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Obama Back at White House for 1st Time Since Leaving Office to Highlight Affordable Care Act; U.S. Calls for Russia to be Suspended from U.N. Human Rights Council; Obama Gives Address on ACA and Expanding Access to Health Care. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired April 05, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:31:01]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: He's back. Former President Barack Obama is at the White House today, his first White House visit since he left office on that morning of Donald Trump's inauguration back in 2017.
Former President Obama will be speaking alongside President Biden, any minute now. You see the podium all set up. And we will bring those remarks to you live.
Today's event is all about health care and the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature piece of legislation, which was signed into law 12 years ago. Today, the focus will be on expanding access to coverage.
Joining us now is CNN senior White House correspondent, Phil Mattingly, and our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.
Phil, this is a reunion for Obama and Biden. Set the scene for us.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, even though they live a couple miles apart they have not met publicly at all for the entirety of President Biden's term up to this point.
And yet, they're re-engaging in some degree in what they did for eight years, just with a little difference in terms of titles at this point.
President Biden and President Obama meeting for lunch in the Oval Office, the same place they met weekly for nearly eight years.
And then the president, the former president will serve as a headliner for President Biden's announcement today of a regulatory shift that should expand access to coverage for the Affordable Care Act. I think when you think about what this means in terms of for the
current president, when you're dealing with inflation, when they look at polling and they understand health care costs are one of the primary drivers of concern for the American people, having an event talking about reducing health care costs.
But probably, more importantly than that, talking about the Affordable Care Act, which had a very complicated and difficult passage to this moment over the course of the last 12 years, now, by far and away, being stronger.
And I think, from the Democratic perspective, more effective than it's ever been.
It's a story they want to tell and better nobody one else better to tell it than the former president.
CABRERA: And the White House has said, Gloria, that these are two friends, and yet, President Obama who lives 10 minutes away, hasn't been back to the White House since President Biden took office.
What do you see is the significance of the moment?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, the relationship under any circumstance between a current president and former president gets complicated, particularly when that president is your former vice president.
And they've had a little bit of a rocky road in the past. You know, Barack Obama did not come out and tell Joe Biden you ought to run in 2016. He endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Then, in 2020, he kind of stayed out of the presidential race. And I presume Biden would have liked his support from the get-go, but that did not happen.
However, they are friends, and they were in this together on the Affordable Care Act. Joe Biden was in charge, or one of the people in charge, along with Nancy Pelosi -- you see her there -- getting it passed pass in the Congress.
And now, ironically, of course, Obama lost seats in the 2010 midterm elections.
And now, the Affordable Care Act is so popular that Joe Biden wants to use it to help him stave off losses in the upcoming midterm. And that's what Obama is going to do.
He is so popular, they want him out there talking about the Affordable Care Act, talking about what Joe Biden can do for you, talking about the gains the economy has made, the recovery from the pandemic.
And they believe that there's no better spokesperson than Barack Obama. And I believe he'll be willing to do it.
CABRERA: As we get ready to listen to these remarks, Obamacare is gaining in popularity, as you point out. It is now viewed favorably by the majority of Americans. I think it was 55 percent in the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
A record 14.5 million people have signed up for coverage through the exchanges this year in 2022.
So, Gloria, do you see health care and, specifically, Obamacare playing into the midterm strategy for Democrats?
[13:35:01]
BORGER: Sure. Sure. I think -- you know, you're going to brag about things that people like that you've done and tell people, let them remember, that Republicans tried to get rid of it, although they couldn't.
It's very difficult to take something away from people once they have it.
But there were many opportunities to repeal it when Republicans controlled the Congress and Donald Trump was president. And they did not do that.
So, it's a -- along with economic issues, of course, health care always plays into economic issues. People are worried about inflation right now. They're worried about gas prices. There's a war.
But I think if the Democrats want to tell good stories, they're going to talk about things like infrastructure. And they're going to talk about health care. And this is so important to that message.
CABRERA: Phil, the increased enrollment this year is, in part, due to subsidies that President Biden wants to expand and make health care costs lower for more Americans.
Walk us through that and other moves the Biden administration has made to try to strengthen Obamacare.
MATTINGLY: Yes, Ana, it's a really good question, because I think it's probably one of the most underappreciated elements in the actual actions the Biden administration has taken over the last 14 months.
And that is taking very significant and substantial tangible steps. But, legislatively, to the American Rescue Plan, that's where the expanded subsidies came from.
Obviously, they're trying to keep them expanded for a longer period of time. That's still in the legislative morass at the moment. But also on the regulatory side as well, particularly when you look at Medicaid in terms of access to health care.
