HARRY SMITH, CBS ANCHOR: Today on "Face the Nation," the battle over health care reform, plus the war in Afghanistan. Members of Congress went home last week and came face to face with huge crowds, angry about plans to overhaul health care. Does the White House still have the muscle and the public support to pass reforms? We will ask White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Then we will turn to Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are going head to head with the Taliban as that country prepares for this week's elections. We will get perspective from former Senator Chuck Hagel and Iraq Study Group co-chair Lee Hamilton. And finally, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley joins us to talk about presidents and our national parks.

But first, the rage over health care reform on "Face the Nation."

Welcome again to the broadcast. Bob Schieffer is off this morning.

Joining us now from Phoenix, Arizona, where he is traveling with the president, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Mr. Gibbs, good morning.

GIBBS: Good morning, Harry, how are you?

SMITH: Very well.

80 percent of Americans have health insurance. They may not be thrilled with the system as it works right now, but their fear is that reform is going to make things worse instead of better. Can you guarantee them that things will improve?

GIBBS: Absolutely. If you like what you have now, you will get a chance to keep it. But at each of the town hall meetings that the president has done over the last week, Harry, we have highlighted a specific instance where health insurance reform would help those that already have health insurance.

Yesterday, it was a family that had hit the lifetime cap on their policy and were soon going to have to start paying those expenses completely out of pocket, or a woman in New Hampshire who was discriminated against by her health insurance company because they said she had a preexisting condition, which meant they didn't want to cover any of her medical expenses.

Those type of insurance reforms will be exactly what those that are lucky enough to have health insurance in our country, those are the reforms and the benefits that they will see as part of this debate.

SMITH: OK. So those are for folks who have insurance already. There are almost 50 million people in the United States who do not have health insurance. What makes the White House think it can create a new bureaucracy that will live up to the promise of actually being able to provide health insurance to people who don't have it?

GIBBS: Well, look, we will create a health care exchange that will allow people to find the policy that works best for them, much like the federal employees health benefit. They will get a chance to look at what serves their family or their interests or their small business in a good way. They will get help in trying to purchase that health insurance, because right now, Harry, we all pay for those that get sick and go to the emergency room, but don't have health insurance. Through uncompensated care, it affects our insurance rates just like it affects millions of others.

SMITH: Does the president have to have a government-sponsored or government-run insurance plan in order for him to sign off on this, or is this a deal breaker?

GIBBS: Well, Harry, what the president has always talked about is that we inject some choice and competition into the private insurance market. There are places in this country, unfortunately, where if you don't get insurance through your job and you are seeking it on the private insurance market, you don't have any choice but one health insurance company. What the president has said, in order to inject choice and competition, which will drive down costs and improve quality, that people ought to be able to have some competitor in that market. There ought to be a choice that they have. The president has thus far sided with the notion that that can best be done through a public option.

SMITH: OK. Thus far sided with, is that...

GIBBS: I think first of all...

SMITH: ... a hedge?

GIBBS: No, no, no. What I am saying is the bottom line for this for the president is, what we have to have is choice and competition in the insurance market. Again, if you are in a place in this country where you only get one choice, how in the world are you going to be able to convince anybody that you are driving down costs when you don't have to compete against anything?

SMITH: There is a lot of skepticism, though, about whether this is going to work or not. And yesterday the president said well, OK, so if there is a federal insurance program, well, just look at the post office. Well -- and it has competitors in the private sector. Maybe that's not the best example to look at. It loses billions every year, and it is about to stop delivering mail on Saturdays.

GIBBS: Well, look, I don't think he was saying that what we were going to do is create the postal service for health care. What he was doing was addressing those that are concerned that if a government entity is involved in any way, that it kills anything in the private market.

The president has talked about health insurance reform will build on the way that millions and millions Americans receive their health insurance. That is through their employer-sponsored system. We want to build on and improve that. We want to cut costs for families and for small businesses.

You know, but, Harry, what I think is most important in this debate is what happens if we do nothing? That's the riskiest option of all, because we know that 14,000 people each day will lose their health insurance if we continue to do the same thing. We know that premiums will skyrocket. For a family listening out there, your premium will double in less than nine years if we do nothing. For a small business that is listening out there, who wants to continue to provide health insurance but understands that premiums are skyrocketing, there will be no relief for any of those individuals or families or small businesses, and that is why we can't afford to let this great opportunity pass us by, and do nothing.

SMITH: At the president's health care forums thus far, he has not had to encounter very much rancor, but especially in certain congressional and Senate districts, some of these folks have seen a lot of noise, a lot of passion. When you see these people's faces and you hear what they have to say, what do you think?

GIBBS: Well, when I see the people on TV, you mean?

SMITH: When you see these health care forums, not the ones that presidents do, but some of these ones from these various congressional and senatorial districts, and you see the anger, what do you think?

GIBBS: Look, I understand, as the president does, that people have questions and concerns about health insurance reform. I think one of the reasons the president is out there, has been out there three times in the past week is to try to address the misinformation that is out there about health insurance reform.

He also understands this isn't going to be easy. But I will tell you, Harry, we went to a place last night, Grand Junction, Colorado, where the president received about 35 percent of the vote in 2008. We had a very courteous discussion. There were a couple of tough questions, but a very courteous discussion about the issues that are involved.

I have got to tell you, Harry, I think most of what you are seeing on TV, no offense, is good TV and that's about it. I think the vast majority of people are having discussions, whether it is around their kitchen table or with their congressmen in their district or their senator, and they are doing this the way every American discusses issues, and that's trying to get some information and some facts to make a good decision.

SMITH: At some of these health care forums, you hear people like Chuck Grassley say, you know, if there is a national health insurance policy involved in this, I am not going to participate. You even have some Democrats, who are very much on the fence about this -- I am going to just try and plow this one more time -- does -- is this a deal breaker for the president? Does he have to have national health insurance in order to have a health care reform plan done?

GIBBS: Well, again, the president believes that this option, the option of a government plan, is the best way to provide choice and competition. But you mentioned Senator Grassley, who is working with Democratic and Republican colleagues to fashion a bill in the Senate Finance Committee, and we certainly look forward to their ideas.

Harry, the bottom line, again, is, do individuals looking for health insurance in the private market have choice and competition? If we have that, the president will be satisfied.

SMITH: All right. Last but not least, you are seeing increasing evidence, at least from economists anyway, that the recession is over or may have, in fact, bottomed out. Does the White House look at it that way?

GIBBS: Well, look, we've certainly seen some data recently that show that our economy is -- has stabilized a bit. I definitely think we have pulled back from the edge of going into a depression, which many people predicted when the president took over in January.

We still see hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs every month, millions of people looking for work. And Harry, this president won't be satisfied that our economy is back on track again until the people that want to work in this economy can find a good- paying job that lets them provide for their family. That is what he is focused on each and every day.

SMITH: Robert Gibbs, we thank you very much for your time this morning.

GIBBS: Harry, thanks for having me.