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>> the democratic national committee's unity reform commission was created in 2016. it's meeting this weekend for its final session here in the nation's capital. the committee's recommendations will be/ed to update the d.n.c.'s rules and bylaws and the committee will consider them for the 2018 election. it looks like it'll be a few minutes to get under way as members make their way to the room. we'll show you some portion of this morning's "washington journal"," congress this week passing the stopgap spending measure, funding the government through friday, december 22. we talked about that on this morning's "washington journal" and what's ahead.

host: what exactly is in this measure? guest: it's a clean stop gap spending bill. almost nothing in this except keeping the funding going. there's a small technical fix for the children's health insurance program. this is just kicking the can down the road until the 22nd. host: why do this now? guest: they don't have a spending agreement yet. congressional leaders the white house haven't agreed how much to spend in fiscal year 2018. they can't write the big catch-all, year-end spending bill until we get those numbers. this is giving two additional weeks to iron out negotiations on the hill. congressional leaders in the white house can seek meetings to try to come up with that. host: let's focus on the house, then we'll talk about the senate. on the house side, republicans are on board for this measure

yesterday. democrats all oppose it. what are republicans, what are the different factions, they supported this yesterday but will they support a longer term deal? guest: this is probably the only time we'll see so many house republicans vote for a spending bill. this is a big achievement for the republicans. it was overlooked by the fact that shutdown was averted. republicans traditionally have not been able to pass spending bills with only their own members. republican leadership has almost always had to rely on democrats. here we had a full week of wrangling with paul ryan and his deputies trying to get republicans on board so they wouldn't have to go to minority leader nancy pelosi and try to come up with a deal. we did see all the conservatives in the house, the fiscal conservatives, defense hawks, immigration hardliners who said we cannot support something for the dreamers, we had all these

different demands and somehow house speaker paul ryan was able to get everyone onboard because they zrnt to go to nancy pelosi on this host: what -- longer term, what are republicans, what do they want, the different falks within the republican party? you have those who want an increase in military spend, and those who are worried about the deficit. guest: right, there are a lot of dueling demands here. we do have defense hawks and some of the condition servetives on brd with an increase in the military, even the house freedom caucus which shies away from deficit spending said they'd support a major increase in defense funding which is not something they've done in the past. the big difference, president trump. they are in frequent contact with president trump. mark meadow, chairman of the freedom caucus is constantly talking to trump he feel knows he's advocating on behalf of the president when he's calling for big increases in defense spending. that's one of the major issues going ahead of the 22.

there's a lot of military, folks in the armed services committee, who are worried about punting major spending decisions into january. they say that undermines certainty for the pentagon. going into the 22nd, there's already members of the house demanding a full year spending for defense which really would put a wrinkle in negotiations. decisions on domestic decisions would be paused until january. defense would be settled this month. there's no way it can happen but it's something defense hawks have been pushing for. host: we're going to hear if the chairman of the freedom caucus, mark meadow, he'll be delivering are remarks at the conservative women's network forum here in washington, d.c. this -- at 12:00 p.m. eastern time. you can tune in to that on c-span2, or our website, c span.org, or down load the free c-span radio app. we'll see what he has to say if

he delivers remarks about the negotiations. is it the freedom caucus folks who will not agree to increase the military spending without touching domestic spending? guest: that's right and there are more beyond the freedom caucus. house conservatives are feeling empowered after the vote yesterday where they didn't need to rely on democrats they've feel they have the majority in congress, they have the republican president for the first time in many years. they want their demands. so nay -- it seems like every day they have a new goal post in these negotiations. every day they're asking for something new, putting speaker ryan in a tough spot. this is going to be one of his big tests and that's said iver time there's a major leadership decision but here with the spending conversation, it's the first time that president trump is influencing a spending bill other than what we saw in april which was pretty much punting everything until now. so this is going to be a really high stakes moment for the house even though we have sort of this

-- down the road we know the senate democrats are going to have more leverage in this. obviously they need democrats to pass this in the senate. so we're going to have the house conservatives get rolled on this in the next couple of weeks. host: the speaker of the house needs to go to democrat, what do democrats want in return? guest: democrats have a long list of demands that seems to be growing every day. the biggest demand right now is immigration protection for so-called dreamers. they want some sort of resolution for the deferred action for childhood arile program which president trump is ending in march. republicans have said they also want an agreement on this. there's bipartisan conversations happening behind the scenes. but conservatives do not want this into any spending bill. they don't want this to be quote-unquote, holding the spending bill hostage on immigration. they know it's a tricky issue. they're trying to keep it separate. democrats are also looking for

what's called parity between defense and domestic spending. basically they want to say if the spenk going to get a major increase in spending for the next year they want to make sure the domestic programs are getting an equal increase, something that's controversial on the hill. defense hawks are not willing to go that far with domestic funding. they say it's a difficult time for the military. we need to be having this massive buildup. they say the pentagon needs to have a much larger increase than omestic program. host: the question is what can pass in the senate, where does that stand? guest: we'll see house conservatives oppose whatever deal comes out of negotiations with nancy pelosi, chuck schumer and speaker ryan. and president trump of course. the five of them met yesterday in the white house. they all walked out of it saying it was a good meet bug no deal had been reached.

