federation of demint employees, thank you. tomorrow, the editor in chief of "the hot line" talking about what is next in the congress as they take up the rhine budget plan. we expect the passage of a bill to keep a budget for the rest of this fiscal year. maya macgineas and randy sabett, the internet and data protection attorney to talk about cyber attacks. they are on the rise. tomorrow morning "washington journal" at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. thank you for being with us on this sunday. enjoy your weekend. have a great week ahead. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> "newsmakers" on possible gop candidates. then the coverage on the 2012 budget begins with paul ryan. also remarks from representative chris van allen -- hollen. >> as a host and a trader, you are not republican or democrat. you look at the impact of what government is doing on the financial markets, whether it is the oil market, trading, wall street firms. >> denied, fast money anchor melissa lee and what she believes it is her role in the recording business and financial news. watch the interview tonight at

8:00 p.m. on c-span's "q&a." you can download a podcast of our program available online c- span.org/podcast. >> policies ban on twitter. the fastest way to get programming updates and links to events uncovered. you can read questions directly to our "washington journal" guests. from c-span at book tv to american history and c-span radio. get started at twitter.com/cspan. >> we are pleased to welcome the chairman of the republican national committee to our studio. he took over the gavel in january. nice to have you with us. we have to start with the obvious. it is friday afternoon and the deadline is hours away.

no deal in sight. are you confident there will be one? what are the political ramifications of a shutdown for the party? >> i am not sure if there will be a deal or not. and the republicans and the speaker very concerned about spending in this country. is the number-one issue in america right now. i really believe that borders -- voters around the country are really concerned about the trajectory of our spending, debt in this country, the deficits that are crushing our economy. that is front of center right now with the speaker. those are definitely the most important pieces of this debate, to get spending under control. the american people are demanding it. the deal depends on how much the president is willing to move on those spending numbers. if they are willing to move, then i think there will not be a shutdown. if that are willing to move, then there will be. absolutely it is a spending

issue. >> the national political correspondent for "the new york times." >> were you worried at all the the president would emerge as the political winner, as someone with a strong leadership, the grown-up in the room going forward to 2012? >> i am not worried that he will come across as the political winner. i really do think that if spending issues are not cut hunter -- put under tight reigns, we will all be losers. everyone will be a loser to the american people. that is the number one priority. ed about whether the president will be seen as a win or lose. in my mind i think he always comes across as a loser in this debate in that he has just result engaged after being, doing his ncaa brackets on espn, jonas brothers, golfing. he's not engaged. i think we all know that the

president has not been engaged in the budget debate until recently. i think that's an issue he will have to deal with. >> mr. chairman, you are all very much engaged talk about spending and debt. is the rnc debt. >> thank you, jonathan. >> your party was facing a $21 million in red ink. when can you tell donors to the rnc and grass republicans run the country that the rnc will be free and clear of debt. >> guest: i think my goal that by the end of the year that we will have 5 million or less of debt by the end of the year. that's my goal. i can tell you when we first came into the building, if you don't mind, feel free to cut me off, but i will tell you that we are in about 24 million in debt when we came into the building. a lot of the folks are reporting -- in january. a lot of folks are boarding 23. usually 24.

we had to add more bills to the overall as we went forward with a report to our cash on hand was very low. we owed more in payroll when i first came in january than what our cash on hand was in the building. so what i have had to do, i've talked a lot about this is rebuild trust, rebuild credibility with our committee. and you all know that when you have to rebuild trust and credibility, in any organization, that's a tough place to start. >> but you'll still be five money goes in the red going into a presidential year when you're also trying to take the senate, hold onto the house. how is that going to work where you're still that far in debt? debtquick do you expect the eventual nominee of your party to help close that gap? >> guest: know. here's what i said. baby i was a clear. i said 5 million or less in debt by the end of the year.

i would rather under promise and over deliver. my cash on hand number i'm hoping is going to be tens of millions of dollars by the end of the year. my obligation is that the republican national committee, i mean, i know that i need to be operational. i need to be functional. we are the only committee in america just like the dnc, the only committee in america back in courtney our dollars, the money we raise, directly with the republican nominee. with that in mind, i have to balance the benefit of being debt-free to the necessity of having a lot of money and cash on hand to coordinate with the presidential campaign. i get what you're saying. i don't want debt. i hope it is zero but i also know that no cash on hand doesn't help us get over the finish line even. i'm trying to balance those two objectives with getting our party down to business, functional, operational in defeating this president that i think is taking this country completely off the financial

