president, Elizabeth Warren
because they could not raise the
money --
>> I want be to press pause for
a second because the house
speaker, Kevin Mccarthy, just
walked out of his meeting from
the white house.
Let's listen.
>> I don't want to put any words
in his mouth.
We had an hour conversation
about this, that I thought was a
very good discussion and we
walked out saying we would
continue the discussion.
And I think there is an
opportunity here to come to an
agreement on both sides.
I think that's what the American
people want.
They want us to be responsible
and sensible about this.
That's exactly the way we're
handling it.
I told the president I would
like to see if we could come to
an agreement long before the
deadline and we can start
working on other things.
>> Where should those budget
cuts come from right now?
Medicare and social security.
What cuts --
>> Well, let me be clear about
that.
No, we're not talking about
that.
To really be able to do this
right, I'm not going to
negotiate this in the press,
right?
I respect the conversation we
had together and we will
continue that.
>> You have a big plan.
When are you going to share that
big plan?
>> Look, I think the president
and I have talked about a lot of
different ideas and we'll work
to see if we can come to an
agreement.
Look, I know you -- I know you
all have a job to do, but I
don't think we'll come to an
agreement if I negotiate with
you.
I think the respectful way to do
it is to talk to the president
as we did right now for more
than an hour.
We both walked away.
We have different perspectives
but we both laid out some of our
vision of where we'd want to get
to and I believe after laying
them both out, I can see where
we can find common ground.
I think the American public
would appreciate that.
Look, I've been very -- I've
been very clear.
The current path we're on we
cannot sustain.
We've got to change the
trajectory to put ourselves on a
path to balance.
How we get there will be our
discussions.
>> Mr. Speaker, do you have a
chance to talk with president
Biden about supporting Ukraine?
And can those budget cuts impact
support for Ukraine?
>> Look, what we talked about
today was about moving forward
and how we move through the debt
ceiling and how we get an
agreement.
I believe if we're able to get
to an agreement, we could have a
funding agreement for the next
two years.
You won't see omnibuses anymore.
You'll see the senate and the
house actually do the job the
American public has elected them
to do, to walk through the
appropriation process which is
the manner in which you do it
where the American public can
see where we're spending our
money and I think there's a lot
of savings we can find for the
American taxpayer.
This is the hard working
taxpayers.
I know there's a lot of places
where there's wasteful
Washington spending.
I find that we can find an
agreement.
>> Warning you against visiting
Taiwan.
Any reaction to China's warning
against visiting Taiwan?
>> I don't think China can tell
me where I can go at any time,
any place.
Listen --
>> When will you share your
plans, Mr. Speaker?
>> The president and I are
trying to find a way that we can
work together.
We will continue to do that.
Yes, sir.
>> When they see this national
debt, $31 trillion growing and
growing, worried their kids'
future is going to be buried in
that mounting debt.
What do you tell those parents?
>> I tell those parents there,
that's why I'm here.
That's why I'm here, to make
sure their children do not have
to continue this debt.
If you just look, if we continue
the trajectory we're on, in the
next ten years we'll spend $8
trillion just on interest.
$8 trillion just on interest.
What that means though, too,
because of the spending that has
been going on is that's why you
have inflation.
America's strength will shrink.
Everyone has always said it
doesn't matter what occupation,
whether you're a U.S. General or
not, the greatest threat to
America is our debt.
Our debt is now at 120% of gdp,
meaning our debt is larger than
our economy.
This is higher than at any time
in American history.
And it's higher at any time in
American history when the
revenues that are coming into
government are higher than any
other
so we've got a lot of revenue,
we just got a spending problem.
So that's why I want to find
common ground.
>> Can you commit that the U.S.
Will not default?
>> Look, if I look at anything,
and you want to equate this, if
you have a child and you give
them a credit card and they
spend that limit, you're
responsible for paying that
credit card.
But the responsible thing going
forward, not just raise the
limit, but look at how you're
spending.
I look at chuck Schumer.
He's never passed a real budget
or any appropriation bills, but
puts a $1.7 trillion omnibus
coming through?
The American public doesn't want
that.
They don't want government to
take more of their hard-earned
money or to waste it.
So now is a moment in time, we
have five more months, I just
walked out having an hour
conversation with this
president, that I tell you in
perspective was a good
conversation.
No agreements, no promises,
except we will continue this
conversation.
I want to continue it on behalf
of the American people and the
parents, on behalf of every
taxpayer here that we put
ourselves on a trajectory that
makes America stronger, secure,
and balanced.
Who has not asked a question?
>> Mr. Speaker, what credibility
do conservatives and Republicans
have to talk about reducing
deficit --
>> That's a great question.
>> -- When Republicans had
control of the white house and
congress, ran up the bill?
>> Let's just go by the sheer
facts and figures, all right?
So Republicans were in the
majority for eight years, and
the Democrats came in the
majority for the last four
years.
So in the last four years, the
Democrats have increased
discretionary spending by 30%,
over $400 billion.
When the Republicans were a
majority twice that long, the
discretionary spending went down
$10 billion.
So I think the credibility lasts
easily with the Republicans.
If you want to argue from a
place where the past president,
if you continue down the same
path, this presidency will put
us in much greater debt.
So I'm in a place of being
speaker of the house.
My role right now is to make
sure we have a sensible,
responsible ability to raise the
debt ceiling, but not continue
this runaway spending.
This is a moment in time that,
for all American households,
every family does this, every
business does this, every state
government, every county
government.
When they have spent too much,
they can look where waste is at,
look where investments would be
better, and sit down and talk in
an adult fashion.
That's the conversation I just
had with the president, and
that's the conversation I want
to continue so we can come to an
agreement.
[ Inaudible question ]
>> Look, I don't need a
commission to tell me where
there's waste, fraud, and abuse.
I don't need a commission to
tell wrus we are spending too
much.
I don't need a commission to
tell us we're in $31 trillion
debt.
Nobody needs to tell us that we
have spent too much.
Just like any family.
So we don't need a commission to
tell us to do our job that the
American public elected us to
do.
For the next five months, we can
sit down and solve this problem.
[ Inaudible question ]
>> I did not talk to him about
classified documents.
I came down here to talk about
the debt ceiling and our
spending.
That's what we spent our time
on
.
>> Right now, this is a
conversation about mine with the
president when it comes to the
debt ceiling and spending.
[ Inaudible question ]
>> Look, we talked in different
perspectives, as our first
conversation about this.
Look, I don't want to give any
false impressions.
He gave me his perspective, I
gave him our perspective.
But I believe in hearing both
perspectives, be it family,
relationships, that you can find
common ground.
There's nothing in there that
does not believe that we can
come to an agreement that makes
America stronger, puts us on a
path to balance and exactly what
the American people are asking
us to do.
It's our responsibility to do
it.
>> Even if you do reach an
agreement with the president,
are you concerned that members
of your own party won't go along
with it?
>> No.
We just met today in a
conference.
Look, the Republicans are very
united.
Had we not been elected to the
majority, we wouldn't be having
this discussion.
The American people would not
have an advocate here to curve
the waste and the spending
that's happening.
So I think this is a positive.
This is exactly how government
in America is designed, that you
have to find compromise.
The American people made a
decision to have the Republicans
in power in the house.
The Democrats have a small
majority in the senate, and the
Democrats have a president.
But we're all Americans, and we
all have to work together.
But the one thing I do know, our
debt is too high.
We have waste in our government.
And we need to sit down
together, in a responsible way,