to return the vp's script. vice president biden reached for a mint and distracted young william. hey, that should be unconstitutional. >> is not constitutional. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> very clever on the part of the vice president. good work. >> that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." john king usa starts right now. good evening. wow, what another big day in politics. the new republican majority got down to business today making some cuts and preparing the legislation to repeal the obama health care plan. speaker boehner is hearing complaints from democrats and some tea party republicans that say he promised to cut spending more boldly. is this already the house of hypocrisy? >> i promised a more open

process. i didn't promise that every single bill was going to be an open bill. >> what's next for the democrats and their best known leader in the congress? today, i can an exclusive conversation with nancy pel low shi. she is the democratic leader, not the speaker. she calls the republicans pawns of the insurance company and big business. she is already thinking about the next campaign. listen to this. she seems to be thinking about getting that bigger office back. >> i have had other work to do then too, because i don't plan to stay here that long. >> more of that in a moment. we begin tonight with a big change at the white house in pennsylvania avenue. >> mr. president, improving your strength, your leadership, your vision during a most difficult time for our nation and fort world. >> veteran chicago businessman and political operative bill daley is president obama's new chief of staff. it is clear, the bo thinks this is the right guy to help him navigate the new politics of

washington and to wrap up for re-election. >> he possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy. >> but those on the left, they are furious. daley is tight with wall street. they say the health care reform law is a mistake. the democrats better abandon their liberal ways. is this just new chief of staff or a major shift for the president? >> first, let's get more of the behind the scenes maneuvering from ed henry. is it a new hire or a new presidency? >> reporter: john, it is feeling like a new presidency in some ways. this new chief of staff we are learning tonight from top officials is going to be moving in quickly, taking the reigns. i am told he will be coming in before the state of the union. that's what the president wanted. he wanted to hit the ground running with this new team in place. there does seem to be a seismic

shift in terms of the operation. the fact the business community has felt they have been at war with this white house in some ways on health care reform, regulations, taxes. what may affect our viewers most is that tax cut deal we saw this president cut with republicans. certainly, receipt action from the business community because of bill daley's long service of wall street, former commerce secretary suggests that there will be more of those bipartisan deals in the days ahead on taxes, trade and other things. they say this is a statesman, someone we can work with. meanwhile, the aflcio saying, basically, look, the president is entitled to this pick. he may have confidence in him is the reaction from the aflcio president. suggesting maybe organized labor does not have confidence in bill daley. the white house is fine with that divide. there are a lot of people believing that rahm emanuel was going to steer this president too far to the middle.

didn't want to do a big health care reform example. in the end, the president is the one who pushed for a big health care reform and got it. so they say, look, bill daley is going to have a big voice at the table. ultimately, it is going to be the president that decides the course. >> ed, stay with us for a minute. john is watching us. i want to walk over to the magic wall. i want to play a little chess. i am going to politely call it chess. this is the original close team of the obama administration when the president came to office. david axlerod, he is going over to chicago to run the campaign. robert gibbs, i will put him here. larry summers, top economic adviser, he is gone. rahm emanuel, he is gone. now, david will come in. he will be a counselor to the president. gene sperling will be named tomorrow to be the new economic adviser. your reporting shows the same as

mine. mr. daley was concerned, too many cooks in the white house. mr. gibbs wanted to stay on, press secretary to counselor. mr. daley didn't think that was a good idea. mr. gibbs will be leaving the white house for the private sector. here is my question to you. valerie jarrett, she has been the president's liaison to ceos. he said he thinks he should be the guy talking to the business community. gene sperling is the new economic adviser. he says he should be talking to the business community. what happens to the portfolio of valerie jarrett? >> reporter: there is no question she will have a lot of clout. she is not just close to the president but the first lady as well. there is no doubt that bill daley as well as gene sperling and others, david pluf, will be chewing into the portfolio she has had. she has had a wide swath through this white house and agenda. one senior official told me there were some difficult

conversations to make sure valerie jarrett understood that bill daley was going to take on more clout and power. in the end, she will still have a lot of clout. she is still close to the president and the first lady. bill daley will be getting more power. that's going to be a change. >> thank you for that. >> what does it say that the president after what he calls an electi election shellacking, going into tough dealings and gearing up for re-election, what does this say to you? is this a guy when you were meeting with the president at the white house that you said this is your guy? >> i'm not going to talk about my conversations with the president. i think that bill is a great choice. he has a unique combination of skills. >> bill daley is a guy that's been a cabinet secretary, he has

