>> thank you. [applause] >> this concludes panel two. panel format will begin in ten minutes on this stage. panel three will begin in ten minutes in the air force one pavilion. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> tonight the u.s. s court hears oral argument in harrington v purdue pharma, a case concernhe bankruptcy of makers of oxycontin at the pol impact on opioid victims compensation. again t tonight at eight eastern on c-span2, on of the mobile app c-span now online at c-span.org. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this, where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed, a republic thrice.

get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are. because the opinion that matters most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> zach cohen of bloomberg government news, i apologize. i'm suing myself. but zach cohen, that hearing last week with elise stefanik and the three presidents, that has some ways, doesn't? >> guest: yes. with the president's of offered, m.i.t. and i'm blanking on the third one, actually university president actions on over the weekend as well as the chairman as part of a backlash. there's a series of questions from elise stefanik republican

of new york in the chair of the republican concert high up in leadership questioning whether calls for genocide against jews was a violation of those court code of conduct, rather large earring here but certainly well prepared as the present for they were prepared to specific assay such calls within a violation. i imagine during the ongoing debate on college campuses around the world between israel and gaza, and the degree to which zionism is still protected on campus, or these calls for that. and so certainly anti-semitism on college campus is still a pervasive problem, something the committee try to get at you imagine i will continue to be a debate in congress for the coming months. >> host: was that hearing on your radar last week? >> guest: we had colleagues covering it. i didn't personally watch it but like others saw the rather viral clip after the fact. at almost went under the radar

had it not gone viral because it was later in the hearing. it wasn't something that was sort of first out of the gate. >> host: when a lease stomach was asking questions was a typical of a of congress? wagon limited to only aco few minutes in a hearing to ask questions? >> guest: these committees are made up of dozenss of members. sometimes very hard to have breakout moment. you find members of august typically take one of two tasks. one is they will filibuster in user minutes of screen time to make ay point you want to make maybe throw in a question but other times you have members who would use an opportunity to really try to make one particular point special when they have multiple witnesses so have to move quickly. so you'll find actually the more effective members of congress and hearings are the ones that are not trying to lay out the whole position on a particular

issue or to try to make one particular point while the have these witnesses in front of them. >> host: zach cohen, one of your beats is congressional leadership. it seems to me as a casual observer of congress that we have not seen speaker johnson nearly as much as we saw speaker mccarthy or speaker pelosi that is that a fair assessment? >> guest: i think so. speaker johnson has done it couple of press conferences. not quite as forward as speaker mccarthy was aar remember mike johnson is relatively new at this. he was elected in 2016 to the house when the vice chairman of the conference right below of this stuff on it as earlier. so had some messaging expense on something as important for any role in congressional leadership but it think over the last i believe it's within a month or so that he's been in the job you imagine is been a lot of really important work behind the scenes he's been trying to get done, things like negotiating a new ndaa topline funny loves which we can talk about later.

funding for ukraine in israel,, and so certainly not unusual for speakers of weekly press conferences which johnson has continued to do, although it wasn't clear, sort at onset that was going to be the case but when you're building a speakers office from scratch and on-the-fly skelly building a point while it's already in flight. that takes a lot of time trying what we'll come to that in just a second, but more about speaker johnson people who look at the week ahead with zach cohen of bloomberg but we want to get you involved here in our congressional discussion. 202-748-8001 is a republican. >> translator: if you're democrat and if your night of the above, 202-748-8002 is number for you to call. if a caution, about congress or mr. cohen texted to 202-748-8003. include your first name and your city if you want.

