama maybe not coming to the right decision here when the bar has been raised so high to clean up Washington and have players in this administration that are going to operate differently?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you'll notice when I asked Robert Gibbs the question of what happened to that vaunted vetting process and are they going to make any changes to it now because of these various stumbles, he really did not answer that question. And he kept coming back to a refrain throughout this briefing about I don't want to spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror. Not a shock. Any administration in a situation like this, the last thing they want to do is pour more gasoline on the fire.

As we said when this first broke an hour and a half or so ago, what they want to do now is try and turn the page. They're insisting that Tom Daschle was not pushed, that he made this decision on his own, and they're also trying to say that there's some differences from Tim Geithner. When I asked that question of Robert Gibbs of why, if the president is talking about a new era of responsibility, how then do you explain Tim Geithner not having paid his taxes but still getting in as treasury secretary. Robert Gibbs fell back on the notion that there was a process that he went through in the senate. We followed up obviously with a question about whether it was a principle or process at stake here.

This is what this president is facing. When he is trying to take on these challenges, these vows to shake up Washington, change the way business is done, every time he runs into a stumble like this, the inevitable question is, can he really change it, or is Washington changing some of his plans. We've seen various lobbyists installed into various senior posts right now in this administration. They're getting waivers around the executive order that the president signed on his first full day. The bottom line is that the administration is trying to insist they're trying to change Washington, and they're trying as quickly as possible to turn the page on this Daschle debacle. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, I know you know Tom Daschle pretty well. How do you think he came to this decision?

CROWLEY: What's interesting is that the former Senator Daschle who, of course, was the democratic leader on the Senate side, does have a history of these 11th-hour decisions. I think one of the things we're hearing on Capitol Hill today, whoa, we didn't see this coming. But yet when Tom Daschle was trying to decide in 2003 whether he was going to run for president, literally up until the 11th hour, I think his hometown newspaper did an article, it's a go, Daschle's on his way. He'd been talking to fund-raisers. He talked to officials at the Democratic National Committee. Then called everybody the next day and said, you know what, I'm not going to do this.

So, he is a gut-check politician. He is someone who even up until that 11th hour is still thinking about it. He woke up this morning, "New York Times" editorial saying, you know what, this isn't going to work. He is a smart politician. He's been around for awhile. I've asked a couple of people around him, listen, was he pushed. They have no knowledge that he was pushed. But one of them said something to me really interesting, sometimes events push you. And if there's anyone who can read events, anyone who can read handwriting, it is Tom Daschle.

And what they knew and what another source said was, listen, this was reaching critical mass for the Obama Administration. There'd been these other sort of problems with vetting, and people - Geithner being one of them, Bill Richardson being another. And that Tom Daschle's problems came along at a time when Daschle felt, and certainly those in the administration felt, that there really wasn't time to have this kind of headline-grabbing distraction over the Health and Human Services secretary when they're trying to get the stimulus bill through Congress. So this may be an events - pushed event. And certainly is in keeping with Tom Daschle's reputation as someone who contemplates these things up to the 11th hour, and may explain why people are so surprised that, in fact, he would have been the one to pull this trigger.

PHILLIPS: And John King, you mentioned the interesting point, that it was Tom Daschle that used to drive the Pontiac. So is this move - and of course, all this is surrounded around his driver, his car, his taxes - is this a point that the Obama Administration is trying to make that, look, the old days need to come back. The Pontiacs need to come back, the Porsches need to go. Obviously playing on words there with the fees, I'm talking about his driver. But is this just one move toward it's time to go back to the way things were and that was maybe a more humble time and not the way politics has been created up to this point?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is a welcome to Washington moment for the new administration. He is beginning to have his first big policy challenge. That is Republicans and even some Democrats saying, Mr. President, we want to give you a big stimulus package, but we don't like the way you're going about it at beginning. That's OK. All presidents have to compromise. But that's one example where the President is getting about very urgent work and it's not easy. He's going to have to use all of his political capital. So you do not want to use it on Tom Daschle or other personnel controversies when you have huge policy challenges.

