Preview of the President's Press Conference
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. We're waiting for tonight's presidential news conference as President Bush under tremendous pressure turns to the American public.</s>ZAHN (voice-over): Tonight, the president goes prime time to talk about shoring up Social Security and bringing down gas prices. With Iraq at the crossroads and his nominee stalled in Congress, Mr. Bush goes on the offensive.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of</s>PAULA ZAHN HOW: The Presidential News Conference. Live from Washington, here is Paula Zahn with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.</s>ZAHN: Welcome to our nation's capital. You're looking at the White House where something very rare will happen tonight. For only the fourth time President Bush is holding a primetime news conference. I'm here along with my colleague Wolf Blitzer who will give us his perspective -- that is -- on what the president is likely to say.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It should be exciting, Paula. We'll see what happens tonight. The news conference comes against a backdrop of dropping poll numbers and rising gas prices. It's been more than a year since George W. Bush held a formal question and answer session with reporters during prime time. That happened on April 13, 2004. He's taking the extraordinary step of facing reporters tonight in hopes of jump starting some of the stalled priorities for his second term.</s>ZAHN: Here's what we should be looking for tonight. The president will make a 10-minute opening statement. We expect Social Security be the first on his list. He's about to wrap up a 60-day campaign to sell his reform ideas. The polls show his sales pitch has fallen flat. Some polls showing him with a 10-point drop. So tonight we eggs expect a signal he's open to new ideas, perhaps tying future benefits to some kind of income test. But we also hear he isn't giving up on those controversial private savings accounts.</s>BLITZER: And Paula, we also expect the president to talk about the high gas prices. Polls showing they are hurting his approval ratings. We expect a big pitch for the president's energy plan tonight. It stalled in Congress right now. Has been for some time. And look for the president to tick off some highly controversial ideas: building more nuclear power plants, drilling in ANWR, the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and developing alternative fuel like hydrogen for our cars.</s>ZAHN: And then it's the reporters turn after all of that. When they finally get to ask some questions, look for some even more hot topics. The U.S. economy seems to be cooling, the stock markets are plummeting, violence is on the upswing in Iraq and it's elected officials are having a hard time forming a government. And then there are the president's stalled nominees for U.N. Ambassador and a half dozen or so appeals court judges. Senate Republicans are threatening to roll over Democratic opposition by changing the rules against filibusters. But so far the Democrats won't budge. It's getting pretty ugly up there on Capitol Hill. This exchange came just a few hours ago.</s>SEN. BILL FRIST, (R-TN) MAJORITY LEADER: Judicial nominees are being denied, justice is being denied. The solution is simple, allow the senators to do their job and vote.</s>SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV) MINORITY LEADER: I would say for a lack of a better description it's a big wet kiss to the far right.</s>ZAHN: So there is plenty of ground to cover. Lots of question to ask of the president tonight.</s>BLITZER: Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is standing by. She is going to be asking at least one question we anticipate. Suzanne, give us a little preview of what we can expect?</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We expect quite a lot of questions. And as you know, of course, this rare press conference underscores the importance of President Bush's issues that he'll be talking about: reforming Social Security as well as his energy plan. As you know, of course, he's been on the 60-day campaign trying to sell his Social Security plan -- the creation of private investment accounts. Has not been able to sell it to the majority of Americans. But Republican officials have told us a bit about what the president is going to say. He's going to give more details. He's going to endorse a plan, the Posen Plan it is called. That is essentially progressive indexing. What that means on the simplest level is low income workers, the formula for their benefits will remain the same. It is based on wages. Higher income workers, however, their formula for benefits is going to change. It is going to be based on inflation. Those who fall somewhere in between. It will be based on wages and inflation. The bottom line here is that the people who are going to pay the highest price are going to be the high income workers. The lower income workers are not going to suffer as much. Who supports this plan, obviously, the president does. His adviser Karl Rove does and many moderate Republicans. But I have already spoken with some Democratic sources who say this is not going to fly in Congress. And that is because the president is not willing to give up that one issue and that is creating those private accounts. Those investment accounts as a part of the Social Security formula. Now, the president, of course, also is going to be talking about his energy plan. As you know, Wolf, Paula, very frustrating for this president. It has languished in Congress over the last four years. It was just yesterday, he came up with new proposals to try to actually build refineries in some of the military bases that have closed. Very questionable whether or not that is going to happen. And of course, he's trying to get the Saudis to boost their oil production -- Wolf, Paula.