so zach cohen, what's the buzz among congressional reporters about the last month with speaker johnson? we went through what we went through on the speaker race for however long that went. but it seems that settled into a somewhat regular order? >> guest: i think johnson has had something of a honeymoon period among is rather small republican conference with his narrow majority racing within the house of representatives since january. it hasn't been without its hurdles. we saw that in january when it took then kevin mccarthy the incoming speaker 15 ballots to get that done and a week to win the votes and his ouster followed by three weeks of balloting are not just johnson but before and steve scalise, jim jordan, tom emmer, all ofth which fell through. there is some appetite to give johnson sometime think of how to do the job. a recollection of just how difficult it was to find a

speaker in the first place. certainly at some point if we see members of the house freedom caucus or other hard-liners in the house republican conference out on johnson's johne something similar as would happen to mccarthy but i think a lot has happened before but i suspect that's part of the reason why johnson has said he will not take it anymore stopgap measures for funding. they are trying to get a full government funding deal of the january february deadline for the last continuing resolution set up. >> host: how much of your bandwidth heavy focus on this issue, hunter biden's tax charges for house inquiry, and the biden impeachment vote this week? the only place i i could finds morning was the washington times. >> guest: it's been remarkable and impeachment inquiry is on page two or 15 of newspapers nowadays. there's been other critical issues before congress right now on things likeof defense authorization, like aid for ukraine initial.

the government shutdown deadline one after another. republicans have been investigating the biden family and trying to build a case for impeachment of the president for some time. this impeachment inquiry vote doesn't necessarily change much. it's largely procedural as well as political and all it essentially do is republicans hope bolster theirir legal teams as he tried to pursue filings and documents as they build this case trying to tie hunter biden's business deal with the president himself. that case has not been made yet. certainly hunter biden has a career advocating for foreign governments abroad or foreign business abroad i should say, ukraine, china, but no document it case yet that links back to the president. using that connection for corrupt purposes. >> host: president zelensky is in town. here's "washington post" biden to host zelensky amongst funding

debate you also been capital. >> host: . >> guest: trencher bright and early 9 a.m. on tuesday. president zelensky's first time on campus since september of this year and before that he spoke to ae joint meeting of congress in december 2022. he will speak with senators in c private session and then go over toio meet with speaker mike johnson and in his will with a meeting at the white house. a typical moment for zelensky. ask essentially speaking, the u.s. one of the money to give to ukraine at this point in the war as ukraine tries to rebut the invasion by russia. it zelensky also is making a political play here and say coming to washington ask for his top ally for more aid. they have not been able to close the deal. it will be the black eye for him and make it tougher to get aid down the road. >> host: where does speaker johnson stand on the issue? where does leader schumer, mcconnell, where do they stand

on the funding for ukraine, funding for israel? >> guest: u.s. got schumer and mcconnell and website cinemas, chuck schumer of new york, mitch mcconnell of kentucky have been proponents of aid to ukraine for a long time. basically as long as the ths been going on. that is something they have stood together on. it was made clear to reporters that schumer and mcconnell had a joint invitation for zelensky to speak with senators last day. mikeke johnson, a little more complicate, he voted against several ukraine aid packages when he was a rank-and-file member or farther down and house leadership. as speaker has come around to the idea that ukraine does need that funding. that is an important strategic long-term investment as well as an investment mcconnell would point out in domestic manufacturing and defense manufacturing in the u.s. the only issue is johnson is the same issues mccarthymc does when it comes to pursuing ukraine

aid. there is a vast part of republican conference at a skeptical. there are as many innocent among republicans that have that similar skepticism but in the house a much narrow majority things getth done on a hearty le basis is much harder to get that agreement. so johnson has been one of the folks has been advocating for tying some sort of border policy provision to the ukraine eight as a way to sweeten the pot for members of his conference. >> host: should we see about this week on ukraine, israel funding? >> guest: we could. there was a vote last week. it did fail along large along party lines. i think senator bernie sanders voted against it in protest of israel's war tactics in gaza. we could see another vote this week before the senate please time, one more push a predicate that across the finish line. not just for ukraine but israel and various indo-pacific security initiatives many taiwan ahead of a potential war against china as well as on the border.

