CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript

Interview

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BLITZER: Ed, stand by. Thanks very much.

Let's dig deeper on this and a lot more with Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York. He's joining us along with senior political analyst Gloria Borger and chief political correspondent Candy Crowley who is host of "STATE OF THE UNION," which airs Sunday mornings.

Congressman Weiner, I know you are bitterly disappointed at the president's willingness to go forward with this deal that he brokered with the Republican leadership, but take us behind the scenes. What happened today, the Democratic caucus in the House voting not even to take up this measure on the House floor in the lame duck session?

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: Well, first of all, to a person in that caucus, you have a group of people who very much want the president to be successful, who want to help him move forward, but who believe that the deal was struck that just wasn't very good. It didn't reflect the best we could get, and it does not reflect Democratic values and frankly, does not even reflect where the American people are.

So with all of the changes that we need to make, I mean, we have an obligation. We want him to be a successful president, of course, but we also have obligations to the constituents and to our districts. And so one by one, people stood up with suggestions on how the bill -- on how the package can be approved and now we're going to go to work on trying to do that. BLITZER: But you know, the president keeps saying, as Bill Clinton used to say, you can't let the perfect be the enemy of good, you got to compromise.

Listen to what he said. I will play this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a big diverse country, not everybody agrees with us. I know that shocks people. You know, "The New York Times" editorial page does not permeate across all of America; neither does "The Wall Street Journal" editorial page.

Most Americans, they are just trying to figure out how to go about their lives and how can we make sure that our elected officials are looking out for us. And that means because it is a big diverse country and people have complicated positions, it means that in order to get stuff done, we're going to compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Well what's wrong with that thinking, Congressman?

WEINER: It's 100 percent right. I mean, compromise is part of how governing happens.

But two steps happen before the compromise. One is you forcefully state your position, the second is you campaign hard to get it done, and then, yes, there are oftentimes you do have to compromise. We missed steps one and two here, and I think that's the critique.

And also, just because you strike a compromise does not mean it is a good one. It does not mean that you are immune to criticism if you do something that is, frankly, is not in the best interest of the American people. And that is why you have a Congress -- we count as well.

And I think that's why, when you see so many of the Congress who have concerns about this, one of the things that the White House can do is to say, listen, these are people who want success also, they're smart people, maybe they can offer us something. And that's what we're going to do now, we're going to try to improve upon the deal.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Congressman, it is Candy Crowley.

I wanted to read something that one of your colleagues, Dan Boren of Oklahoma, had to say. He, a member of your caucus. Quote, "We are allowing the liberal wing of the Democratic caucus to hold these critically need tax cuts hostage."

Are you prepared, in fact, to leave Congress without any kind of tax cut if it means that you would have to -- tax cut extension if it means that you would have to accept extensions for everyone? WEINER: I believe that compromise means that sometimes you have the give things, but I also believe that we have the benefit and the president has the benefit that the things he wants to do are very popular. Tax cuts for the middle class, unemployment insurance and the like, these are the popular things. Things we've added on are, frankly, unpopular with the American people.

I am not --

CROWLEY: But the question, Congressman, if I could, the question is, will you leave, you and your fellow Democrats, leave for Christmas break until the next session of Congress without extending those tax cuts if you have to in order to get those tax cut extensions accept them for everyone? Will you just walk away from it?

WEINER: No. We are committed to getting the tax cuts for the middle class and those struggling to make it. We are committed to extending unemployment insurance. We're committed to doing all of that in the next two weeks.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: So, this is Gloria Borger, Congressman, joining in the questioning.

Do you believe that President Obama sold you out?

WEINER: I don't think he sold us out, I just don't think he made a very good deal.

BORGER: And so, if it comes back to the table, Republican says, to follow up on Candy, Republicans say, we're not going to vote for anything that doesn't also include these tax cuts for the wealthy, which by the way are $95 billion of this whole cut package, you will walk away from it?

WEINER: Well, it is $95 billion not including the estate tax. But --

(CROSSTALK)

WEINER: But hold on, let me answer your question.

