Hotline After Dark -- All Drama Obama?

"World News" led with the recent dip in Pres. Obama's approval ratings. "Evening News" and "Nightly News" both led with the search for captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan.

Obama sat down with PBS' Lehrer for a newsmaker interview that aired on "NewsHour" 7/20 p.m.

The main topic of the conversation centered around the fight for a new health care plan.

Obama, on his interpretation of the dip in his poll numbers with regard to health care: "It means that what we're doing is hard and the truth is, I feel pretty good about the fact that our polls have held up under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. I think we may have set a very high bar for ourselves. Normally at 59 percent, folks would say, 'We'll take it.'"

More Obama: "On health care in particular, there's a reason why this hasn't been done in 50 years and that is because this is a big, complex situation. ... The congressional process, people are always a little suspicious of. I'm confident, though, that in the end, any bill I sign is going to make more people secure in their health care and it's going to drive down costs over the long term."

Obama, on whether he's still confident something will be passed by Aug. recess: "I think this is actually a good example of where the focus tends to be on what we haven't gotten done yet rather than what we've done. We have three out of the five committees that have jurisdiction over this thing have already passed a bill. We've got support from the American Medical Association, so the nation's doctors have said we are supportive of the president's approach."

After the jump, more from Obama's interview, as well as pol reaction to health care reform and an interview with Sec/State Hillary Clinton.

(RACHELLE DOUILLARD-PROULX)

More Obama: "And how are we going to then make sure that we're controlling health care inflation on the back end? Those two questions are tough, difficult questions, but that's why presumably these folks got elected -- that's certainly why I got elected -- to solve these hard problems."

Obama, on whether he's in favor of taxing the wealthy to pay for health care: "Here's what I think, that people like myself, who can afford to pay a little bit more in taxes, should do so in order to help people who are desperate for a little bit of security when it comes to their health care. Now, I actually think that the best way to do that is simply to cap deductions that wealthy people can take at a 35- or a 36-percent rate, compared to ordinary folks who are only taking a 28-percent rate."

Lehrer: "Rather than tax them."

Obama: "Rather than tax them, right. And that would raise a sufficient amount of money to pay for any new people who are joining into this health insurance reform package. But I understand that there are other ideas that are being bandied about and not all of them are going to be the same. There are going to be some folks in the House who want to impose a surcharge; there are some in the Senate who are looking at a whole menu of different options in terms of raising the money. The gap, though, is one that I think can be closed relatively easily if everybody is committed to making sure that we get this done."

Obama, on taxing health benefits: "I am still opposed to that and would veto a bill if that was the approach. What's being talked about now, I understand, is the possibility of penalizing insurance companies who are offering super, gold-plated, Cadillac plans. I haven't seen the details of this yet, but it may be an approach that doesn't put additional burdens on middle-class families. My whole goal is not to add burdens to folks who are already having tough times affording insurance, but actually to relieve it. And so I've got to look at the details of that before I make any kind of final determination."

Obama, on rumors he's "backing off" the Aug. deadline: "I want this done now."

Lehrer: "And you will not be satisfied by somebody or some group or somebodies that say, 'Well, okay, let's do it, but we can't do it now; we have economic things to do. We have other things in the economy to deal with; let's wait a year, let's wait six months. Forget it, huh?'"

Obama: "If not now, when? We have literally been waiting 50 years and we still haven't gotten it done. And the longer we delay, the more those special interests that benefit from the system as it is, the more they are going to fight change. And when you've got doctors, nurses, hospitals, the AARP and even the drug companies ... saying now is the time for us to bring about some change, I think it's time for us to bring about some change" (PBS, 7/20).

WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME?

Other pols weighed in on the debate 7/20 p.m. as well.

House Maj. Whip James Clyburn went on the "Ed Show" 7/20 p.m.

Clyburn, on whether he'd go along with Obama if he said Congress should forego the Aug. recess to get health care reform passed: "Absolutely. We've already said that. ... Whatever we do, House and Senate, we still will have to come to conference together to try to work out the differences. At that point, I'm sure that the White House will get involved in this process as well. So that by the time that we get finished with this fiscal year, September 30th, we will have a bill in place."

MSNBC's Schultz: "So nobody's going home until we get health care reform? Am I hearing that tonight?"

Clyburn: "I don't know. That's up to the Speaker to make that decision. But you asked me, am I willing to say until it gets done. My answer to that is yes, I am."

