Transcript: White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe

White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe is interviewed on "This Week."

ByABC News
September 25, 2011, 12:39 PM

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2011— -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): This week, global economic meltdown. Markets plunge as Europe's ticking debt bomb threatens America's recovery. Today, our roundtable of economic all-stars on what it means for U.S. jobs and your 401(k).

OBAMA: This is not class warfare. It's math.

AMANPOUR: President Obama stumping hard for his jobs plan, but getting the cold shoulder from Washington Republicans...

BOEHNER: Our economy's in jeopardy.

AMANPOUR: ... and his own Democrats. We'll ask White House senior adviser David Plouffe whether his bill has a prayer of passing.

In the Republican race to take on the president, the new frontrunner stumbles.

PERRY: Was it -- was before he was before these social programs, from the standpoint of he was for...

ROMNEY: Again, nice try.

AMANPOUR: So is Rick Perry ready for primetime? And will Chris Christie come off the bench? Top political strategists Republican Mary Matalin and Democrat Donna Brazile, ABC News political director Amy Walter, and George Will debate the week's politics on our roundtable.

And in a "This Week" exclusive, British Prime Minister David Cameron on the Palestinian bid for statehood and his own government's close relationship with Rupert Murdoch.

CAMERON: I think it has been too close, too cozy.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the Newseum in Washington, "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour starts right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: We have a packed show for you today, but first, some news since your morning papers.

Two American hikers imprisoned in Iran will land in the United States this morning, ending a two-year ordeal. Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer are scheduled to arrive in New York after a stopover in Oman, then address reporters this afternoon.

In a fiery speech to the Congressional Black Caucus last night, President Obama said that he's not giving up and implored the crowd to stick with him. The president is fending off criticism from African-American leaders that he's ignored their concerns, and polls show his support among black voters softening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes, shack it off, stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do. CBC, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: The president is on a mission to energize a dispirited base. A big piece of that strategy, his newly combative tone as he travels the country pushing his jobs plan.

But the question remains when it comes to jobs, can the president turn rhetoric into reality? And joining me now to talk about this, the president's senior adviser and former campaign manager, David Plouffe.

Thank you for being here this morning.

PLOUFFE: Thanks for having me.

AMANPOUR: Can I ask you first about the new tone? And White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said this week that we've entered and we're going into a new phase. What does he mean? What is this new phase?

PLOUFFE: Well, obviously, we had a tough summer, the whole country did, because we had the default of the United States economy hanging in the balance. We obviously are not going to have that sort of that Damocles hanging over our economy again for a long time.