After pressing Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan on the issue of whether the federal government should require employers to provide paid family leave in a pre-recorded interview aired on Sunday's State of the Union, CNN correspondent Dana Bash made two appearances on Monday in which she used this portion of the interview to again bring up the issue.
Appearing on both CNN New Day and again on CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, Bash described the U.S. as "way far behind" other countries. She also recounted that "most civilized nations" mandate such a guarantee to their workers.
On State of the Union, substitute hosted by Bash, she was seen at 9:19 a.m. raising the issue:
You sparked a national debate when you said one of the reasons you didn't want to take this job is because of your work/family balance. I have to say that, when I was reporting on that, I got more response on Twitter, on Facebook, from, you know, friends and family all over the country, saying, you know, "Wow, this is interesting he's talking about this, but what's he going to do about it?"
After Speaker Ryan stated that he opposed an "unfunded mandate" for business, the CNN correspondent followed up:
No, no, I completely get that. But I think it's more the fact that women in particular heard you talking like this and said, "Wow, he gets it. Maybe he can do something about it." And I hear you saying unfunded mandate. But there are proposals out there to make it work in a way it's not unfunded.
On Monday at about 6:53 a.m. on New Day, co-host Michaela Pereira introduced a clip from the State of the Union and brought aboard Bash for more discussion. She described the U.S. as "way far behind" other countries on the paid leave issue:
But the point of my question there of course was about the fact that now he's in the position to affect policy and, you know, the United States is way far behind when it comes to mandatory paid leave for women and men, but he made clear there that he doesn't want the government to have a mandate on that kind of thing, and he was pretty adamant about that even as our exchange continued.
At 9:25 a.m. on CNN Newsroom, host Carol Costello brought up Speaker Ryan's comments about paid family leave. Costello:
Before taking office, Ryan made headlines for refusing to give up family time to become Speaker. And while some praised Ryan for being family-focused, others criticized him because he opposes expanding paid family leave. On Sunday, he doubled down.
After a clip of the State of the Union interview, Bash recalled:
But on to the more serious policy issues, you sort of heard me following up with now-Speaker Ryan about the question of paid family leave because the point I was trying to make was, you know, philosophically, he and other Republicans oppose making it a government mandate, making it mandatory for businesses to give their employees paid family time or paid time off for a woman who has a baby or a new father. That is the case certainly in most civilized nations the U.S. is far behind.
But even putting that aside, what I was trying to get at with him was that, because this is a generational change and he even told me, look, he's in the new generation, men are expected to change diapers, how he can move U.S. policy up to that time. And he said, look, he still believes that it is up to businesses to decide and is not up to the government.
Relevant transcripts follow:
#Sunday, November 1, State of the Union:
9:19 a.m.
DANA BASH: You sparked a national debate when you said one of the reasons you didn't want to take this job is because of your work/family balance. I have to say that, when I was reporting on that, I got more response on Twitter, on Facebook, from, you know, friends and family all over the country, saying, you know, "Wow, this is interesting he's talking about this, but what's he going to do about it?"
PAUL RYAN, HOUSE SPEAKER: I don't think that sticking up for being a person with balance in your life for wanting to spend your weekends in your home with your family -- which I work with constituents and my family throughout the weekends -- I don't think that means, "Therefore, you should sign up for some unfunded mandate."
BASH: No, no, I completely get that. But I think it's more the fact that women in particular heard you talking like this and said, "Wow, he gets it. Maybe he can do something about it." And I hear you saying unfunded mandate. But there are proposals out there to make it work in a way it's not unfunded.
(RYAN)
It's more of a question of, since you are a next generation, you understand how hard it is because most families, many families have two parents working to bring the government policies and laws up to date with modern America.
(RYAN)
#Monday, November 2, New Day:
6:53 p.m.
MICHAELA PEREIRA: Paul Ryan is ready to hit the ground running as the new Speaker of the House. It is a job that he initially didn't want, but he now says as Speaker he can now work to unify an extremely divided Congress. Ryan sat down with our Dana Bash to discuss his decision to take the job and the demands he had for taking it. Take a listen.
DANA BASH: You sparked a national debate when you said one of the reasons you didn't want to take this job is because of your work/family balance. I have to say that, when I was reporting on that, I got more response on Twitter, on Facebook, from, you know, friends and family all over the country, saying, you know, "Wow, this is interesting he's talking about this, but what's he going to do about it?"
PAUL RYAN, HOUSE SPEAKER: I don't think that sticking up for being a person with balance in your life for wanting to spend your weekends in your home with your family -- which I work with constituents and my family throughout the weekends -- I don't think that means, "Therefore, you should sign up for some unfunded mandate."
PEREIRA: Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash joins us now. Interesting, Dana, you and I both know so many women professionally that have had to deal with the struggle. So interesting to hear him talk about it, but he's talked about this for a long time. This is something he's very adamant about.BASH: He is when it comes to sort of guarding his time with his children which is, you know, more power to him. You know, after the interview, he was talking about the fact that men in our generation, he's like, "I change diapers, I make bottles, I've done the things that maybe men in previous generations didn't do as much of."
But the point of my question there of course was about the fact that now he's in the position to affect policy and, you know, the United States is way far behind when it comes to mandatory paid leave for women and men, but he made clear there that he doesn't want the government to have a mandate on that kind of thing, and he was pretty adamant about that even as our exchange continued.
But, you know, Michaela, as we go forward, his job is going to be not easy, to say the least, but even in the near term because, yes, there's a big budget deal that we reported on last week, but they still have to fund the government by December 11, and there are a lot of conservatives who still want to defund Planned Parenthood as part of that. So I asked him what he's going to do about that, so listen to this.
#Monday, November 2, CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello:
9:25 a.m.
CAROL COSTELLO: Before taking office, Ryan made headlines for refusing to give up family time to become Speaker. And while some praised Ryan for being family-focused, others criticized him because he opposes expanding paid family leave. On Sunday, he doubled down.
PAUL RYAN, HOUSE SPEAKER: -that sticking up for being a person with balance in your life for wanting to spend your weekends in your home with your family, which I work with constituents and my family throughout the weekends -- I don't think that means, "Therefore, you should sign up for some unfunded mandate."
COSTELLO: Let's bring in CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash. What else did he say about family leave?
(...)
DANA BASH: But on to the more serious policy issues, you sort of heard me following up with now-Speaker Ryan about the question of paid family leave because the point I was trying to make was, you know, philosophically, he and other Republicans oppose making it a government mandate, making it mandatory for businesses to give their employees paid family time or paid time off for a woman who has a baby or a new father. That is the case certainly in most civilized nations the U.S. is far behind.
But even putting that aside, what I was trying to get at with him was that, because this is a generational change and he even told me, look, he's in the new generation, men are expected to change diapers, how he can move U.S. policy up to that time. And he said, look, he still believes that it is up to businesses to decide and is not up to the government.
