c-span's "the presidents" will be on shelves april 23, but you can preorder your copy of the hardcover or e-book today at c-span.org/thepresidents, or wherever books are sold. ♪ >> mr. mueller apparently could not find sufficient evidence to conclude on his own that to the president obstructed justice in a classic sense, and mr. barr said along with mr. rosenstein, having looked at the evidence, we do not believe there is evidence for a charge of obstruction of justice, and it is important but not dispositive that the underlying crime did not exist. >> those comments from the chair of the senate judiciary committee, lindsey graham, republican of south carolina, one day after the justice department released a summary of the robert mueller report.

now that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have had time to review the report, the question, what is next? it is monday, march 25, in this is "washington today" on c-span radio. we will get perspective from here in the studio. hill.com,on from the and a spokesperson for the 2020 trump campaign. we begin with congressional reaction to the justice department report released yesterday, the summary from attorney general bill barr, concluding that president trump and his campaign did not conspire or coordinate with russia to intervene in the 2016 election. during news conference today, the chair of the senate judiciary committee confirming that the attorney general will testify the committee about the investigation and the mullah report. >> ok, so, the mullah report is complete. the phone call with attorney

barr, he will come to committee and release as much grand jury, information is prohibited by law from being released. senatehis letter to the said that he is asking the special counsel team to help him with the information that may be covered by the grand jury statute. plus that information, i don't know how much, if any -- that would be something you have to think about. it is -- if the administration claims executive privilege, that would be something i'm sure he would consider. we will find out what the determinations are. but that's the broad outlines, the limitations of sharing the imitation to with the public.

my desires for the public to get as much of the report is possible to the stent with the outlines of concerns are just announced. >> the news conference on capitol hill with senator lindsey graham, joining us in our studio -- what are you saying and that? >> let's start with the one thing that everyone seems to be able to -- and there is something they can all agree on -- on capitol hill, that they want to see as much of the report made public as possible. you obviously heard the senator go through the limitations, but he is one of those advocates who wants to see the report made public, has to congressional democratic leaders and most republicans, saying let's release as much of the report as possible. beyond that, though, senator graham -- his main take away is that there was no evidence developed of a conspiracy between the president or the president's team and russia,

although there were attempts, according to the four-page summary, there were attempts by russian operatives to reach out, offers of assistance made to the president's team. ending,goes from that looking ahead he wants to see congress pick up investigations into the other side of that, what the obama administration did in looking at president trump. >> in your report, they want to not only look at that, but those anti-trump f ei employees. >> yes. i talked about what both sides agree on. what they disagree on at this point is probably much larger. indsey graham explicitly said need to be able to go back and tell my voters we just went through two years of an investigation into president trump. i know you all have

questions about how he was treated by the fbi, the obama administration, the fact that there was information from the steele dossier that appeared in a faisal warren application. some of the apparent bias on the part of fbi agents, fbi lawyers, and potentially the former fbi director and acting director. lindsey graham says he needs to be able to tell his full back home, we are getting to the bottom of all of that. before, but hes renewed this call today and said he would ask the attorney general to appoint a special counsel, someone like mr. mueller, to investigate the other side. >> that is what we heard from the senate republican leader late this afternoon on the senate floor. is this essentially a tit-for-tat, you investigated us, we investigated you? will anything get done? >> that's a good question. the decision that faces the president, and that faces all republicans right now, how much

andhey spiked the football, how aggressive do they want to go in investigations? after president trump made this -- i guess an offer to democrats after the election last year, i guess in the state of the union, you can either investigate me or we can cooperate on legislation but we can't do both. that republicans may have to decide how serious they are about cooperating on legislation rather than going down a return investigative path. senator mitch mcconnell seemed to strike the note of there should be areas, if democrats are willing to work with us. there are some areas for cooperation on legislation. i think both he and the democratic leaders will face an issue of what their party base in the party wings want to do. there are certainly some congressional democrats who believe that the summary of the mueller report is not the last word in that. understandably so.