there were a couple of numbers tossed around the democrats didn't like. the republicans are still trying to propose levels for higher defense spending, they're still saying we want to put more money toward the pentagon than we're willing to increase for domestic programs. democrats are drawing a line saying we want parity, equal increases. so we're going to have to see where democrats are willing to compromise on that issue. it does seem difficult that they would get precise parity but we'll probably see bigger increases in the next week or so when we see the negotiations unfold. host: sara is here to take your questions about spending on capitol hill. gene in park ridge, illinois, independent, you're up first. caller: good morning. as a taxpayer i'm concerned about the earmarks and the fat that's going to go into this legislation. both democrats and republicans. you know, our country is at war. we have men and women serving

around the globe. they should be priority one. i understand that, but why is it at the end of the year when everybody is packed up, ready to head out for christmas, that the country is held hostage? thank you for taking my call. host: sara? guest: this scenario of having last-minute deals right before christmas is exactly why conservatives were opposed to this spending bill that passed yesterday. it only goes through december 22. it's the friday right before christmas. this deadline was spicked -- was picked strategically. leadership knows putting a deadline that's hard to miss is a big way to get the negotiations to finish up on time. no one wants to be -- no one in the house wants to be the member holding up christmas. for the hundreds of other members in congress. this is something house conservatives say we want to punt these into january, give

ourselves extra leeway. we don't want to see these tricky negotiations on hundreds and hundreds of different policy issues that are going to be decided in the next couple of weeks that we will not fully grasp even into the coming weeks and months. we haven't seen these appropriation bills other than what the house has written, the partisan document, the bipartisan decisions that are going to be coming out are going to be, we're going to be poring over these for weeks. host: and from croffton, nebraska, republican. caller: i hope they do something with the military and if they don't, if they shut the government down because they didn't get the kun -- because they can't get the money they need, and we know they have problems with the oxygen because the pilots are still refusing to fly, and we know we have problem with the osprey, we have problems with some of the ships, we have problems with training. and we have people playing games

with money. and i know that this lady here is just happier than a pig in poop because the democrats might win and not get the -- we won't get the money for the military, well take your little rear end out there and go to the military. see how you like it. host: sara reports for politico, i don't think she expressed happiness toward democrats and their negotiations but the military doesn't see an increase, what will their funding level be at? guest: fiscal 2018 is the first year sequestration would go into effect. if they can't reach an agreement it could be a drastic cut to defense, several billion dollars below what it is right now. that's almost certainly not going to happen. there will almost certainly be an increase in defense spending going forward. this is something that everyone on the -- almost every on the hill, even some deficit hawks, said is a priority. president trump made this a priority.

so i don't think there's any question that there will not be an increase to the pentagon budget next year. the question of course is just, what exactly will democrats agree to when it comes to domestic levels as well. host: we want to get your questions and comments about spending on capitol hill. republicans 20 2-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independent in north carolina, you're next. ller: i wanted to comment on the situation, stepping down from the senate, i think it was the honorable thing to do. me being a democrat, there should be no tolerance. host: i'm going to leave it there, we've gone on oto spending and the budget process up on capitol hill but we will return to this week in congress

and so you're welcome to, and others are welcome to share their shouths -- thoughs about that and other news from capitol hill coming up here. we'll spend from 8:00 to 10:00 a a.m. on "washington journal" talking about that. caller: hello. good morning. thanks for taking my call. i'd just like to comment about some of these republicans that call in and make comments like the fellow that just called in and said you should get your butt out and join the military. these people are over the top. i don't think that they understand that paul ryan has already announced that they plan to attack social security and medicare and medicaid next year and these people that call in, older fellow, i'm retired, but as an older fellow, these republicans hate social

security. they hate medicare. they hate the affordable care act. and if they was to get their way, they would destroy those programs. host: all right, dennis, we'll leave it there. this is a call we got from a few viewers last week when we were talking about the push for tax reforms. viewers say the republicans are doing this so they can then turn and make cuts to social security and medicare. guest: right. politically it does look bad for republicans as they finish up their tax push, there are several top republican leaders in the house and senate who are eyeing a push toward so-called welfare reform. this is a longtime goal of the republican party, they've been looking to cut, they say they want to cut rates, trim spending around the edge, they want to have some reforms such as maybe adding work requirements to some of these programs for able-bdied adults but this is a priority that they've had for a long time. this is not something they plan to use to pay for their tax

