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Obama Speaks on Economy; King-To-Be is Named

Aired July 24, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

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Unfortunately, opportunities for upward mobility in America have gotten harder to find over the past 30 years. And that's a betrayal of the American idea. And that's why we have to do a lot more to give every American the chance to work their way into the middle class.

Now, the best defense against all of these forces -- global competition, economic polarization -- is the strength of the community. So we need to -- we need a new push to rebuild rundown neighborhoods.

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We need new partnerships -- we need new partnerships with some of the hardest-hit towns in America to get them back on their feet. And because no one who works full-time in America should have to live in poverty, I am going to keep making the case that we need to raise the minimum wage, because it's lower right now than it was when Ronald Reagan took office. It's time for the minimum wage to go up.

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We're not a people who allow chance of birth to decide life's biggest winners or losers. And after years in which we've seen how easy it can be for any of us to fall on hard times. Folks in Galesburg, folks in the Quad Cities, you know there are good people who work hard, sometimes they get a bad break, plant leaves, somebody gets sick, somebody loses a home. We've seen it in our family and our friends and our neighbors. We've seen it happen, and that means we cannot turn our backs when bad breaks hit any of our fellow citizens.

So good jobs, a better bargain for the middle class and the folks who are working to get into the middle class, an economy that grows from the middle out, not the top down, that's where I will focus my energies.

(APPLAUSE) That's where I'll focus my energies not just for the next few months, but for the remainder of my presidency. These are the plans that I'll lay out across this country. But I won't be able to do it alone, so I'm going to be calling on all of us to take up this cause.

We'll need our businesses, who are some of the best in the world, to pressure Congress to invest in our future, and I'll be asking our businesses to set an example by providing decent wages and salaries to their own employees. And I'm going to highlight the ones that do just that. You know, there are companies like Costco, which pays good wages and offers good benefits...

(APPLAUSE)

... companies like -- you know, there are companies like the Container Store, that prides itself on training its employees and on employee satisfaction. Because these companies prove that it's not just good for the employees, it's good for their businesses to treat workers well. It's good for America.

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So I'm going to be -- I'm going to be calling on the private sector to step up. I will be saying to Democrats, we've got to question some of our old assumptions. We've got to be willing to redesign or get rid of programs that -- that don't work as well as they should. We've got to be willing to -- we've got to embrace changes to cherished priorities so that they work better in this new age. We can't just -- Democrats can't just stand pat and just defend whatever government's doing. If we believe that government can give the middle class a fair shot in this new century -- and I believe that -- we've got an obligation to prove it, and that means that we've got to be open to new ways of doing things.

And we'll need Republicans in Congress to set aside short-term politics and work with me to find common ground. Now...

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You know, it's interesting. In the run-up to this speech, a lot of reporters say, wow, you know, Mr. President, these are all good ideas, but some of them you've said before, some of them sound great, but you can't get those through Congress. Republicans won't agree with you.

And I say, look, the fact is, there are Republicans in Congress right now who privately agree with me on a lot of the ideas I'll be proposing. I know, because they've said so. But they worry they'll face swift political retaliation for cooperating with me.

Now, there are others who will dismiss every idea I've put forward, either because they're playing to their most strident supporters or, in some cases, because sincerely they have a fundamentally different vision for America, one that says inequality is both inevitable and just, one that says an unfettered free market without any restraints inevitably produces the best outcomes, regardless of the pain and uncertainty imposed on ordinary families, and government's the problem, and we should just shrink it as small as we can.

In either case, I say to these members of Congress: I'm laying out my ideas to give the middle class a better shot, so now it's time for you to lay out your ideas.

(APPLAUSE) You can't just be against something. You got to be for something.

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Even if you think I've done everything wrong, the trends I just talked about were happening well before I took office, so it's not enough for you to just oppose me. You've got to be for something. What are your ideas?

If you're willing to work with me to strengthen American manufacturing and rebuild this country's infrastructure, let's go. If you've got better ideas to bring down the cost of college for working families, let's hear them. If you think you have a better plan for making sure that every American has the security of quality, affordable health care, then stop taking meaningless repeal votes and share your concrete ideas with the country.