of lord knows how big this actual report was -- i think a lot of people will want to see a lot more information to match up what the raw material was with what he concluded. do they take on the opportunity? steve: the house and senate had been out for a week. so a perfect week for them to come back. this topic is talked today and all week. stephen: both chambers, they have their regular business doing on. the senate republicans are sort of eager for what they have

coming up later this week with their vote on the green new deal. we'll see how much republicans, how quickly they pivot. earlier today the floor speeches, several senators came to the court and mixed mueller and the green new deal in their speeches. steve: late this afternoon, mitch mcconnell on the mueller report, the investigation and where he says this going next. mitch: according to the attorney general, the special council's in-depth investigation did not find that the trump campaign or anyone associated with it cons expired or coordinated with russia in its effort to influence the 2016 u.s. presidential election. that really says it all. further, attorney general barr and deputy general rosenstein concluded the investigation did not establish that the president engaged in obstruction of

justice. two years, thousands of subpoenas, hundreds of search warrants, sun dreads of witnesses, millions of taxpayer dollars, and these are the findings, madam president. no collusion, no conspiracy, no obstruction. what the investigation did produce it seems is a deep examination of russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. the attorney general reports that russia carried out online disinformation campaigns and computer hacking efforts designed to sew discord in our nation and interfere in american politics. it is deeply disturbing that the obama administration was apparently and sufficiently prepared to anticipate and counter these russian threats.

it was hardly a secret prior to november 2016 that putin's russia was not and is not our friend. and yet, for years, the previous administration ignored, excused and failed to confront putin's malign activities both at home and afraud. i'm glad the special council's report will contribute new insight and in understanding to our awareness of russian activities. steve: again, more of the blame game. let's point fingers back to the democrats. stoiven: it's important that blame specifically to the obama administration because that's what lindsey graham was talking about with this need have another special council investigation or for that matter, graham said he will pursue this investigation as chairman of the judiciary committee. to get the full answers you probably need a special council. what's going on there is a belief that there was -- you heard from senator mcconnell, a

belief that the russia attempt to meddle -- and we should be clear that the barr summary of the mueller report does say there were clearly those efforts to meddle. we've seen some environments brought by mueller of those efforts to meddle. several different efforts including attempts -- well, successful attempts to steal e-mails and spread those e-mails and create chaos through social media. and mcconnell wants to know why the obama administration didn't do more on that. and lindsey graham wants his own committee to look into why the obama administration seemed so focused on special trump when it anears the russians were intent on sewing chaos after all. and he wants to know why the f.b.i. made its investigative decisions not just the f.b.i. but also the attorney general loretta lynch. why they focused on president

trump rather than a broader set of targets. steve: let me remind our listen sers. our guest is stephen dinan, olitical editor for the hill "the washington times"." elaine said imagine how differently this would have been if early in his administration said there are allegations that russia might have interfered in the election. we're going to have a full, fair and complete investigation sbooking into that. would the situation have been any differently today? stephen: probably, but there are so many what if points along here. one of the what if points i continually go back to, think of president trump's first meeting with jim comey. i guess it was in early january when he is presenting the presidential intelligence brief. and at the end, he presents the president with the steele dossier with the salacious some of the details that he's

apanchtly presenting to the president there. that's their first in-person meeting. the president hears from his f.b.i. director, mr. president, we have in our hands this information. you can -- you can understand at that point with the allegations that we heard in the months -- that was about two months after the election, the allegations of stolen election. you can understand the president's attitude that point feeling a bunker attitude and to have the f.b.i. director tell him, this is information that we have and we don't really know what to do with it. it gives his own action as little bit of perspective. you know, there are all sorts of different ways that he might have handled this. but at the same time, i can sort of understand some of the way that he handled this because of what we at least according to the barr summary now believe to have been a far overblown or untrue set of allegations about collusion to subvert the election.

steve: so to that point, the charnls on twirt and his statements of john mccain by the president and news today from senator lindsay gram on exactly what john mccain did or did not do, what's the rest of the story today? >> so graham said that when mccain got this dossier, mccain showed it to graham and said what do i do with this, lindsay? and graham says we don't know whether this is true, whether it's garbage. you have to show it to somebody. graham says he supported mccain turning it over to the f.b.i. what he says happened then was mccain employees but not mccain himself after the election then leaked that information and that started the -- our industry the presses' attention to i well, i go back to that comey meeting there were a parently news organizations for that presidential briefing to happen