plan. but politically having these two items, these two priorities one after another, i think welfare reform is going to be a big part of what we hear about throughout 2018. this is going to be really, having this as the central focus through 018 after the tax push is going to look politically really bad for republicans. ahead of the 2018 election year. host: this viewer tweets in, why do the democrats go along on stopping the shutdown? guest: democrats have been for many years the party of averting a shutdown. democrats say that they're never the ones who want to hold negotiations hostage. they have said this for a long time. for the last week we've seen a delicate dance of democratic leaders trying to say, these are our priorities we want a fix for daca, but at the same time they said we will in the shut the government down. yesed in the house, 14 democrats

did support this bill in the house even though nancy pelosi and her leadership had been whip -- had been whipping against it, telling members not to vote for it, wanting to watch the republicans squirm on the floor and see if they could get the votes. in the senate there was only about a dozen or so democrats who didn't vote for this by and large senate democrats said we have no reason to vote against this. there's nothing in this clean c.r., continuing resolution we can don't like. so it was an interesting dynamic to watch so many democrats in the house not vote for it because they said they weren't part of gerkses with republicans and then in the senate the democrats, they're feeling good about where negotiations are going, they know they'll have a lot of leverage going into the 22nd on the next round of spending. the kems did vote for this because they said they have -- the democrats did vote for this because they said they have no reason not. to host: this is nancy pelosi yesterday before she went to the

white house, before the house passed the short-term bill. she's talking about a longer -- the longer term negotiations and what democrats want. >> are you backing off your stance from last month where you said we will not leave in december without a daca fix? ms. pelosi: no, i stand by that statement, we won't leave here without a data -- daca fix. next week. roip have you -- reporter: have you changed your mind about accepting border wall funding? ms. pelosi: we said to the president the night he agreed to the daca legislation that we have a responsibility to protect our border and we think there are many things we can do working together to do that. members have been working in a bipartisan way to address that. so we're not backing off anything. including meeting the needs of

protecting our borders. we're not going to turn this country into a rein of terror of omestic enforcement and have daca, the dreamers, pay that price. host: what did you make of her comment there is? guest: if you listen to the full press conference yesterday, she is saying that daca will be a priority. she doesn't want to leave before the end they have year without a commitment on this. interestingly, she didn't say it needed to be in the spending bill. she was asked earlier in the press conference, will you be demanding a fix for dreamers in the next spending bill and she did not say she was going to do that. she said i'm not going to be starting a shutdown over there. democrats have been the party that say, we don't want to be the shutdown party. they always try to blame republicans for any of this talk about a shutdown. so i think what we're seeing here is she is agreing with republicans that there could be a separate fix outside of the

appropriations process. which is something that conservative republicans said has to happen, they don't want to see this tied up in the same process. i think she's trying to stand strong on this while acknowledging that there's no place, there is probably going to be no place for the immigration debate in the next spending bill process. host: david in maryland a democrat. caller: hi. my question is, with all the problems going on in our country with north korea, the embassy being moved, the government shut down, it seems to me that democrats and republicans are at war with each other. when we should be worried about everything else that's going on in the world. that's my question. why are the democrats and republicans always fighting with each other when they should be working together? host: that question would take a long time to answer. guest: it would. i don't think there's anything

that's changed that much in the past couple of years. i don't know that we expected democrats and republicans to suddenly have a couple baa moment with president trump -- a "kum ba yah" moment with president trump in the white house. these will get finalized, avert a government shutdown and each party will walk away with system run wins on this host: in philadelphia a republican. caller: good morning, greta, and thank you c-span for taking my call. i just wanted to say the government shutdown, you know, i guess i'll be watching "washington journal" on the 22nd and see what's going on then. or the 23rd even more so. host: we'll be here. caller: i just want to say, i love watching c-span and "washington journal" is an excellent show, i love hearing the regional accents and tones, there's so much different, so many different opinions and emotions there, it's -- that are

espoused. everybody just please try to stay calm an get along. keep god first. one radical idea, i'm going to guesstimate maybe there's 300 golf courses into the u.s., maybe turn some of them into fires, an what was the other thing maybe sports a little bit. host: all right, caller. so december 22, do you expect lawmakers will still be here? host: they're trying to get out every -- guest: they're trying to get out a little bit early. you talk to staffers, they've got flights on the 20th, 21st, 22nd. there's a lot of pressure to get things done earlier. usually members are home by this time. there were groans on the floor when majority leader kevin mccarthy announced the schedule change yesterday. what we're going to -- the question is how soon will they get the tax push done.