</s>ZAHN: Suzanne Malveaux, Thanks. It's interesting to note that this news conference was going to get underway at 8:30. It was moved up a half hour after some pretty tense negotiations with the broadcast networks who are starting their new sweeps season. And henceforth we should be looking at the start of this just about 20 minutes or so.</s>BLITZER: It was going to start at 8:30. It's going to start, though, at 8:00. Let's get a little assessment now. The president's Social Security reform plans would affect all of us. And the answer is depends on how old we are right now. The polls show that the older you are, the odds are the less you will like it. So the president needs to pull off a big sales job tonight. Our chief national correspondent John King is with us. John, give us a little sense of the challenge this president has tonight.</s>JOHN KING, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we've already made clear, this president is not a fan of these events. He seems to be warming to them a little bit in his second term. But he doesn't like the news conference. Presidents don't do this when they are winning. They do it to use the strength when they are losing debates. So, the president wants to reshape the debate tonight beginning with Social Security.</s>KING (voice-over): The president hopes a few new ideas and a prime time platform gives a boost for a Social Security pitch that so far is falling flat.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's a time for a tourniquet. I think this is time to again show the American people the strength of leadership which is what they want in the election last year.</s>KING: The East Room event comes at the end of an aggressive, but on the surface, largely ineffective 60-day White House push. 52 percent of Americans approved of the president's Social Security plan two months ago, 60 percent disapprove now according to a new Marist poll. The urgent challenge tonight is to reframe the debate and move it beyond the overwhelming focus on the controversial idea of allowing private investment accounts as part of Social Security.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He needs to hit a home run with the America people in the first ten minutes when he is speaking to them directly, not on the media's agenda, but on his agenda.</s>KING: The president calls it a generational issue. And he tailors his pitch, because how his plan works depends on how old you are.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Telling younger workers they have to save money in a 1930's retirement system is like telling them they have to use a cell phone with a rotary dial.</s>KING: Funny maybe, but not effective, at least not yet. Even though Mr. Bush said younger workers would benefit most from the new private investment accounts he favors, 50 percent of those under 30 disapprove. And among those 31 to 44, 57 percent disapprove of the Bush plan.</s>BUSH: You will get your check. I don't care what the TV ads say. I don't care what the propaganda say. You are going to get your check.</s>KING: The president's message to older Americans, don't worry, for you, nothing will change.</s>BUSH: If you have retired, if you are born prior to 1950, the system will take care of you.</s>KING: But 68 percent of those 60 and older disapprove of the president's plan. And he must soften their opposition if he is to make any headway of the Congress wary of angering the nation's most dependable voting bloc.</s>BLITZER: And John, the president doesn't only have a problem with Democrats, all the Democrats, almost all of them, but he's got a problem with a lot of Republicans when it comes to Social Security.</s>KING: He does. Compare this to the tax debate in the first term -- the tax cut debate, when all the Republicans were all over the country saying the president is right. The Republicans are not doing it this time, because they're nervous about Social Security. This is a classic glass half empty, half full night. The Democrats would the president is losing this argument, even some Republicans say is glass is more than half empty if you will, or more than half empty. The president, though, believes he has convinced the American people are more of a problem. Tonight he tries to pivot to the debate to the debate about the solutions.</s>ZAHN: John King, thanks so much. Joining us now Democratic strategist and "CROSSFIRE" co-host Paul Begala and CNN contributor and former Pentagon spokesman Victoria Clarke. Good to see both of you. So Tori, given the fact that the president's poll numbers have dropped ten points since he's been aggressively going around the country trying to sell the program, realistically, what does he hope he can accomplish tonight in this venue, which even he admits isn't his favorite place to be hanging out?