Clyburn, on why Dems are worried about a "bipartisan agreement" if GOPers like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) are calling reform Obama's "Waterloo": "We aren't worried about bipartisan agreement. We would like to get bipartisan agreement. I think the American people always like to see the members of both parties working together. But we're not going to allow the Republican Party to keep us from doing this."

More Clyburn, on Obama saying reform is "not about him": "The president is absolutely right. This is not about him. It is not about me. This is all about the American people. And I also want to say, this is not about the uninsured. This is about the people who do have insurance, because the people who have insurance are paying these big premiums, around $1,200 a family or more, to pay for the cost-shifting that takes place in this system in order to take care of those people without insurance."

Schultz: "Are you standing with Nancy Pelosi to raise the taxes on the top 2 percent? She says she wants to go after the millionaires."

Clyburn: "I think it's the top 1 percent, but I am standing with her -- $500,000 per individual, $1 million per family. But that will be only if we need to do that" (MSNBC, 7/20).

PUSH IT, PUSH IT REAL GOOD

And Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) appeared on "Campbell Brown" 7/20 p.m.

Lieberman, on how the bill is being dealt with in the Senate: "There is a lot of work to do. And I think people understand how big this bill is, how much it will affect every American, how much it will affect our national debt long term. I think my colleagues want to get this right. So it can be done this year. It should be done this year. But let's get it done right instead of getting it done quickly just for the sake of getting it done."

Lieberman, on whether Obama is "pushing too hard": "I think the fact that President Obama is pushing is one of the reasons why we're probably going to get something done in terms of health care reform this year. But it's important not to push too hard too fast. Keep it moving, but, you know, wait until it's really ready and we've got a plan that enjoys a consensus."

Lieberman, on whether Pelosi's idea of having those families who make more than $500K/year pay the most for health care makes it "more palatable," instead of those who make more than $250K: "It probably does make it more palatable. Overall, I think we need tax reform in our country. We probably need to ask more of the highest income-earners in our country than they are paying now. But it really ought not to be done as part of health care reform. I would like to see us finance this out of the savings we achieve on health care reform."

Lieberman, on whether putting the burden on the wealthiest Americans will risk "class warfare," and whether there is a risk of "blowback" from wealthy Dems as well: "You might. Look, I think the best time to raise taxes on the wealthy, if that's what we're going to do, is to do it as part of overall tax reform, and an overall focus on reducing America's long-term debt. We're bankrupting our children's future, and our grandchildren's future. And we've got to stop that."

More Lieberman: "And we don't want to make that problem worse in adopting health care reform than it would otherwise be. And, frankly, we don't want to, I think, get into the overall tax reform question, which we're going to need to save to fix that larger looming problem of America's current fiscal irresponsibility" (CNN, 7/20).

PUTTING THE "NO" IN NORTH KOREA

Sec/State Hillary Clinton went "On the Record" 7/20 p.m.

Clinton, on why she insisted on staying in Mumbai during her trip to India: "I wanted to start in Mumbai and I wanted to stay [at the Taj hotel], and I wanted to show our sympathy and solidarity for the people who lost their lives and were injured in the terrorist attack and for those who courageously prevented more deaths and injury, and to make it very clear that we're going to work together to stamp out the scourge of terrorism."

More Clinton: "I think part of staying here, part of the message that I want to send is that, just like we did after 9/11, we are not giving in. We are not in any way intimidated by the terrorists. They can wreak havoc and death, but they are no match for people's
feelings of positive energy, their commitment to life, their willingness to keep going. So I see it as a rebuke to those who plan and plot and carry out these horrible attacks. And I feel very strongly that we have to stand up against that."

Clinton, on her trip to Thailand, and whether she will meet with the N. Korean representative while at the Assn of Southeast Asian Nations meeting: "I do not have any plans to talk to the North Koreans. They know where we stand, and they know what we expect."

Clinton, on whether she'll be in the same room with the N. Koreans: "I do not know. We'll see. I'm not sure. ... We really don't have any intention of talking to them, at least, I do not, because what we are interested in is North Korea coming back to the table and continuing the negotiation that will lead to a denuclearized Korean peninsula. We have made that abundantly clear over and over again."

More Clinton: "We could have a different relationship with North Korea, but it is conditioned on their willingness to give up nuclear weapons. And they have not yet agreed to do that."

Clinton, on whether there's a timetable for putting N. Korea on the state sponsor of terrorist list: "We are looking into it, and we are gathering information. There has to be a trigger to it. There is a legislative process. You have to have evidence that they are actually promoting and supporting, funding, assisting terrorism. And so, we are looking for any evidence that there may be, and, certainly ... if you have such evidence, to let us know." (FNC, 7/20).