republicans are hoping to finish up the republican conference committee where they're trying to have conversations between the house and senate. they want to get those done by the 17th and 18th, that leaves a couple of days to get final gokeses done. members say their leadership can walk and chew gum at the same time. they say the negotiations can happen in the background. so it's going to -- we're going to have to see if the tax push if that takes longer than expected if that's done earlier than expected, we could probably see a deal before the 22nd. but there's a lot of pressure to get it done. host: those are two big items. ig else on the must-do list? guest: there's a long list of programs that expire in december or earlier than that, the children's health program, that's going to run out of funding soon. there are states warning their beneficiaries there may not be funding left. this is a serious issue. we have some surveillance

powers, what's called fisa, that's probably going to be tacked onto negotiations. there's a whole list of shrns that congress has been punting including flood insurance which is something that's come up into sort a larger focus with the many hurricanes we saw this season. and so there's going to be a lot there's where deadlines, we'll preble problee see an omnibus in january. there's no way to finish writing a whole spending bill by the 227b. so on that date we'll see another continuing resolution. but i do think a couple of must-pass bills will be attached to that. they won't want to leave chip not funded until january. ost: let's go to gary from connorsville, democrat. caller: i want to say this. let's picture for a moment a

government in the senate and the house that has nothing but centrists running it instead of theme that are too hung up on satisfying their base. i think it's amazing what the end results might turn out to be in that regard. you would have people say hey, let's look at everything, balance everything out in a fair manner and do what's best for everybody. now wouldn't that be wonderful? of course i'm talking about pie in the sky dream here but let's get as close to that as we can. thank you, everybody, merry christmas. host: all right. fwoich yeah, i mean there's a few centrists in the house and senate, of course. they're the ones who are the last votes to be gotten during these negotiations. but of course the -- there's a whole mix of factions within the republican and democratic parties and the leadership is under pressure to at least be

demands fromccount all sides. host: to follow this debate, follow sar on at politico.com or on twitter, @saranfaris. thank you for your time. >> year waiting for the start of the democrat unify commission. they were formed in 2016. their recommendations from their meetings, and this is their fifth meeting will be issued toup date the d.n.c.'s rules and bylaws committee to be considered for the 2018 election. set to get under way at 10:00 a.m. eastern. obviously a bit of a delay but we'll have it for you live when it gets under way. we'll tell you about our programming later today. the supreme court case earlier today, oral arguments on whether a wedding cake designer can decline to make a cake for a gay couple. , we'll ce cake shop

bring you that oral argument later tonight on c-span. on c-span2, president trump holding a rally in pence ke la, florida. you can physical low that on c span doifering also or the free c-span radio app, 8:00 eastern. while we wait for the d.n.c. meeting to get under way, more from this morning's "washington journal." host: joining us on the phone, a national security reporter with the hill to talk about the f.b.i. director, chris rays, testimony on capitol hill yesterday. what do you think is the headline from that five-hour hearing? guest: one of the things that ood out to me was really how smoothly chris way sailed through this apeeshes. this was his first oversight hearing before the house

judiciary committee which has jurisdiction over the f.b.i. even though republicans were pushing him on what they say is -- what they see as a double , andard within the f.b.i. targeting hillary clinton and the information into her email server but focusing on the f.b.i. agent that we have since learned has been removed from special counseler -- special counsel mueller's investigation, but even facing tough questions from republicans on that per seed double standard, nobody went after way specifically. he couldn't -- he couldn't talk a lot about what they wanted to know. there's an ongoing justice department inspector general investigation into how the f.b.i. handled the quin:-- the clinton investigation so he defered to that through most of his testimony. but a very smooth appearance.

host: members of congress were questioning him about the inspector genre port, the mueller investigation. let's start with the inspector general. what's the timeline for learning about this investigation and what the i.g. will find out? guest: at this point, we don't know. i think you can expect that whatever inspector general comes out with, it's going to be a bombshell report at this point. it's looking into everything from leaks out of unauthorized leaks or alleged unauthorized leaks out of very different f.b.i. offices as well as then director james comey, how he wrapped up the investigation when he chose to come out and make a public statement calling clinton extremely careless while not charging her. all of that will be wrapped up into this pretty sprawling probe. host: what relationship or role if any does chris way have in

the mueller investigation? guest: not much. the f.b.i. does have some resources that are being put toward the mueller investigation. but he himself is not in the investigation. that's in the hands of special counsel mueller and under the us a pises of deputy attorney general rosenstein. host: what did we learn about f.b.i. investigator peter struck? guest: we didn't learn a whole lot that was new. referred to the inspector general investigation and left that a little bit of a black box. he did say -- he did make the point that struck had been reassigned but that was not necessarily a disciplinary action. so he did sort of get a little