</s>VICTORIA CLARKE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I don't think it would be anybody's favorite place to hang out. I think he is trying to underscore the importance of fundamental reform. And you have got to understand, this is not a fellow who became president to win a popularity contest. He's less concerned about poll numbers, he's more concerned about the fact that he's put forward proposals. You may not love every aspect of them, but he's put forward proposals, fundamental reforms for important parts of the economy. And he's getting back from the Democrats largely, sort of passive denial, just a refusal to deal with it at all. So, I think he is trying to elevate the debate and the discussion. And really get people engaged in a meaningful way, not just talking about poll numbers.</s>ZAHN: So, Paul, a bunch of Democrats have told me today, they are fearful the president will back them in the corner tonight and say, look, you may not like my plan but at least I have a plan.</s>BEGALA: A valid point, and I expect the president to make that. One strategist for the president actually told me, their strategy all along on Social Security was, and, his words, "create the crisis that compels the change." And, I think Tori's right: the president made a case that there's, at least, problems. People don't think there's a crisis, but people believe something needs to be done. I think the president will probably lay out that case again today. The problem is, he's also laid out it is for his solution to the problem -- these private accounts we have been talking about -- and by two-to-one, people don't like them. I think he will make a good point to the Democrats, and I think should listen to him when he says, well, what's your plan? I suspect the Democrats will come back with a plan for retirement security, but right now, it's all about the president. He's the one who brought this issue up. He's the one who is on point, and he is spending down that political capital. I differ a little with Tori in that I know he doesn't live by the polls, or he says that, but the currency of political capital that the president talks about so often is popular support. And popular support is waning now, in part because of the Social Security plan.</s>ZAHN: But, Paul, can't he make the argument that at least he has gotten Congress to talk about this issue?</s>BEGALA: Sure. Sure, as Hillary and Bill Clinton could have with healthcare. But they still lost and they wound up losing the Congress. People didn't like the plan that my old boss, Bill Clinton, and his wife, put forward, and so we lost. People don't like the plan President Bush has put forward. I admire him for the boldness of the plan, but there's a difference between boldness and wisdom, and I think the American people -- you know, there've been 600 town hall meetings on this. The president is a very able campaigner. My goodness, my party's learned that in the last election. But he's unable to make this case. It may be because people just don't want it, and I guess, if I were advising him, I would certainly encourage this press conference, but also I'd suggest some new ideas.</s>ZAHN: So, Tori, what do you think is the greatest risk for the president tonight? He has a lot of pressure on him.</s>CLARKE: I don't think there's a lot of risk, because, you can't beat something with nothing. The president has put forward a plan. Sure, people have some problems with them, but it will be welcome relief if the Congress -- if the Democrats -- do come forward with some other ideas. So far they have not. They've been in just a classic case of denial. One of the interesting poll numbers that you don't see thrown up on the screens that often is that people increasingly are aware of the fact we should deal with Social Security now, not 10 or 15 or 20 years from now. That's an important shift in public opinion, and I agree with Paul. I think what the president needs to do tonight is start to shift this forward to, OK, what are we going to do about it? You've heard my ideas. I'm changing them, adapting them. Let's hear yours from Congress. It's about shared responsibility.</s>ZAHN: Tori and Paul, please stay right there. We're going to come to you throughout our special coverage. As we said, the president, expected to turn up the heat on U.S. senators tonight. In a minute we'll be joined by senators from both parties.</s>BLITZER: Welcome back. We're counting down to President Bush's prime time news conference. One of his top tasks, to sell the American public on his plan to try to reform Social Security. Joining us now, from Capitol Hill, two key players in that debate: Iowa Republican Charles Grassley -- he's the chairman of the Finance Committee -- and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin. Senators, thanks very much for joining us. Senator Grassley, the Finance Committee is known for collegiality, bipartisanship, working together. Do you see light at the end of the Social Security tunnel, a deal that your committee can work out that would be acceptable to the president and to the Democratic leadership?</s>SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), FINANCE CMTE CHAIRMAN: Well, right now, Senator Baucus feels that he cannot sit down as long as personal accounts are on the table. I've invited him to. We have an amicable understanding that we'll go our separate ways. We seldom do that, and I'm going to work with the Republicans to see what we can get Republican agreement on. I'd have to do that anyway, so I'm in the process of doing that. One thing that's very important is that this wouldn't be an issue before Congress except for fact that the president has raised it, so we need to thank the president for doing that. I'll end here by saying every 100 of the senators knows that we need to do something, and I hope we will come together and get something done, so that we save Social Security for our grandchildren.