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Repealing Obamacare and cutting spending is not an economic plan.

(LAUGHTER)

It's not. If you're serious about a balanced, long-term fiscal plan that replaces the mindless cuts currently in place, or if you're interested in tax reform that closes corporate loopholes and gives working families a better deal, I'm ready to work, but you should know that I will not accept deals that don't meet the basic test of strengthening the prospects of hard-working families. This is the agenda we have to be working on.

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We've come a long way since I first took office. You know, as a country...

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As a country, we're older and wiser. I don't know if I'm wiser, but I'm certainly older. And, you know, as long as Congress doesn't manufacture another crisis, as long as we don't shut down the government just because I'm for keeping it open, as long as we...

(LAUGHTER)

... as long as we don't risk a U.S. default over paying bills that we've already racked up, something that we've never done, we can probably muddle along without taking bold action. If we stand pat and we don't do any of the things I talked about, our economy will grow, although slower than it should, new businesses will form, the unemployment rate will probably tick down a little bit. Just by virtue of our size and our natural resources and, most of all, because of the talent of our people, America will remain a world power, and the majority of us will figure out how to get by.

But, you know, if that's our choice, if we just stand by and do nothing in the face of immense change, understand that part of our character will be lost. Our founding precept about wide-open opportunity, each generation doing better than the last, that will be a myth, not reality. The position of the middle class will erode further. Inequality will continue to increase. Money's power will distort our politics even more. Social tensions will rise, as various groups fight to hold onto what they have or start blaming somebody else for why their position isn't improving, and the fundamental optimism that's always propelled us forward will give way to cynicism or nostalgia.

And that's not the vision I have for this country. It's not the vision you have for this country. That's not the America we know. That's not the vision we should be settling for. That's not a vision we should be passing on to our children.

I have now run my last campaign. I do not intend to wait until the next campaign or the next president before tackling the issues that matter. I care about one thing and one thing only, and that's how to use every minute...

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The only thing I care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term to make this country work for working Americans again.

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That's all I care about. I don't have another election.

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Because I'll tell you, Galesburg, that's where I believe America needs to go. I believe that's where the American people want to go. And it may seem hard today, but if we're willing to take a few bold steps, if Washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash-and-burn partisanship that we've just seen for way too long, if we just make some common-sense decisions, our economy will be stronger a year from now. It'll be stronger five years from now. It'll be stronger 10 years from now.

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If we focus on what matters, then more Americans will know the pride of that first paycheck, more Americans will have the satisfaction of flipping the sign to "Open" on their own business, more Americans will have the joy of, you know, scratching the height of their kid on that door of their brand-new home.

And in the end, isn't that what makes us special? It's not the ability to generate incredible wealth for -- for the few. It's our ability to give everyone a chance to pursue their own true measure of happiness.

(APPLAUSE) We haven't just wanted success for ourselves. We want it for our neighbors, too. That's why...

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I mean, when we think about our own communities, we're not -- we're not a mean people. We're not a selfish people. We're not a people that just looks out for number one. Why should our politics reflect those kinds of values?

That's why we don't call it John's dream or Susie's dream or Barack's dream or Pat's dream. We call it the American dream. And that's what makes this country special, the idea that no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from or who you love, you can make it if you try.

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That's what we're fighting for.

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So, yes, Congress is tough right now, but that's not going to stop me. We're going to do everything we can, wherever we can, with or without Congress to make things happen.

We're going to take -- go on the road and talk to you, and you'll have ideas, and we want to see which ones we can -- we can implement, but we're going to focus on this thing that matters.

You know, one of America's greatest writers, Carl Sandburg, born right here in Galesburg over a century ago...

(APPLAUSE)

... he saw the railroads bring the world to the prairie and then the prairie send out its bounty to the world. And he saw the advent of new industries, new technologies. And he watched populations shift. He saw fortunes made and lost. And he saw how change could be painful, how a new age could unsettle long-held customs and ways of life.

But he had that frontier optimism, and so he saw something more on the horizon. And he wrote, "I speak of new cities and new people. The past is a bucket of ashes. Yesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the west. There is only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows." Now, America, we've made it through the worst of yesterday's winds. We just have to have the courage to keep moving forward. We've got to set our eyes on the horizon. We will find an ocean of tomorrows. We will find a sky of tomorrows for the American people and for this great country that we love.

So thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The president of the United States ending on an optimistic tone, speaking in Galesburg, Illinois, for the better part of the last hour, talking about something upon which he is clearly very passionate. Something on which he ran the last two elections, the economy, and specifically building up, strengthening the middle class.

You know, he touted what he has accomplished over the last couple of years. Specifically mentioning housing today. Talking about Obamacare, which goes into effect this fall. And also, perhaps, trying to get a jump on the Republicans ahead of some budget fights this fall. Dare I utter the two words we have been familiar with a couple of years ago? Debt ceiling, anyone? We're going to talk to a couple of smart voices. Jessica Yellin, Gloria Borger and Christine Romans.

But quickly, before we do a little postgame analysis on the president, as if on cue, here we are, three days in a row, got some royal baby news for you.

So, we met the little guy yesterday. Here's his picture. He is royal baby George Alexander Louis. His royal highness, Prince George of Cambridge. We will go to our royal baby all-star team in London momentarily.

But back to the president, to our chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin, our -- Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst, and Christine Romans, host of "Your Money."

Ladies, hello to all of you.

And, Jessica Yellin, let me begin. You know, we heard the president say, you know, he's run his last campaign, but the vivacity with which he spoke sure sounded like a re-election campaign to me.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, that is exactly where I was going to start. We're on the same page. Because what the president is doing here is campaigning for control of his legacy, control of his second term, and control over the terms of the spending fight coming up this fall. You talked about the debt ceiling fight. He was trying to lay out the priorities he thinks that battle should be waged over, not just smaller government, but what matters to the middle class. You heard him say "middle class" I counted at least 20 mentions. I heard him - I counted 26 mentions of the word "jobs."

But you also heard him lay out long term priorities that he thinks his leadership should be defined by in the next term. About homeownership, secure retirement, education and health care. A fierce defense of Obamacare there, because that is going to be one of the battlegrounds during the debt ceiling fight and throughout the term. And some pretty sharp broadsides against Republicans, who, as you know, continue to frustrate him. And when that happens, he finally goes out to the country and tries to make his case to the American people. And that's what he's doing here now and for the next five weeks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right. I mean, Gloria Borger, we -- Jessica Yellin hit the nail on the head, talking about the debt ceiling, right? Sort of anticipating upcoming fights that we could see this fall with Republicans, specifically House Republicans, and maybe using the idea of repealing Obamacare as a brokering chip if they hit a stalemate. How do you see Republicans responding to this?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think not well. I mean what the president said is, instead of taking these ridiculous votes on repealing Obamacare, he kind of laid down the gauntlet to Republicans and said, show me what you got, OK? You have specific things you want to do that are some good ideas that would help with health care, that would help with the middle class, that would help deal with this inequality of incomes that we've got in this country, you know, show me -- show me what you've got.

They're going to say, it's more of the same. They're going to say we've heard this all before. And it's clear what the president was doing was trying to be the kind of adult in the room here, saying to Republicans, OK, I know you're going to oppose me. By the way, Democrats, you may need to readjust a little bit because we're not doing everything right. But I'm the adult. I'm going to get it done. And if I can't get it done in Washington, I'm going to go directly to the American people, which, by the way, is what worked for him in the last campaign.

BALDWIN: And when it comes to the American people, Christine Romans, you know, he really also spoke specifically to the middle class.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Yes.

BALDWIN: He said, yes, you know, yes we've had some great optimistic news, for example, when it comes to housing. He cited the numbers out today. But a lot of folks are still under water. Let me just quote the president specifically saying, you know, we're not done yet. He said the key now is to encourage homeownership that isn't based on bubbles by is instead based on solid foundation where buyers and lenders play by the same set of rules, rules that are clear, transparent and fair. What do you make of that?

ROMANS: Well, you know, the housing market is improving, no question. But, you know, first time homebuyers are not really a big part of that. They're 30 percent of home purchases. You know, it's not really widespread. You've got investors and cash buyers doing great in the housing market and also today, you know, from the inspector general who follows the president's, you know, plan to help homeowners, a lot of people are re-defaulting. So we still have some trouble in the housing market. It needs to be more widespread.