cover to this f.b.i. agent but that was about all we learned. host: the committee primarily focused on these investigations but there's also pending for the f.b.i. and national security folks the re-authorization of section 702 of fisa. that deadline is approaching. remind viewers what this is and when could a vote take place and could it pass? guest: section 205 is an element of surveillance law that allow the government to collect the emails, text messages and over communications of foreigners overseas. however if americans are caught up in that surveillance, say the target of the surveillance is talking to an american in the united states, the government then has that data, what they called collected incidentally. this is the sticking point. not only for some democrats but also for quite a few privacy-minded republicans as

well, the house freedom caucus as well is concerned about this. they say it's a violation of americans' fourth amendment rights against inappropriate search and seizure. so the f.b.i.'s main goal is coming down to the judiciary committee yesterday was really to advocate for a clean re-authorization of this legislation. they want -- they want this law to continue forever unchanged as it is. now that according to chairman tissue republican chairman of the judiciary committee bob goodlatte doesn't have the votes to pass in the house. he see this is coalition of sort of privacy minded lawmakers who want some kind of warrant requirement in order to search that database for americans' information. he thinks it's too big to get a clean re-authorization through. it's unclear what will happen before december 31. i think at this point what i'm

hearing from quite a few people tracking this closely is that they expect maybe some small, modest tweaks but nothing significant that will probably get put into must-pass legislation at the end they have year. host: all right, katy bo williams, thank you. >> c-span covered that f.b.i. oversight hearing, find it online at c-span.org. just type in f.b.i. we're live now the democratic national committee unity reform commission. created in 2016, meeting for its final session in washington today. their recommendations will be issued to update the d.n.c.'s rules and bylaws committee to be considered for the 2018 election. once it gets under way we expect an all-day session here and we will have live coverage. politico magazine wrote about the unify ty commission's efforts saying that with a

potentially historic number of democrats getting ready to launch aed by for their party's nomination in 2020, the d.n.c. has barely 18 months to institute any reforms. the unity commission recommends they, they quote bernie sanders as saying, the party can cannot remain an institution largely dominated by the wealthy and inside beltway coon sulltants. senator sanders saying. it must open its doors and welcome into its ranks millions of working people and young people who desperately want to be involved in determining the future of our nation. we'll have live coverage once it gets under way. in the meantime from this morning's "washington journal"," a look at the announced resignation of minnesota senator al franken. host: joining us on the phone, patricia lopez, an edtorial writer with the "star tribune." what's been the reaction from minnesotans of this resignation? guest: it's very divided.

there are a number of minnesotans who are still strongly supportive of al franken. and part of that gos back to his 2008 election which was one of the closest in the country and -- and in senate history really. democrats put everything on the line back then to get him elected. i think a lot of them feel bonded to him. there are some who feel betrayed. seeing him as the inheritor to paul wellstone, the previous senator who died in a plane crash. he's always held him up as his mentor and role model. you have a lot of conflicted feelings but also some -- virtually the same time as they lost another person they considered an icon, garrison keillor, public radio host. so for minnesotans, this is a very emotional time. host: the senator citing paul wellstone in his speech on the floor yesterday he also referred to the person who would replace

him as a her. so what -- guest: i don't know that that's -- i don't know that that's a fwiven but certainly there's a lot of pressure, momentum, to nominate a woman. there are a number of choices that the governor could have. his lieutenant governor, tina smith, has been put out as one of those choices but he says he has not made that decision yet and it won't come for several days. there are a number of women who could fill that spotful former elected officials, other prominent women leaders. so i think that one has not yet been decided. we also don't know -- host: how does that work -- guest: the pob with him appointing tina smith is that she's a lieutenant governor in minnesota the president of the senate, would then step forward to fill her spot. happens to be a republican right

now, michelle fishbalk. we would have a divided government and the state isn't set up for that. i think there are elements in the party that are resistant to that. host: so the governor -- guest: he also has to decide whether it's going to be, you know, someone who would function more as a caretaker, who would take the office and fill it until 018 and promise not to run or whether he appoints someone who will be a full-on candidate and try to defend that seat next year. host: explain the process in minnesota. he would appoint somebody who take this seat, to fill out until when and when would there be elections for this senate seat? fill out it is not the remainder of franken's term, which would be until 2020, it's only to fill out until the next statewide election, 2018.