The briefing was quite interesting, if you're listening. Ed Henry and the others asking those tough questions. You know, Robert Gibbs is in a very tough job. I've been in that briefing room for a number of administrations and he handles himself with good humor and great poise for someone who is so new at that job. But he got talked himself into a bit of a box in saying in both earlier this morning when the President's nominee for chief financial officer withdrew and now with Tom Daschle, the former senator withdrawing, Robert Gibbs said that was their choice. That they withdrew because they came to the conclusion that staying on would perhaps violate the higher standard of the Obama Administration. Well, if you keep connecting the dots and go out a little bit further, Kyra, it seems to imply had they decided to stay in, the President would have stood by them for their confirmation even as they violated that higher standard.

So it's very tough when you set such a high bar, as Barack Obama did, and then you have the reality of trying to find qualified, good people to fill those jobs. And in this case, they want to get this over with as soon as possible.

John, stay with me. Dems hitting the floor there, talking about the stimulus debate. Let's listen in.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: A series of amendments coming up today, tomorrow. We're moving forward to completing this legislation.

It's very difficult when every day the American people awaken to find out some more bad news. Today it was Macy's laying off thousands of people. Tomorrow we don't know what it will be. We do know that we have to act quickly, and act responsibly. I think the way we're moving forward on this legislation is the way we should move forward on legislation - open debate, limited time on each amendment - so we can move through more amendments. At the end of the day we have to have a package that is responsive to the needs of the American people - jobs, jobs, economic recovery. That's what this legislation's all about. If we work together, we can get this done.

Remember, the jobs we create, the jobs that are lost are not republican jobs or democratic jobs, they're jobs of the American people. This bill is for the American people. And it's to give the American people the hope that a better day is ahead. That's what President Obama's talked about. We're all willing to work together for the cause, the cause of the American people.

Question?

QUESTION: President Obama said - or asked that you - some of the extraneous spending be removed from the bill that's non-stimulative. Will you tell us, will extraneous measures be removed from the bill?

REID: First of all, President Obama did not say anything of the kind. We had a very good discussion. It took quite awhile. We talked about the bill, the things we need to do to move the bill forward.

There are efforts being made at this time on a bipartisan basis to take certain things out of the bill. Nelson and Collins are the moving parties on that. They expect to have their amendment prepared by this afternoon. Maybe they can even offer it sometime this evening. And the President, the democratic leaders, and republican leaders certainly have every intention of moving forward and getting everything out of the bill that causes heartburn to a significant number of Senators.

QUESTION: Senator, is there any significant democratic support that you've seen for the Republicans' idea of this four percent mortgage rates housing (OFF-MIKE)?

REID: We had a discussion. Chairman Dodd spoke a little bit about this. We're willing to take a look at their amendment. Right now we're told that could cost from $300 million to $1 trillion. So we're going to take a close look at it, see what the cost is and see what the effectiveness of it is.

QUESTION: What is your understanding of why Tom Daschle withdrew when things seemed to be on track for confirmation?

REID: I had a conversation with Senator Daschle this morning, and he indicated that he thought there was too much attention given to this nomination. He felt there was a lot of diversion from the facts. The facts are that Senator Daschle served here for many years. He was a democratic leader for 10 years. He served on the finance committee even longer than that. He was the face of the - in the Senate, at least - of the Clinton healthcare plan. He's written a book on healthcare. He is a person who is really ideally suited to be the secretary of HHS. But there were some things that came up and, as everyone knows, Senator Daschle's like a brother to me and he made the decision personally to withdraw. I support his decision.

QUESTION: For the reasons you just mentioned, he was uniquely qualified to lead the healthcare overhaul. What does this mean for the possibility of Congress being able to do some sort of healthcare reform this year?

REID: Well we're going to do healthcare reform. This is certainly a bipartisan issue. We have 50 million people with no health insurance and we moved a step forward on healthcare for the American people when we passed SCHIP last week. There's going to be a signing ceremony in the White House tomorrow on SCHIP and it's going to be a happy day for America.

I'm terribly disappointed that Senator Daschle is not moving forward, but that doesn't take away from his ability that he had and the great leader he was for us in the Senate.

QUESTION: Did you urge him to stay and fight? You said you thought he could be confirmed.