There's just been a dramatic shift. Obviously, ideologically, it's the polar opposite from the prior administration that did everything in its power to undercut or take away the Affordable Care Act, either legislatively or through a regulatory perspective. But when you look how both at the signups perspective, and obviously,
a very good metric, but more probably importantly that the subsidy side of things and the affordability, and the fact it's a program now running more as it was designed conceptually than it ever has since it was actually signed into law.
And I think that's why you see the administration really want to talk about this. I don't think they felt they got enough credit for what they've done to strengthen the Affordable Care Act over the course of the last 14 months.
But I also think they believe, as Gloria was alluding to, it was a winning message in 2018 during the midterms. And they believe, given where prices stand across the board right now, it would be a winning message now to highlight.
CABRERA: Phil Mattingly and Gloria Borger, thank you both. We'll keep an eye on this.
We're going to try to squeeze in a quick break. As soon as either the former president or current president take that podium, we'll bring it to you live.
Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[13:42:29]
CABRERA: As the world bears witnesses to the atrocities carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine, the U.S. says Russia's position on the U.N. Human Rights Council is, quote, "the height of hypocrisy."
In an address this morning, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas- Greenfield, again called for Russia to be suspended from the council, saying that clear war crimes committed in cities like Bucha are not only horrors being carried out by Vladimir Putin's forces.
She says there are credible reports of Ukrainians being sent to so- called filtration camps where families are separated, and their passports, I.D.s and phones are taken away.
So, we're going to continue to monitor those situations happening in Ukraine and what comes of that call today for Russia to be kicked out of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
In the meantime, let's go back to the White House because, any moment now, we expect to hear from President Biden, along with former President Obama.
In President Obama's first visit back to the White House since he left office back in 2017 when he, you know, gave the hands-off to President Trump at the time.
And obviously, President Biden was his vice president. The two are friends. We're told they had lunch today, as he came back to the White House.
And today's event, Phil Mattingly, is all about highlighting successes related to Obamacare, which, obviously, was major legislation passed during the time these two men were in White House together with President Obama in the driver's seat at the time.
And we see people standing. I believe this is, you know, signaling this is about to get underway. I may have to cut you off.
But just talk a little bit more -- oh, hold on. Let's see why they're talking.
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CABRERA: OK. We'll talk through the pomp and circumstance -- wait, no, we can't. Let's watch.
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[13:45:23]
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good afternoon. Indeed, it is a good afternoon. Good afternoon.
Have a seat, everybody. Please have a seat. Thank you.
Feels good, doesn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING)
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HARRIS: President Biden, President Obama, members of Congress, and my fellow Americans, on March 23rd, 2010, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law.
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HARRIS: In the 12 years since, the ACA has delivered high-quality affordable health care to more than 30 million Americans.
(APPLAUSE) HARRIS: Yes.
(CHEERING)
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HARRIS: And those Americans are working parents and young children, college students and older Americans, millions of people who had never been able to afford coverage before.
Or who have been denied coverage altogether, often because of a category of denial called pre-existing conditions, conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, or even asthma.
The ACA has been a consequential health care legislation passed in generations in our country.
(CHEERING)
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HARRIS: And it is something more. The ACA is a statement of purpose. A statement about the nation we must be, where all people, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much they earn, can access the health care they need, no matter the cost.
You know, when I served as attorney general of California, it was that purpose that led our office and 10 other state attorneys general to submit a brief to the United States Supreme Court in defense of the ACA.
And it is that purpose that brings us all together today, to continue to expand affordable health care and its coverage to families across our nation.
And to call on Congress to take action to pass legislation that simply allows Medicare to directly negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
(CHEERING)
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HARRIS: And if there's any question why, I'll explain. More than 60 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare. That would give Medicare significant bargaining power to negotiate prices for all those Americans.
So, instead of forcing individual patients to negotiate by themselves, to require them to pay whatever price the drug companies set, they would have that kind of representation to stand there with their fellow Americans and negotiate those prices so that they would simply be fair.
So, today, we also call on Congress to make permanent the ACA subsidies that are included in the American Rescue Plan. (CHEERING)
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HARRIS: Subsidies that are currently lowering insurance premiums for millions of Americans and which are set to expire in December. And more must be done.
Currently, there are 12 states in our nation that refuse to expand Medicaid for no reason other than petty partisan obstruction. As a result, four million people in our country are locked out of coverage.
[13:50:05]
And that comes at a cost. For example, women who do not have health care coverage and are therefore less likely to have access during pregnancy or before or after to pelvic exams or vaccinations, prenatal checkups, postpartum depression screenings and all the other essential care they need to be safe and healthy before, during, and after birth.
We know that expanding Medicaid coverage significantly reduces the number of mothers who die as a result of pregnancy.