You know, it's funny how everything is couched in, well, the Republicans won't go along if dot, dot, dot. Well you know what? There are other people in Congress. We control the House, the Senate and the presidency right now.

BORGER: But they will control when they come back.

WEINER: Well, I understand, but let me answer your questions, let me answer your question.

You know, we control the House, the Senate and the presidency right now. We should be driving a very hard forceful bargain and trying to rally the American people to our side.

But our intention is to change this package but to get tax cuts for the middle class, unemployment insurance extended and do it all within the next two weeks.

BLITZER: I don't know, Congressman, if you saw this analysis that was in "The Washington Post" by one of their writers, Ezra Kline, who pointed out that of the $800 or $900 billion that this deal will cost in terms of the lower revenue for the Treasury, most of it goes to the middle class.

I mean the Republicans, they did get $95 billion for the tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year, $30 billion for the estate tax cuts, that's $125 billion, but look at what the Democrats got. They got $120 billion in payroll tax cuts, $40 billion in refundable tax credits, $56 billion in unemployment insurance, $30 billion to $180 billion -- that's an estimate -- in the business tax incentives, that's either $246 to $396 billion, and another $300 or $400 billion for something that everyone supports, continuing the tax break for the middle class.

It looks like the Democrats got a better deal than the Republicans?

WEINER: This isn't about Democrats and Republicans, this is about 97 percent of the American people are on the side of what I've been describing and advocating, what the --

BLITZER: Well, you can't get everything, Congressman --

WEINER: Hold on, hold on, hold on.

BLITZER: -- you got to make a deal sometimes.

WEINER: No, but hold on. Remember now, you have 97 percent of the American people on one side of the ledger and 3 percent on the other side. The president, the Congress representing the 97 percent, and you are saying, yes, the 3 percent, but I am saying that the 3 percent got too much.

BLITZER: But look what happened -- look what happened on November 2nd at the elections, Congressman. The American people repudiated the Democrats, especially in the House, big time.

WEINER: I want to tell you something, it was not over this issue. I think we should have engaged this issue. And this was one place I agree with some of the critics of Congress, we should have engaged this issue. But so should have the president --

BORGER: Why didn't you vote on it then?

WEINER: Hold on, hold on, hold on, let me do one thought at a time.

The president should have done what past presidents have done when they're trying to get things like this done. You remember, Wolf, when President Reagan took on Tip O'Neill and a 65-seat majority in the House of Representatives the Democrats had, got what he wanted cause he made a campaign out of it. He made it clear to the American people what it meant, he fought for it. And that's the type of campaign we should have had.

BLITZER: So you're saying that this president is incompetent, is that what you're saying?

WEINER: You know, I think I'm saying what I am saying. I don't know why you keep saying well what it is I'm saying.

BLITZER: Well, go ahead, cause --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- it sounds like you think he blinked and he could not negotiate a good deal?

WEINER: No, I'm saying that he didn't and I'm saying that he can still and he should. But this -- I'm not saying he is incompetent, I want him to be a success and I think he can be.

I think the critique I do make is that I don't think that the president realizes the power that he possesses to be able to move the meter on the votes that we have. We don't have votes that are static things, we don't have a number of votes that stay still.

If the president of the United States truly tries to do something, he can do it, and I will give you a case in point. Right now, the approval for this deal is creeping up and up, why? Because he is going out and selling it. As bad as it is, he is going out and selling it.

And I am saying is what he should take that same force and say, you know what, we made some mistakes here, I'm going to accept what the House of Representatives is proposing and fight for that and make it happen.

CROWLEY: Congressman, I am assuming that a lot of what you want, all of the things that Wolf just read to you are in this package. Tell me what would make it palpable to you. This package, what do you want out of it that when then make it so it had your yes vote?

WEINER: What do I -- well, I'm not going to negotiate now, because I think a lot of the members of the caucus are going to bring forward other ideas.

I think the estate tax is particularly odious. It is more generous even than the Republicans were proposing. I think that it affects, literally, 32,000 families in the country and costs an enormous amount of money. That's particularly odious.

BORGER: What does this tell you about President Obama if anything, Congressman, about how he is going to behave in the next two years as he deals with the Republican House and strengthened Republican caucus in the Senate?

