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President Obama Speaks With Republicans at House Conference

Aired January 29, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I -- I would just say that we have to think about tone.

It's not just on your side, by the way. It's -- it's on our side as well. This is part of what's happened in our politics, where we demonize the other side so much that when it comes to actually getting things done, it becomes tough to do.

Mike?

REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), CHAIR, HOUSE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE: Dr. Tom Price from Georgia?

And then we'll have one more after that, if your time permits, Mr. President.

OBAMA: You know, I'm having fun.

(LAUGHTER)

This is great.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: So are we.

Tom Price, Georgia?

REP. TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: Thank you.

I want to stick on -- on the general topic of health care, but ask a very specific question.

You have repeatedly said, most recently at -- at the State of the Union, that Republicans have offered no ideas and no solutions, in spite of the fact...

OBAMA: I don't think I said that.

What I said was within the context of health care -- I remember that speech pretty well. It was only two days ago.

(LAUGHTER)

I said I'd welcome ideas that you might provide.

I didn't say that you haven't provided ideas. I said I'd welcome those ideas that you'll provide.

PRICE: Mr. President, multiple times from your administration there have come statements that Republicans have no ideas and no solutions, in spite of that fact that we've offered, as demonstrated today, positive solutions to all of the challenges we face, including energy and the economy and health care.

Specifically, in the area of health care, this bill, H.R. 3400, that has more cosponsors than any health care bill in the House. It is a bill that would provide health coverage for all Americans, would correct the significant insurance challenges of portability and preexisting, would solve the lawsuit abuse issue, which isn't addressed significantly in the other proposals that went through the House and the Senate, would write into law that medical decisions are made between patients and families and doctors, and does all of that without raising taxes by a penny.

But my specific question is, what should we tell our constituents who know that Republicans have offered positive solutions to the challenges that Americans face and yet continue to hear out of the administration that we've offered nothing?

OBAMA: Tell them I -- look, I have to say, that on the -- let's just take the health care debate. And it's probably not constructive for us to try to debate a particular bill. This isn't the venue to do it.

But if you say that we can offer coverage for all Americans and it won't cost a penny, that's just not true. You can't structure a bill where suddenly 30 million people have coverage and it costs nothing.

If...

(CROSSTALK)

PRICE: ... and I understand that we're not interested in debating this bill.

OBAMA: Sir...

PRICE: But what should we tell our constituents, who know that we've offered these solutions, and yet hear from the administration that -- that we have offered nothing?

OBAMA: Let me -- I'm using this as a specific example, so let me answer your question. You asked a question, I want to answer it.

It's not enough, if you say, for example, that we've offered a health care plan and I look up -- this is just under the section that you've just provided me -- or the book that you've just provided me, "Summary of GOP Health Care Reform Bill."

"The GOP plan will lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing America's number one priority for health reform."

I mean, that's an idea that we all embrace. But specifically it's got to work. I mean, there's got to be a mechanism in these plans that I can go to an independent health care expert and say, "Is this something that will actually work or is it boilerplate?"

You know, if I'm told, for example, that the solution to dealing with health care costs is tort reform, something that I've said I am willing to work with you on, but the CBO or other experts say to me, you know, "At best, this could reduce health care costs relative to where they're growing by a couple of percentage points or save $5 billion a year, that's what we can score it at, and it will not bend the cost curve long term or reduce premiums significantly," then you can't make the claim that that's the only thing that we have to do.

If we're going to do multi-state insurance so that people can go across state lines, I've got to be able to go to an independent health care expert, Republican or Democrat, who can tell me that this won't result in cherry-picking of the healthiest going to some and the least healthy being worse off.

So I am absolutely committed to working with you on these issues. But it can't just be political assertions that aren't substantiated when it comes to the actual details of policy, because otherwise we're going to be selling the American people a bill of goods.

I mean, the easiest thing for me to do on the health care debate would have been to tell people that, "What you're going to get is guaranteed health insurance, lower your costs, all the insurance reforms, we're going to lower the cost of Medicare and Medicaid, and it won't cost anybody anything." That's great politics. It's just not true.

