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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

President Obama Holds Press Conference; Obama Pledges to Reach Out to GOP

Aired November 5, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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


BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are more kids going to college? Is housing improved? Is the financial system more stable? Are younger kids getting a better education? Do we have greater energy independence? Is the environment cleaner? Have we done something about climate change? Have we dealt with an ongoing terrorist threat and helped to bring about stability around the world?

And -- and those things, every single day, I have got an opportunity to make a difference on those fronts, which is--

QUESTION: You're not satisfied--

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: -- you are now?

OBAMA: Absolutely not.

I wouldn't be satisfied as long as I'm meeting somebody who has -- doesn't have a job and wants one. I'm not going to be satisfied as long as there's a kid who writes me a letter who says I got $60,000 worth of debt and I don't know how to pay it back. And the American people aren't satisfied. So, I want to do everything I can to deliver for them.

QUESTION: And how about Democrats? The fact that they kept you out of the battleground states, did that kind of bug you a little bit?

OBAMA: Listen, as I think some of you saw when I was out on the campaign trail, I love campaigning. I love talking to ordinary people. I love listening to their stories.

I love shaking hands and getting hugs and just seeing the process of democracy and citizenship manifest itself during an election. But I'm also a practical guy. And, ultimately, every candidate out there had to make their own decisions about what they thought would be most helpful for them.

And, you know, I wanted to make sure that I'm respectful of their particular region, their particular state or congressional district. And if it was more helpful for them for me to be behind the scenes, I'm happy to do it. I don't have -- I will let other people analyze that.

But what I will emphasize is that one of the nice things about being in the sixth year of your presidency is, you have seen a lot of ups and downs, and you have gotten more than your fair share of attention. And, you know, I have had the limelight and I have -- there have been times where the request for my appearances were endless.

There have been times where, politically, we were down. And it all kind of evens out, which is why what's most important, I think, is keeping your eye on the ball, and that is, are you actually getting some good done?

Scott Horsley, last question.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

You mentioned that where your policies actually were on the ballot, they often did better than members of your party?

OBAMA: Yes.

QUESTION: Does that signal some shortcoming on your part or on the party's part in framing this election and communicating to the American people what it is that Democrats stand for?

OBAMA: You know, I do think that, you know, one area where I know we're constantly experimenting and trying to do better is just making sure that people know exactly what it is that we're trying to accomplish and what we have accomplished in clear ways that people can -- that understand how it affects them.

You know, I think the minimum wage, I talked a lot about it a lot on the campaign trail, but, you know, I'm not sure it penetrated well enough to make a difference.

Part of what I also think we have got to look at is the two-thirds of people who are eligible to vote who just didn't vote. You know, one of the things that I'm very proud of in 2008 and 2012, when I ran for office, was we got people involved who hadn't been involved before. We got folks to vote who hadn't voted before, particularly young people.

And that was part of the promise and the excitement was, if you get involved, if you participate, if you embrace that sense of citizenship, then things change, and not just in abstract ways. They change in concrete ways. Somebody gets a job who didn't have it before. Somebody gets health care who didn't have it before or a student is able to go to college who couldn't afford it before.

And sustaining that, especially in midterm elections, has proven difficult, sustaining that sense of, if you get involved, you know, then -- and if you vote, then there's going to be big change out there. And then, partly, I think, when they look to Washington and they say, nothing's working and it's not making a difference and there's just a constant slew of bad news coming over the TV screen, then you can understand how folks would get discouraged.

But it's my job to figure this out as best I can. And if the way we are talking about issues isn't working, then I'm going to try some different things. If the ways that we're approaching the Republicans in Congress isn't working, you know, I'm going to try different things, whether it's having a drink with Mitch McConnell or letting John Boehner beat me again at golf, or, you know, what -- or weekly press conferences.

I don't know if that would be effective. But, you know, whatever -- whatever I think might make a difference in this, I'm going to be trying out up until my last day in office.

But I will close with what I said in my opening statement. I am really optimistic about America. I know that runs counter to the current mood, but, when you look at the facts, our economy is stronger than just about anybody's. Our energy production is better than just about anybody's. We have slashed our deficit by more than half. More people have health insurance.

Our businesses have the strongest balance sheets that they have had in decades. Our young people are just incredibly talented and gifted, and more of them are graduating from high school and more of them are going on to college, and more women are getting degrees and entering into the work force.

And part of the reason I love campaigning is you travel around the country. Folks are just good. They're smart and they're hardworking, and they're not always paying a lot of attention to Washington. And, in some cases, they have given up on Washington. But their impulses are not sharply partisan, and their impulses are not ideological.

They're really practical, good, generous people. So -- and we continue to be the magnet for the best and brightest from all around the world. We have all the best cards, relative to every other country on earth. Our armed forces, you talk to them -- I had a chance this morning to just call some of the -- our health service that is operating in Liberia.

