Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/obama-meets-with-democrats-to-calm-spending-concerns Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript President Obama called Senate Democrats to the White House on Tuesday in an effort to ease the worries over a trio of spending measures being pushed by the administration. Gwen Ifill reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: And still to come on the NewsHour: foreclosure assistance; a Guantanamo update; and containing avian flu.That follows a look at today's White House effort to get Democrats back on the same page. It happened over lunch.President Obama called the entire Senate Democratic caucus to the White House today to try to smooth divisions over critical issues, all involving money.At the top of the agenda, the cost of keeping the president's promise to reform health care this year. Polls and political action groups have highlighted growing discontent about legislation making its way through the House and the Senate. Often, liberals have been targeting their own. TV AD NARRATOR: But Feinstein is saying health care may just be too difficult. Senator, we don't expect you to lead just on the easy issues. Senator Feinstein, please, fight for California. Fight for President Obama's health care reform now. GWEN IFILL: Senate Democrats emerging from the White House luncheon today insisted they are close to agreement. SEN. HARRY REID, D-Nev., Senate Majority Leader: The very first thing we did to the thing we're working on now, which is health care. There was absolute unity in the caucus. Different ideas were expressed, but every idea was that we understand that, before year's end, we're going to do a comprehensive health care reform.In spite of the loud, shrill voices trying to interrupt town hall meetings and just throw a monkey wrench into everything, we're going to continue to be positive and work hard. SEN. MAX BAUCUS, D-Mont.: The American people do not like partisanship, but the American people also don't like groups of people trying to kill something that should be done, should get passed, health care reform. And we know that we have to reform the health care system, because costs otherwise are eating us alive. We've got to reform the health insurance industry. So we're going to get it done.