So there's got to be some test of realism in any of these proposals, mine included. I've got to hold myself accountable, and I guarantee the American people will hold themselves -- will hold me accountable if what I'm selling doesn't actually deliver.

PENCE: Mr. President, a point of clarification.

What's in the "Better Solutions" book are all the legislative proposals that were offered...

OBAMA: Oh, I understand. I've actually read your bills.

PENCE: ... throughout 2009.

OBAMA: I understand.

PENCE: And so rest assured the summary document that you received is backed up by precisely the kind of detailed legislation that Speaker Pelosi and your administration have been busy ignoring for 12 months.

OBAMA: Well, Mike, hold on, hold on a second.

(APPLAUSE)

No, no, no, no, no. Hold on a second guys.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, Mike, I've read your legislation. I mean, I take a look at this stuff. And the good ideas we take.

But here -- here's the thing, here's the thing, I guess, that all of us have to be mindful of. It can't be all-or-nothing one way or the other, all right?

You -- you -- and what I mean by that is this. If we put together a stimulus package in which a third of it are tax cuts that normally you guys would support, and support for states and the unemployed and helping people stay on COBRA that your governors certainly would support, Democrat or Republican. And then you've got some infrastructure, and maybe there's some things in there that you don't like in terms of infrastructure, or you think the bill should have been $500 billion instead of $700 billion, or there's this provision or that provision that you don't like.

If there's uniform opposition because the Republican caucus doesn't get 100 percent or 80 percent of what you want, then it's going to be hard to get a deal done. That's because that's not how democracy works.

So my hope would be that we can look at some of these components parts of what we're doing, and maybe we break some of them up on different policy issues. So if the good congressman from Utah has a particular issue on lobbying reform that he wants to work with us on, we may not be able to agree on a comprehensive package on everything, but there may be some component parts that we can work on.

You may not support our overall jobs package, but if you look at the tax credit that we're proposing for small businesses right now, it is consistent with a lot of what you guys have said in the past. And just the fact that it's my administration that's proposing it shouldn't prevent you from supporting it.

That's my point.

PENCE: Thank you, Mr. President.

Peter Roskam from the great state of Illinois?

OBAMA: Oh, Peter's an old friend of mine.

REP. PETER ROSKAM (R), ILLINOIS: Hey, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Peter and I have had many debates.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSKAM: Well, this won't be one.

Mr. President, I heard echoes today of the state senator that I served with in Springfield, and there was an attribute and a characteristic that you had that I think served you well there. You took on some very controversial subjects: death penalty reform. I -- you and I...

OBAMA: We worked on it together.

ROSKAM: ... negotiated on.

OBAMA: Yes.

ROSKAM: You took on ethics reform. You took on some big things.

One of the keys was you rolled your sleeves up, you worked with the other party, and ultimately you were able to make the deal.

Now, here's an observation.

Over the past year, in my view, that attribute hasn't been in full bloom. And by that I mean, you've gotten the subtext of House Republicans that sincerely want to come and be a part of this national conversation toward solutions, but they've really been stiff-armed by Speaker Pelosi.

Now, I know you're not in charge of that chamber, but there really is this dynamic of, frankly, being shut out.

When John Boehner and Eric Cantor presented last February to you some substantive job creation, our stimulus alternative, the attack machine began to marginalize Eric -- and we can all look at the articles -- as Mr. No. And there was this pretty dark story, ultimately, that wasn't productive and wasn't within this sort of framework that you're articulating today.

So here's the question: Moving forward -- I think all of us want to hit the reset button on 2009, how do we move forward?

And on the job creation piece in particular, you mentioned Colombia, you mentioned Panama, you mentioned South Korea. Are you willing to work with us, for example, to make sure those FTAs get called? That's no-cost job creation. And ultimately, as you're interacting with world leaders, that's got to put more arrows in your quiver, and that's a very, very powerful tool for us.

But the obstacle is, frankly, the politics within the Democratic Caucus.

OBAMA: Well, the -- first of all, Peter and I did work together effectively on a whole host of issues. One of our former colleagues is right now running for governor on the Republican side in Illinois.

In the Republican primary, of course, they're running ads of him saying nice things about me.

(LAUGHTER)

Poor guy.