the border part is the sticky wicket and the senate. republicans have asked for some pretty significant policy changes on things like silent and parole at how migrants are dealt with at the southern border. but getting an agreement on that front that both democrats and republicans can support a majority of both caucuses in the senate that's hard to do. not just the last couple of weeks but for decades. >> host: do you see an eadjournment with on funding fr ukraine and israel? >> guest: it is possible.? this is one december i think in a decade there hasn't been a funding deadline to fund the government sensed that deadline was kicked into january and february. and so members of congress are eager to go home for the full three-week recess and spend time with their families, campaign at home ahead of the 2024 election. but it is within leaderships perfused to cancel the first week of itt if they think they have substantial progress toward a ukraine aid package. as i mentioned the white house

office of management and budget made it pretty clear that there's no secret pot of money that they can draw from to help ukraine as it goes into the winter in its war against russia. republicans dispute that a bit but certainly time is of the essence. if you have a deal in the offing i can imagine why they wouldn't stay in town to work through to pass up package. >> host: remind us of the deadlines in january and february for the end of government funding and the status of appropriation bills in the house in the senate. >> guest: we are into december, three months into the fiscal year but this is a government funding for fiscal year 2024 last until september 30 of 2024. there are four tranches of money that expire in january, mid-january come things like department of agriculture, fda, generally less controversial aid packages or funding packages. those expire in mid-january and if they get some sort of

agreement onja that, that coulde an agreement in february when it would take up the rest of those packages and a larger set of things for the department of defense, for instance. all the authorizations will vote on this week of the will not include any money for it. i would have to be taken up in february. the first issue for that is the need to figure how much money to spend for the current fiscal year. right now the government is operating on what's called a stopgap measure, keeping funding at its current levels. what speaker johnson, leader chuck schumer at their staffs of integration is how much do we want to change at level going into the rest of the fiscal year. there's not much that can be done beyond that. the house and senate have passed individual appropriation packages over the last couple of months but for there to be an agreement between those chambers for them to pass the bill first this degree of how much is spent and then everything else kind of works down on there.

there was talk about getting agreement on the topline figure last week. that didn't happen. if that happens this week we could maybee see some action in january once someone soh appropriation staffers over the recess finish writing those bills, something that can be a creature of both the t house and the senate because more than likely than not you need bipartisan support to get them all done. >> host: what's the buzz about former speaker kevin mccarthy leaving congress now? the little incident with the tennessee congressman. >> guest: former speaker kevin mccarthy has said he's going to reside at the end of the year. this might be its last week in washington or at least in congress. he hasn't said what he's going to do after that. it's not uncommon for former speakers to leave in the middle of their term. we are waiting to hear for sure whether former speaker nancy pelosi will run for reelection. i think she has indicated that is her playing but she hasn't filed yet in california to do so. that deadline is coming up pretty quickly.

mccarthy hasn't said what he plans to do next. there was someer scuttlebutt he could be a lobbyist. one of its key allies jeff miller told one of my colleagues that mccarthy is about being a lobbyist that he is too qualified to do that. there's a long tradition in washington of former speakers, former lawmakers staying in the government relationsio base in e lobbying space and continue to be a part of the conversation on capitol hill. former speaker john boehner fit the bill on that one. he's been lobbying i believe on cannabis issues for one. it's h unclear what his next sts are but certainly anything that he wants to do it would be plenty people interested in having him do it. >> host: let's hear from our viewers and talk to the wayne in jamaica new york. you on with zach cohen. >> caller: good morning. just piggybacking off what zach said with regard to speaker

johnson. this man was groomed into being a speaker. here i on the other hand, nancy pelosi groomed hakeem jeffries. you can see the difference in style and how they operate. so that's one question. the other one as far as mccarthy, mccarthy hason no way to kind of get back into politics since he -- it sad you have no way to go but down. finally, they are attacking biden for his age and is memory loss, but the country is still running smooth. they are attacking them because, that to me that's discrimination against the elderly. >> host: thanks for calling in. let's start with hakeem jeffries and mike johnson, the relationship if any at this point. >> guest: it doesn't seemr quite as productive as the one that actually even mccarthy and jeffries had. jeffries is a democrat from newy

