Senate Cancels July Fourth Recess to Work on Debt Ceiling Deal
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: Brooke, thanks very much. Happening now: Bill Clinton on the Republicans, he says will be most threatening to President Obama in 2012. Stand by for my one-on-one interview with the former president of the United States on the campaign, the economy, and much more, including a topic that made him get rather emotional. And the Senate cancels its Fourth of July break amid political fireworks over the federal debt. Now Republicans are challenging the president to give up some of his time on the campaign trail. And a cavernous building stands empty, leased by a federal agency for millions and millions of dollars. This hour an outrageous waste of taxpayer money exposed. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Chicago. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. A game of chicken is playing out in Washington right now, a game that could do some serious damage to the U.S. economy. The former President Bill Clinton is warning that it will be a very big deal if Congress fails to raise the legal limit on the federal debt by August 2nd. I spoke with President Clinton, at length, here at the site of the Clinton Global Initiative event in Chicago.</s>BLITZER: You think that August 2nd deadline is a pretty hard deadline?</s>BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do. I know it's a hard deadline in the sense that just letting it happen will have, at the very least, a short-term adverse effect on our standing in the world, on our credit, on people thinking we're a grownup country who know what we're doing. Now how bad the long-term damage is will be determined by how quickly we remedy it. But since it's never happened before, it's impossible to be absolutely specific. But it's nutty. What you're really saying when you don't raise the debt limit is not you want to balance the budget in the future, it is I'm sorry, I'm so mad I can't get my way, I'm not going to pay our past debts. A grownup country wouldn't do that. We can't afford to do that.</s>BLITZER: Stand by for much more of my interview with Bill Clinton. That's coming up in THE SITUATION ROOM. It is a lengthy interview. You'll want to see it and hear it. Meanwhile on Capitol Hill today, a move by Senate Democrats to show they're taking the federal debt seriously. The Majority Leader Harry Reid canceled the chamber's Fourth of July recess. But there is still plenty of bickering about the way politicians on both sides are spending their time, including the president. Let's go live to our Congressional Correspondent Kate Bolduan. She is follow this story. Kate, what is the latest?</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An amazing day, Wolf. As you said, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced this morning the Senate has canceled its Fourth of July break next week to continue working on those debt negotiations. Well, that set off a full day of some pretty astonishing and highly- charged political theater.</s>BOLDUAN (voice over): After President Obama scolded Congress for taking time off instead of getting to work on a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling, the Senate's top Republican issued a challenge in the form of an invitation right back at the president.</s>SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: The president says he wants to get working, wants us to get working. I can't think of a better way than to have him come right on over today. We're waiting.</s>BOLDUAN: Republican senator John Cornyn took it even further, calling the president's Wednesday press conference, quote, "absolutely disgraceful".</s>SEN. JOHN CORNYN, CHAIRMAN, NAT'L. REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL CMTE.: He should be ashamed. I respect the office of the president of the United States, but I think the president has diminished that office and himself by giving the kind of campaign speeches that he gave yesterday.</s>BOLDUAN: And Cornyn issued a challenge of his own as the president heads out of town for two political fundraisers.</s>CORNYN: Instead of going to Philadelphia tonight and raising money, why didn't he call Senator McConnell, Speaker Boehner, Minority Leader Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid into his office and sit down and do his job?</s>BOLDUAN: That elicited this sharp rebuttal from the president's spokesman. JAY CARNEY, White House</s>PRESS SECRETARY: We can walk and chew gum at the same time, as the president said yesterday.</s>BOLDUAN: Meantime in a choreographed offensive, Democrats took to the floor, one after another, laying out what they call egregious tax breaks and accused Republicans of protecting only the wealthiest Americans.</s>SEN. JEFF MERKLEY, (D) OREGON: As a special write-off for thoroughbred racehorses.</s>SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: The tax break for yacht owners.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A tax break for private jets.</s>BOLDUAN: And the sharp rhetoric turned to political theater when Republicans balked at the timing of an unrelated trade deal meeting that Democrats said would help the economy.</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: And I look over there and I see these empty chairs on the very same day that the July Fourth recess has been canceled, because four or five members on that side refused to allow the Senate to recess, supposedly because we have so much business.