REID: I've talked to Senator Daschle virtually every day for the last several weeks. And I support Senator Daschle. Any decision he made in this regard. I'm not in a position to make personal decisions for him.

QUESTION: Do you have any idea on suggestions on who should be in this position?

REID: No, I don't.

Yes?

QUESTION: Is there any combined effect of these withdrawals on the President's ability to get policies moved forward?

REID: I think if you go back and look at what's happened in the many administrations, President Obama has done extremely well. He filled the Commerce post today. That should move forward very quickly, which leaves only one cabinet spot open. We're going to move forward on a number of other subcabinet positions in the next few days. Obama's record is really terrific in getting his people moving forward. And of course, I know that they're working as we speak to have a name brought forward for HHS. But I think, also recognizing President Obama and how he acts, he's not going to rush into anything. He's going to be very deliberate in what he does.

QUESTION: Could you give us a sense, tomorrow - you have your retreat and I know that you'll be close by, but you plan to vote into the night? REID: Tomorrow is going to be a full legislative day. We're going to have a great retreat at the Newseum. But during the time we're there, we have shift work going on here. There will be two Democrats covering the floor at all times. We will come in tomorrow morning about 10:30. We will return from our retreat about 3:00. We hope to have a number of amendments to vote on as soon as we get back. And we hope to vote into the night tonight and into the night tomorrow night.

(OFF-MIKE)

REID: There are efforts being made to take another look at that. We'll have to see. OK.

OK, I think we've worn them out, Jim.

PHILLIPS: The bottom line: wore them out, Jim. They're probably wearing each other out there on the floor as they continue the debate over the stimulus package. We heard from Republicans saying they're still trying to figure out how big it should be and what the money should be spent on. And then we now obviously just heard from the Dems there. Senator Harry Reid saying every day Americans are waking up to more bad news, more layoffs, and they just want to concentrate on jobs, jobs, jobs. They are trying to move the bill forward. And as he put it very delicately there, he's trying to get everything out of the bill that gets rid of all the heartburn that is causing both Democrats and Republicans. So we're following that.

Also, the President has set aside some time for Anderson Cooper. They are also talking today. And obviously there's a lot to talk about. You can see the interview tonight on "AC 360." That's at 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

So you do have a Plan B for your job, right? Well, if you don't, no fear, because we're going to show you what you need to do just in case that dreaded pink slip does come your way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Over in the Senate they're trying to craft an economic cure-all that's not too big, not too little, with just the right mix of tax cuts and government spending. Senators of both parties hope to streamline a package that tips the scales at $885 billion - tens of billions more than the version that cleared the House without a single Republican vote. And Democrats want to increase spending on infrastructure, public works projects that add jobs, while Republicans want to stimulate home buying and borrowing.

Well, regardless of whose theory you support, something's got to happen. We report a lot of the facts and figures, but this recession is personal. So how do you come up with a Plan B in case your company downsizes? Well, career coach and XM Sirius radio host Maggie Mistal has some answers for us.

And Maggie, what's so ironic, I was on a trip with friends over the past week and we were talking about, what would our Plan B be if we did lose our jobs? I mean, we really have to start thinking about that, and thinking about our homes and saving money and we've never really had those discussions before. So I want to get right to some ideas that you had about a Plan B. And you're saying you have to start off by asking yourself, what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail at something else?

MAGGIE MISTAL, CAREER COACH: Absolutely, Kyra. I love to ask people that question, because right now, yes, we are in a time of turmoil and people are afraid to lose their jobs and that's what is making them think of Plan B. But what I often fid is that If you have opportunities, if you're in a stable job now or at least somewhat stable, this is your chance to really reflect on where would you love to go? What would be ideal right now? What kind of job would you do, or career would you do if you knew you couldn't fail and you could really do anything?

PHILLIPS: All right, so you brought this site to my attention, thecareerproject.org. So I got logged up on this here and on the left side it has all these profile categories - accounting, advertising, arts and entertainment, business, design, education. So just because this is one of my fantasies, I flipped onto aviation, all right? And it talks about the average income for someone in the aviation field and then it's got - you can actually click onto all these different types of jobs, right? It gives you a variety of jobs that are out there in that field.