run a national presidential campaign, been a successful business person, has trust across the political spectrum. he knows how to build a team and get something done. i think if i'm a person who wants to see this president succeed, get the economy rolling again, get jobs growing again, get wages growing again, you want someone who can get something done, who has the political skills, the leadership skills and the team-building skills to do it. the president set the agenda as you noted earlier, john. bill is somebody who can move the ball down the field. i think when i was in the clinton administration, president clinton trusted bill with major assignments to get the job done. that's what president obama is doing. >> so you know the turmoil on the left about this. this is one of the reasons why. bill daley wrote an op ed in the post a year ago. either we plot a more moderate centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but many elections to come.

there are many that would say he is right i was up on capitol hill an exclusive interview with nancy pelosi, she told me that liberal members were coming to her saying, what do we make of this because of trade deals and his position on health care and because of his wall street ties. they don't like or trust bill daley. >> i think the president is the boss and the president supported comprehensive health care reform. the president called for wall street reform but the greatest consumer protections in history. the president has made a tremendous difference in our country. i just had a conversation with some of the base on this subject. so mr. daley, he is my friend and i respect him, he is an employee. the president is the boss. the president supported all of the initiatives. you said mr. daley. it's not a question of the president using mr. daley. it's a yes question of mr. dale

yielding to the president. >> you don't take it that the president is changing his position? >> absolutely not on those issues. >> how about other issues to be more probusiness, kinder to wall street? >> it is no the a question of kinder to wall street. all of the initiatives we have put forth, whether it was health care reform or issues that related to energy security for our country, whether it was wall street, health, wall street reform, any of them, were all about market-oriented solutions about private sector leading the way, public policy to set standards or have tax incentives and the like but it was all about recognizing that our job creation would have to take place in the private sector in order for us to really thrive and be entrepreneurial as a country. the labeling of the president at not being in that mode is not fair. that's who he is. i think mr. daily does every job

he is assigned to very well and being the president's chief of staff if he has the can have deps of tthe confidence of the president as he has. this level of confidence from people that know each other from chicago. that's fine. i think bill daley understands each job that he undertakes. >> she is being a good team player there. a lot of complaints to her about this. why? why? >> i think it is hard to add to what leader pelosi said. i am still getting used to saying that. >> it was hard for me too. >> i think she had it right. i think the president is going to set the agenda. >> this says something about where you are going. >> he has to move the president's agenda forward to get jobs growing and wanges growing in this country. bear with me. an an ex-chicagoian.

for a guy that grew up in bridgeport, he knows when he walks down the street whose side he is on and who he is fighting for. all this stuff about trying to pigeonhole h pigeonhole him i had lodge cli is off base. >> he is a nice guy. one of the reasons democrats are nervous, because republicans are saying a lot of nice things. why don't you listen to mcmcconnell who says this fills a hole missing. >> there was nobody at the white house who had ever run a lemon aid stand. they were all college professors and former elected officials. this is a guy who has been in the private sector and in business. >> does the president not have a guy who had actually hired and fired? >> i think his business experience is important.

i think is more important his experience as a cabinet secretary. i think the president has got to redefine his presidency to redefine his authority and power to move the country forward. bill gets that. he knows how to use the entire sweep of the government. he knows that the president has picked good people in these cabinet positions. it is not just about defining his relationship with the republican majority in the house and the republican minority in the senate. it is about using all the tools the president has available to get the economy growing and jobs growing in this country. >> john podesta knows what it is about. i appreciate you coming in. thank you. republicans are finding out, governing, it is harder than campaigning. the new speaker defepds his approach. the former speaker lays out where she sees instant hypocrisy. my name is rachel robinson.

i am a banker with quicken loans. this is kathy, who i helped do her first home loan, and this is her sister tina, who i also helped do her first home loan. it was unbelievable how well it all fell together. kathy said, "well, let me give you rachel's number." easy. easy. easy. the whole loan process was simple and convenient! that's why i love quicken loans! [ male announcer ] and you'll be glad to know j.d. power and associates ranks quicken loans "highest in customer satisfaction." to learn more call 800-quicken or visit us at quickenloans.com.