rails. >> why do you believe the rnc is even necessary in the 20 a presidential campaign in terms of funding voter turnout efforts and things? why not lead to outside groups? >> guest: outside groups, jeff, they can't i law coordinate arm in arm, we couldn't come if i was a 57 or a c-4, i couldn't sit down with a presidential nominee or their campaign and literally cornet what we're doing with our money, where we're putting our money. what municipalities in ohio she would put our money? how much absentee balloting works we do in wisconsin? the ability to coordinate our dollars is a center for a presidential campaign to win. look at what barack obama is done. he escorted with the dnc and those are the same things we need to do at the republican national committee. >> so without those hard dollars you're at a disadvantage with president obama and dnc? >> guest: people as we all the time what was different about wisconsin ask why was wisconsin

doing a little bit better than the rest of the country? and the reason is that during the last month of the campaign that was not a state in the entire country that knock on more doors, did more voter to voter phone calls through an internet system. the numbers, they are real numbers. absentee ballot calls. not a single state in the country did more than the state of wisconsin. you cannot win a campaign with an air force olympic you have to have an army. that's a we do at the republican national committee. we are the army. we are the boots on the ground. we left a few races on the table. >> you can't talk to member of your party nowadays because you're in washington or across the country. without hearing somewhat of opine for more kids to get into presidential race, that's constantly referring to do what to see more candidates running in a presidential race as and if not you think you can win the

presidency back with the current candidates you have? >> guest: i'm all in favor of having a big field of candidates. no problem at all. the more the merrier. i think we'll have plenty of candidates running against the president who as i said before, i think financially when you're running close or running up to spending 42 cents on every dollar made in america, we are in a battle for freedom in this country. and i think that is a battle that many people from many different walks of life are going to want to engage in, and defeat this president. now, your second part of your question was whether -- what was it again? >> you think with the current candidates that we are pretty short, that you can be this president? >> guest: absolute. i think first of all their credible. intelligent. they can speak to the issues that i think are really important to the american peop people. >> to why his hunger more

options in your party? >> guest: i don't know what the statistics show but if that's the case i think of people have a lot of different views would be a good challenger to this president. there's many factions and divisions within any organization, and people have to pick and a choice but i think and in people will unify against a democratic president who is taking this country off the financial rails. so i think we will be fine. i think we'll have a great candidate. i think we will defeat this president. am i satisfied? yes, i'm satisfied because i think if you harken back to bush 41 days, and what was his approval rating? maybe 90%. in 1991. i think it was saturday night live that used to have skits and they would show all of these democratic potential presidential candidates, it was a joke and they were talking about how each person deserved the opportunity to run against

bush 41 and get killed. and lo and behold, what happened? bush 41 at 90 some% approval was beaten by bill clinton who served for eight years as a president. so i think that it's important to keep in perspective, that i think polling changes rapidly. as president just a week ago, the poll showed his approval rating at 42%. i think it's very beautiful and i think we will beat him. >> you said that all of the republican candidates are credible. is donald trump a credible republican presidential candidate? >> i don't know if he's in the field or not but if he decides to run. you know, i think all these guys are credible. and i think that they've all had a different angle and different viewpoints that they will articulate. i think it's going to be up to the voter to i don't get to choose who the candidate is going to be but i have to make sure that we do what we can do in our party to get them across.

>> is a good for the party or the debate to have a candidate like him talking so much about is this present an american citizen? is the further debate good for the party? >> guest: i think it's up for the primary voters to decide the. if people are going to different opinions, he of a lot of different groups, or different candidates that are running, they will talk but different things at different times. i think it's up to the primary voters. i think having a diversity of opinion is fine. but ultimately, i think that voters usually get it right and will have a candidate and it's up to me to turn our party into a functional operational committee that can get that candidate across. >> you have any questions if this present is an american citizen? >> i don't have any questions about the. i think he is an american citizen. here is the thing. i think that he is not doing a very good job of keeping our economy on track. it's up to me as chairman of this party to see to it that he

is defeated. >> isn't that a distraction? if they are just focus on questions over his citizenship and his birth certificate. there are so me questions about the economy, his leadership in the world. and isn't all that a distraction from what you believe are the central issues facing them right now, facing this country right now speak what you might call it a distraction. the listen, my view is that this president speech is a distraction? >> i don't know if it's a distraction. i need to do with defeating this president who is taking this country i think financially in the wrong direction, who is not the point of promises when it comes to debt, not debt reduction from a novel that has promises when it comes to crushing deficits that he has promised the american people. he did that in the last budget.