MISTAL: Exactly, Kyra. When you think about your ideal job, you really do need to start to tie a job description to that and understand the research behind it. And that's why I love sites like thecareerproject.org, because what it has is a bunch of informational interviews typed out online that you can access for free in all types of different areas.

And it's so interesting that you like aviation as a fantasy career, because what it does is it takes the fantasy and makes it into a reality. Which, for my clients, that's what they're are looking for help with. Is how to make this a day job, not a just a dream that they have in the afternoons when they're bored with what they're doing.

PHILLIPS: Sure. And this is what I did, even though this is probably is the dream job and the fantasy job, but hey, for others it wouldn't be. I clicked onto fighter pilot. And then what comes up is they actually have interviewed a fighter pilot and it gives a description of the day from this time, from each - like from 8:00 in the morning to in the afternoon - actually, this is not coming up, unfortunately.

MISTAL: Absolutely, Kyra. It's the details.

PHILLIPS: It explains to you the details you can find out from these jobs.

MISTAL: Right. Well, think of it, if you have a fantasy career or an ideal job that you'd like to have, you need to understand what that's like on a daily basis. Sometimes they glamorize positions and think that it'll be something that it's not. But what you want to do, whether it's your career project or own informational interviews, is really talk to the people in the jobs and understand what the pluses and minuses of this job, what do you love about it, what's challenging? And what advice do you have for someone to get into this field at this time? Because people in the job, just like they're listed on "Career Project," are the ones who can really tell you how to really create a specific strategy for different careers.

PHILLIPS: OK, and real quickly, that second website, I brought this up, it's taprootfoundation.org. And this was an interesting tip that you had. It's a nonprofit - it's nonprofit jobs that you can get involved with, right? Or is it all - and you do it all for pro bono just to get experience, so you can go to an employer and say I did this for free. I learned how to do this specific job. Will you hire me now?

MISTAL: Exactly. Tap Root Foundation is a great website, Kyra, for people who are looking to gain experience in the profit real to test that out. Or if they want it demonstrate their skills and show that they are flexible. If they've been in technology, but now they want to show that they can move their marketing or HR or finance skills elsewhere, Tap Root matches up people with skills, with nonprofits who need certain projects done. And they do all the matching for you. All you need to really do is fill out a skills profile on their site. And you'll also be doing good while you're moving your career forward.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's amazing. And you can type in a city, find out what jobs are available, where you can get that experience and you're off and running. Great tips.

And of course, there's maggiemistal.com. You have wonderful insight on your website as well. It's always great to have you to give us ideas in this tough time. Thanks, Maggie.

MISTAL: Thanks, Kyra. Great to see you.

PHILLIPS: All right, likewise.

Well, a Seattle architect has found a pretty creative way to work for peanuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCY, CARTOON CHARACTER, PEANUTS: I must ask that you pay in advance. Five cents, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Good grief. Lucy's five cents psychiatrist stand is the inspiration behind something else. A little advice booth at the local farmer's market. Listen to this guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MOREFIELD, ARCHITECT: You want to start a home remodel? You want to add an extra floor? The kitchen doesn't work? Your bathroom's too small? Drop a nickel, fire away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That's right. John Moorefield has been laid off twice in the past year. So, he's opened up his own practice and he says that this stand is a great way to meet potential clients. And by the way, he doesn't even keep the nickels. You know what he does? He donates them to the local food bank. I'd hire him.

Well, America has a new attorney general and a new chapter begins the American story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, February's Black History Month, and this year it has added meaning for many people. Having Barack Obama in the White House is opening a lot of minds to the contributions that African- Americans are making and not just as a minority group. February is turning into a month of firsts as new black history is being made. The nation's first African-American attorney general says it's a new day at the Justice Department, and race has nothing to do with it. Eric Holder took the oath of office this morning just hours after the Senate voted 75-21 to confirm him.