even keeping campaign promises, that's hard. president obama learned that lesson. remember closing guantanamo bay within a year and quick action on immigration reform. the new house majority is being tested right out of the box. here is a snippet from john boehner's first news conference. >> i promised a more open process. i didn't promise every single bill was going to be an open bill. as i said yesterday, we went through a whole congress, two

years, without one open rule. as i said yesterday, there will be many open rules in this congress. just watch. >> another big question was about spending cuts. republicans knew at the time they made a promise to cut $100 billion in the first year that they wouldn't get to take power until now. yet, speaker boehner while promising eventually to make those cuts tried his hand as a bit of cal ep dar revision. >> on september 24th, we made clear in the pledge we want to go back to 2008 spending levels. and, if we had been able to move on september 24th, we would have been able to go back to 2008 spending levels. but we are halfway through the year. i will say this. we will meet our commitment to the pledge in this calendar year. there is no ifs, ands or buts about it. >> now, they are saying maybe we

will get to 50 or 60 now and maybe some pore next year. a retreat, welcome to governing? >> when you say people, you mean demogodjic democrats. >> a lot of these are tea partyers. >> they are going to cut more and more and more. if the democrats hadn't left them without passing a budget for the first time since 1974, and a continuing resolution which all the republicans are against, they wouldn't be where they are today. they will make that 2008 marker and they will exceed that 2008 marker and the tea party people should stand with them to reach beyond the goal that they have set for themselves. the demagogues are going to try to pars this and pull it apart. >> they have all this ho-hah of spending this and that.

this $3.52 trillion budget, they promised to cut $100 billion. they are not going to cut that. they are going to jack up the budget like they always do. they are republicans. they can't help themselves. >> they the most deficit budget party in the united states. we call it crawfishing. a crawfish moves backwards. >> you know what they call this in the real world, a parallel universe. the deficit is four times greater than it was when the republicans left office. those are facts. that's parallel universe. >> they are not going to cut 30, nothing. >> i love learns the louisiana language of politics. let's listen to the former speaker, the current democratic leader, nancy pel losi. she says already she sees hypocrisy. she says the republicans aren't being as open and as nice to the minority. she says all the republicans who

campaigned against the health care plan said, where do i sign and how quickly do i get my federal health care? >> there is a lot of, shall we say, inconsistency. they are saying we shouldn't be taking up bills. we heard yesterday we are going to have these hearings and it is all going to be very open. yet, they are bringing the repeal, the health care reform bill to the floor right now. they are in the rules committee today and tomorrow they said, we don't need hearings, because we talked about it in the campaign. it is just way it is. this is how we have to deal with it. we are ready for it. >> you call it inconsistency. others call it hip pockcy. >> it will be interesting to see whether these members of congress who have fully availed themselves of the federal

employees health insurance initiative with full coverage for their children and their families will vote next week to repeal any opportunity for that kind of access. i think the american people think they want to have what members of congress have. if they can't have it, we shouldn't have it. the members here who campaigned against it, who railed against it, who came here, couldn't be fast enough to repeal it, have said, how soon can i sign up? you know that. we have examples of that. how soon can i sign up? >> is that hypocrisy? >> that is hypocrisy. >> we had a vote yesterday and we saw signs of inconsistency. when we see the full repeal, maybe some of them won't sign up for the federal employees health insurance program. maybe they won't. >> is that apples and oranges or does leader pelosi now have a point when she said, if you campaigned against this, when you come to washington, you

should refuse to take your health care coverage? >> i really, another example of a parallel universe, the government does not so far providing health care for americans. the insurance companies are supporting health care for americans so far. this entire election was predicated on the ajeenlgus overreach of government obama being the center piece of that. it has been out and will be out for many days before they have to vote on it. they have every chance to vote on it. it is two pages. we do two pieces of legislation which you can read far in advantage. even they can read two pages and digest them in two weeks time. >> the former speaker understates the level of hypocrisy here.