(LAUGHTER)

Although, that's the -- that's one of the points that I made earlier. I mean, we've got to be careful about what we say about each other sometimes because it boxes us in in ways that makes it difficult for us to work together because our constituents start believing us. They don't know sometimes this is just politics, what you guys, you know, or folks on my side do sometimes. So just a tone of civility instead of slash-and-burn would be helpful.

The problem we have sometimes is a media that responds only to slash- and-burn-style politics. You don't get a lot of credit if I say, "You know, I think Paul Ryan's a pretty sincere guy and has a beautiful family." Nobody's going to run that in the newspapers, right?

(LAUGHTER)

And by the way, in case he's going to get a Republican challenge, I didn't mean it.

(LAUGHTER)

I don't want to -- don't want to hurt you, man.

(LAUGHTER)

But, the -- on the specifics, I think both sides can take some blame for a sour climate on Capitol Hill. What I can do maybe to help is to try to bring Republican and Democratic leadership together on a more regular basis with me. That's, I think, a failure on my part is to try to foster better communications, even if there's disagreement. And -- and I will try to see if we can do more of that this year.

That's on the -- sort of, the general issue.

On the specific issue of trade, you're right. There are conflicts within and fissures within the Democratic Party. I suspect there probably are going to be some fissures within the Republican Party as well.

I mean, you know, if you went to some of your constituencies, they'd be pretty suspicious about it -- new trade agreements, because the suspicion is somehow they're all one-way.

So part of what we've been trying to do is make sure that we're getting the enforcement side of this tight; make sure that if we've got a trade agreement with China or other countries, that they are abiding with it, they're not stealing our intellectual property, we're making sure that their non-tariff barriers are lowered, even as ours are opened up.

And my hope is is that we can move forward with some of these trade agreements, having built some confidence, not just among particular constituency groups, but among the American people, that trade is going to be reciprocal, that it's not just going to be a one- way street.

You are absolutely right, though, Peter, when you say, for example, South Korea is a great ally of ours. I mean, when I visited there, there's no country that is more committed to friendship on a whole range of fronts than South Korea.

What is also true is that the European Union is about to sign a trade agreement with South Korea, which means right at the moment when they start opening up their markets, the Europeans might get in there before we do.

So we've got to make sure that we seize these opportunities. I will be talking more about trade this year. It's going to have to be trade that combines opening their markets with an enforcement mechanism, as well as just opening up our markets.

I think that's something that all of us would agree on. Let's see if we can execute it over the next several years.

All right? Is that it?

PENCE: Jeb Hensarling of Texas, and that'll be it, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Jim's (sic) going to wrap things up?

PENCE: Yes, sir.

OBAMA: All right.

REP. JEB HENSARLING (R), TEXAS: Jeb, Mr. President.

OBAMA: How are you?

HENSARLING: I'm doing well.

Mr. President, a year ago I had an opportunity to speak to you about the national debt. And something that you and I have in common is we both have small children. And I left that conversation really feeling you're sincere commitment to ensuring that our children, our nation's children do not inherit an unconscionable debt.

We know that under current law that government -- the cost of government is due to grow from 20 percent of our economy to 40 percent of our economy right about the time our children are leaving college and getting that first job.

Mr. President, shortly after that conversation a year ago, the Republicans proposed a budget that ensured that government did not grow beyond the historical standard of 20 percent of GDP. It was a budget that actually froze immediately non-defense discretionary spending. It spent $5 trillion less than ultimately what was enacted into law. And unfortunately, I believe that budget was ignored.

And since that budget was ignored, what were the old annual deficits under Republicans have now become the monthly deficits under Democrats. The national debt has increased 30 percent.

Now, Mr. President, I know you believe -- and I understand the argument; I respect the view -- that the spending is necessary due to the recession. Many of us believe, frankly, it's part of the problem, not part of the solution, but I understand and I respect your view.

But this is what I don't understand, Mr. President. After that discussion, your administration proposed a budget that would triple the national debt over the next 10 years. Surely you don't believe 10 years from now we will still be mired in this recession. It proposed new entitlement spending and moved the -- the cost of government to almost 24.5 percent of the economy.