</s>BLITZER: All right, Senator Durbin, what about that?</s>SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Privatization of Social Security cannot be the answer, and the American people have told the president that, not just the Democrats and the Independents, but Republicans and young people, as well. It's a loser, and the president has taken it around this country for 60 days, and 60 cities, and I think he knows that. It's not a plan that is going to strengthen Social Security. It's going to lead to massive benefit cuts and the largest increase in the federal deficit in our nation's history, a debt that our kids are going to have to pay off. So, privatization, or personal accounts as Chuck calls them -- they're just nonstarters.</s>BLITZER: As we look at the live pictures, Senator Grassley, from the East Room of the White House, the news conference will be beginning shortly. Can the president realistically -- politically -- abandon his plan for partial privatization, as it is called?</s>GRASSLEY: I don't think he has to at this point, at least. It's up to Congress to decide what we're going to pass, anyway. Don't put too much attention on the president. We all know that there needs to be a problem -- there was just talk by Senator Durbin about benefit cuts leaving the impression that the only way you'd have benefit cuts is by personal accounts. There's going to be benefit cuts anyway, because we have over promised, by 10 to $12 trillion, what we can deliver for our children and grandchildren. Doing nothing is not an option because my grandchildren will get 70 percent of benefits, if we don't do something, because the cash flow at that date will only deliver 70 percent of benefits.</s>BLITZER: Senator Durbin, the criticism against the Democrats is that they have not come up with a plan. They have not come up with a long-term solution to the Social Security problem. Is there a realistic plan that the Democrats have -- are ready to put forward any time soon?</s>DURBIN: Let me tell you, Wolf, I was here in 1983 when we came up with a bipartisan approach -- sensible, common sense changes in Social Security that brought over 50 years of solvency. This president has made history. He's made history with the biggest deficits in the history of the United States. His economic policy led us there. And he's made history by calling for tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America in the midst of a war. Social Security and the trust fund would be a lot stronger today if this administration hadn't been reaching in for tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.</s>BLITZER: Senator Durbin, Senator Grassley, thanks to both of you for spending a few moments with us as this news conference is about to get under way. Appreciate it very much. And, a lot of the president's frustration is coming from Capitol Hill which is stealing the spotlight from his agenda. Up next, stalled nominations and a Republican leader in the hot seat: we'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.</s>ZAHN: President Bush is getting set to hold his first prime-time news conference in over a year. Energy, Social Security are the top items on his agenda. He, of course, has to win over voters and Congress. So let's go to Capitol Hill and congressional correspondent Ed Henry. It was interesting, Senator Grassley was just saying, as we look ahead tonight, don't put too much attention on the president, folks, because this is where everything happens, right here in Congress. What is the chief concern of Congress right now going into this news conference?</s>ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line is after the last election, Paula, Democrats were in the dumps. There was a lot of talk that they were scared to take on this president and block his agenda, and the Republicans were riding high. They had increased majorities in the House and Senate. There was talk that there was going to be a glide path for the president's agenda, his conservative judicial nominees as well. And they have gotten some small victories, but the big-ticket items like Social Security, that is at the top of the agenda, the energy bill, also some of those judges, they have been stalled. And when you talk to Democrats like Senator Dick Durbin, they say it's because this president has overreached, that he overestimated how much political capital he had coming out of a close election. And, also, there have been a series of stories that have overshadowed his agenda -- Congress getting involved in Terri Schiavo, Tom DeLay ethics case, the nuclear option on judges. All that has hurt them, but -- and has given Democrats some victories. But Republicans say the Democrats have no agenda of their own. In the long run, the Republicans are going to prevail -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: I guess that's what we'd expect them to say. Ed Henry, thanks so much. The president's news conference is just minutes away. We're going to take a quick break before he steps into the East Room. We'll be right back.</s>BLITZER: Reporters awaiting the arrival of the president only a few moments away in the East Room of the White House, his first prime- time news conference in more than a year. Welcome back to our continuing coverage. Torie Clarke is a Republican strategist. Torie, a simple question, why tonight? Why tonight of all nights has he decided to ask for this news conference?