And the amount of hope and professionalism that they have brought has galvanized the entire country and has built -- they have built a platform effectively for other countries suddenly to start coming in, and we're seeing real progress in fighting the disease in a country that just a month or a month-and-a-half ago was desperate and had no hope.

So, all that makes me optimistic. And my job over the next couple of years is to do some practical, concrete things, as much as possible with Congress, where it's not possible with Congress, on my own, to show people why we should be confident and to give people a sense of progress and a sense of hope.

That doesn't mean there aren't going to be ongoing, nagging problems that are stubborn and can't be solved overnight. And probably the biggest one is the fact that, despite economic growth, wages and income have still not gone up. And that's a long-term trend that we have seen for 10, 20, 30 years.

And it makes people worried about not just their own situation, but whether their kids are going to be doing better than they did, which is the essence of the American dream. I think there are some concrete things we can do to make sure that wages and incomes do go up. Minimum wage in those five states was a good start.

But I think, you know, more than anything, what I want to communicate over these next two years is the promise and possibility of America. This is just an extraordinary country. And our democracy is messy, and we're diverse, and we're big. And there are times where you're a politician and you're disappointed with election results.

But maybe I'm just getting older. I don't know. It doesn't make me mopey. It energizes me, because it means that this democracy is working, and people in America were restless and impatient. And we want to get things done. And even when things are going good, we want them to do better.

And that's why this is the greatest country on earth. That's why I'm so privileged to have the chance to be president for the next couple of years.

All right? Thank you, everybody.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

That's President Obama walking out of the East Room. He spoke for roughly an hour and 13 minutes. He tried to convey optimism there at the end, after a brutal night for the Democratic Party at the polls, with Republicans winning over control of the Senate and expanding their majority in the House.

President Obama saying that he was willing to work with Republican leaders of Congress, though he was sure that they would send him bills that he would veto and he would take executive actions that they would oppose. He referred to what he thought the electorate went through that led to the decisions that they made at the voting booths yesterday, talking about how they see a constant stream of bad news on television and folks feel pretty discouraged, but he did say "I hear you" to the American people.

He said he was willing to try to do things differently and reach out to Republican leaders in Congress, try to deal with them and get to know them better socially. He referenced having a drink with the Senate majority leader, pending Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He talked about trying to talk about issues in a different way.

Let's go live now to CNN senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, who is inside the East Room.

Jim, four years ago, the president called it a shellacking. Four years before that, George W. Bush called it a thumping. Today, President Obama refusing to give it a name, saying only Republicans had a good night. What did you take from the press conference?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Well, Jake, he did break that streak of presidents assigning a name to their big losses in the midterm cycle. The president did not do that during this news conference, despite the fact that it went on for 90 minutes, and we all tried in different ways to get him to do that.

I think it was interesting. During a couple of occasions, Jake, the president was asked about taking executive action on immigration reform. The president reiterating he is going to do what he says he can do under the law between now and the end of the year, despite the fact that the Senate -- incoming majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said during that news conference earlier today that that was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

The president is going to damn the torpedoes. He's going to do it anyway, despite the fact that that might poison the well with a lot of Republicans up on Capitol Hill. Now, as for compromise and the prospects for compromise, the president, as you just mentioned, Jake, he's willing to have a drink with Mitch McConnell, willing to play golf with John Boehner.

But we have seen some of that before over the last six years, Jake. You saw it all too well over here at the White House. It didn't always materialize and in many cases it almost never materialized in any sort of lasting compromise.

I also think it was interesting, Jake, he tried time and again to not go back and really read the tea leaves as he put it about the election last night. But I tried to press him on that and why Democrats really rejected him out on the campaign trail, tried to keep him away from those key battleground states.

And he sort of repeated what his aides have said, which is they were leaving it up to the candidates to make up their own minds as to how to best run their operations. But, Jake, I noticed this and I think you have noticed this in recent speeches, the president sort of growing wistful about his final two years in office.

So, I wanted to ask him, does he feel like a lame-duck? What does he want to do in these next couple years? Does he satisfied? And the president saying at one point that these are going to busy -- that he's going to be busy over the next two years, Jake. I get the sense of this that this president doesn't want to stop being president right now.

He feels like he has got a lot to accomplish. The question is whether or not Washington is going to allow him to do that and whether he's mastered Washington well enough to do that on his own.

TAPPER: All right, Jim Acosta at the White House, thank you.

I want to bring in our political panel. Joining me, Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter, who has worked at the Obama White House, former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Republican strategist Kevin Madden.

Speaker Gingrich, let's start with you.

You were talking to Jay during -- during the break here. And you said that President Obama talking about he was still going to go ahead with these executive orders dealing with immigration was a declaration of war.