in order to run with the details of this unverified dossier because if the intelligence community and the f.b.i. director are raising it with the president, then we are able to report it. and, you know,, there's a lot of debate about those decision and reporting decisions. it's not for me to question them. but that is the chain for how we got to where we got. and this apparently began or at least the mccain staffers played a role in that. plind say gram was playing golf with the president this weekend. he told the president, mccain's a good guy. and apparently trump was like you were friends with this guy? how tchuled be? and graham said yes, i'm friends with him. that's not john mccain. there were some staffers who went off the reservation but that's not john mccain. this goes back to that pivot point you were talking about earlier. graham said to the president, you have a momento get the country out of this. to move past this, pursue the

legislative agenda, pursue the things you talked about. some bly there might be for him. steve: is it fair to say that no two senators were better friends than john mccain and lindsey graham? stephen: i can't think of any that displayed that sort of partnership. no, absolutely not. steve: and now you have lindsey graham, the president's point person on capitol hill and now they have a very close relationship. >> lindsey graham is perhaps from years has been my most intriguing senator. not only does he have a wonderful quote. but he can be brutally honest and sometimes contradictory. but yes, that's exactly him. his point to his constituents is, hey, i have an opportunity with graham -- i'm sorry, with

senator mccain. he had an opportunity to share a lot of the same interests, a lot of the same positions, campaign finance to military matters. he says he can strike those same bargains. and president trump because of that accident he's able to advocate for positions at a very high level. i mean, he says to his constituents, that's a good thing. >> we should point out that vice president mike pence was in south carolina for a fun raiser as he prepared for his own re-election. more with stephen dinan in a moment. meanwhile jerry nadler contacting the department of justice to set a date for the attorney general to testify on special council robert mueller's russia report. nbc news saying that those discussions have taken place and that attorney general barr must report next week. d the democratic senator speaking. >> this report is wrong.

this does not amount to total exoneration. special counsel mueller says that this does not exonerate the president. the personal council spent 22 months uncovering evidence of obstruction and other misconduct. attorney general barr who auditioned for his role with an open memorandum suggesting that it was unconscienable. and that it was almost impossible for any president to commit obstruction of justice as he's the head of the executive branch made a decision about that evidence in under 48 hours. these conclusions raise more questions than the answer given the fact that mueller uncovered evidence that in his own words does not exonerate the president. it is unconscienable that president trump would try to spin the special council's findings as. if his conduct was remotely

done. second, given these questions, it is imperative that they will release the full report and its underlying evident. >> the evidence must be made available to congress and to the american people. steve: jerry nadler is the chair of the house judiciary committee in new york city yesterday. you can hear the sound in the background. and there's this. representative max seen waters. we cannot allow them to get away with this. you are seeing democrats trying to figure out what's next. stephen: yeah, very much so. nadler is the chairman of the house judiciary committee. so he's in the driver's seat for what does come next. it's understandable they want to ear from bar zs -- barr. we have a massive report. we're drawing a lot of conclusions based on those four

pages. and it's possible. i'm not saying this has happened but it's possible that folks will look through all of the mueller investigative materials and come to sleethly different conclusions than barr did. one thing that is very interesting to me is a name that you did not hear from nadler right now. you haven't heard very much of except from william barr is rod rosenstein. barr throughout the weekend, the justice department when was talking to reporters kept making it clear that rod rosenstein, the man the democrats had held up as basically the guiding light in this investigation, protected him -- tried to protect him from president trump and firing. he was sitting with bar as they reviewed the final report in the justice department. and barr made clear in his letter, to point out that rosenstein had agreed to all of these decision including decision that there was not prosecuteable crime on

obstruction of justice. >> i expect -- it was also perhaps a small move. we expect rosenstein to be gone from the justice department. probably a smart decision to make sure he stuck around for this. and release a joint -- joint set of findings between barr and rosenstein. the guy who launched the mueller investigation. at this point, you have mueller through with the barr letter but also rosenstein saying to the country, guy, there's nothing prosecuteable here. democrats need to get those answers for what the underlying decision were. there's not a lot -- if things work out that the underlying material essentially did match what barr reported. there aren't a lot of different avenues to go in terms of criminality. we've seen the indications that the committees will continue all of those other investigations