</s>CLARKE: Well, actually, we should remind people that although this is prime-time and there haven't been that many of those, he's been having a big briefing with the press about once a month since the election day. So he has been out there in a variety of ways trying to reach out to the American people. But you can't wait forever to solve some of these big issues and these big problems. I think he's going to use every opportunity he can find to push this agenda forward.</s>BLITZER: The president, Paul Begala, our Democratic strategist, has a bully pulpit, and he's been pretty effective. Witness the fact, he was reelected obviously last November.</s>BEGALA: He was. He uses it quite well. And good for him. I think this is wonderful. It's good for the White House, it's good for the president, it's good for the country. But he's doing it because he needs to. As John King pointed out, he is at an all-time low in his polls, his agenda is stalled, and he's got to go back on the offense here. He has got to reclaim the initiative. Nothing does that better than speaking directly to the American people. So I'm glad he's doing it.</s>BLITZER: Torie, do you think that there's also the decision to go forward with this news conference tonight, any connection to the fact that there's a new government in Iraq, the first time in more than 50 years, the government was actually announced today?</s>CLARKE: I don't know if they exactly pegged it to that, but I sure hope he takes a little bit of time to focus on it, because it is truly historic, it's so important and it's so positive. So I hope he does reflect on it some.</s>BLITZER: What do you think about that? That's been a big issue, the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq, Paul Begala, that certainly in terms of public opinion has not hurt -- has not hurt the president, certainly not like some of these domestic issues like Social Security.</s>BEGALA: Right, and yet the latest CNN/"USA Today" Gallup poll said people want to hear from him about Iraq. I suspect he will do that. There's plenty of good news since the start of the year in Iraq, obscured lately by the new wave of terrorist bombings. But the thing I'm going to watch for is as he talks, is he sort of leaning forward, is his vocal timbre going up, is he pressing too hard, which he's been doing lately in speeches as his poll numbers have gone down, or will he be the relaxed, confident guy we saw back after he won reelection?</s>BLITZER: All right, Paul and Torie, stand by. We'll get back to you after the news conference. Paula, we're only, what, a few seconds away.</s>ZAHN: Yeah. We're going to go back to Suzanne Malveax, though, first, who is standing by in the East Room. We're expected to see the president shortly. We should explain, Suzanne, that the president will start off with, what, 10 or 12 minutes of prepared remarks before he takes any questions from reporters.</s>MALVEAUX: That's right, Paula. We just got the official two- minute warning. The president will be coming out in two minutes to give those official remarks, about 10 minutes or so, before he takes questions and answers. It's important to know, this is a president, of course, who likes to talk about big ideas, accomplishing big things and having the political capital to do so, but of course it comes at a critical time for the president when perhaps some of that political capital has been compromised because of some of the problems with the House leader Tom DeLay, because of some of the problems with the fierce fight between Democrats and Republicans over the filibuster, over his judicial nominees. I should let you know that senior administration officials, of course, saying the goals here tonight, the short term, to convince Americans that the president understand the concerns they have about those high gas prices, despite the fact that there is very little he can do. Also, when it comes to reforming Social Security, the president has been out on the road some 60 days, 60 stops, of course, to many districts where members of Congress are vulnerable, both Democrats and Republicans. This really gives the president a chance, an opportunity to talk to the American people directly -- Paula, Wolf.</s>ZAHN: Suzanne, have we learned anything else about why tonight was the night that the president picked to do this, or his staff picked to do this?</s>MALVEAUX: Well, there are certainly two very important benchmarks that are going to happen, they're right around the corner, of course. Saturday, that is when the 100-day mark is of his second administration. A lot of people are looking at what he has accomplished, what did he mean to accomplish? And of course, Sunday, that's when the 60-day period ends, that first phase of going out and selling his Social Security reform to the people, and then, of course, coming up with the solutions. He'll talk about that tonight -- Paula, Wolf.</s>ZAHN: Suzanne Malveaux, please stand by as we're going to check in with you after the president's news conference. It will be interesting to see the tenor of the questions from the press tonight. In the last news conference, there were some pretty pointed questions asked of the president, and he made no hesitation to fire right back.</s>BLITZER: And it's interesting, when the president does start asking reporters for questions, he'll start off with the wire services and then he'll go to all the other major reporters who have gathered in the East Room. The president is walking up. END TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com