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HARRIS: So, the sooner coverage is expanded in those 12 states, the more lives we will save.
Protecting the health and well-being of the people of our nation should not be a partisan issue. Every person in our nation should be able to access and afford the health care they need to thrive, not as a privilege but as a right.
And that is why our administration will continue to use every tool at our disposal to strengthen the ACA.
And with that --
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HARRIS: -- it is now my great pleasure to introduce the man whose vision and leadership led us to this day, whose unwavering commitment to the people of our nation laid the foundation for this groundbreaking legislation, a leader who showed us the way forward on this important issue.
Please welcome President Barack Obama.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hey. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.
Have a seat. Have a seat.
Thank you.
Vice President Biden -- vice president.
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OBAMA: That was a joke.
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(CHEERING)
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OBAMA: That was all set up.
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OBAMA: My president, Joe Biden, Vice President Harris --
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OBAMA: -- our dear friend, Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi --
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CHEERING)
OBAMA: -- all the members of Congress who are in attendance today, members of the cabinet, it is good to be back in the White House.
(LAUGHTER)
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OBAMA: It's been a while.
I confess, I heard some changes had been made --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: -- by the current president since I was last here.
Apparently, Secret Service agents have to wear aviator glasses now.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: The Navy mess has been replaced by a Baskin Robbins.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: And there's a cat running around --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: -- which I guarantee, Bo and Sunny would have been very unhappy about.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: But coming back -- even if I have to wear a tie, which I very rarely do these days --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: -- gives me a chance to visit with some of the incredible people who served this White House and who serve this country every single day. A lot of times, out of the limelight.
They make this government function. And they help people in ways big and small.
And from the outside, sometimes people don't understand just how grueling this is and how many sacrifices people make. Because those of us who are in front of the cameras oftentimes get the credit.
But it's a lot of people who are devoted, day in, day out, to making this country better that matter, and a lot of them are represented here.
And that's not just in the West Wing, by the way. It's also in the residence. There were a lot of people who looked after our families that I will always be grateful to.
So, it's wonderful to be back to say thank you to all of you.
But most of all, coming back here gives me a chance to say, "thank you," and spend some time with an extraordinary friend and partner who was by my side for eight years.
[13:55:01]
And Joe Biden and I did a lot together.
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OBAMA: We helped save the global economy, made record investments in clean energy. We put guardrails on our financial system. We helped turn the auto industry around, repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
But nothing made me prouder than providing better health care and more protections to millions of people across this country.
(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: So --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: So, when President Biden said he was not going to just celebrate the ACA but also announce actions that would make it even better, I had to show up.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: I think it's been well documented just how difficult it was to pass the ACA. There's --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: You can get a lot of testimony here, in case folks haven't heard.
As a country, we have been talking about reforming health care for a hundred years.
Unlike almost every other advanced economy on earth, we didn't have a system that guaranteed access to health care for all of its citizens. Millions of people didn't have health insurance, often because their employers didn't provide it or because it was too expensive.
But despite the fact that our health care system didn't work well, it was hard to change.
Health care represents about one-fifth of our economy. That's trillions of dollars. So, there were a lot of different economic interests that were vying to maintain the status quo.
And because the majority of Americans did have health care, some people, naturally, worried that they'd lose what they had.
The media was skeptical of past failures. There was a lot of misinformation, to say the least, flying around.
And it's fair to say that most Republicans showed little interest in working with us to get anything done.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: That's fair to say.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: But despite great odds, Joe and I were determined. Because we'd met too many people on the campaign trail who'd shared their stories. And our own families had been touched by illness.
And as I said to our dear friend, Harry Reid -- who is missed, wish he was here today, because he took great pride in what we did -- "I intended to get health care passed even if it cost me re-election,"
which, for a while, looked like it might. (LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: But for all of us, for Joe, for Harry, for Nancy Pelosi, for others, the ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place, why all of you sign up for doing jobs that pay less than you could make some place else.
Why you're away from home sometimes and you miss some soccer practices or some dance recitals.
Because we don't -- we're not supposed to do this just to occupy a seat or to hang onto power. But we're supposed to do this because it's making a difference in the lives of the people who sent us here.
And because of so many people, including a lot of people who are here today, made enormous sacrifices, because members of Congress took courageous votes, including some who knew that their vote would likely cost them their seat.
Because of the incredible relationship of Nancy and Harry, we got the ACA across the finish line.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Together.
(APPLAUSE)
[13:59:56]
OBAMA: And the night we passed the ACA -- I've said it before -- it was a high point of my time here because it reminded me and it reminded us of what is possible.
But of course, our work was not finished. Republicans tried to repeal what we had done. Again.
