that the other one had given them a sexually transmitted disease. >> reporter: you're seen able to bring them together? >> i was. >> reporter: one of her lines really stands out. >> rigid principles obstruct problem solving. if this is too subtle for you, then you probably shouldn't be running our country. hi, senator cruz, carol bailey. >> thank you. >> reporter: he happened to run into ted cruz and gave him a pamphlet. we saw him check it out as he walked away. some seemed genuinely enthusiastic. >> i'm going to read this. >> reporter: still, there is a flaw here. in divorce, at one point, the couple came from a place of love. >> right. >> reporter: here, they never loved each other. >> that's true. they never did. but like a couple with a child, they should be motivated to take care of the american family. >> reporter: dana bash, cnn, capitol hill. >> that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. "crossfire" starts right now.

tonight on "crossfire," who's blocking good-paying jobs? >> this has to be a year of action. >> a year of action sounds good to me. >> what can the government do to help? >> we can't wait for congress to solve it. >> the policies from this administration have not worked. >> on the left stephanie cutter, on the right s.e. cupp in the crossfire. robert reich, labor secretary under president clinton and tim pawlenty, the republican former governor of minnesota. when it comes to job, who's keeping the economy from taking off? tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm s.e. cupp on the right. >> and i'm stephanie cutter on the left. in the "crossfire" tonight one was a labor secretary, the other was a governor. presidents have a long history

of taking action when congress won't move. no one disagrees that we had a strong economy under president clinton, but when congress refused to act clinton took executive action. that's just what we saw president obama do today in north carolina. >> where i can act on my own without congress, i'm going to do so. today i'm here to act, to help make raleigh/durham and america a magnet for the good high-tech manufacturing jobs that a growing middle class requires where it's going to continue to keep this country on the cutting edge. >> of course, we can do more when congress does act, and the president has bipartisan legislative proposal to create 45 of those high-tech hubs the president was talking about all over the country, but getting republicans in congress to move on it is like getting teenagers to listen to their parents. the president made clear he's going to do it with congress or without them. >> hey, i welcome the president

to the income and equality discussion republicans have been talking about it for a long time. as far back as nixon, then, of course, bush and all the way through. welcome to the party, mr. president. in the "crossfire" former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and labor commission secretary robert reich with a new movie out "inequality for all." i think everyone would agree that demand for jobs is greater than the supply right now. we all agree that's a problem. i think where we would disagree is on the solutions. would you suggest that we force employers to raise wages, force union participation, raise taxes on the top job creators and force employers to cut off hiring at 50 employees to avoid obama care mandates. how is that a recipe for job creation? >> well, first, s.e., the word "force" i heard at least four times -- >> tell me how it's not. >> it's not forcing. >> you want to raise the minimum

wage -- >> the first raise in this country since 1945. raising minimum wage is good for the country, puts more money in the pockets of people. 65% of american people want to raise the minimum wage. most are not teenager, they're breadwinners. if you help them, you help the economy overall. a lot of employers will benefit from a higher minimum wage. empirical studies show that. this is not a matter of planning, this is what we've conin this country -- in fact, if we had a minimum wage as high as 1968 adjusted for inflation it would be $10.45 an hour. >> still forcing employers -- >> it's not forcing anything. >> governor pawlenty, what's your response to his plan? >> if you want to find out how do you grow job and provide jobs in this country, novel idea. out of the box thinking. ask the people who actually provide the jobs.

>> sure, right. >> guess what? there's a consistent answer from those folks about what they want. they say to government, do things to encourage me, not discourage me. make the load lighter, not heavier. that includes things like taxation, health care policy and more. but they're saying don't do things to make my life more difficult, more expensive, more bureaucratic -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt you, but i just want to say i'm very proud of an administration that presided over the creation of 22 million foo jnew jobs. the clinton administration. one of the things we heard from business is we create jobs when there's enough demand. when consumers have money in their pockets, when you have a growing middle class. that's the issue, how to get money in the hands -- >> i think we can agree on that part. >> the question is how to do that. >> here's an answer of how to do that. the president's second term agenda. just take a look at some of