york who is the house minority leader. if democrats the house he would more likely to become the speaker pass, the first black speaker in the u.s. house history. certainly somebody who is rising up through the ranks for plenty of time and leapfrog a couple more senior lawmakers just like mike johnson did at the end of the day, steny hoyer and jim clyburn are not the house minority leader right now. i think that was a purposeful move on behalf of house democrats to try totr elevate te next generation of leadership house republicans of basic done the same thing albeit asked in the ousting mccarthy and sticking with the more leadership and then going with mike johnson. but certainly jeffries had more time to prepare for this, and it's a lot easier to be a minute of it or that a speaker. he can sort of get his feet wet in the leadership space fronting a a talks with running a full chamber before if indeed house democrats take back the chamber you have to take on that role. >> host: johnson jeffrey

schumer mcconnell, for you as reported to us the most successful? >> guest: all of them will chat with reporters and hallways. johnson is relatively new into interest in your address not meant as accessible.o mcconnell is very careful about what he says. all of them have regular press the visibility for sure. i think more comes down to not miss your access but strategy. some of them are much more focused on what they want to say this week and will only say that the new and i would mitch mcconnell in that camp, where as others i think jeffries is most likely to speak off-the-cuff with reporters. all of them areff busy, all of them are running between feedings so you only get a couple of seconds o and lets you manage to get a second. >> host: richard in augustine, georgia. please go ahead. >> caller: good morning. it's a shame we have a new house speaker that doesn't even know where the front door when he's going in and out of.

because he still sticking up for a man that wants to be a dictator in trump, and that he's not doing anything to make the country better for the american people. and also, johnson is dangerous. they want to be a dictator leadership party and american people --, how do you think that dictatorship is going to come about? caller: by if trump gets elected to president again, and scary thing. >> host: that will automatically be a dictatorship? , well no, he said his policies to enforce ruling like a dictator over a period of time period if american people to see this, they are going to miss them not being hungry, russia, china, north

korea where dictators rule with an iron fist. hopefully the military people in the united states as a veteran will see that this guy donald trump is a danger to this country along with the new speaker of the house. >> host: that's richard in augustine, georgia. how much time, that's probably i think the first time in our half we've heard president trump's name on this program, which is unusual. how much time is spent talking about dealing with, thinking that president trump? as much time as we see in the papers? >> guest: i think a lot of the focus on trump certain his trouser ongoing in multiple jurisdictions. he's under multiple indictment in d.c., florida and new york. so those trials take up a good chunk of his time period i think he hasn't quite that the same public persona since being kicked off x.

he posts greg alia on truth social. i'm not up on the offer. certain members of congress republican continue to be a soft supporters of trumpier use regular endorsement from republicans. just last week i saw both north dakota senators endorsed him. certainly republicans see trump as the leader of the party. it was a poll out the "des moines register" showing trump ahead in iowa against florida governor ron desantis who seen as the most likely main challenger to trump come out of these republican debates. although i think former south carolina governor nikki haley, former u.n. ambassador comp has built momentum on thatme front. it will become more clear to members of congress as they develop their agenda for the next year or for 2024 and then their arguments for why they

should come once it's clear trump is, in fact, the nominee and certainly i'm sure their members of congress who would preferer that trump cannot be te nominee but are not quite ready to say so publicly. >> host: hakeem jeffries seems to be out on the campaign trail for the democratsn raising mon, giving speeches. we discovered him up in new hampshire. >> guest: certainly an important part of congressional leadership is campaigning for members of your caucus. jeffries has done that. mike johnson was in the hudson valley recently fundraising for mike lawlor who is one of the more gullible incumbents so something that both leaders are doing. schumer and mcconnell also do fundraisers for the party. that something you see up and down leadership, committee chairs and ranking members, the top number of minority tend to be important fundraising vehicles for their caucus as they try to hold on to those leadership positions