Now, very soon, Mr. President, you're due to submit a new budget and my question...

OBAMA: Jim (sic), I know there's a question in there somewhere, because you're making a whole bunch of assertions, half of which I disagree with.

(LAUGHTER)

And I'm having to sit here listening to them. At some point, I know you're going to let me answer.

HENSARLING: That's...

OBAMA: All right.

HENSARLING: That's the question.

You are soon to submit a new budget, Mr. President. Will that new budget, like your old budget, triple the national debt and continue to take us down the path of increasing the cost of government to almost 25 percent of our economy? That's the question, Mr. President.

OBAMA: All right. Jim (sic), with all due respect, I've just got to take this last question as an example of how it's very hard to have the kind of bipartisan work that we're going to do, because the whole question was structured as a talking point for running -- running a campaign.

Now, look, let's talk about the budget, once again, because I'll go through it with you line by line.

The fact of the matter is, is that when we came into office, the deficit was $1.3 trillion. $1.3 trillion. So -- so when you say that suddenly I've got a monthly budget that is higher than the annual -- or a monthly deficit that's higher than the annual deficit left by Republicans, that's factually just not true, and you know it's not true.

And what is true is that we came in already with a $1.3 trillion deficit before I had passed any law. What is true is, we came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade.

Had nothing to do with anything that we had done. It had to do with the fact that in 2000, when there was a budget surplus of $200 billion, you had a Republican administration and a Republican Congress, and we had two tax cuts that weren't paid for, you had a prescription drug plan -- the biggest entitlement plan, by the way, in several decades -- that was passed, without it being paid for, you had two wars that were done through supplementals, and then you had $3 trillion projected because of the lost revenue of this recession.

That's $8 trillion. Now, we increased it by $1 trillion because of the spending that we had to make on the stimulus.

I am happy to have any independent factchecker out there take a look at your presentation versus mine in terms of the accuracy of what I just said.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Now, going forward, here's the deal.

I think Paul, for example, head of the Budget Committee, has looked at the budget and has made a serious proposal. I've read it. I can tell you what's in it. And there are some ideas in there that I would agree with, but there are some ideas that we should have a healthy debate about, because I don't agree with them.

The major driver of our long-term liabilities, everybody here knows, is Medicare and Medicaid and our health care spending. Nothing comes close.

Social Security we could probably fix the same way Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan sat down together and they could figure something out. That is manageable.

Medicare and Medicaid, massive problem down the road. That's where -- that's -- that's going to be what our children have to worry about.

Now, Paul's approach, and I don't -- I want to be careful not simplifying this, because I know you've got -- you've got a lot of detail in your plan -- but, if I understand it correctly, would say we're going to provide vouchers of some sort for current Medicare recipients at the current level. No?

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: 55 and -- well, no, I understand. I mean, there's a grandfathering in, but just for future beneficiaries. Right?

That's why I said I didn't want to -- I want to make sure that I'm not being unfair to your proposal, but I just want to point out that I've -- I've read it.

And the basic idea would be that at some point, we hold Medicare costs per recipient constant as a way of making sure that that doesn't go way out of -- way out of whack. And I'm sure there are some details that...

REP. PAUL D. RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: (INAUDIBLE) a blend of inflation and health inflation. The point of our plan is because Medicare, as you know, is a $38 trillion unfunded liability...

OBAMA: Right.

RYAN: ... it has to be reformed for younger generations, because it won't exist because it's going bankrupt.

And the premise of our idea is, look, why not give people the same kind of health care plan we here have in Congress? That's the kind of reform we're proposing for Medicare.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Well, look, as I've said before, this is an entirely legitimate proposal. The problem is two-fold.

One is that, depending on how it's structured, if recipients are suddenly getting a plan that has their reimbursement rates going like this, but health care costs are still going up like that, then over time the way we're saving money is essentially by capping what they are getting relative to their costs.

Now, I just want to point out -- and this brings me to the second problem -- when we made a very modest proposal as part of our package -- our health care reform package to eliminate the subsidies going to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage, we were attacked across the board by many on your aisle for slashing Medicare. You remember? "We're going to start cutting benefits for seniors." That was -- that was the story that was perpetrated out there; scared the dickens out of a lot of seniors.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: No -- no, but here's my point.