this. investing in advanced manufacturing, some of which you talked about today to create those good paying manufacturing jobs that create the demand in the economy. reforming education so that kids graduate from high school prepared for the high-tech economy. raising the minimum wage, which is secretary just talked about. we know there are jobs out there, we just don't have the skilled workforce to fill them. that's the president's economic agenda. that left out immigration reform. but what is wrong with this that republicans just won't move on it? >> although some of those things sound good. who is against high paying -- >> who is against it? the proposal sitting there. >> but let's be truthful with each other. this is a holistic problem and to take a slice and say this is about the minimum wage is not complete. when i was a governor i signed a minimum wage increase. >> and i applaud you for that. >> thank you. >> it did have a very positive effect in minnesota. >> we're going to have a minimum

wage, reasonable periodic increases in it are okay, but jumping from where we are now to quote a living wage that's over $10 an hour would be quite a shock to the system. i grew up in a meat packing town, first in my family to go to college, to see firsthand what a living wage situation is and one is there's an income gap that's correlated to the skill and education gap. instead of saying the government thou shall earn more money, let's talk about getting people more equipped to access the jobs of today and tomorrow. there's a whole lot of issues around education reform. where are we on dealing with teacher unions and getting our public education system where it needs to be and it's not there? >> i agree with you. education is a key starting with early childhood education all the way through affordable public education. >> i knew we could agree on something. >> here's the problem. >> all right.

>> i don't want to really criticize republicans with too broad a brush and sound too partisan. this is a nonpartisan arena, right? >> sure. >> but republicans when it comes to spending for infrastructure, one of the job creating initiatives we've had in this country, bipartisan support for infrastructure, our infrasfrur is delaying, republicans say no, minimum wage, they say no, expanding medicaid for people who need it, they say no. with regard to extended unemployment benefits for people who need it because they -- and if they have money in their pockets they can turn around and buy, republicans say no, again and again. always from your party, present company excluded because you've done some great stuff, is just no to job creation. >> in fairness, speaker boehner did not say no to unemployment benefits. he said let's actually pay for it. >> which is different than saying no. >> we could probably agree on increasing the minimum wage and extending the unemployment benefits if you find a way to pay for it we can agree on

building more roads and har bors and bridges, that's the easy part. how could you get more people prepared to deal with the jobs of today and tomorrow when the strong-back jobs of my mom and dad's generation are gone. if you don't have a skill today you're marginalized. >> you say we can agree on easy stuff. those people on the hill are not agreeing on the easy stuff. talk about extended unemployment benefits for a second because since 1970, every time we've had emergency extended unemployment benefits, we've had bipartisan support without demanding budgetary offsets. there has never before since 1970 -- >> mr. secretary, let me ask you because you laid out all the republican opposition. >> i have only begun. that's just the -- the entree -- >> what i most often hear from liberals is that we don't have solutions and we're obstructionists. last month indiana governor mike

pence announced that 261 companies are coming to india and brig with them 21,000 jobs over the next few years. he did that, he encouraged those companies to come by cutting regulations, cutting taxes, cutting spending and investing in infrastructure. why isn't that the model? >> investing in infrastructure is what i started our conversation with a moment ago. >> republicans are doing it. republicans in the statehouses are doing it. >> you know as well i do -- federal infrastructure spending is critically important. >> so we'll ignore the successes republicans have at the state level. >> the governor raised the minimum wage, the problem is at the national level all we have from republicans is no. >> let's expand the discussion a little bit and say, we know there's also a correlation between high paying manufacturing jobs and things like energy cost. why can't we do the keystone

pipeline as part of a package? we know that insourcing jobs back to the united states in part is around a better workforce here. iffy with take advantage of the energy renaissance holistically which is a huge boone. look at the states that are doing this. >> we'll get to energy in the next segment. i'm glad you brought that up, governor. but my problem with the senator is i simply don't trust his vision. i'll show you one reason why next. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses...

we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now? [ male announcer ] whether you're new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. it's up to you to pay the difference. so think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay and could really save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now. with a medicare supplement plan, you'll be able to stay with your doctor. oh, you know, i love that guy. mm-hmm. [ male announcer ] these types of plans let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. and there are no networks. you do your push-ups today? prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] don't wait. call today to request your free decision guide

and find the aarp medicare supplement plan to go the distance with you. go long.

