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Saturday Morning News

Bush Continues to Reach Across Party Lines

Aired February 3, 2001 - 9:01 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Just two days into office -- just days, I should say, into office, and President Bush is doing something no president has done in memory. And his gesture is being seen as a way to reach across party lines.

CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace is here with more on a tale of bipartisanship. Good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, good morning.

That's exactly right. And, you know, President Bush's spokesman has been joking that people are starting to refer to this as the "hug a Democrat a day" administration. Well, we're not sure if Mr. Bush is actually hugging Democrats, but he is taking some unprecedented steps.

He is believed to be the first U.S. president to attend the congressional retreats of the opposing party. And tomorrow he will leave Camp David and head to Pennsylvania to hear what House Democrats have to say. Yesterday he met behind closed doors with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill.

And Mr. Bush gave reporters a big thumbs-up when he was asked about his 30-minute session with the Senate Democrats. Aides described it as a substantive meeting, saying the president told lawmakers he was committed to bipartisanship and that he would present the agenda he campaigned on.

Well, Democrats applauded the president's participation, but they say it is still an open question whether Mr. Bush is willing to make concessions to get things done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: The welcome wagon's out, and soon we'll get down to the tough issues, and we'll find out whether or not the rhetoric matches the action, whether or not, when we really get to the tough issues, whether or not he's truly interested in working with Democrats and compromising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Well, after meeting with Democrats, Mr. Bush turned his attention to his own party, traveling to Williamsburg, Virginia, to address House and Senate Republican lawmakers gathering for their winter retreat. And there he started his public relations campaign, touting his $1.6 trillion across-the-board tax cut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE WALKER BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... family of four making four -- $50,000 a year, under my plan your taxes go from $4,000 to $2,000. That's $2,000 extra. That's a lot for somebody struggling. That's a lot for somebody who's on the margin. And we must hear those voices on the margin. So tax relief is not only good economic policy, it's good people policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: But Democrats believe Mr. Bush's tax plan is too large and would return the country to the deficits of the '80s. Mr. Bush is hoping to prove those lawmakers wrong. He will begin making the case every day this week for that tax plan beginning Monday -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nevertheless, Kelly, it seems as if Democrats have conceded to the fact that there probably will be some kind of tax cut here. I guess perhaps you could make the case that the Bush administration is already chipping away at this plan.

WALLACE: Absolutely, because now the debate is not over whether or not there should be a tax cut, it is over how large that tax cut should be. So Democrats just a year ago thought something like $800 billion across-the-board tax cut was too large. Now that is what they're saying they could approve.

So it does appear that, then, the Republicans do feel like they have gained some ground, and that they are in the driving seat here. But again, Mr. Bush will have to prove to Democrats that this package will be affordable and that it will not return the country a few years from now to deficits.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Kelly Wallace at the White House. We'll be checking in with her a little bit later. She'll be taking your calls and e-mails, as we told you just a little while ago.

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