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'Meet the Press' transcript for July 19, 2009
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 Netcast President Obama has asked Congress for a health care reform bill by their August recess and now the debate over how best to reform the system reaches a critical point. We'll talk to the President's Secretary of Health & Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, about the administration's health care reform priorities. Then, the other side of the debate, with the Republican Leader in the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Also, a political roundtable. |
Exclusively on msnbc.com |
MR. GREGORY: Well, doesn't that get to the point which is, why do all of this right now?
MR. WOLFFE: Well, I don't think they've got a whole lot of choice here. I mean, the economy was falling off a cliff and they, you know, some White House officials told me...
MR. GREGORY: Vice President Biden didn't want it--didn't think it was a good idea to go for healthcare reform right now.
MR. WOLFFE: Right. But, well, the question is whether health care can be this pocketbook economic issue.
MR. GREGORY: Yeah.
MR. WOLFFE: But interesting, John raised Michigan, OK? There--the White House has just done some polling in Michigan. Their internal polls show the president's numbers holding up really well in Michigan. He's above 60 percent with independents, who are supposed to have left him. Now, how can that be? What is this guy doing right now? The answer for the White House is he's looking like he's doing everything. And as long as he's doing that, people give him a pass because they know the economy wasn't his doing. On the other hand, how long are they going to be patient? And the question is, as they go into 2010, unemployment, according to the Fed, is still going to be above 9 percent or thereabouts. That's a very tough situation.
MR. GIGOT: And, David, the uncertainty of the Obama agenda hangs over the economy, because you're talking about rearranging 18 percent of GDP with health care. You're talking about the uncertainty of a huge cap and trade tax on energy. You're talking about what are union rules going to be like? All of that reduces the risk taking, the, the borrowing and lending that we need in this economy to really get it fired again.
MR. GREGORY: All right, we talk about health care, we talk about the economy, it just leads you to start thinking about the campaign and opposition from Hillary Clinton, and then all of the questions about the secretary of state, who is now in India. She's sort of off the injured list here and her elbow's in better shape, and so she was in India on a diplomatic mission over this weekend. This is what the AP wrote on Wednesday about Hillary Clinton falling off center stage: "Eclipsed by a globe-trotting president, a foreign policy-savvy vice president, a bevy of special envoys, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is struggling to re-emerge this week as the Obama administration's diplomatic heavyweight. Clinton is trying to retake center stage as the top foreign policy force of the U.S. government after four frustrating low-profile weeks during which a fractured elbow forced her to cancel two overseas trips. Her diminishing presence abroad and at home, followed by her starling public criticism of the White House this week for delaying a major State Department appointment, has prompted a flurry of speculation whether her influence is waning inside President Barack Obama's Cabinet."
The counterpoint to that, Michele, people saying she has been quieter but a huge force on foreign policy.
MS. NORRIS: I think too much, perhaps, is made of this continuing Obama vs. Clinton narrative. I mean, when, people suggesting that she's not taking center stage, she's a secretary of state. The secretary of state generally does not take center stage. The president normally takes center stage. I think what you see with Hillary Clinton in India is a very savvy politician with the agenda that she set out: meeting first with the business leaders, the symbolic things that she's doing, staying in the hotel that was the site of the, the horrible situation there in Mumbai and also, at the same time, applying pressure in Pakistan. I think what you see there is a very smart politician, and I think too much is made of the fact that she's below the radar.
MR. GREGORY: Richard...
MR. HARWOOD: You tell me, David, how does somebody retake center stage when they work for Barack Obama?
MS. NORRIS: Yeah.
MR. GREGORY: Right...(unintelligible).
MR. HARWOOD: As, as, as present and visible he is around the world. And so much of what has been important so far in the Obama foreign policy is his attempt to repair America's relationship with the rest of the world. I think where Hillary Clinton's influence is likely to be felt is in that tough bargaining as we move forward with Iran, for example...
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.
MR. HARWOOD: ...on curtailing the nuclear program.