If the main question is going to be what do we do about Medicare costs, any proposal that Paul makes will be painted factually from the perspective of those who disagree with it as cutting benefits over the long term.

Paul, I don't think you disagree with that -- that -- that there is a political vulnerability to doing anything that tinkers with Medicare. And that's probably the biggest savings that are obtained through Paul's plan.

And I raise that not because we shouldn't have a serious discussion about it. I raise that because we're not going to be able to do anything about any of these entitlements if what we do is characterize whatever proposals are put out there as, "Well, you know, that's -- the other party's being irresponsible. The other party is trying to hurt our senior citizens. That the other party is doing X, Y, Z."

That's why I say if we're going to frame these debates in ways that allow us to solve them, then we can't start off by figuring out, A, who's to blame; B, how can we make the American people afraid of the other side.

And unfortunately, that's how our politics works right now, and that's how a lot of our discussion works. That's how we start off. Every time somebody speaks in Congress, the first thing they do, they stand up and all the talking points -- I see Frank Luntz up here sitting in the front.

He's -- he's already polled it...

(LAUGHTER)

... and he said, you know, "The way you're really going to -- I've done a focus group, and, you know, the way we're going to really box in Obama on this one or make Pelosi look bad on that one" -- I know -- I like Frank. We've had conversations between Frank and I. But that's how we operate. It's all tactics, and it's not solving problems.

And so the question is, at what point can we have a serious conversation about Medicare and its long-term liability, or a serious question about -- a serious conversation about Social Security, or a serious conversation about budget and debt in which we're not simply trying to position ourselves politically.

That's what I'm committed to doing. We won't agree all the time in getting it done, but I'm committed to doing it.

(UNKNOWN): Mr. President, take one more?

OBAMA: I've already gone over time.

PENCE: He's gone way over...

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: I'll be happy to take your question, Congressman, off- line. You can give me a call, all right?

Thank you, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. Thank you, everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, sometimes the best moments really are a surprise here. The president being very transparent there, speaking in front of Republican Congressmen at a retreat in Baltimore. And if you have been joining us here on CNN for the past hour or so, you saw the president not only speaking to that -- that group of individuals there, lawmakers, supposed to be a closed-door session, but you also saw him taking questions and some very pointed questions on topics, including health care and beyond.

So, we're going to break it down for you. Our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, standing by for us in Washington. She's going to join us in just a bit. And also our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, inside the room at the time of the speech, will talk to us about the president's message and what was happening inside the room, right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I think it's fair to say the president had a very couple of interesting week here. The State of the Union, one year in office, he had a State of the Union, and now he just finished his speech in front of a group of House Republicans at a retreat in Baltimore. And it was a very interesting thing to hear a group that's normally hostile to the president, even he admitted as much, in his questioning there.

Let's bring in our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger. Gloria, I was sitting here watching it in the NEWSROOM with my team, and, you know, we said, this is unbelievable, really, that he's taking these questions. This is what you usually see in Britain, in the parliament. Tony Blair or Gordon Brown answering these types of questions, pointedly, really, without knowing what they're going to ask him.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Except the House Republicans were actually probably more polite than the folks are, than the opposition is, in the British Parliament.

I think this was really extraordinary here. And I think what you saw were -- was a chastened president and a chastened Republican party to a certain degree that listened to the voters from Massachusetts and those independent voters, who are saying, we want you to work together to get something done. We're tired of you caricaturing each other.

And I think the president himself made the point -- not using these words -- but essentially if we don't get real about doing this, it's kind of mutually assured destruction here.

LEMON: Yes.

BORGER: And so there were questions on everything. And they were very direct, and they were very blunt. Some of them were political speeches, but, you know, some of these folks saying, hey, you know, you didn't keep your promise on openness and lobbyists. And we have some good ideas on health care, and why do you call us the party of no?

LEMON: Gloria, I knew were going to mention that, so why don't we listen to that moment?

BORGER: Okay. LEMON: I think we have the moment from Jason Chavez, a Republican from Utah, when he talked a very pointed question to the President. You and I will talk about it on the other side, and we'll bring in our correspondent, Brianna Keilar.