welcome back in the crossfire tonight, robert reich and tim pawlenty. president obama was in north carolina this afternoon pushing his suddenly new idea that good jobs eliminate income inequality. he announced the government will help set up a new high-tech manufacturing hub in raleigh. >> we've got to do more to

connect universities like nc state with companies like vacom to make america the number one place in the world to open new businesses and create new jobs. >> hey, this all sounds great to me. i'm all in favor of a pilot program that involves the private sector. but flash back two years and listen to the president in arizona. >> i'm here because the factory that's being built behind me is an example of an america that is within our reach, an america that attracts the next generation of good manufacturing jobs. >> well, it turns out part of that $5 billion construction project will be left vacant for the time being. mr. secretary, a presidential visit doesn't guarantee job creation. factories like the one we just saw in arizona, intel, closed,

solynd solyndras are bust. the jobs haven't come. why should i trust president obama's vision for the economy when it seems to be based merely on arrogance and less economics? >> it doesn't sound like arrogance to me. getting employers together with people who are getting training, figuring out what people need to train for, creating a reemployment system rather than unemployment system. that sounds like boosting the economy to me. turning our safety nets into trom trampolines and springboards so people can get ahead. i don't know anybody that doesn't want a job and doesn't want to work. i haven't heard anyone sitting around on unemployment saying oh, gee, i love it. i can just sit here. we've got to help the people that fall through the cracks. right now we're still in the gravitational pull of the great recession. that's why i don't understand why your party says no to extended unemployment benefits. it is the most -- it's sort of -- there should not be any

issue about this. >> i know you are baiting me to open the door to give us your pay force. i'll take the bait. we didn't say no. we just said what's the pay force. so go ahead. >> if we have to offset the extended unemployment benefits, it so happens that the cost of the carried interest loophole hedge fund manager ps and private equity managers, each year, that loophole costs. and nobody thinks it's justifiable. they're not making their own investments. they're getting capital gains treatment. the cost of that loophole is almost exactly the cost of extending unemployment benefits. why don't we just close the loophole and make sure people who need the unemployment benefits -- >> how long do we need it for? >> at the very least do it till the unemployment rate comes down to about 5.5 or 5.8%. >> which is traditional.

governor, are you going to answer that? >> there are ways to pay for it. the group that i'm involved with now includes hedge funds. >> you and i agree on another thing. >> but as you said $6 billion gross for three months and if you net out the positive effects on the economy 2 billion or 3 billion. that's not unsolvable. you and i could sit down in an hour in the back room of the capitol and figure that out. >> why don't we do that? >> speaker boehner is not saying no, he just said pay for it. it shouldn't be that hard. >> but why do we have to pay for it? >> two issues here. >> secretary, focus on -- >> but if we do have to pay for it why don't we get rid of some of the tax loop holes that benefit the rich and people who are hard up get the help they need? >> i think many republicans including the chamber of commerce and us have said

directionally and conceptually if you want to lower rate and shrink exemptions and preferences and oidz to make it be a not net revenue raise, which is drop rates, get rid of deductions -- >> using that money to pay for what people need in terms of extended unemployment benefits and other things like food stamps that are being cut. why should the rich have all of not only a low marginal tax rate but also all the tax loopholes that have no economic justification whatsoever? >> we've got to focus on what we can do. if you want to talk about what we can get done, republicans aren't going to raise taxes and democrats aren't in the near term cut entitlements. i can sit here and say why don't we help fix our finances and get our economy in a better spot by really dealing with our runaway health care costs. >> getting rid of special interests from loopholes, that's

raising taxes? >> these are people who are unemployed right now, the clock is ticking down to zero. >> yes. >> and if somebody says to you, we're not doing that, you have to focus on the art of the possible. >> i want to take this a slightly different direction. governor, there is a reason why there is an agreement on what the pay for is because some are using it for ideological and political purposes. particularly republicans in congress with their own party even have trust problems. a new poll out today, 51% of republicans disapprove of the republican congress. explain this to me. these are self-inflicted wounds. they can't even get the easy stuff done. tell me why their approval rating in their own party is so low. >> sure. there is a bit of -- not a civil war but at least a split in the republican party taking place. if you look at the congress you've got people further to the right saying they're not

conservative enough and you've got traditional or establishment or moderate republican ps saying they're too conservative so that reflects that number. it's a reflection of bad reputation. >> how are they going to resolve this civil war that they're having? you represent one piece of it. >> you earn support. you have to get stuff done. >> you have to get stuff done. >> you don't say trust me and get me, you have to earn it. people want to have a good paying job. they want to make sure their families are safe. they want to put their kids in good schools. pay for college, pay for health care. if they have money left over, they want to go walleye fishing. that's the bread and butter. all of this crap, they want to know this or that. are you focused on my meat and potato, bread and butter issues, if not, shut up. >> the energy question -- >> could i ask one question of the governor. >> yes.