representative joe crowley said they would have to reveal, if they took the cadillac plan, members of congress get, none of the republicans voted for this. tell these tea party people one thi thing. they come to washington and don't reveal whether or not they are getting free government health care. they don't want to cut anything from the budget. this is just way it is going to be. i this i that former speaker pelosi was being gracious and trying not to bring the real facts out so early in the term. >> let's save the clip, john and we will play it back in six months and then we will see who is in the parallel universe. >> why don't they just reveal whether or not they took this government health care so these tea party people can know this. we will ask the tea party leadership on this vote. i think they are at cocktail parties. >> the republicans and democrats are passing programs and go to the floor saying the congressional budget office says it will cost this and run up the deficit. john boehner was asked, if you repeal the health care bill, the

congressional budget office says you are going to increase the deficit in the short-term. he says i don't believe their numbers. >> even the cbo doesn't believe its own numbers. the director of the cbo said when they scored that, the only way it would reduce the deficit is if they actually did enforce the legislation which would require massive cuts in medicare, would require the doc fix, which they took out, which exceeds by double what they were saving. they are not going to ep fornfo any part of the legislation that would keep those numbers intact. the director of the cbo said any smart person, including the director, has acknowledged that the deficit reduction figures are phoney. >> what i like is they have somebody posted saying the great things about the cbo. now, the speaker says, he doesn't believe the numbers. that is the typical thing. you are the biggest deficit creating party in history.

you are saying, gee, we are going to washington an cut the deficit. then, you are going saying what are you going to get. >> mr. carvel, miss matalin, let's keep up the conversation. you two stay well. more of my exclusive conversation with nancy pelosi. a new report says that donald trump has firmly dpecide he is running for president. he joins us next. we will ask him the question. [ male announcer ] need ink? this week at staples, buy any hp ink and get a second one at 40% off. that was easy.

the calendar says 2011. among republicans, the 2012 presidential race is quietly and not so quietly taking shape. it might include donald trump. the conservative news max reports that trump is telling friends he has decided to definitely run and will announce after the apprentice wrap up this spring. donald trump joins us on the telephone from new york. mr. trump, we talked about this a month ago. you said you were seriously considering it. you are telling your friends you are definitely in, true? >> i am seriously considering it. i see what's going on with the

country. i see how other countries are absolutely taking advantage of us. i see what opec is doing. john, when they talk about the economy getting better, it can't get better. every time it gets better, opec raises the price of oil and they drain the blood out of the country. i see what's going on and i am seriously considering it. >> that's it. he says you are telling friends now i can be a cynic and say the donald wants to build up ratings for the final apprentice show come spring and he is not going to tell me or anybody else. is he wrong in saying you are telling friends that you are in? >> i am certainly talking to a lot of people and a lot of people are actually talking to me even more so. they are asking me to do it. a lot of people want me to do it. i am very much considering it. i am talking to friends but i'm not saying i am doing it. i will say this, i am very, very seriously thinking about it. >> are you more inclined to do it than you were when i talked to you a few weeks ago? >> i will not say that when i look at korea and they don't

want to sign a trade pact until some bobs get lobbed on to their line. it's a horrible agreement for us. they won't sign. you look at south korea. they won't sign. two weeks later, they sign it as soon as north korea starts lobbing bombs. they talked about what a wonderful ally we are. this is an agreement that nobody from our standpoint should have signed. it's pretty sad, i will say. when you look at china with the manipulation of currency, taking all of our jobs, building and making all of our products. i mean, virtually everything we buy today is made in china. so how are we going to build up jobs other than health care, which isn't the kind of job you are talking about, it's a pretty sad situation. >> you have got the campaign speech ready. if donald trump were to run in the republican primaries, who would you consider to be your greatest threat, the biggest

rival? >> well, i think everybody is a threat. you never know what's going to happen. you never know who is going to come out. they are all very capable and very different people, very different types, looking at it from the republican standpoint. i think they are frankly all very capable. we seal what happens. >> let me ask you a couple quick questions. one of thing is about your mayor, michael bloomberg. he just got a lot of criticism that he was slow to respond. he is supposed to be a great manager and the city didn't live up to its responsibility. the new approval rating shows it is at an all-time low, 37% down from 50% a couple of months ago. did the mayor blow the storm? >> well, he got very hard hit. he was very hard hit by this storm. to be honest, he is a great mayor. he has done a great job, a fantastic guy. i'm not so sure it was him as opposed to people maybe saying they want to do a slowdown because of the unions or whatever. i'm just looking at it. i have seen him handle other