BORGER: Great.

LEMON: Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAVEZ (R), UTAH: There's some things that happen that I would appreciate your perspective on, because I can look you in the eye and tell you we have not been obstructionist. The Democrats have the House and the Senate and the presidency. When you stood up before the American people multiple times and said you would broadcast the health care debates on C-Span, you didn't.

I was disappointed. I think a lot of Americans were disappointed. You said you weren't going to allow lobbyists in the senior-most positions within your administration and yet you did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, Gloria, the president went on to answer. He talked about health care, and it was a pretty long answer, saying you know what, it's not necessarily true what you're saying, so he answered his point.

But here's the thing that got me out of that answer. He said, we have to be careful, you and I as politicians, meaning him, saying, we realize that this is political folly, this is how things are done in Washington. But many times, the people back home, your own constituents, don't realize that, so they start believing all of the rhetoric, even when it's poured on. So, Republicans, and he said Democrats as well, will box themselves in and will not...

BORGER: Right.

LEMON: ... be able -- especially Republicans -- to agree with him on any point otherwise risking not being elected back home.

BORGER: Right. And, you know, this was the message from the voters.

And essentially right now, I think what you're seeing is the real -- or you might be seeing -- a real turning point here. Because Republicans had a great deal of success by opposing President Obama. They had a great deal of success in -- in getting the public to oppose health care reform, for example, but now they're at a point where the public is also sending a message, okay, we sent a message to President Obama. The same message goes to you.

So, the question now is, is it in the Republicans' self-interest now to take a turn and work with President Obama and give him some successes? We don't know the answer to that. But this conference was quite interesting, because you saw some Republicans there saying, look, we've got to get something done, too. So, we may be watching a turning point. And I think the veil was lifted a little bit. I don't want to be too optimistic here but...

LEMON: Here's the thing. Who knows what will happen, maybe nothing.

BORGER: Sure.

LEMON: Maybe something. Maybe this will get the ball rolling. Maybe this is the one domino that will push it to some negotiation here.

BORGER: You don't know.

LEMON: Here's the interesting thing that I want to know, he said, basically making your point, that saying opposition to everything, you know, that's in the bill, you can't be opposed to -- if you don't get 100 percent of what you want on the Republican side or even 80 percent of what you want, you're going to oppose the entire thing. We have to start looking at, he says, some of the provisions together and working...

BORGER: Right.

LEMON: ... in agreement. So, my question is, by speaking like this, right, and being so candid in front of this group, at what risk?

BORGER: To himself?

LEMON: Yes.

BORGER: I think very little risk to himself, honestly. Because -- because the president is the one, looks like he's the one reaching out to the Republicans. But I think what we may be seeing happen is, first of all, smaller things. Okay? We can't agree on this huge health care reform plan. Maybe we can agree on components of this plan.

LEMON: Uh-huh.

BORGER: Maybe we can find some way to get to a line-item veto, for example. Maybe we can agree on certain ways to cut the budget. Maybe we can agree on certain tax cuts. He was asked about across- the-board...

LEMON: Right.

BORGER: ... tax cuts, and the president clearly didn't want that, so maybe smaller would be better. So I think...

LEMON: It really has become a game of, if I don't get it my way, I'm taking all my marbles and I'm going home, right?

BORGER: Yes. Well, but the House Republicans, very directly complained to the president about the house Democratic leadership. LEMON: Yes.

BORGER: Saying that they had been cut out of everything. So, you see that friction there. The president very smartly did not address the issue of his own Democratic leaders.

LEMON: But you know what...

BORGER: But he talked about the substance.

LEMON: But he said it was on both sides. Both sides, he said, are guilty of this. He just happened, he said, to be speaking to Republicans there. So, Gloria, stand by are because we may want to talk to you in a little bit.

But first, I want to bring in our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar. Inside the room when the president made his remarks and took the questions.