host: who else is running in 2018, it's a busy year. host: our senior senator, amy klobuchar is up for re-election. we'll have an open governor seat, governor dayton is not running again. and we have state house elections. throw into that mix, two senate seats and i think you'd have a ull-on three-ring circus here. host: what do democrats in the state prefer, to have a caretaker or somebody who is ready to run permanently for this seat? guest: you know, as far as i can tell, they're divided on that too. very divided state. -- state. there are a number of democrats who think there -- who think that it's foolish to give up the advantage that even a short time incumbent could bring to that seat, someone who would have almost a year to be a voice in the senate, to start campaigning and to give all that up, you know, for a level playing field

and then have to defend that seat through a primary, you know which is expensive and have republicans come at them, republicans are kind of licking their chops at the idea of having this open seat because they know that klobuchar is popular and has been impossible for them to defeat. this one, they already feel like they have a good chance. on the other hand, i talked to minnesotans who said they think the fairest thing is to put this completely to the voters. many, many democrats who would like to have a chance at that senate seat. the state is still kind of divided. they've got a strong bernie sanders section who wants a certain type of candidate. they've got other democrats who want other types of candidates. i don't think they want the governor to, you know, to put his hand on the scale and make that pick for them. host: finally, we've been get regular action from our viewers this morning about senator franken's decision to re-sign.

some say they felt like he was not given due process. why not let the ethics committee do an investigation? the editorial for the "star tribune" says that he should step down. why is that? guest: we felt that -- we felt very strongly and we discussed this for weeks among ourselves. it's not a decision we came to lightly. the pattern was set. there were women coming forward. women fwr all walks of life. women who didn't know one another. all telling similar stories about a similar period of time. you know. almost all of the accusations have come between 2006 and 2009. from a very particular point in his life, it seems. and you know, the senate investigation, it's curious, i think, that people have settled on that. i'm not sure what they think that is going to do. you know, how would you investigate something like this?

you would have to call these women up, you know, question them, it's not like a crime scene where there's forensic evidence that you can look at. this is, you know, someone who sw is accused of placing a hand where they shouldn't or makinging an advance they shouldn't. i think that would be potentially a fwruling situation for these women and you know, kind of speaks to why women don't come forward with these stories. they're just starting to now. it's important that, you know, that when you can, that you believe them. we haven't seen any reason for most of these women, why they would lie. one is a former democratic congressional aid. one is a journalist. one is a veteran. it's hard to see what is gained by putting these pim through, you know, a harsh spotlight and intense questioning and then what? an outcome that would probably be the same my guess is that's what a must remember of these

women senators were also foreseing. and by the way, it's not easy for these senators to do what they did in asking him to leave because a lot of them have close, long-standing elationships with him. host: patricia lopez, editorial writer of the "star tribune," thank you for spending time with us. >> senator franken joining two members of the house announcing resignations this week. john conyers of michigan, retiring on tuesday amid sexual harassment allegations by former staff members. and just last night, republican trent franks of arizona announcing through a statement he's retiring next month after revealing that he discussed sur gacy with two female staffers. on c-span, we're live awaiting the start of the democratic national committee's unity reform commission. they were created in 2016. they are meeting one final time here in washington.

with the idea of getting recommendations and finalizing those recommendations to update the d.n.c.'s rules and bylaws committee for changes by the 2018 election. word is they are set to get under way by 11:00 eastern. when it gets under way we'll have live coverage here on c span. also want to remind you, live coverage of the president later today. he's heading to florida, not to mar-a-lago, he's heading to pensacola for a rally this evening, we'll have that live at :00 eastern.

>> the democratic national unity reform commission meeting in washington today for recommendations and updates and changes to the d.n.c. rules. the chairman of the d.n.c., tom perez and vice chair, congressman ellison, publishing an op-ed on cnn yesterday, asking the d.n.c. reform commission which is holding its final meeting today obviously that they endorse a significant reduction of the number of super delegates who vote to decide the party's nominee for president. we'll have live coverage once it

gets under way on c span. hanukkah beginning on tuesday of next week. the president and first lady yesterday hosting a hanukkah reception at the white house. president trump: i know for a fact there are a lot of happy people in this room. jerusalem. thank you and melania and i are thrilled to welcome you and so many wonderful frevends to the white house. we wish you a very happy hanukkah. [applause] and i think this one will go own as especially special. i want to thank vice president pence and karen for joining us this evening. where are they? where are they? they're someplace. come up here.