snowstorms flawlessly. it just doesn't seem like michael. so i have a feeling there is more to what you see than what you are seeing. so let's see what happens. i heard and i see that it was a union slowdown for whatever reason. this is just not michael bloomberg. >> one last thing. you have been very critical of president obama in the past saying he doesn't get the business community or the economy. today he named a veteran ceo, a guy who knows wall street and had been the commerce secretary in the past, bill daley as his new white house chief have o staff. is that a good step in the right direction? >> bill daleys a good guy. it's a step in the right direction. bill daley is a professional, good guy and he likes my apartments, so he has a good sense of real estate. >> if you don't want to wait for the last episode of the apprentice, you want to make that final decision, come back here any time. >> i will, indeed. thank you, john. >> thank you, sir. more of our exclusive interview with nancy pelosi ahead.

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cnn contributors, eric

erickson and roland martin. these are big cons quengs days. the 2012 campaign is starting to heat you up. you just heard donald trump saying, ron kesler who is a veteran journalist he says he has been told by friends of trump that trump is definitely running now. he will announce it on the final show of the aprep it is. eric ericson, you are in touch with the conservative community. how big the ground swell for the trump candidacy? >> now that he its talking foreign policy, it might grow. i'm impressed. the conservatives are real befuddled. there are a lot that want to woo some into the race. you are going to see a lot of

people line up behind him. sarah palin and mitt romney have it easy. they can raise money with the snap of a finger. they can sit it out. donald trump, we can put him in that policy too. >> the only foreign policy he knows is the miss universe pageant. thank god i wore my cowboy boots today. forget the idea of donald trump run running. he is not. the idea of him being in the white house, if you thought bill clinton had a good time, let donald trump going to the white house. >> eric, i want to get to the mike pence conversation in a minute. this is a very, very serious conversation. >> roland just mentioned michele bachmann. she is making some trips to the situation. she hasn't ruled it in or ruled it out. part is to get media attention.

eric ericson, real or just a -- >> i'm not sure with michele bachmann. that's one of the great things about michelle be bachmann. you never know until she does it. i am struck by friends of hers saying she did a lot of campaigning for a lot of republicans and left holding the bag. didn't get a leadership position out of it. i think she wants something. i'm not sure it is the presidency, though. >> i can sort of help answer that question. because she makes loony comments. i'm sorry. they are not going to put you in a leadership position. the idea of her trying to compete in the republican primary is nuts. i guarantee you, your republican leaders and major donors who are saying, michele bachmann, please, sit down. that's the last thing we want you to do is to run near any presidential campaign. >> we can cross roland off the trump campaign and the bachman campaign. >> a republican, not those two. >> this one is a lot more

serious at the moment because running for president requires a lot of money. it is very hard for anybody to do. >> eric ericson, want to read something you wrote on red state.com about mike pence. he was a member of the house republican leadership. he resigned that position. he is thinking about running for indiana governor. it is a tough decision to make. >> the odds are against congressman i think mike pence could do it, he bridges the gap between the establishment of the grassroots in the comfort zone of both, a private sector background that shines in comparison to anything that barack obama ever did before elected politics. he has the background. the question is, what sounds to me like yourself, some of your friends, before he makes the decision, you know what, that's a lot of money, romney, palin, that's hard. i am going to run for governor, which would be safer for mike pence to take, are you trying to say, let's see how much money we

can raise for him. let's come to him and say, here is the network, do it. who is considered the heir apparent, isn't going to fly. we knew to find someone new and fresh and someone that can give a conservative message. the national defense guys are saying that. now, their job is to go out and try to show to mike pence, we can put together an organization and help you raise the money to be competitive. if they can attract huckabee to try to steal some away from him, that might help. >> then, senator barack obama destroyed conventional wisdom from being elected from the senate. this idea that you can't be

elected from the house has gone out the reason. can you raise the money? again, coming from the state he is coming from, you are talking about indiana and how then senator obama barely won that state. i don't think it will be in play in 2012. it is an attractive state. we look at how the electoral college has changed. you make the effort to see how much can you raise in the midst of all the noise of palin and others. if you can raise that money, that can scare some other folks to say, this guy is serious. >> no on trump, no on bachman but give pence a serious look from roland martin. >> it it helps to raise money, they will like it. >> when we come babck, my exclusive interview with nancy pelosi. >> she said she doesn't think she will be there that lodge. what does she mean by that? it was unbelievable how well it all fell together. kathy said, "well, let me give you rachel's number."