So, Brianna, we sort of compared this to the British parliament where the prime minister gets up and takes questions. Here's the thing. The tone in the room it appeared to be, you know, pretty nice. Folks were pretty nice to the president. There were pointed questions, but they didn't appear to be rude.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, sorry, Don, I had a hard time hearing the last question that you asked me. But I think what really struck me about the environment inside of the room is that at first it seemed very civil. Everyone, all the Republicans in their chairs at the tables were listening, as they did throughout most of the president's address and through the questions.

But it sort of built. It started to build, and it was very clear is I think some folks thought President Obama would be coming here and he would be on the defense, especially when you consider he was gravely outnumbered. But he showed himself to be very much on the offense.

One of the things he said that particularly struck me, Don, was when he said to -- to this Republican conference, that some of you have made, you know, what I'm trying to do, what I consider to be centrist ideals, to be a Bolshevik plot. And actually there was -- there was some applause that came from the audience, and it wasn't everyone. It was a minority, but there was some applause -- applause, and he said, you've given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion, because you tell your constituents that this guy's doing crazy stuff to destroy the country.

And he said, that is for both sides, that they demonize each other, and when you demonize each other, you have a hard time working with one another.

But you heard the Republicans taking out their frustration, didn't you, on different issues, kind of saying you would listen to our solutions. We have solutions. You said we don't have them, and we have solutions that we're trying to give to you. LEMON: So, you know, I marked that when he talked about the Bolshevik plot and he also said, you know, this is very similar to Bill Clinton -- I'm not sure, Brianna, can you hear me? You can hear me, Brianna?

KEILAR: I can. I can.

LEMON: He said, this is very similar to what Bill Clinton proposed in bringing that and saying that. Again, to your point, the health care proposal he deems to be very centrists while Republicans are saying it is a Bolshevik plot.

KEILAR: And what's really interesting is it was really the health care issue that became, I think, the more heated period of time in the ballroom. The issues right now that President Obama says he wants to focus on, the Republicans have said they want to focus on are jobs, are the economy.

But you can tell that the -- the sort of fever pitch really exists very much around this health care reform or health insurance reform, as you'll note President Obama is now calling it, Don.

LEMON: So, listen, here's what I want to say, Brianna, as we keep this going. You saw the State of the Union the other night, and the president made his points and, you know, some said, depending on who you listen to, some oh, said it was a very centrist speech, some say, oh, it was a very liberal speech, depending on where your certain lens is.

He said, if you listen to what you guys believe in, meaning the Republicans, I believe in the same things that you believe in, except you're demonizing me for believing in the same things, Brianna. So, then, what gives? What was the response in the room when he said that?

KEILAR: You know, what struck me about what his message was when he came in, was to say, you know, actually, guys, you know, we agree on a lot of things. So, a lot of the questions had to do with, you know, for instance, the one on health care. Which was a question from Tom Price, who is the head of the conservative Republican study group. He said, you know, what about moving forward on something for health care reform that isn't bigger government?

And I think what was interesting about that is, he said, you know, you make it seem like we have these differences -- and, I mean, the truth is, Don, there are huge differences between Republicans and Democrats on health care reform. But President Obama was really trying to, in his message, draw the comparisons, try to be the person who was the uniter. Obviously to cast Republicans as people who were trying to focus so much more on the differences.

Because even though what you were seeing was this conversation between President Obama and Republicans, make no mistake. What they were saying had everything to do with what you were perceiving them as talking about, what I am perceiving them as talking about, what viewers are perceiving them to be talking about. Because while they're talking to each other, they're really talking to voters here, and independent voters at that.

LEMON: Brianna Keilar, Gloria Borger, hey, stand by. One more question. We're going to play a little bit more of what the president talked about, because, again, this is something you don't really see. This was supposed to be private comments between the president and Republican members of Congress at their annual retreat and it turned into something else that added some transparency, Gloria, shake -- nod your head if you agree, to the political process and in Washington.

More of what the president had to say moments ago speaking to Republicans. And our best political team on television will break it down for you. We're back in a moment.

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LEMON: All right. Let's bring back in our senior political analyst Gloria Borger in Washington and our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar, who was in the room when the president made those remarks in Baltimore, Maryland. First off, start with you, Gloria. Take us forward. Now what?