He also talked about education, which is so clear (ph). He's there in Galesburg where there's Carl Sandburg College, a community college, and Knox College, a private liberal arts college. And there is a good example of how it works when somebody can go from a more inexpensive couple of years in community college, transfer to Knox, transfer to Yale, as some of the Carl Sandburg people have, transfer to other colleges, keep their college costs down, do retraining from losing a job at Maytag, try to find a new place in the economy. That's a spot right there where it works. Doing that on a broader scale, something this White House has tried to push, but we need a lot of work on that.

You know, he also talked about early childhood education. Incredibly important. That costs money. And he talked about infrastructure. One hundred thousand new bridges in America are so old they qualify for Medicare. Got a big laugh line out of that. But that takes money to do infrastructure spending. So there's political realities. They're good ideas we've heard from before. Good ideas on paper. Will they happen? That's what presidential leadership and compromise in Washington and Congress is all about and we haven't seen that.

BALDWIN: I should mention we'll be talking to Senator Richard Shelby, Alabama, Republican. So we'll be getting his reaction and criticism of the president's speech coming up in a matter of minutes.

Ladies, Gloria, Jessica, Christine, thank you all very, very much.

We should mention also that this speech is the first of several that the president will be giving through the month of September.

But coming up next, ah, after months of speculation, we finally know the name of the royal baby. The prince of Cambridge. We will take you live to London and ask our royal experts whether it's actually a surprise. How did the betters do? Office poll, anyone? Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for being with me here.

After months of speculation, we have a name for the boy who will one day be a king. Prince George Alexander Louis, to be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. CNN's Becky Anderson is live for us at Buckingham Palace with reaction to the big news.

A know a lot of bookies were in on this. Did you have your money on George, Becky?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I didn't. I had my money on Albert, which was the name of the queen's father, who eventually called himself George VI, because it actually doesn't matter what your name is. When you become sovereign, you can choose whatever you want. And, of course, Victoria's husband, the Prince Consort, was also Albert. So I went with that one. I got a pretty good bet, pretty good odds on that.

But, you know what, George was the out and out favorite and so the bookies in the U.K. are delighted tonight because they are cracking open the bubbly. They've made some money, I can tell you. The odds were really, really short. Down to 2-1 just on Tuesday.

His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. Let me just give you some background to this. Is the first prince of Cambridge for more than 190 years. The last George was a grandson of George III and the only son of the first duke of Cambridge. So if we'd been clever about this, we actually could have worked it out, I think. There is some history to the name of George associated with the -- the duke of Cambridge. George VI, of course, was the husband - sorry, the father, as I say, of the queen, whose real name was Albert. But, yes, the bookies -- the bookies have made some money.

Everybody here is absolutely delighted that it didn't take a week like it did for William to be named. A month for Prince Charles to be named back in 1948. He wasn't officially named until his christening. So, what, within 48 hours of this little one's birth, they've got the name out of the way. They've taken themselves off from Kensington Palace today to Bucklebury, which is the home of Kate Middleton's parents. They want some quiet. They want some peace. And they really have asked that the press and the public now give them some time as a new family and rightly so.

BALDWIN: And I think also, Becky, when I was sort of remembering my royal knowledge, so as you brought up, George VI who was king, once known as Albert, older brother Edward, abdicated the thrown, this was the stuttering king. This was the king's speech. The previous King George, correct?

ANDERSON: You're absolutely correct in saying that. So it's a name which has resonance around the world. How many people saw that movie?

BALDWIN: Right.

ANDERSON: How many people felt quite emoted for that man. And so if they were looking for some international appeal, then they've got some through this name, George, as in George VI. But let's remember, a sovereign can choose any name -

BALDWIN: Right.

ANDERSON: They want when they get to the throne. How nice is that? If you don't like your name, you just -

BALDWIN: Choose something else.

ANDERSON: You just throw it out, toss it out and take another one.

BALDWIN: Becky Anderson, what a thrilling story to be covering. Here we are, three days in a row, and bits of royal baby news. I love it.

Becky, thank you very much, for us from the beautiful Buckingham Palace.