</s>BOLDUAN: As you see, a whole lot of fiery rhetoric on both sides. But it's not clear if any of this will have any impact on pushing the now stalled debt talks forward. We do now know the House and the Senate will both be in next week, Wolf, but right now still no meetings scheduled between all the main negotiators, Republican and Democratic leaders and the White House, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Kate, thank you very much. Kate Bolduan on the Hill. Let's dig deeper right now over the political fight involving the debt limit with our Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin. Jessica, you have been talking to some of your sources. What are you hearing? JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF White House</s>CORRESPONDENT: First of all, Wolf, we know White House officials are not backing down from the president's tone yesterday. Feisty and combative with Republican leadership. I'll tell you that time is actually tighter in this negotiation than the August 2nd deadline suggests. That's because Democratic officials familiar with negotiations say they believe that a deal needs to be reached before the last week of July, so a little about a month from now, in order to get a bill done and through both houses in order to meet that August 2nd deadline. Democrats familiar with the talks say that on the big issue for Republicans, spending cuts, those two sides were about $800 billion apart when talks broke down. So that's a huge, vast gulf. And we're not even mentioning that biggest issue for Democrats, revenue. So there is a lot of distance to cover before they have a deal.</s>BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about revenue, what Democrats call revenue increases, what Republicans call tax increases. Are Democrats still insisting that tax hikes, tax increases are part of any deal?</s>YELLIN: Flatly, yes. Democratic officials are still outlining those revenue increases. They say it's a must. And their argument is in part they have to sell this to their base. Both sides have to make it palatable to the people who are going to vote yes. But they also say it's not just about selling it to get the votes. They also say it's good policy. So there is no wiggle room for them on this. And they're insisting that they're confident they'll get there eventually because leadership knows it has to be done. But right now there is lockdown on both sides. Somebody's got to give to get a deal, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: I think our viewers are going to be interested what former President Clinton has to say how to break that lockdown, that logjam, that interview coming up later in THE SITUATION ROOM Jessica, thank you. Let's get to Pakistan right now. A country facing a good deal of uncertainty and danger, especially as the United States forces prepare to begin their withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan. It's all raising lots of questions about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Here is our Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence-Chris.</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, for its part, Pakistan has said there has never been an incident with any of its nuclear material. It continuously says there is nothing to worry about. But there are some folks here in the U.S. who watch Pakistan and who keep close tabs on the nuclear issue, who are getting more and more concerned.</s>LAWRENCE (voice over): Nuclear experts still think it's unlikely terrorists can seize a nuclear weapon in Pakistan, but --</s>CHARLES BLAIR, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: The trend is not good. The trend has only gotten worse.</s>LAWRENCE: Terrorism analyst Charles Blair says for added security, the various parts to a nuclear weapon are kept in separate locations. But he estimates in 10 years Pakistan will have nearly as many nuclear warheads as the British do today.</s>BLAIR: All of those areas then need to be safeguarded.</s>LAWRENCE: Since 2007, there have been four attacks near likely nuclear weapon sites, and in may, insurgents penetrated a Pakistani military base just six miles from Karachi's airport. Militants stormed the Mayron (ph) navy base with rocket launchers and hand grenades and killed 10 troops. A Taliban commander has threatened to hit nine more key sites to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden. Analysts say it's unlikely terrorists could steal an actual warhead.</s>HANS KRISTENSEN, NUCLEAR INFORMATION PROJECT: If you get in and you manage to get that far, and you get through the steel doors, and you to steal this weapon, then you have to make your way out again. And there is probably another security team that has arrived at that time.</s>LAWRENCE: But they're more worried about the materiel, liken enriched uranium used to make bombs. Say tensions with India flare and Pakistan moves material to mate with and arm a warhead?</s>BLAIR: The main conduit, probably would be during transportation. Because that is when it is outside the perimeter fence.</s>LAWRENCE: And the terrorists would probably have help from the inside.</s>BLAIR: I don't think that an attack without any sort of insider assistance would work.</s>LAWRENCE: Blair says the Pakistani Taliban have shown they can infiltrate nearly any federal agency.</s>BLAIR: That's really where the more interesting aspects to their recent attacks come into place. The Mayron (ph) naval base attack, for example, there was believed to be an insider occlusion in there.</s>LAWRENCE: Because of that, a U.S. official tells us that the Pakistanis have added background checks to the people who are working on its nuclear program. In that the nuclear security team is more carefully vetted. He says overall, Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is relatively secure, but nothing is guaranteed, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Nothing at all. All right. Very important story, Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon. Thank you. Meanwhile, a new failure in airline security is raising some red flags. Listen to this. A man managed to get on a cross-country flight without a proper boarding pass, or even a valid id. We're investigating how it happened. And later, is Bill Clinton convinced President Obama will in fact win reelection next year? Stand by to hear the former president, at length, on politics, the economy, and much more. My one-on-one interview with Bill Clinton. That's coming up in THE SITUATION ROOM.