MSNBC "The Ed Show" -Transcript

Interview

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SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Progressives have been hoping Nancy Pelosi would go to bat for those two tough words, public option, in conference committee. Now it looks like there is not even going to be a conference committee. Democratic leaders have decided to hammer out their differences in private to avoid any round--let"s say--of Republican stall games.

A lot of progressives are concerned about this, that this push--that this final mixing of the bill isn"t going to be what the House members want. A lot of concern over there.

Joining me for more on that is California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a member of the progressive caucus. Maxine, great to have you on tonight. Appreciate your time, as always.

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you very much, Ed.

SCHULTZ: You bet. What is your number one concern that you hear, that there--I guess you could call it a watered down conference committee. They"re going to close the doors and shut the republicans out. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about the possibility that the House if just going to get pushed aside and it"s going to be the Senate bill?

WATERS: First of all, I just got the news early this morning, that there was not going to be a conference committee. And I was a little taken aback by that. I was truly looking for transparency. And, of course, many of us have got to engage those who are involved in the process to try and get that public option back in there, to remain the House version.

Also, there"s something wrong with this bull structurally from the Senate side. They want 50 different exchanges in 50 different states, where some of these states won"t even have any competition. They will have one or two insurance company. They may not regulate them at all. And they could do whatever they want to do with the increasing premiums and co-pays.

And I"m just really concerned that we won"t have an opportunity to put up the fight that we need to put up in order to, first of all, just straighten this thing out and make sure that we have a universal health care plan, a national health care plan with national exchanges. That"s the first big thing that is wrong.

And then, of course, the public option. You know that. And then, of course, I"m worried also about taxing the health plans that workers have fought very hard to get. And calling them Cadillac plans just does not sit too well with me.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, when you take a look at this, what you just described is that the House of Representatives stands the real chance of being marginalized here, after a long, hard, drawn out fight. A lot of people campaigned on change. A lot of people in districts across America won seats because of health care. And now it seems like it"s up to Nancy Pelosi. Do you trust Nancy Pelosi?

WATERS: I trust Nancy Pelosi. What I don"t know and what I don"t understand is what the conservative element would do, both in the Democratic party--and, of course, I know the Republicans are out to kill anything.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WATERS: I know that they are out to tie up the system. And there are many ways that they could do this. They could go to debate on three items before they even get to a conference committee. And they could just tie up the whole system. I know that"s a problem.

But here is what I also know: I know that to the degree that we are able to put up a fight and put up a struggle, we may be able to get this thing back on the right track. Right now, I don"t know how we are going to do it.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much for joining us.

WATERS: You"re so welcome. Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: You bet. Congresswoman Maxine Waters from California.

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