get up here. come on up, come on, karen, get up here. they can get under those ropes, they're young and strong. come on up. great job. as well as secretary mnuchin, secretary shulkin. i also want to thank our incredible first lady, melania, he's with you all the way. she's work sod hard to make the white house a truly special place for this joyous season. we've done this so many evenings now and i think we set a record two nights ago, we shook hands for three hours and 25 minutes. that's not fun even though i love the people, that was not fun. i'm also proud that my beautiful grandchildren, arabella, joseph, and theodore have joined us tonight. right here. as we celebrate with all of you sacred traditions that they

observe each year at home. this evening we fwather to celebrate the story that is told in jewish homes across the country and all over the world, a story that began more than ,000 years ago with a tyrant who made practicing the jewish faith punishable by death. he desecrated the jewish temple, including the holy of holies, but a small band of jewish patriots rose up, defeated a mighty army and soon reclaimed their freedom. but the miracle of the mack bees -- of the maccabees did not end there. as they prepared to rededicate the temple they found only enough oil to light the lamp for a single night. soon all were stunned to find that for eight days, the lamp continued to burn brightly, a

sign of god's presence in his dwelling place and a symbol of the faith and resilience of the jewish people. you do have faith and you do have resilience. [applause] the miracle of hanukkah is the miracle of israel. the descendants of abraham, isaac, and jacob have endured unthinkable persecution and oppression. but no force has ever crushed your spirit and no evil has ever extinguished your faith. and that is why the jewish people shine as a light to all nations. and right now, i'm thinking about what's going on and the love that's all over israel and all about jerusalem. [applause]

on behalf of all americans, i also want to say how grateful i am for jewish congress regations throughout our country -- for jewish congregations throughout our country. you cherish your families, support your communities and uplift our beloved country. hanukkah is a time for jewish families around the world to celebrate the miracles of the past and promises of the future. we are proud to stand with the people of israel and to renew our enduring bond. this evening, we are blessed to have two very special hanukkah lamps for this celebration. the menorah orange my left, has been lit every year since the earliest days of our nation. it comes from the first american jewish congregation whose original members came to this land in the 1650's. that's a long time ago. it's a symbol of the history and

home the jewish people made in the united states. today we are honored to have with us the congregation's 10th spiritual leader since the s -- an revolution, rabbi thank you for being with us. thank you for being with us. he's so happy with yesterday he doesn't care if i get it exactly. [applause] thank you, rabbi. we're also deeply honored that to share ence is here this evening with us and to make a few remarks. she's a holocaust survivor. the first three year of her life were spent in hiding in an attic out of amsterdam, a row house in

amsterdam, amazing story, an amazing situation to be in. her family could not light the candles that we're about to light this evening but they lit them in their hearts. on my right is a lamp that survived the ghetto, a city in southern poland that ravaged, was raveplged by the holocaust. , ravaged by the holocaust. it will remain unlite lith in memory of that darkest hour and in order to preserve this relic so we never, ever, ever forget and you will never forget. we thank god that a woman who was born into that nightmare of oppression now lives in this land of the free and that she along with everyone here tonight can light the menorah for all the world to see and the world is watching. today our nation is stronger and our world is more full of

promise because of the jewish people, the state of israel, and the faith that burns so brightly in your hearts. may you all have -- thank you. [applause] thank you. may you all have a truly blessed and happy hanukkah. god bless you and god bless america. thank you. and congratulations, big day, big event. very important. congratulations to everybody in the room. i'd like to invite luisa to say a few words. luisa. >> thank you. trump, thank, mrs. you very much for inviting me

here to your hanukkah celebration today. it is an honor for me to be here. my name is louise lawrence-israels, i'm a survivor of the holocaust. i'm one of approximate approximately 80 survivors who volunteer at the united states holocaust memorial museum. hanukkah is a holiday of freedom. during the first years of my life we could not celebrate hanukkah because my family was not free. when i was born, my country, the netherlands, was occupied by nazi germany. life for jews and jewish families became more and more restrictive and when i was 6 months old, we had to go into hiding because deportations of jews to the death camps in poland had begun. my parents, 18 month older

brother and i with friends of my mom lived in an attic in amsterdam for almost three years . only my father used to leave when we needed food, medicine, and sometimes he brought back some news. we did not have a radio or newspaper. it was a storage attic on top of a row house with its own walkup in the middle of amsterdam. it was about five blocks from where anne frank was hidden with her family. when you are in hiding, you never go outside. soy never met her. the attic had one small dormer window. we had very little natural light. there was no kitchen or bathroom, just a small toilet with a sink with cold water. after discussing what to take into hiding with us , my parents decided on a camping stove.

we needed that for when there was anything to cook and sometimes we had had to just boil water because there was nothing to eat. some pots and pans an utensils, mattresses for the adults and a crib for me. my parents never talked about the outside world with us. or about their worries. and all our relatives. they did not want us to miss anything or anybody. they kept us busy with a form of homeschooling and we loved it. we thought our life was normal. we never talked about religion or celebrated the holidays. that would have been too dangerous. our books and other jewish things were buried and my mom had given our menorah to a trusted friend to keep for us.

