'This Week' Transcript: David Plouffe and Rep. Michele Bachmann

NEW YORK, March 25, 2012— -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS (voice-over): Good morning, and welcome to "This Week."

Romney rebounds.

ROMNEY: Thank you, Illinois. What a night. Wow.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Can he wrap it up now and take on Obama?

ROMNEY: This president is crushing the dream and the dreamers. And I will make sure that finally ends.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And after a killing...

(UNKNOWN): And I don't understand why this man has not been arrested.

(UNKNOWN): If he had been white, he wouldn't have been stopped.

STEPHANOPOULOS: America is angry, the president reflective.

OBAMA: You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Was it self-defense or racial profiling? What will it mean for justice to be served?

Plus, Obamacare heads to the Supreme Court.

(UNKNOWN): We knew what we were doing when we passed this bill, iron-clad constitutionally.

(UNKNOWN): The law is at its core a violation of our most deeply held constitutional principles.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How will their decision shape America's health care in the future and this presidential race right now? Questions this morning for our headliners, President Obama's top strategist, David Plouffe, and Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

And our powerhouse roundtable: George Will, Donna Brazile, Cokie Roberts, Matthew Dowd, and Terry Moran.

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. It's your voice, your vote. Reporting from ABC News election headquarters, George Stephanopoulos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning, everyone.

Some news overnight. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is resting in a Virginia hospital this morning after receiving a heart transplant yesterday. The 71-year-old, who has suffered five heart attacks, had been on the transplant waiting list for almost two years, and his initial prognosis is good.

And in the presidential race, Rick Santorum riding high this morning after bowling a turkey in Louisiana and winning big in yesterday's Louisiana primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: ... very clear and crisp statement, and that is that you don't believe, as the pundits have said, that this race is over. You didn't get the memo. We're still here. We're still fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: But even with his 11 wins in this nomination battle, Santorum is way behind in the delegate race, Mitt Romney in a commanding position, with more delegates than all his rivals combined. After his win in Illinois on Tuesday, Romney's the only candidate who can wrap up the nomination before the convention.

What does this all mean for the race against President Obama? Let's begin with that and the president's top strategist, David Plouffe.

Good morning, Mr. Plouffe.

PLOUFFE: Morning, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So hearing Rick Santorum say he's going to keep on fighting must be music to your ears. I know you and the president and your whole campaign think this whole process is helping the president's chances. But our latest poll shows that President Obama is in a dead heat with Mitt Romney, despite the fact that this process has been going on so long. If this process is so grinding for Republicans, why is Mitt Romney tied with the president?

PLOUFFE: Well, George, you know, at the White House we're focused on doing everything we can to help strengthen the economy and create jobs and develop the kind of clean-energy future we need.