Transcripts For CNNW Crossfire 20140130

0 >> what we've done is to gather together 300 companies, just to start with, including some of the top 50 companies in the country, companies like walmart and apple and ford and others, to say, let's establish best practices. do not screen people out of the hiring process just because they've been out of work for a long time. >> so if you're a new college or high school graduate, you're out of luck because the president's bias, you now have to wait a year and a half until you're among the long-term unemployed to get a job. you know, donna, fact is he's tryingmicks because he won't go back to really trying to help the economy grow so everybody can have a job. >> businesses have created over 8 million jobs, 2.2 million in the last year alone. i think the economy is moving. we've just got to get the republicans out of the way so we can get things moving along. let's talk about giving the american people a raise. amy, over 80% of the american people support giving the american people a raise. $10.10 an hour. are you supportive of that initiative? and if so, what will you do to help the president get this initiative under way? >> well, this is the thing, donna, we're playing political small ball here. why don't we focus on the big issue? and that is putting people back to work. getting the economy going. i disagree with you that the economy's doing good on all these jobs. they're part-time jobs. obama care is the biggest job killer. here you're trying to increase the minimum wage. we're talking about minimums here. why don't we talk about the american dream and opportunity and, you know, put forth some policies that washington, everybody can get behind and businesses will have confidence in washington again and they'll invest in their companies and they'll create jobs? it is not the president tore federal government's responsibility to create jobs and increase the minimum wage and do all these little gimmicks like -- >> the studies show that raising the minimum wage will boost the economy, will lift millions of americans out of poverty. >> that will cost jobs. >> what jobs will it cost? >> it will cost jobs -- >> when it will bring more people back into the workforce and give people a living wage. >> how is it going to bring more people back into the workforce increasing the minimum wage? it is going to -- we already have the highest corporate tax rate or one of them in the world, and we need to be creating incentives for businesses to come here. not for businesses to go elsewhere. not for people to get laid off from their jobs because small businesses can't afford to pay this increase in minimum wage. >> let me ask you a question. a lot of people like to argue that the tea parties have various problem, but i was fascinated today, for example, when the president went to waukesha, the governor happened to go to a minus 11-degree lacrosse wisconsin so she wasn't at the state of the union. you had a whole series of democrats have indicated that they don't want the president to come to their state or they didn't show up when the president came to their state. for example, we have burke, udall, begich, hagen, he flew down with him then hid when he came to new orleans. aren't you seeing the beginning of the not-obama wing of the party as they try to maneuver for the election and that that further weakens him. >> i actually saw the president speaking to issues that unite democrats but also unite independents and also attracts a lot of republicans, which is economic opportunity for all americans. and i think if you look at the senate races in the past, it's not really dependent on the president's number, although i think the president did a lot of work on tuesday to shore up his numbers and the party's numbers. >> if he has all of these unifying issues, why are they trotting away from him? >> i think you'll see more and more democrats coming towards him. i think donna's arguments about the minimum wage are really important ones. i think tuesday was really about expanding economic growth, expanding opportunity for all americans, minimum wage is an important part of that. it's an issue that divides republicans, divides very conservative members of the republican caucus against more moderate ones because i think people recognize in this economy it is unfair, it is basically unfair to work 40 hours and live in poverty. and we know -- and we know that -- we know that we have demand problem in this economy. people don't have enough income and that we need to increase that. >> but politically you think it's okay to be the lone ranger in the fifth year of your presidency? >> i don't see the president as a lone ranger. >> i want to say -- i want to say if they're all coming together to support the president, today henry waxman announced that he's retiring, he's not going to run. why are all these democrats announcing retirement? because they can't support the president. >> waxman's seat i think is going to be pretty safe. i don't know if l.a. -- >> they cannot defend these policies. they're running from this economy, they're running from obama care. >> there are republicans who decide to step down, republicans would be in a position to be a leader in the house if they are able to -- >> does anyone want that job, i wouldn't. >> with all due respect, i think you're seeing the republicans moderate their language in the caucus states, talking about immigration reform and shying away from the fight on the debt ceiling, a fight that the tea party strongly pushed them to make, which was a disaster for them politically and they're not going to do it again. >> but i wanted to get back to your point about the minimum wage because there was a study about i the chicago reserve that stated if you increased the minimum wage to $9, $10. it will boost the economy by 48 million the next year. that means more consumer spending and that means more jobs will be created. let me ask you a question because i listened to all the tea party and the republican responses. you know, they had four rebuttals including one in spanish and i listened to that one as well. let me show you what senator mike lee, who i believe you heard his rebuttal. he had a lot of things that he stated that he agrees with in terms of the president. look at these proposals. tax reform, investment in higher education, jobs training. is the real reason you can't get behind president obama is that you don't like president obama but i like these policies? because president obama is talking about tax reform and job training. >> this is the thing is that he has been nothing but a divider. when you talk about the minimum wage in extending unemployment benefits, in immigration, his legacy, at this point, he's concerned about his legacy because obama care has been an abysmal failure. and so he wants to push through immigration reform. the state of the union was nothing more than a fluffy campaign speech with buzz words. >> all the things that you -- >> here's the thing. >> but you agree with the president on these issues. job training. we all agree that will help the american people. >> yes. >> tax reform that will help the american people. investment in higher education, that will help. why not just support those policies and forget about the next election? >> well, first of all, i'm not going to forget about the next election and i don't thing many people are because there's no one that's created more gridlock in washington than harry reid. the republicans need to take back the senate so we can get some things passed and send them to the president. let's take back the senate. no matter what the house pass, harry reid doesn't bring to it the floor. donna, this is the thing. every american should be concerned about that. and the reason why is because they work for us. we elect them. we're their employers. >> do you real the bill that he passed this spring -- >> harry reid does not even bring it to the floor for a debate much less an up or down vote. that's not doing the business of the american people. >> look, there's no question that harry reid, just like john boehner, will not bring votes to the floor, bills to the floor unless they have the votes. did you hear what the republicans passed this week? >> the farm bill. >> no. yeah, they passed that, but also the abortion bill. is that a priority to the american people? why not pass job training and things that help grow the economy and get people back to work. >> let me stay on harry reid for a second. >> your favorite democrat. >> well, just because the point that i think you've just been making, harry reid announced he's going to block the president's request for fast track negotiating ability, and so not only do you have the democrats who are running for re-election running from the president, you have the senate majority leader saying you ain't going to get this. isn't that a further decay of the presidency? >> i think senator reid has been a stalwart champion of the president's agenda and also has been a very effective leader on behalf of the democrats. i would say the democrats can also look at a bunch of issue, immigration reform is a perfect example of it was passed, passed the senate, bipartisan, very strong bipartisan support. a lot of republicans supported that bill. and have we even had a hearing in the house yet? that's an issue. i mean, there hasn't been significant action of any -- there's not been a single bill that's been to the floor. >> why do we need to pass a new immigration law when this administration will not enforce the laws that we have right now? >> we're about to get on board. next we have more from president obama's exclusive interview with cnn's jake tapper. i'll ask my tea party friend if she feels like her fellow republicans are selling her out. stay tuned. 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