MR. GREGORY: Also, Richard, Peggy Noonan suggests on, on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal that she's, she's waiting.
MR. WOLFFE: Oh, yeah.
MR. GREGORY: She knows how to wait. If there are excesses in this administration, if there are mistakes, she will be there as a Democratic alternative.
MR. WOLFFE: Yeah. And I don't think anyone doubts that the Clintons have a bigger strategy in mind. But all the reports from inside the White House that I hear say the principals respect each other enormously.
MR. GREGORY: Yeah.
MR. WOLFFE: There is still a lot of rancor and petty rivalry between the staff on both sides, both sides, and they end up arguing about the ambassador to Liechtenstein and who spoke when, and it really is small fry when there are big things to do...
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MR. WOLFFE: ...like terrorism, global warming. This is her agenda, and it's a big one, but she isn't president.
MR. GREGORY: All right. I want to end here, we just got a couple minutes left, on more of a personal note here. I had a great honor this week, I took my son to the All-Star Game in St. Louis. We had a terrific time. And I thought baseball did something really great, and we have some video of it. Before the game they had the All-Stars Among Us, people who engage in community service, who are giving to other people. They lined up there, all the presidents' taped messages, and then look at this: all the players descended on them during a round of applause to shake their hand and pay tribute to them. And, you know, as a dad sitting in the stands I thought, you know what, I love--this is what's wholesome about baseball.
And it's a lot easier, Paul, than having to answer my, my son's questions about who has taken steroids and who hasn't. That's tough.
MR. GIGOT: No, it was a great moment for, for, for professional sports and it, you know, it gives the lie to the fact that what we sometimes think, which is that all of these athletes are spoiled and wealthy and all--have all of these problems, most of them are actually solid citizens. And it's a great lesson for kids because, as we know, they're all role models.
MR. GREGORY: Right. And it is--again, you've got these moments where you think about where can you take your children? You know, this was an area where all the presidents contributed, all the former presidents, and President Obama threw out that first pitch. A little shaky, but nevertheless, he was there.
MS. NORRIS: He was proud of it.
MR. GIGOT: He got it there.
MR. GREGORY: He got it there. He got it there. That was the point. But these do become important moments, again, balancing these influences for our children.
MS. NORRIS: It--you know, the symbolism there was, I thought, very, very striking, because, you know, our sons and our daughters...
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MS. NORRIS: ...worship the people that play on the field and on the court. And when you can introduce them to real role models and people who are actually serving their community--you know, much was made of community service...
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MS. NORRIS: ...and not in a good way, during the campaign.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MS. NORRIS: I think we saw a very different side of it there.
MR. GREGORY: This helps. All right, we're going to leave it there. Thank you all very much.
And up next, our MEET THE PRESS Minute: Remembering Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS newsman who died this week at the age of 92.
(Announcements)
MR. GREGORY: And in our MEET THE PRESS Minute this morning, he was known as the most trusted man in America. For decades, Walter Cronkite delivered the news to millions and told it "the way it is." He was one of the first reporters on the battlefield in World War II, announced to the country that the first man had landed on the moon, concluded the war in Vietnam could not be won and broke the news that a young president had been assassinated.
(Videotape)
MR. CRONKITE: The flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1 PM Central Standard Time.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Thirty-five years after that fateful day, Cronkite appeared right here on MEET THE PRESS to reflect on the significance of that moment to the nation and to him personally.
(Videotape, November 22, 1998)
MR. CRONKITE: It was a terrible, a terrible time. The--for me, the, the--as we reporters do, our adrenaline pumps and you're concerned with covering the story for a while; but then the emotional aspect of it hit me when I had to say that the president was dead.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Walter Cronkite died this week at the age of 92. His family and all his friends and colleagues at CBS News are in our thoughts and prayers.
(Announcements)
MR. GREGORY: As a reminder, the rebroadcast of MEET THE PRESS now airs on MSNBC every Sunday afternoon at 2 PM Eastern time, 2 PM Eastern, in place of our usual 5 PM reair.
That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's MEET THE PRESS.
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