MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Government Shutdown and ACA

Interview

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REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D) FLORIDA: Thanks. Hello to you both.

SCHULTZ: Senator, you first. Do you expect anything productive to come out of the president`s meeting with leadership the way both sides have dug in on this?

BOXER: I can always hope for the best. I think it`s the Republicans decide that what they`ve done is wrong, that they`ve actually laid of 800,000 working people that that is going to have a terrible impact not only those people but on the community that they`re turning away kids who were dying of cancer and they can`t into clinical trials if they understand what`s happening in small business that rely on tourism from the parks, we have the Yosemite, if they realize what they have done, and if John Boehner starts to feel emotion, remember he always used to cry in feel emotion.

SCHULTZ: Oh yeah.

BOXER: . that was good, I like that, I like when a men feels emotion. Where`s the emotion for all of this? It`s as if all they care about is stopping millions of people from getting health care, they will not accept this election if they have a change of heart Ed, this is the great news.

All they have to do is pick up and pass the bill that the United States Senate passed. It`s sitting right over there. I know Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz wants to see this happen. We open up this government and then we sit and talk.

SCHULTZ: Yes. And, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, why doesn`t John Boehner do this? I can`t get an answer from anybody. Why does did he just bring it to the floor? Where`s the lost for them because they`re playing with sequester numbers, they can always comeback and fight another day, they have chosen to hurt Americans to get that to make point. That`s the key here. Why won`t he bring it to the floor for vote?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: They absolutely have chosen deliberately to hurt Americans. And, the reason that he won`t bring it to the floor for a vote is because he has made an affirmative decision to let his Tea Party hard- liners, the extremes in the Tea Party run the show. I mean, he`s essentially decided, you know what? It doesn`t matter that I have the title of speaker. That`s really kind of all he has left, and he wants
desperately to hold on to that authority, but have given it over to this hardcore group of Tea Party extremist.

Now, Senator Boxer is absolutely right, all that have to happen. Speaker Boehner even now knows because about 20 republican members have publicly said that they would vote for a clean continuing funding resolution, if it`s come on the floor. All John Boehner has to do is grow some courage and put that bill on the floor and allow the whole house to vote on it. We can send it to the senate, the senate can send it to the president and we can reopen the government and stop hurting .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: . women and children who need nutritions, stops -- making sure the little kids can go back for their head start programs. Make sure that cancer patients can participate in clinical trials at the NIH. This is just offensive and immoral.

SCHULTZ: Senator, how long do you think this is going to last? Or is the date of the death ceiling and this continuing resolution going to merge and this is going to go on for number of weeks.

BOXER: I`m very worried because, unless Speaker Boehner relents and brings before the house the clean funding resolution, then this thing could go on and on. And I urge the American people whether you`re democratic, republican, independent, whatever stripe you are, wherever you live, this is not the way to run the country of the greatest nation on earth. We cannot go from crisis to crisis.

SCHULTZ: He says the American people are on his side?

BOXER: Well, that is just made up, that is made up.

WASSERMAN SHULTZ: Yes, absolutely.

BOXER: I want to tell you something. Do you know Ed, yesterday we had 5 million hits on coveredcalifornia.com. We have 5 million hits.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BOXER: We have millions of people that want to sign up for health care. This is why they`re shutting down the government in order to stop our people, their people, their constituents from having hope. You`ve been all over the nation at these health cares, people are struggling and suffering.

SCHULTZ: I tell you .

BOXER: I`m going to fix (ph) all that and that`s what they can`t take.

SCHULTZ: I don`t know how you can go to one of those clinics and not be emotionally touched by what some Americans go through. It is absolutely mind-boggling the actions of the republicans right now. Debbie, what about this fairness angle that the republicans are playing? What`s your response to that?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: You know, my response to that and democrats response,
and the health incentive as well as President Obama is that what is fair is to do what we have always done throughout American history. When you have legislation that has the majority of the house representatives and the majority of the senate, you put it on the floor, you let us vote on it and then we send it to the president. That`s fairness. What isn`t fairness is denying and holding the economy hostage, a 150 million people in this country .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: . like me who have a preexisting condition. As a breast cancer survivor, you know, what the republican are doing is trying to deny, but women like me, the opportunity to make sure that we can have the piece of mind that an insurance company can never drop us or deny as coverage. And they`re willing to damage the economy, deny children nutrition, keep kids home from head start programs .

SCHULTZ: Sure.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: . hurt cancer patient. It`s just -- it`s stunning.

SCHULTZ: And I want to .

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: . and irresponsible.

SCHULTZ: I want to hear from both of you on this. How determined are the democrats to hold the line? There`s no more negotiations. I mean, I think that`s what liberals in this country want to hear right now, that this is it. This is the firewall. Senator?

BOXER: Well, I can report to you that we are going to continue saying the following thing. We pass the healthcare law three and a half years ago. Republicans, you better just understand that you don`t get to pick and choose the laws you want to make sure go forward. It is the democratic process, accept this. Accept this president. Let`s get this government running. Let`s pay our debts, that`s our job and move on. And that`s what we going to say.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, tell me about the result.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: The result, we have nerves of steel. We are not going to let the Republicans hold millions of Americans healthcare hostage. We are not going to allow them to try to reverse the outcome of an election. And you know what as we -- like we have for more than 200 years we experience some kinks with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, let`s put down together and work those out. That`s what we need to do.

SCHULTZ: Those are good kinks. Those are good glitches. Those are good things. You know, you open up a restaurant and some people get turned away. You open up again tomorrow, you know, that goes on for six months and amazes me at a mainstream media has just focus on the negative. What if only a hundred thousand people would go into the website yesterday, be (ph) saying nobody wanted that, it`s just amazing. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and also Senator Barbara Boxer, great to have both of you with us tonight.

BOXER: Thank you.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thanks Ed.

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