>> to reach that level of yes to the american people that believe that republicans in congress understand what they're going to and have ana again da to address it, don't you think the republicans need ana again da. >> that addresses the needs of recusing costs to college. now the secretary has ana again da on how he thinks that should be done. i think it's fair to say republicans have ana again da. there's a big committee -- >> the holes are the same. >> i want to get to the energy question. >> i just want to ask -- >> we're almost out of time. >> agenda for jobs is. i've asked this. gingrich, everybody, what is your plan for jobs. >> i have a question and i want to get to it. one industry that is booming is the energy sectors, and

specifically mining and oil and gas. wage hours. i know, mr. secretary, you probably want a lot of these people working in solar companies. are you going to tell them to take less be something that liberals and folks like you are supporting 100 percent. >> this has to be popular at berkeley. this is a winner at berkeley. >> no. obviously you don't want to sacrifice the environment. look what's happening in china. you want jobs but not at any cost. >> these are jobs that you would lower artificially. >> if they want the jobs and the jobs are playing well. >> well, yeah, there's a job

deficit. we have it upstairs and certain kinds ever environmentally doubtful. let's be sensible here. we can have a lot of jobs tomorrow if we get rid of all environmental regulations, if we get rid of the minimum wage altogether. this is not -- that's not what we want. after the break. stay here. all of you. next, the final question for both of our guests. we want to way it down for you, anything? tweet yes or no. we'll have the results after the break. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here

and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. when jake and i first set out on we'we ate anything. but in time you realize the better you eat, the better you feel. these days we both eat smarter. and i give jake purina cat chow naturals.

made with real chicken and salmon, it's high in protein like a cat's natural diet. and no added artificial flavors. we've come a long way. and whatever's ahead, we'll be there for each other. naturally. purina cat chow naturals. [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes

may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

bulldog: out with the old out with the old and in with the new! mattress discounters' year end clearance sale ends monday! puppy: what's this red tag mean? bulldog: through monday, save up to 40% on clearance mattresses. puppy: oh, here's another. bulldog: that means up to $300 off serta, posturepedic, even tempur-pedic. puppy: i found another red tag! bulldog: what! where? puppy: right here, silly. ha-ha-ha! bulldog: tickles! mattress discounters' year end clearance sale ends monday. ♪ mattress discounters

wire' back with robert reisch and tim. sc. >> mr. secretary, i want you to briefly diagnose president obama's economic philosophy. why has income inequality and the gap widened four times more than under bush in the past five, six years. why hasn't he been aible to close that gap? >> part of it is very hard to get to political will to close the gap. right now he is wukly, talkly eat economics. you want to create economic growth. when you have 95% of all of the

gains since the economy began going to the top 100,000%, there's a question. i can't resist this for the chienl question either you're feel and bring it back to the ev even economic governor. >> is there any way you wouldn't know about a miejor highway lane closure in your own state? is there any way you would know about it? >> you would know about it a his of time. my ledger. >> full growth, tax reform. >> wait a minute. >> you're a new york filibuster. we have to have education that focuses on the kids. we have to have natural gas and oil and those are trucking.

they would. sovec. >> thanks for robert and tim. go to facebook or twitter to weigh in on the fire back question. can washington do anything to improve the economy. right now 57% of you say yes. wow, that's high. 43% say know. >> eli'm stephanie cutter. >> i'm s.e. cupp. >> join us for another edition of "cross fire." erin burnett "out front" starts right now. next, a sign of life. for the first time in three years video confirms america's only pow is alive. plus, cries for help. a dramatic 911 call as a 12-year-old opens fire in his school. shocking new video of asiana flight 214. what we that you had we might