WEINER: I think that's a great question.

Look, one of our great concerns as a caucus is that this is -- this is a harbinger. That we need to make sure that we, as Democrats, fight very hard for the American people, for the middle class and those struggling to make it. And we have to even -- and knowing that we might lose some fights, but we have to make them. And I think that one of the things that I heard on the Democratic caucus over the last couple of days is we need to do a much better job at doing that.

So I hope that what it tells us is that the president is going to learn is that we, his allies, are prepared to fight right alongside with him for success here if he only gives us the chance to do that.

BLITZER: On the -- with the notion that it takes two to tango, it not only the House of Representatives, Congressman, it takes the U.S. Senate. Look what is going on in the Senate right now, Congressman. They could not bring up this vote to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," they could not bring up the vote to try to pass, what you passed in the House of Representatives, the DREAM Act that would allow thousands and thousands of young kids who were brought here illegally to get citizenship by going to college or serving in the United States military, and a subject so close to your heart, compensation for 9/11 first responders. You have been working so hard on this in the House of Representatives, they couldn't even bring it up in the Senate today.

It must be so frustrating to you to see what is going on. And I got to tell you, it is only going to get worse when the new Congress convenes in January?

WEINER: Well, thanks for cheering me up, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

WEINER: Look, I'll sell it -- I'll tell you this, when people say, oh, Congressman, how come you didn't bring up this vote on the tax rate back in August or September, well, you know, Ben Franklin said that the Senate was the cooling sauce of democracy, it's been like a meat locker over there, everything goes there to die.

It is a real problem. The Senate has become a minority-rule body and that is truly troubling. And I just hope on the one issue, on the 9/11 first responders that some partisanship can be set aside even for a moment so this can get done.

But I have to tell you, why should we think it is going to get any different in the future? If all it takes is a bunch of senators writing a letter saying, I'm not going to do any work until you do A, B or C, if the president kind of acquiesced to that without much of a fight, it is just going to encourage that behavior later on.

BLITZER: I'll tell you this, Congressman, and you know this as well as I do or as well as anyone knows this, if the Republicans do well next time around and become the majority in the United States Senate which is certainly possible, it's certainly possible, that filibuster rule, you will be happy that you have it. The Democrats will use it as the Republicans have been using it right now. It's been going back a long time and something, I guess, the Senate and the country is going to have to live with. WEINER: Perhaps. And I hope you don't accuse me of being inconsistent when I support it when it's in that case. But I hope it never reaches -- hope it never reaches that place.

Look, but let's remember what this is about. This isn't about rules in the House or rules in the Senate, let's focus on what is best for the American people. And I fundamentally believe that adding $50 billion or $60 billion to the deficit to give exemptions to the super rich who are passing along estates doesn't make a lot of sense.

And trying to make sure that the middle class and those struggling to make it are successful is what the president campaigned on and what we want him to do. And I know that a lot of folks at the White House are saying, boy, why are the people on the left being so harsh on us. We want him to succeed. Unlike Mitch McConnell and his people who want him to fail when they make their critique, we are eager fight right alongside him. He's going to be a two-term president because he's going to get this right with our help.

BLITZER: We'll leave it on that note.

But I just want to be precise once again, what the Republicans got out of this $900 billion deal, about $125 billion for the wealthy -- the tax cuts for the wealthy, the estate tax, that's about $125 billion -- the Democrats got about $750 billion of what they wanted, so it is obviously --

WEINER: Yes, but you're making one math mistake. What we want impacts 97 percent of the American people.

BLITZER: It's a fair point.

WEINER: So it should be 97 percent of the deal.

BLITZER: But sometimes you got to accept something you don't like in order to make a deal. That is the nature of compromise, the nature of the negotiations.

WEINER: All right. Well, tell the 97 percent of the American people that.

BLITZER: Just trying to be a factual kind of guy.

WEINER: I appreciate that. Thank you.

BLITZER: Hey, Congressman, you're a good person for coming into THE SITUATION ROOM, thanks very much.

WEINER: It's my pleasure.

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