so my view is this is an america that is not an america i want to pass onto my kids. i think it's an america where financially we are on, off the rail. i need to do whatever i can deal to build up a committee to make a presidential candidate competitive defeat barack obama. that's what i care about. >> doesn't that suggest -- >> i think that's true. i don't disagree with you. i think at this point the road to success to the american people is absolutely focusing in on the economic issues of debt, the deficit, the crushing trajectory of our internal programs in this country. absolute. that's the driver. those other things the american people are concerned with right now. >> the voters in wisconsin are some the most interesting in the country in terms of independent voters. in sort of how they go will give an indication of how the 2012 presidential goes.

the independent voters in wisconsin, how do they view types of discussions like this? the birther issue, et cetera. this is a president who won wisconsin by 14%. >> guest: independent voters in wisconsin i think they may be the same everywhere around the country, it's not like a broken record, i don't want to sound like it but i think people are most concerned about out of control spending, a country that's about to spend 42 cents on every dollar made to run the federal government, a government and elected representatives that don't seem to care enough about the deficits in this country, and debt. we have a president that has achaemenid more debt than every single president before him combined. we have a president who has promised to get deficit under control and deliver a budget of $1.7 trillion deficit this year. i think those are the things that independent voters are

concerned about. they are concerned about the future of this country financially, and they get it. >> if that's the case could you not advise some republican elder advice on candidates to focus on these issues? >> guest: they are focused on this issue. if you listen to them they are talking of paul bryant's budget, to talk about spending, talking about debt and deficit. that is what they're talking about. now, occasionally another subject, of course to what you think the focus is on a comic. >> whether candidates are what are potential candidates i should say, governor haley barbour was in florida this past week and he said that he is going to be competing in florida if he gets in the race. regardless of what happens with the primary calendar. when you hear that kind of language, what does that say to you about what's going to happen with florida and with the primary calendar? how can you threaten it some of

your top candidates are investing about messing they don't care basically? >> guest: i mean, you have to understand that, and i think you do, that i in here at rose other republican national committee as chairman. it's my obligation as chairman of this committee to enforce the rules of the committee. it would seem that any fuel or any had any organization, one of their top obligations either enforce their constitutions or bylaws or articles of incorporation, my bylaws and my rules say that there are four states that go in the february primary window, and than any other state outside of those four states can compete after the first tuesday in march. now, what the rules also they say is that any states that violates the basic rules lose half of the delegates but that's not my decision to decide whether not a state loses their delegates but it's not my decision to decide who can go in what place on the calendar. it's already been set.

it's automatic. it's automatic. it's not something that is decided, there's no button to press like she would do it or not, press green if you think we should. press read if you think we should. >> is there any chance, mr. chairman, that you would move the gop convention next year from tampa to a different state? >> guest: know. the convention has been set. the convention is going to be in tampa. we are doing a good job of getting that convention in place. the host committee is doing a great job of raising money. i think there are two different issues. primary calendar is another issue spent schedule force how this thing gets resolved, florida. >> guest: we were just as you may know, our chief of staff was just in tampa on tuesday and they started, and good conversation. i've been talking to folks are talking to the governor.

so i think the first thing is you have to community with each other. i think there's a little misconception about easy it is to simply change the rules other republican national committee. one piece of this, and sorry for -- i won't stand in which that user you can understand, the rules other republican national committee cannot even be amended or change and tell a national convention. so think about this. even if i had complete unanimity of the 168 voters, you know how hard that is, but even if i had that, those rules cannot be amended until the national convention. >> so outside that window. >> i think ultimately florida will be outside the window. i would hope so. i think we have rules for a reason. and the florida delegates support it. the primary calendar as it is

currently adopted by the republican national committee. >> any other states on the horizon that were you as well like michigan or other states that have long complained about the over influence of iowa, new hampshire? >> i don't have any other states right now that i'm overly concerned about. i think everyone is working hard to get into the march and april window. and so far so good. >> twelve minutes left spread what are you telling, if one last fast moment here, what are you telling the speaker and the state senate president down there, what is your message speakers are not going to get into all of the confidential communication, other than similar things that we're talking about. i get their position. i understand where they're coming from. i think they've got a lot of great points to make. it's not an argument. it's a good cooperative discussion, taking in my necessity i think to really

educate folks as far as what our limitations are as far as the republican national committee on a calendar issue. and in the listening to their issues as well which i think are very good, but, unfortunately, there's not a whole lot the chairman of the party can do about changing a calendar a rule that has been made prior to me being here. >> host: would you comment on debbie wasserman schultz? >> guest: i don't are very well so i look forward to getting to know her. urge views are impressive and smart and articulate. i just don't know her very well other than what i hear, which is good things. >> obviously the primaries and the caucus will be somewhat in flux. the rnc has tried to bring our some rnc mbs have tried to bring some order to the debates with the limited success. what should the role of the rnc -- have you heard any positive reaction from campaigns? >> guest: lots of positive

reaction from campaign to i'm not going to get into the details because there's a degree of confidentiality. it's been very positive as far as having -- the idea is pretty simple. and i think it's been work in a different angle. at the idea is that the republican national committee would put our stamp of approval, or sanction, or whatever word you want to call it over one, maybe two debates a month, at the most, tried to do one a month. starting in august, through sunday, say, in february or march here and it we would try to work with other organizations, other state parties in putting these debates on. and that would mean that you could try to limit some of the debates so you don't have candidates going to 70 debates in the next eight months and parading around like they did in