NEWT GINGRICH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think this was a very conflicted press conference.

He's saying, I'm going to talk with the Republicans, but, by the way, I'm going to punch them in the face as soon as I can. Every Republican, every conservative in the country will be enraged by this evening over the idea that the president of the United States by executive order is potentially going to change the -- the legal status of millions of people.

Now, that may seem like a very clever strategy to Democrats, but it is going to guarantee that the lame duck session will be a mess. It will guarantee that Boehner and McConnell will both say we don't have much to deal with you on. We don't trust you.

And it's very confusing. You can be Eisenhower after a big defeat in '58 and reach out and really work with the Democrats.

You can be Wilson after a big defeat in 1918 and say I don't care. He's chosen the Wilson line. Wilson destroyed the Democratic Party for 12 years by following that kind of line.

TAPPER: Stephanie, you're obviously eager to say something.

STEPHANIE CUTTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I was watching Mitch McConnell's press conference before the president came on and a couple of things that he said that I thought were declarations of war that he wants to take action on Obamacare, including repealing the individual mandate, which as you know basically repeals the entire law.

So, how is that not a declaration of war? And doesn't Mitch McConnell also have a responsibility to find ways to reach out and compromise?

GINGRICH: There's a huge difference. And the difference is, McConnell and the House together can pass and repeal an individual mandate. The president can veto it. That's the legitimate normal process. The president signs an executive order and attempts to change the status of 5 million or 6 million people.

CUTTER: That is also a legitimate process, ones that Republicans have used to a great degree in the past.

GINGRICH: But the correct to that under our constitution would be for the House and Senate to cut off all funding.

CUTTER: Well, another correct response would be for the House and Senate to actually take immigration seriously and pass something. This Congress has not any more serious about immigration than the previous Congress if you look at the makeup of it.

TAPPER: Let's bring Kevin -- KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: What I was struck by when

the president was asked the question do you recognize that you will be politicizing -- I'm sorry, poisoning the political environment by taking that action. The president's answer was very telling. He said, "I'm the president".

I find that very worrisome and I think everybody should because that's basically cold language saying, I don't really care. Now, that's a big problem that you had the electoral judgment that you had last night that the American people sent to Washington that they want to get something done, and the president has actually taken an action that goes directly -- flies directly in the face of the judgment that they just made.

CUTTER: There's one other way to look at that -- Jay, jump in here.

JAY CARNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure.

CUTTER: One other way to look at that is people last night said they were tired of nothing getting done including millions of Americans who have been waiting on action on immigration.

So, if Congress doesn't act, the president as president does have a responsibility to do that. That's another way of looking at that coin.

CARNEY: I agree with Speaker Gingrich that there is a risk to this, and I am sure that it was substantially discussed and debated internally in the White House. There is a huge risk to saying you're going to do something that you have been enormously patient in waiting to do, inviting again and again the Congress to take action so that you don't have to do it and then basically saying never mind. I think you enormously weaken yourself if don't -- if you make the choice not to follow through on your word.

Now, there is an opportunity in the way he proceeds. He's not going to sign an executive order tomorrow. He said he would do it by the end of the year. He invited Congress, the new Congress, the new leadership to take the new issue of immigration reform seriously and demonstrate that seriousness.

So, I don't think we've seen an ultimatum here. I think we've seen an indication from the president that he's not going to back away from that promise, and an indication from the new Senate majority leader that he would take that action very seriously.

GINGRICH: Look --

CARNEY: So I think there will be some action in the next weeks and months that will decide this.

GINGRICH: We'll know more about whether this is the beginning of a dance or an ultimatum, but I would point out the president on October 2nd at Northwestern said, "My policies are on the ballot." Now, I don't understand -- I understand the left wants to say people

voted against inaction. No. People voted again and again, in the U.S. Senate, in the House and governorships and state legislatures and Obama-ism was repudiated.

I mean, the vote last night, how could it have been more decisive than it has been? Largest number of state legislators in history are now Republican. More state legislative bodies will be Republican than ever before in history. Largest number of House members since 1928.

I mean, what does the country have to do to say to the president, we would like you to slow down?

CARNEY: I'm pretty sure similar commentary was heard after the midterms in 2010, and President Obama went on to become the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to win 50 percent in reelection, having won more than 50 percent the first time.

I don't think that these elections are that granular in their specificity about policy, because it certainly wasn't a vote -- it certainly wasn't a vote to embrace a Republican economic agenda that was wholly repudiated two years ago.