easy. easy. easy. the whole loan process was simple and convenient! that's why i love quicken loans! [ male announcer ] and you'll be glad to know j.d. power and associates ranks quicken loans "highest in customer satisfaction." to learn more call 800-quicken or visit us at quickenloans.com.

s. welcome back. in maryland, police are looking for whoever mailed packages containing incendiary devices to the government. two people were slightly hurt

when the devices went off in the mail room of two state government buildings. cnn has learned the security threat level for london has been raised to severe and extra security precautions are in plays at transportation hubs. new information has emerged raising concern over a possible mumbai style attack in or near london. finally, long-time white house correspondent, helen thomas shall is working again, writing a weekly column on politicses for virginia's "falls church news-press." why am i not surprised about that? >> helen has been ever could go them back to eisenhower at least. god bless her. >> you have covered capitol hill for a long time. erick ericson is still with us. they are reading the constitution as the house comes into business. at one point, frank pallone is

reading article 2, section 1 of the constitution which outlines the requirements to be the president of the united states. listen. >> no person except a natural born citizen or a citizen of the united states at the time of the adoption of this constitution shall be eligible to be the office of president. >> except obama, except obama. >> the chair would remind persons in the gallery, the chair would remind all persons in the gallery they are here as guests of the house. >> now, that is a birther, someone who thinks the president of the united states was not born in the united states. he was born in hawaii and we know that. that happened during the reading of the constitution, a pretty stiff interruption by somebody who was saying, except obama, except obama. john boehner had an interview with brian williams.

he brought up the disturbence and asked the speaker, what do you think? >> they have said that president obama was born there. that's good enough for me. >> good enough for the speaker. good enough for you. why does this keep coming up? >> because there are crazy people. i don't know who i want to punch more, the birthers or the 9/11 truthers. some people think the government was behind flying planes into the world trade center and some think there is some grand conspiracy that somebody raised up barack obama as a man tourian candidate to become president of the united states. these people do crazy things. it is a reminder the rest of us are sane. >> there you go for that. i feel reasonably sane. when we come back, my exclusive conversation with the former speaker of the house, now the democratic majority leader, nancy pelosi.

a time of huge transition and the person making the greatest transition is nancy pelosi, the democratic leader. i had an exclusive interview with her this morning in her still sparsely decorated new office in the capital. >> we are in a little bit of a sparse mode right now. i didn't realize we would be. i have had i've had other work to do because i don't plan to stay here that long. this office that is the leader's office was the office used by tip o'neill when he was speaker of the house. i have a waterford crystal gavel that his family gave him when he became speaker, which the family has now given to me and i'm very honored to have. being waterford crystal you can't use that gavel more than once. we will just enshrine it there and have everything ranging from my picture of the swearing in, my picture with president john

f. kennedy before he was president to other pictures that i love about the past. but what i'm crazy about are the pictures of my grandchildren because that's about the future. >> they call you mimi? >> mm-hmm. >> and when the events of yesterday were unfolding -- >> they were here -- four of them were here. >> i was watching of the pictures you had out in the chamber. >> my sweethearts. >> how did you explain all of that to them? >> well, the little ones really just knew some wonderful thing was happening. may we sit down? >> sure. >> my grand daurp who was 12, she was here and ups. they knew. it's not like it was a surprise election. it wasn't as if you were counting votes as if the outcome is in suspense. but they're fine. >> are you fine with it? >> it's the give and take, the ebb and flow of politics.