2008, which i don't think gets us anywhere in defeating this president. so the idea is simply to try to limit the amount of debate, the frequency of the debates, to some reasonable amount. i'm not saying two debates. but i'm not saying 50 debates. that's all we're talking about. >> what should the fundraising component of this be? what would you like the campaigns due to raise money? aspect that peace is a piece that i think is misinterpreted. fundraising is simply something that we're going to do where ever we go. so if there's going to be people at debate or if there's an opportunity to create a fundraiser outside of the debates, where ever they are happening, we might do that. but certainly the fundraising peace isn't going to be a deal or something that we even do. >> it sounds like you are walking back away from what the

chairman of the debate committed to you appointed, james bopp for indiana proposed last week in which was at each one of the rnc sanctioned debates you would have a fundraiser at the debate with the candidates agreed to raise money for the rnc. but you're saying you guys are not committed to that. >> guest: i think what he was in was simply putting that option on the table, not necessarily saying this is how we're going to do it at every single debate. i think that it's possible that at some debates the republican national committee does have fund raisers at some debates. but again, this situation is as sponsoring or sanctioning or putting our stamp of approval on a debate that might be happen. like, for example, the iowa party, they'll be doing a debate at the straw poll. we're not talking of adding another debate. we're talking about the republican national committee coming in, persisting the state of iowa in that particular

debate. and it in ames iowa we might do a fundraiser, maybe we do, did we don't. >> so that proposal last weekend was not a take it or leave document but was more a suggestion of a just. >> guest: that's why. of course, it's not a take it or leave it because we will do and we'll try to act in the best interests of our candidates. so we need to indicate with them as to what their ideas are and what are ways that we can be helpful. the same thing the dnc did by the way in '07 and away. they did exactly this and more. [inaudible] >> guest: i think that can be something the campaign decides. >> host: six minutes left. >> what do you believe right now that president obama's biggest strengths are and will make the most difficult perhaps, what you believe his strongest suit is right now?

and what i think he's good at giving a speech and good at raising money. other than that i think he is terrible at following through on promises. i think it's been awful for our economy. and i think that those issues are going to trump his ability to raise money. >> deeply his segway to the midterm election and cutting the deal on a stinky bush tax cuts with senate republicans, et cetera, that his tapping into the center is reminiscent of bill clinton's in the 1995 and end result could be the same? >> guest: i don't think so. i think what it was as the stainless and spending over $850 billion -- i think i was a transit but if you look at where americans are on obamacare, a government run health care, if you look at the strong opinions about average voters in this country they don't like the spinning. they don't like the stimulus. they don't like government run health care. whether he attacked slightly to the right on the particular

issue, i don't think you will get much out of the. i think the real legacy of barack obama is out of control spending, out of control debt, unemployment, and a lot of broken promises. and the president quite frankly, some who have talked enough about, a disengaged president of the united states. weatherby domestically or foreign policy, he is coming across as aloof, disengaged because he is. >> do you believe health care needs to essential part of the argument against president obama? >> guest: i think it has to be a major part of the are you against president obama. i think it's something that most americans right now don't think is working. i don't think it's working. i think having government get between you and your doctor, wherever you're from, is something most americans don't believe them. but i think more importantly, health care, spending and unfulfilled promises on debt and deficit spent is it harder for someone like governor romney to make that argument?

>> guest: i believe that up to governor romney. i don't think so. i think he can go to make the ugly. i think he is articulate reasons and i will let him do that. but i don't think so. i think it's a given situation, different program altogether. >> mr. chairman, let me ask you about a state your very familiar with. wisconsin. what is your take away from the apparent result of which has republicans winning? >> guest: the particularly is either way, these democrats and unions are so charged up and get up in predicting enormous victories in wisconsin, whether the 7000 votes whether or not, i will tell you they fell flat. and we proved once again in wisconsin that we have had a political shift in wisconsin. we have shifted to the right. wisconsin is a red state, and now it looks like prosser is even outsi