Here's CNN's Elaine Quijano.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, in his remarks, Eric Holder alluded to his historic achievement, becoming the country's first African-American attorney general. He said this could only happen in the United States. He was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden, and afterwards said it was a new day for the Justice Department, trying to signal a clear shift from the Bush Administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: There shall be no place for political favoritism. No reason to be timid in enforcing the laws that protect our rights, our environment and our principles as long as I have the opportunity to lead this great department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: In his new post, Eric Holder faces some significant challenges. First and foremost, dealing with terrorism suspects, and specifically Guantanamo. President Obama has ordered that detention facility closed within a year, so holder will have to help figure out what to do with those detainees. A legally daunting task. Also an issue, where there should be new guidelines for interrogating and wiretapping with some daunting challenges ahead - Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano, thanks so much.

In another black history first, the new face of the GOP, Michael Steele. He was elected last week as the first African-American to lead the Republican Party. He hopes to move in a new direction, and CNN's Wolf Blitzer spoke with Steele yesterday in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": You basically lost the northeast part of the United States. You mentioned that in your remarks the other day. I think in New England, in the House of Representatives, there's not one republican member of the house.

MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: And there were 16 eight years ago and we're down to zero in 2009. So, my challenge in my opportunity is to work with the state parties in the northeast, to let them do what they need to do to be successful and win those elections. Case in point: We've got special election coming up in the 20th District. Congresswoman Gillibrand is now going up to the Senate.

BLITZER: In New York State.

STEELE: In New York State. That's a seat that we should be able to go in and be competitive and win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, also Wolf discussed with Steele the popularity of President Obama. Steele said just because the President has a 70 percent job approval rating doesn't mean his policies are right.

So who is this man, Michael Steele? He's the former lieutenant governor of Maryland and he's a former law having earned his law degree at Georgetown University. Prior to his new post, just two years ago, Steele was named chairman of GOPAC, the recruiting arm of the Republican Party. And this came just after Steele was defeated in a race for the U.S. Senate in 2006.

Now, as the first African-American first lady, Michelle Obama is navigating uncharted waters. She's made clear one - actually, she's made clear one of her objectives - her main objectives, rather, and that's begin a good mom to her daughters. Whatever draws most of her attention, Mrs. Obama will add a new chapter in first lady history.

Here's our Erica Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michelle Obama is slowly coming out as first lady. One of her first public speaking events since the inauguration, she made it clear, this meet-and-greet at the Department of Education is just the beginning.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm going to spend the next several weeks, or months, however long it takes, going from agency to agency, just to say hello. To learn, to listen, to take information back where possible. But truthfully, my task here is to say, thank you and roll up your sleeves, because we have a lot of work to do.

HILL: But the big question still unanswered two weeks in, is how that work involves Mrs. Obama.

M. OBAMA: What can I do that is useful in - with this role. I spent a lot of time focusing on working the challenges of work/family balance with women and families.

HILL: Her office tells CNN working parents will be one of three main projects for the first lady, along with helping military families and boosting volunteerism, though they're not offering any specifics. Fitting, perhaps, for the woman who has often reminded the country family is her tough priority.

M. OBAMA: I joke that my first job is going to be "Mom in Chief."

HILL: Originally the President's wife was more of a hostess, overseeing state dinners and White House tours.

M. OBAMA: Walk around, touch some stuff. Just don't break anything.

HILL: But that role has evolved and the public has come to expect more.

ROBERT THOMPSON, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Being first lady in the United States of America in the 21st century has got to be one of the most frustrating jobs to hold. Because for one thing, it isn't even a job. For another thing, it has no job description. But for a third thing, you are constantly being evaluated as to how well you're doing.

HILL: Hillary Clinton's efforts to shape health care policy in her office in the West Wing didn't win her glowing reviews. For her part, Mrs. Obama has said she is taking some cues from Laura Bush. But there's no doubt she'll be walking a fine line.

THOMPSON: She can very, very credibly now approach a number of issues, anything having to do with family. In many ways, women, with regards to work and family. She is a living embodiment of many of the issues that have still yet to be worked out.

HILL: Experience she'll need to handle all of those expectations.

Erica Hill, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, if you think the media are tossing soft balls to the President, well, here's your chance to pitch in. E-mail me your questions at askthepresident@CNN.com. We're going to make our daily visit to the new White House website, send your questions in directly to the White House and hopefully bring you some answers each afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. In less than an hour, we got over 500 e-mails. We appreciate it and we expect some more.

Rick Sanchez takes it from here.