Katie Couric teased Wednesday's CBS Evening News by excitingly trumpeting: “Tonight, they've got a deal! Congress reaches agreement on an economic stimulus plan.” She soon shared her enthusiasm in a taped interview with a triumphant House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Couric giggled along with Pelosi while asking if she was “surprised how intimately involved” President Obama “is in the whole process?” And, acting like a teenage girl gossiping about a friend's boyfriend, “Can you tell us anything he said to you, like 'get cracking'?” The giggle-filled exchange, which matches the accompanying video:
KATIE COURIC: Are you surprised how intimately involved he is in the whole process?
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: Quite frankly, yes. I said, “Mr. President, neither of us has time for this conversation, especially you,” because we really, we understand each other. We know where we need to go.
COURIC: Can you tell us anything he said to you, like “get cracking”?
PELOSI: No, never that. We're always cracking.
Audio: MP3 clip that matches the video (25 secs, 150 Kb)
Couric proceeded to quiz Pelosi on how soon the House-Senate agreement will be passed. “When do you think this will come to a vote?” And: “What about the Senate? Any idea?”
Before viewers were treated to Couric's chat with Pelosi, reporter Chip Reid assured viewers Obama had put the people ahead of his own desires:
He [Obama] certainly did not get everything he wanted. For example, the bill falls short by billions on health care and education. But in the end, the President decided it's much more important to get this bill passed quickly and put people back to work than to get it exactly right.
Couric's interview with Pelosi, as shown on the Wednesday, February 11 CBS Evening News:
KATIE COURIC: One of the key players in getting this deal approved is the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. I talked to her this afternoon as Senate negotiators were announcing the agreement and we spoke right after she had been on the phone with the President.
COURIC TO PELOSI: Are you surprised how intimately involved he is in the whole process?
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: Quite frankly, yes. I said, "Mr. President, neither of us has time for this conversation, especially you," because we really, we understand each other. We know where we need to go.COURIC: Can you tell us anything he said to you, like “get cracking”?
PELOSI: No, never that. We're always cracking. But it was really a moment for us to have an appreciation that in just a little while, maybe a couple of days, we will have passed legislation that will take the country in a new direction, which will begin us down the road of recovery.
COURIC: Is the devil in the details?
PELOSI: I hope the angels are, because what is in the details are how we will create those jobs, how we do it in a transparent way for the world to see with accountability to the public, again to build jobs, build confidence, and stabilize the economy. The bill that we passed one week and one days after the President's speech honoring the promises he made in that speech, 90 percent of that bill is contained in the Senate bill.
COURIC: Is there anything in the Senate version that you think shouldn't be in the package?
PELOSI: I would like to have seen more of an emphasis on job creation. I don't think there's any doubt that the House bill created more jobs. But this bill will create 3.5 million jobs and three weeks ago we weren't even on this path. I always say to my members, respect it for what it does, rather than judge it for what it does not do, because this does an enormous amount. And in order for it to instill the confidence into the American people, I think we have to believe in what we are doing and we believe in what we are doing.
COURIC: When do you think this will come to a vote?
PELOSI: I'm hoping that it, the House will be able to vote for it Thursday or Friday, but I'm hoping Thursday.
PELOSI: Then we'll send it to the Senate. They have different rules as to how they can bring legislation up, but very soon and certainly meeting the goal of having the bill signed into law before Presidents Day.
COURIC NARRATION: And when asked if she had been too partisan during the process, the Speaker defended the House version of the stimulus package that passed without a single Republican vote.
PELOSI: We had an election and it was about a direction for our country. We have strong philosophical difference in the Congress. This isn't inner-party bickering; this is major differences of opinion on philosophy, on how our country should go forward. We reject the failed Bush administration economic policies which got us where we are today. The proposals that the Republicans put forth were more of the same. We will not go back.
CBSNews.com online version of the interview.
