DNC Chair: NRA now a ‘fringe group’

>> debbie wasserman schultz from florida. good to see you, congresswoman, good morning.

>> you too, chris.

>> so the jobs snubs come out and not a surprise, the republicans taking this as an opportunity to take a shot at the president. let me read for you exactly what the national republican campaign committee tweeted. when will obama focus on jobs? sign the petition to tell the president to get to work. is it a fair criticism that the focus has been on other things, immigration, guns, cabinet appointments, and not enough on the economy?

>> of course not. i mean -- you've just been talking for the last couple minutes about uncertainty. i think in spite of the fact that the republicans in the summer of 2011 were willing to go right to the -- to the edge of the abyss and engage in playing chicken with our economy, on that debt ceiling deal, and then have consistently done that all the way through 2013 , we still have had 35 straight months of private sector job growth . 157,000 new private sector jobs in the jobs report today. you know, we're continuing to make slow and steady progress. but i think actually senator blunt is correct. certainty is the problem. but what happens is that -- what needs to happen is the republicans need to engage in some introspection here. they need to it look inside themselves and realize that it is they that have been causing this uncertainty. if we were able to actually get some certainty, which senator blunt and i agree on, then we would actually get through to a long-term deal. president obama has proposed a $4 trillion deficit deal. one that is a balanced approach, which we had a debate over whether we wanted balance, through revenue and cuts or whether we wanted a cuts-only approach which the republicans proposed. and the american people decided they wanted president obama 's vision. and that's the path we need to continue down so we can provide that certainty. but --

>> let me ask --

>> republicans, i agree, aren't interested in that.

>> let me ask you about some other things that obviously have been front and center, and vice president biden met with senate democrats yesterday to keep the pressure on to get something done on gun control . here's part of what he said. i'm not saying there's an absolute consensus on all these things, but there is a sea change . a sea change in the attitudes of the american people . and three new polls show almost complete support, almost 100% support, for background checks in virginia, new jersey, pennsylvania. is this where we're most likely to see some legislation in this area?

>> you know, i think so. if you heard, again, back to senator blunt's comments, that's someone who is from a pretty red state . he has been a strong second amendment supporter, strong supporter of just about anything the nra wants. the nra has clearly become a fringe group. i had an opportunity to meet just the other day in my district, chris, with nra members and gun rights supporters, all of whom universally support universal background checks and publicly stated they don't agree with the nra in this. when you have the amount of injuries and deaths from gun violence in this country that we have, it's clear that when 40% of gun sales are not subject to background checks , there are people who shouldn't have those weapons that are getting them. and we must do something about that. that's critical.

>> your good friend, gabby giffords , the former congresswoman who gave some very emotional testimony at the senate hearing on wednesday.

>> she did.

>> and i'm wondering, what are her plans? obviously, when she speaks, the resonance is so strong. and do you think that she and her husband, mark kelly , will support some specific legislation?

>> you know, they've made it very clear through their organization and the creation of it, americans for responsible solutions, and their testimony the other day, they support universal background checks . they support doing something about these high-capacity magazines and, you know, mark has made it very clear that if it were not for a high-capacity magazine, fewer people would have been killed in the tucson shooting that gabby was a victim. clearly, fewer people would have been killed in -- at newtown, as well as aurora. and so those two things -- there seems to start to be -- develop some consensus armound. but we've got to make sure this continues to be a ground-up, grass roots , ground swell of support. because, you know, i wish that there were more members that could find their own courage to do the right thing. but what they really need to do is hear from their constituents about the common sense reforms that are necessary. we've got to have comprehensive reform, short-term and long-term solutions, but we have to make sure that we take some specific steps like universal background checks , like getting rid of high-capacity magazines, to ensure that we make it less likely that when god forbid there is another newtown type shooting, that less people are going to die.

>> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz . thank you very much. have a good weekend.

>> thank you.