COOPER: "Raw Politics" tonight, and the raw numbers of health care reform, in human terms, 30-some million Americans who would get access to insurance under the bill. In political terms, we're talking about 216 votes in the House, 51 in the Senate, to get it done.

Our next guest, a liberal Democrat from Cleveland, counted himself as a no-vote until today.

Quickly, here's the quick before and after picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CAMPBELL BROWN," MARCH 4, 2010)

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: The bill is a terribly flawed bill that will lock in the privatization of health care, $70 billion bonanza for the insurance industry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KUCINICH: I have decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation.

If my vote is to be counted, let it count now for passage of the bill, hopefully in the direction of comprehensive health care reform. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And joining us now is Congressman and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.

Congressman, thanks for being with us.

You have said in the past that this bill represented a giveaway to the insurance industry, that it was a -- a bailout, that the public option was taken out in what you called backroom deals.

Do you no longer believe that?

KUCINICH: I don't take -- I don't take back anything I said.

But I -- what I have done, Anderson, is, I have tried in every possible way to change this bill. I wasn't for the public option to begin with. I'm for single-payer. Most people know that. But what I saw at last, despite every effort I made, I couldn't change the bill.

Then I was faced with this possibility. Either I'm going to be the decisive vote to kill the bill or I'm going to be a decisive vote to help pass it. And that was a moment where I talked to the president and others and decided that I will give it a chance to move down the road, that it's a first step, and the things that I'm concerned about, I'm going to keep fighting for.

I'm going to help the states get the right to pursue single- payer. I want to stay in the mix here and not abandon a change here to use the passage of this as a -- as a lever to move towards other reforms.

COOPER: But -- but...

(CROSSTALK)

KUCINICH: But I don't like the bill, Anderson. I -- I -- I don't -- I don't like it.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Yes. I mean, just last week, you said that, even if you were the deciding vote, that that wouldn't make you change your mind.

So, I mean, your critics will say, well, that was just posturing.

KUCINICH: Well, I -- I was certainly doing everything I could to change the bill, you know, and I still am trying to get it changed.

But, by last week, it became abundantly clear that, in fact, I was looking at being a decisive vote. And I did not want to be the person who took this whole process over a cliff, because there are some things that we can do once the bill passes in order to create some room for more comprehensive health care.

COOPER: How much... KUCINICH: And, so -- yes.

COOPER: ... of your time with the president made the difference?

Because, I mean, he went to your home state a couple days ago. He made it pitch to you personally. You rode on Air Force One. And I want to show viewers a little bit of what happened at a town hall that you both had together. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Your own congressman, who is tireless on behalf of working people, Dennis Kucinich.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote yes!

OBAMA: Did you hear that, Dennis? Go on. Say that again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote yes!

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, someone in the audience saying, "Vote yes."

I mean, did the president give you something or promise you something, that he would campaign for you, raise money for you? Was there -- obviously, a lot of arm-twisting was going on. Did he twist your arm?

KUCINICH: No. You know, I -- I was trying to convince him while we were on Air Force One. It wasn't the first conversation we have had, Anderson.

I mean, I have had four specific meetings with the president about health care. And, before that, we campaigned nationally together. I understood his position. He wasn't for single-payer. But I was trying to use any opportunity I had to impress upon the president the importance of a public option and of having an amendment passed that would protect the right of states to pursue single-payer.

He wasn't going to do that. Now, when I finally understood, after talking to him and the congressional leaders, that there's no way we could do that, then I'm faced with, I have got to make a decision here. It's not the bill I want. It's not the bill I like.

COOPER: Right.

KUCINICH: It's not the one I would have written. But I have had to make a decision to see if we can move the process beyond where we are right now with this. If this bill succeeds, then I'm going to be vitally involved in crafting health care legislation down the road, and I'm going to do it with the president of the United States. COOPER: Very quickly, you said today you didn't want to see the Obama presidency destroyed if this bill doesn't pass. Do you think it would destroy the presidency if this doesn't pass?

KUCINICH: I think there's a lot riding on this, absolutely.

I mean, there's -- there's -- I mean, the president is aware of that and I think the whole country is.

One of the things I'm concerned about is that, you know, right from the very beginning, his presidency has been under attack. And there was an attempt to delegitimize it. I think that, the economy being what it is, people have built so much angst into this health care bill, because we -- we still have yet to -- to successfully deal with the unemployment, the fact that so many people are under water in their homes, so many people who are -- are -- are waiting for an opportunity to -- to get back in the game, with banks loosening up their lending, if that happens.

I mean, there's -- there's a lot of unsettling things happening in the economy. So, the president's health care bill is like at the epicenter of what's happening. And, if it fails, I -- I -- it is damaging, not just to him; it's damaging to the country.

COOPER: Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake.com, one of the big liberal blogs, said that she was outraged over your decision, that you should give back donations that you have received from people who supported your opposition to the bill. Are you planning to do that?

KUCINICH: We have already set that in motion.

I mean, I knew immediately that, once I changed my position, anybody who -- who made a contribution to support me based on holding out and voting against the bill should get their money back, absolutely. There's no question about that.

COOPER: Congressman Dennis Kucinich, appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.

KUCINICH: Thank you, Anderson Cooper. Appreciate it.