TAPPER: Jay, let me ask you -- do you think it was a mistake for mow other reason that this is all we're talking about? We're not talking about what are McConnell and Obama going to work on and President Obama certainly sounds like he's been humbled, but I'm optimistic about the country. I mean, we're talking about, is he going to wave the red flag in front of the bull as Mitch McConnell described it? Is that not politically, tactically --

CARNEY: I think it's risky and the calculation was made that it was also risky and riskier to basically declare that I didn't mean what I said and to declare yourself, you know, powerless to fulfill your constitutional responsibility, having been patient. I am not saying it's without risk and we're going to have to see how it plays out.

TAPPER: Kevin?

MADDEN: I think the interesting thing I found was the contrast between the two press conferences today. Senator McConnell who has wanted to be Senate majority leader for so long, he made it very clear that Republicans have an agenda and they're going to pass bills that they know that the president can ultimately sign that are going to achieve the goal of having to move the economy forward.

So I am just struck by -- again, I think McConnell summed it up accurately and this is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

CUTTER: I think we can find fault some the press conferences and some of the rhetoric that was used but I think that both sides --

MADDEN: One had an electoral judgment in favor of themselves.

CUTTER: Not in terms of their agenda, and if you don't take it from me -- (CROSSTALK)

CUTTER: -- take it from the stories this morning in the press where even Republican operatives were saying this is a referendum on Obama and not about their policies. There is no love affair for Republicans out there. Don't you agree with that? MADDEN: You have to be on the other planet and not get the message in

that.

TAPPER: I have to take a break right now. I want to thank Kevin Madden, Jay Carney, Speaker Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter thank you so much for being here.

Coming up, will they back down or double down with the GOP in control of both houses of Congress? Will it be more of the same in Washington? The plans top Republicans are already making, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

A crimson tide washed over the nation last night, one that will change the balance of power in Washington, D.C., potentially knock President Obama off his feet. You heard it here just minutes ago he spoke for the first time since the GOP in dominating fashion swept its way to victory in the Senate and the most definitive majority in the House since World War II giving Republicans total control of Capitol Hill for the rest of the Obama presidency.

The end result of last night's midterm elections is not much of a surprise, but the scale of the Republican success, the states that they picked up, the purples and blues that they turned red at least for now, that will have implications for every election from now on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice-over): Why is this guy smiling?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: Are you having a good time?

CROWD: Yes!

TAPPER: Well, it's because of the grand old thumping we all witnessed Republicans deliver to the Democrats last night.

(on camera): This is a Republican way. No other way to look at it.

(voice-over): Some voters had "Network's" Howard Beale anger.

HOWARD BEALE, "NETWORK": I am mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!

TAPPER: Others perceived the Obama administration's incompetence as seen in "Animal House".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remain calm!

TAPPER: Voters gave control of the U.S. Senate to the Republicans in a convincing way, putting Mitch McConnell in position to be the next Senate majority leader.

MCCONNELL: Tonight, they said we can have real change in Washington, real change, and that's just what I intend to deliver.

TAPPER: If that is his Tea Party colleagues cast their votes for him.

Republicans won in red states where they were expected to, such as Arkansas and West Virginia, and they won in places where the Barack Obama brand was born.

From the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the pig farms of Iowa.

JONI ERNST (R), IOWA SENATOR-ELECT: Let's make them squeal.

TAPPER: All told, Republicans took at least seven Senate seats as a red wave crashed down from the East Coast to the West. North Carolina, West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Montana.

In Arkansas, not only could that guy from the place called Hope, not save a seat for the Democrats, one of the managers of his impeachment is now governor. And not only did Republicans take control of the Senate, they beefed up their numbers in the House, plus the GOP increased their governorships, including shocking upsets in true blue Democrat-leaning states.

(on camera): This one is going to leave a mark. CNN now projecting that the Maryland governor will be Republican Larry Hogan.

(voice-over): It was a trailblazing night for Republicans and women. Joni Ernst, a combat veteran, became the first woman elected to represent Iowa in Congress ever. Shelley Moore Capito will be the first female senator from West Virginia ever. And in Utah, Mea Love, daughter of Haitian immigrants, will be the first black Republican woman ever in the House of Representatives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not only did we do it. We were the first to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: With last night's clear verdict, today marks the beginning of an all too familiar process in Washington. There will be reassessing and grand pronouncements, changing priorities, and renewed cooperation, even some doubling down of defeat and the charm offensive -- a fleeting attempt to rubble bows and act like friends despite bitter partisan disagreements like the time President Obama and John Boehner teed it up.

So, today, President Obama extended an olive branch or slid a drink down the bar to presumed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are you going to have that drink with Mitch McConnell now that you joked about it in the White House correspondents dinner?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, actually, I would enjoy having some Kentucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, I'm sure they'll have a spirited debate over whether to grab the Jim Beam or Knob Creek out of the White House liquor cabinet, but as the reporter Jon Karl referenced, President Obama circa 2013 mocked the idea of even sharing a nightcap with the Kentucky senator.