>> i know you would prefer to still be the speaker of the house. >> of course. >> is it easier technically in some of these fights to do it from the opposition? is it easier to fight that way? >> well, i have been the minority leader before, and i put forth a plan for us to win the house for the american people and we succeeded. i know how to do that, and we intend to do that again. i would rather be writing the legislation and reaching out as we did in our hearings in a very bipartisan way. it's two different jobs but all of it with the same goal as to have progress being made by america's work iing families. and so we are here for them and we'll be back. >> you say you'll be back. are you confident in two years you'll be the speaker? >> it's not about me. it's not about me. it's about president obama being re-elected. it's about democrats taking back

control. you know what, politics -- i wish elections weren't so urgent. if the republicans are able to work and create jobs for the american people, to meet the needs of the american people, god bless them. this isn't about what party is in control. it's about what is happening in the lives of the american people. so i wish them every success. i hope they have something to offer more, though, than tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country and to say that's a job creator because it hasn't been. >> you just called this an opportunity. your party just lost 63 seats. that's hard. that's hard. >> but we won 55 in the two before. >> right. so it's an opportunity why? >> well, it's an opportunity because i think as the republicans now are in office with a democrat in the white house and the american people see they're here for the special interests, that they're here for tax cuts for the wealthy, that's

their job creation initiative, that they see that they want health care benefits for themselves but want to repeal the patient's bill of rights for all americans, that if you are a working family in america, your interests are not served by they're being there. >> i want to show you something that is in one way a high honor. in some ways a great irony that as all of this unfolds and as nancy pelosi moves from speaker to leader, the woman "time" and "newsweek" won't put on their cover and on the cover nancy pelosi, the best, most effective speaker ever. >> right. >> i hate to sound tough but obviously at least in this campaign the way it was portrayed you could make the argument the american people disagree. >> no, well, the american people -- if you are effective, if you give the public the special interests, you defeat the insurance companies, they will come after you. if i were not effective, i would

not have been an issue but i was effective whether it was passing our initiatives on green energy jobs for the future, whether it was health care, whether it was wall street reform, those initiatives, the greatest of consumer protections in the history of our country, then you are a target by all the special interests and they poured tons of money in. but you can't get a message through a barrier of 9.5% unemployment in my view and the view of many. a year ago, i was told if you are anywhere near 10% unemployed, forget holding the majority. and that holds true whatever the party is. whoever is in power. >> if you talk to your staff, if you talk to your very close friends, if you talk to any of the reporters who have covered you on a daily basis, they say when you go see leader pelosi, don't try introspection, she doesn't do introspection. >> i do introspection but i

don't do public introspection. >> how much different is the private introspection from what i get in public? >> i'm a very, shall we say, brutally harsh -- i'm an italian catholic. i carry every responsibility you can carry. but i do know that what we did was important for our country to give leverage back to the people and if we hadn't done it, if we hadn't done health care, if we hadn't done health care reform, we still would have lost the election because we had 9.5% unemployment. let's take it where that came from. the policies of george w. bush and the republicans support for his initiatives, tax cuts are for the wealthy, recklessness by some, i don't paint everyone,

obstruction on the part of the republicans in the senate to do something about it. >> when you see the 19 democrats who did not vote for you yesterday, what do you say? >> i say that we're divided among seven people. >> going to take it personally? >> no. no, i don't take it personally. i think it was a small number. really, i was very pleased with with the outcome, very honored by the support that the members gave me but, no, that was -- we had this debate in our caucus about how we would go forward. itch the support and confidence of my caucus and for whatever reason whether it's domestic, local cop summation or whatever that people thought they needed to vote that way, we may not have unanimity. >> you voiced your skepticism

about the agenda of the republican party. you handed the gavel yesterday to mr. boehner. you do have great respect and love of the institution. what's your relationship with him and what's your advice to him? >> well, my -- i have a good rapport with mr. boehner, a professional, good rapport with mr. boehner and i don't think it's up to me to give him any advice about how he should be speaker of the house, but it is -- i wish him success. he's the speaker of the house. that is more than they wished me, but i do wish him success and i hope that he could come up with some initiatives that would create jobs and that's the difference between the parties. if you want to see the clear difference between the parties, you only look at what they proposed in their tax bill. tax cuts for the 6,600 wealthiest families in america in order to get unemployment insurance for people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. so we have our differences but, again, i wish them success and

my advice to them is to keep thinking of america's working families and what it means to them around the dinner table. they don't need any advice from me. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. a little bit of irony as we finish, the current speaker walked through the same hall. what do you say we get the look we want, the softness we need, and an unbeatable lifetime stain warranty for whatever life throws at it. then let's save big on the installation. ♪ we're lowering the cost of going barefoot. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get exclusive martha stewart living and platinum plus installed in your whole house for only 37 bucks.