'This Week' Transcript: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Gov. Scott Walker

Senator Kirstin Gillibrant and Governor Scott Walker on "This Week"

ByABC News
November 15, 2013, 5:42 PM
'This Week' Roundtable
'This Week' Roundtable
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Washington, DC, Nov. 17, 2013— -- A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday morning, November 17, 2013 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

RADDATZ: Good morning. Welcome to This Week.

Complete crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We fumbled the rollout. That's on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: President Obama reeling over the disastrous start to his signature achievement. Can Obamacare be fixed? Can his presidency recover? Or is this Obama's political Katrina? This morning, our special coverage, a presidency in crisis. Including a key senator who may have her own eyes on the White House, New York's Kirsten Gillibrand.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ask not what your country can do for you...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: 50 years later, remembering JFK.

All that and the powerhouse roundtable right here this Sunday morning.

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos starts now.

RADDATZ: Hello, again. I'm Martha Raddatz. Great to have you with us.

If second terms are about building a legacy this was an incredibly tough week for President Obama. This morning is still facing withering attacks on his signature legislative achievement: health care reform. And most troubling for the White House, Democrats are joining in.

We have full coverage of the president's very rough week. Let's begin at the White House where Jonathan Karl has the very latest. Good morning, Jon.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martha.

President Obama has staked his legacy on the Affordable Care Act, but now the flawed rollout threatens to undermine the foundation of his second term.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL (voice-over): The president came before the cameras this week and fell on his sword.

OBAMA: I do make apologies for not having executed better. We did fumble the ball on it. That's something I deeply regret

KARL: Six weeks after the bungled rollout of healthcare.gov, the White House revealed that only 106,000 Americans have signed up for Obamacare, a scant 26,000 of those through the federal exchange.

OBAMA: If you like your plan...

KARL: And the president's repeated vow that Americans could keep their health care if they liked it, with millions getting cancellation notices. President Obama acknowledged a broken promise.

OBAMA: There is doubt that the way I put that forward unequivocally ended up not being accurate.

KARL: But his proposed fix to allow people to keep their plans for one more year has only caused more confusion, with some states rejecting the plan as unworkable.

Criticism of the White House has been relentless. From Republicans...

REP. PHIL GINGREY, (R) GEORGIA: This disastrous law was destined to fail from the start.

KARL: And now even Democrats...

REP. NICK RAHALL, (D) WEST VIRGINIA: Some heads ought to roll.

KARL: In a new poll this week for the first time shows a majority of Americans say the president is not honest and trustworthy.

President Obama's predicament has prompted comparisons with where President Bush was at this point in his presidency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

GEORGE W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And Brownie you're doing a heck of a job.

KARL: President Bush never fully recovered.