we were often hungry and cold but again we thought that was normal. we could not have survived without the courageous help of people from the resistance. my loving parents had only one thought, keep their children safe. we were lucky. the first time we celebrated hanukkah together, i was 4 years old. we received a very special present, an orange. my brother and i had never seen one. smelling it and holing it in our hands was so special. i did not even want to eat it. i was afraid i would not have the present anymore. at hanukkah time i always make sure we have a bowl of oranges on the table to remember our freedom. after my husband retired from the army, we moved to the d.c. area. i wanted to volunteer at the newly opened holocaust museum

but i had to tell my parents first. my parents never talked about our years of occupation and my dad surprised me. he said if you do not speak now, people will not believe that it really happened. one day, the museum will speak for us. but i will speak for as long as i can. to ed cost six million jews be murdered, of which one and a half million were innocent children. they never had a chance. and people let this happen. by not standing up to hatred. they were indifferent. we cannot let that happen again. hatred and prejudice should not have a place in the world. we all have to work -- [applause]

we all have to work for a future where all children will have a chance to smell an orange. i wish everybody a healthy and happy holiday. [applause] >> before we commence with the lighting, i want to thank on behalf of us all, thank you, mr. president and the first lady, for the very gracious hospital you are showing us this evening and all that this evening represents. hanukkah is a jewish story of a miracle that occurred over 2,000 years ago in jerusalem in what the president called yesterday in his remarkable address, the

capital that the jewish people stablished in ancient times. [applause] >> this embodies an american idea. if you go to jerusalem today, you will see that in contrast to most jewish communities around the world that kindle the lights inside their home, there they do it as it was done originally, right outside the door of their homes. and the jewish idea and american idea, that when people of faith leave their homes and enter the public square, they take their

believes and identity with them. they don't check their identities at the door. what this evening represents is that as american jews, we can not only bring our beliefs with us out into society and out into the world, but can bring it out of our homes and into your home and the home of the president of the united states, the home of the american people. so we thank you, mr. president and you, mrs. trump, for all that this evening embodies. [applause] >> because it is not yet hanukkah, the usual blessings over the menorah will not be set, but there are two blessings that we can pronounce before the president's grandchildren actually light this beautiful hanukkah lamp that represents jewish history and american

history. the first blessing is recited, when we are in the presence of a head of state and according to the rabbi, we are instructed to recite this blessing in order to remind us of the god from whom all power and distinction derives, just as the american founders strove to remind us that as americans, it is from god that our rights derive, not from the state. and so in the presence of the president, we recite the blessing first in english and then in help brew. blessed art thou who bestows and distinction of flesh and blood. [speaking help brew] hebrew] ng

>> recited by the jews on the first night of hanukkah that we ave just received. [applause] >> jerusalem lies at the very heart and soul of every jew. we pray three times a day for the rebuilding of jerusalem and the light of hanukkah represents not only the undiing light but the light of jerusalem itself that burns in every jewish soul. and so now that we have received very joyous tiedings because for the first time since the founding of the state of israel, an american president has courageously declared what we

have always proclaimed which is that jerusalem is the capital of israel. [applause] >> we therefore bless god who has allowed us to live to see this joyous day. and so we say -- speaking hebrew] [applause] >> we'll proceed with the ighting of the menorah and i will light the top light and the president's grandchildren will kindle the first light heralding symbolically the upcoming first night of hanukkah as soon as the

president's grandchildren plose join me in singing one of the ost beloved of hahna cow songs and -- hanukkah. so all those who know the song, please join me. i will light it. and you pick a candle. ou got it? singing in hebrew]

>> happy hanukkah. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org >> we are waiting for the start of the democratic national committee's uniform commission waiting for the commission's

recommendations which will update the rules and by-laws. this should get under way shortly. live here on c-span.

>> the democratic national committee uniform committee should be getting under way. the super delegate system is one of the topics expected to be addressed today. commission chair and vice chairman are expected to lead a discussion on the panel's final recommendations on a wide range of possible reforms including the super delegate issue. he writes the commission must issue its report to the d.n.c. rules and by-laws committee by january 1. you can read more at wmur.com.

>> democratic national committee uniform commission about to get under way. abc news reporter writes that by the end of the weekend, they plan to have voted and submitted a document to all democratic national committee members. those who have seen working drafts says the panel plans dramatic cuts to the individual power of super delegates and new rules around caucuses and primaries to improve access to voters and recordkeeping. the unity commission was created in 2016 during the democratic national convention in philadelphia and tasked with devising a plan to limit the

total number of super delegate votes by 2/3. >> members if you can take your seat, we will be starting in a few minutes. thank you.