MSNBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Benghazi, Affordable Care Act, and Unemployment Benefits

Interview

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GREGORY: Hopefully you'll come back and NSA as well. Thank you very much. Congressman Castro let me bring you into this but before you touch on health care, give me your response as a Democrat more allied with this administration on the aftermath of Benghazi and this reporting this morning. Does, it change the debate?

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX/Armed Services Committee): Well, it certainly does, David. And I hope that Chairman Issa and others have learned a lesson from this. Chairman Issa and members of that committee crusaded for over a year on what was really a fairy tale claiming that the administration knew that al Qaeda was involved and wouldn't admit it. And the fact is that when a tragedy like this happens, whether it's something like this or a mass shooting at a school, there is a lot of information that comes out at the beginning that later has to be verified. But the important thing is that Susan Rice and the administration were trying their best to level with the American people. And some of the information that came out early, although it may have been wrong, that was their best effort. Darrell Issa and others took that and crusaded against the administration in a way that I think has been a big distraction for the American people.

GREGORY: Let me ask you about health care. The news this morning is that there have been 1.1 million Americans who have enrolled via healthcare.gov, a surge that we have seen in the last days and weeks. Back in September, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, said this was the standard of success.

(Videotape; NBC NIGHTLY NEWS; September 30, 2013)

WOMAN: What does success look like?

MS. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS (Secretary of Health and Human Services): Well, I think success looks like at least seven million people having signed up by the end of March 2014.

(End videotape)

GREGORY: So we're about 1.1 million now, certainly far short of that standard of that goal. If you don't reach it, what are the implications?

REP. CASTRO: Well, obviously, we're going to try as hard as we can to reach it. The Affordable Care Act is something that's good for the country. It really is a new day for the American people. They can't be denied now because of preexisting conditions. They won't hit lifetime caps, and we have been a little bit behind the curve. But on Christmas Eve and the day just before that, there were about a million people that were either on the website or made a phone call to enroll, and so we've seen the numbers spike up incredibly since November 1st.

GREGORY: Do you believe that the individual mandate will have to be delayed? Is that something worth considering?

REP. CASTRO: No, at this-- at this point I think that we should continue with the law. You know, the administration, of course, has made some adjustments, but David, there is not a single big law like this that America has passed, probably in our history, where there haven't had-- have been changes made to it to tweak it to make it better. So some of those delays that you see the administration making are really in the best interest of the American people and made with the intent of serving the American people and getting people health care in a better way.

GREGORY: The fight coming up in the New Year will be over the economy and jobless benefits that are set to expire for Americans who are out of work. What are the economic ramifications of letting those benefits expire?

REP. CASTRO: Well, obviously, you've got about 4.1 million long-term unemployed in this nation. In Texas alone, we've got sixty-six thousand people who as of yesterday lost their benefits. Two hundred and thirty-five thousand people in all who will lose their benefits through midway in 2014. So it's not only the benefits which, by the way, only average about three hundred dollars a month. So it's not only the benefits to them but also all of that economic development for the country, for retailers, for grocers, et cetera, and so it's going to have a sizable impact on our economy if Congress doesn't come back and do something about it.

GREGORY: All right. Congressman, Castro in Texas this morning. Happy New Year to you. Thanks so much for your time.

REP. CASTRO: Happy New Year. Thank you.

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