BORGER: Well, it is interesting that now he has said to the other one, stop caricaturing me, stop portraying me in these terrible ways, the next big thing is obviously, what part of this jobs package will the president be able to get Republicans to sign on to? He came there proposing tax cuts for small business. Republicans want more, but let's see if there is some kind of tax cuts and a jobs programs that they are going to be able to sign on to.

LEMON: OK. And we will see with that. Brianna, quickly, you covered this. This is your territory, but do you even know what is next?

KEILAR: Well, you have heard from the Republicans and from President Obama and Democrats, and it is all about jobs next. That olive branch that he brought with him, this idea of tax credit for creating new jobs. I do have to tell you, though, Don, I think something that really sets the stage for the Republicans and if President Obama can work together -- he has this idea but Republicans are concerned that maybe it is not a good idea, and this idea of giving businesses really a tax break for hiring new people. They say that there could be some fraud involved in it, so that the initial judgment from the Republicans is, hmm, we like a tax cut, but not this one.

LEMON: Hold that thought, Brianna Keilar and Gloria Borger. Thank you so much. We're going to get back to you in the next and break it down and play more of what the president had to say just moments ago. Some of the viewers may have missed it, but we want to get back to the best political team on television. Thank you both.

Want to get some other headlines in now.

Checking our top stories. As if Toyota does not have enough problems already, now Congress wants to talk to the automaker about its massive recall. A House panel is planning a hearing next month. Lawmakers want to know how long Toyota knew about the gas pedal problem that led to the recall.

Anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder has been found guilty of first-degree murder. A jury convicted him just hours ago of gunning down Kansas abortion provider at a Wichita church. Roeder testified he had no regrets. The jury took only about 40 minutes to reach a verdict. Roeder faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Talk about a tough room, tough crowd. We saw President Obama live right here on CNN speaking to a audience full of House Republicans at their retreat in Baltimore. As expected, he made a plea for more bipartisan cooperation, but he also said that some Republicans are portraying his health care plan as, quote "some Bolshevik plot." More on that in just a moment. Certainly very interesting story unfolding there.

Also in the Midwest, what is unfolding is heavy storms hitting that area, causing problems. Chad Myers is checking it all from the CNN Severe Weather Center.

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LEMON: Snow, wind, storms, pounding the Midwest. Our Chad Myers is on top of it in the CNN Severe Weather Center, just moments away.

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LEMON: Let's check in now with CNN meteorologist Chad Myers to tell us what is happening in the Midwest. Chad, I have heard some gruesome stories coming out of there about people who are suffering from these storms rolling through.

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LEMON: Chad Myers, thank you, sir. We will check back with you, of course.

You know that every Friday here on CNN we bring you the "BACKSTORY," a behind-the-scenes look at what happens when our crews are on location to bring you the news. I want to bring you Michael Holmes from our International unit, who now hosts "BACKSTORY" on CNN International.

So, Michael, before I ask you what you have for us today -- maybe this is a great way for us to get into it. As you look at the pictures -- and we know behind the scenes you have rough moments even when it is not a situation like this story that is far less stressful.

HOLMES: Absolutely.

LEMON: When you look at the pictures coming in -- you have been to Iraq, Afghanistan and all over war zones, but does this -- anything come to mind?

HOLMES: Well, actually, I'll tell you. I was talking to one of our guys down there and I said to him, what this reminds me most of is Rwanda, '94, the genocide. And the initial images of bodies on the street, piled up, wrapped up, and the dump trucks and the mass graves was all post-genocide in Rwanda. And I know one thing talking to the guys down there, the smell, you never forget it.

LEMON: You never forget it. And this isn't halfway across the world, but it is close to our shores, very close by.

HOLMES: Yes.

LEMON: What have you got?

HOLMES: Yes, this is very interesting. I mean, I'm giving a behind-the-scenes look. Well, you saw Anderson Cooper going live all the time during our Haiti coverage. But sometimes they weren't planning to go live, like this next one that you are going to see here. Anderson showed up with the crew at a scene, found out that a rescue was taking place, and they didn't have the equipment to go live, so Alec Miran (ph) our supervising producer down there, grabbed the gear and the little "BACKSTORY" flipcam and off he went.

LEMON: Turned it on, huh?