they have. they're still campaign finance issues out there from cohen's testimony. there are still questions to be answered about what did actually happen, the trump tower meeting. if there's nothing prosecuteable there. there's plenty of more questions they could develop through hearings. >> it probably takes time out of the impeachment push. >> for two years democrats claimed he has a materialing reputation. the president trashed robert mueller that changed yesterday. >> yes, to some extent. i don't know that there's -- it's changed on the president's part. i don't know that the democrats have changed on him yet because we don't know what he's actually done. right now the criticism the imed at bar r and one of their pointed criticisms he took a long time. how can the attorney general spent two days. and conclude that there is no

prosecuteable crime for obstruction of justice. >> he wrote that 19-page demo in 2019 critical of the mueller investigation. >> that also slides e feeds into how democrats are viewing. >> hey, this wasn't just me. this is the guy that you all wanted on this investigation for the last two years. he agreed with me. that's going to be a tough one for democrats to deal with. i'll be interested if rosenstein gets called to testify. >> and and i told you so moment. demetri telling reporters it is hard to find a black cat in a dark room especially if it isn't there insisting that russia has never interfered in elections or in the u.s. in every other country. >> it sounds like that is not what the -- the investigation concluded. they absolutely concluded that there were attempts to medal. and in fact, attempts to actually offer assistance to the trump campaign.

what they didn't find was any evidence or the president himself accepted those offers. >> and in rochester new york, before coming back to washington, the senate democratic leader chuck schumer with this. >> i don't have that much faith in attorney general barr's view because he already stated that he bleevels it's very, very -- believes it's very, very that the president cannot be indicted. we ought to get tall facts. congress requires the full report and underlying documents so we can get an independent ew and do our job of oversighting and legislating the shishe youing brought up. steve: what are you hearing in his statement? >> the same general call that

nadler is making, of course. hey, we can't trust this four-page summary. e need to see the underlying materials. >> they called for the report itself. the mueller report as much of it as possible to be sent to congress. but they've called for something beyond that. they've called for mueller to preserve all of his work pickup truck. but the work product so they can go back and review what materials he saw that helped him produce his report. and then it got boiled down to the four-page letter that we just saw. in particular that would be the -- the grist for all sorts of new investigations or new pads for investigation for nadler and other committees. as i said they are -- they believe that there are things in there that even if there are things unprosecuteable there are things that should be investigated. >> the president quickly to say that he was exonerated, that was

not the case yesterday. >> the only direct quote that barr frakes the mueller report, the only part that's the in quotation was that exact phrase. this is nonat exoneration what mueller says he did was presented evidence of actions of the president. according to barr they were most le -- i don't know what they were. we were mostly what we saw in the public presumably the tweets and the statements of press conferences an whatnot. and criticisms and the firing of jim comey and perhaps things like that. that bar and rosenstein decided wasn't they prosecuteable case. we know from that one quote, it was not intended as an exoneration. >> republicans say it's not the prosecutor's job to exonerate. and the nonprosecution decision it is an -- and that's probably an overstatement.

and for mule tore include and for bar r to include that specific phrase. steve: we'll hear from vice president mike pence. mark the kickoff of the trump 2020 campaign. it certainly redefines that campaign. you know, if -- if you believe the president, he knew we would always get here. what it does is it completely reshuffles the issue. >> they ran on the mueller investigation in 2018. got to be allowed to finish. got to be allowed to go unimpeded and now it's done. what issue, you know, if it turns out that the barr summary is an accurate summary of the mueller report, it does a lot of damage to running on that issue. >> viss president earlier today

at the apec conference. >> yesterday, was a great day for our quntri. our president and every american who cherishes the truth. [applause] after two years of investigation and reckless accusations by many democrats and members of the media, the special council confirmed what president trump said all along. there was no collusion between the trump campaign and russia during the 2016 election. and the attorney general confirmed there was no bstruction of justice. [applause] make no mistake about it, my fellow americans, this was a total vindication of the president of the united states and our campaign. it should be welcomed by every american. and even if some democrats want to spend more time on discredited allegations, the

american people can be confident. >> the president and i are going to continue to focus where we always have. on the issues that are most important to our country, on a stronger and more prosperous america and in a safer world. and that's exactly what we've done since the first day of this administration. [applause] steve: we should point out the full speech where mike pence at the apec conference, it's available on c-span.org. the president will be in grand rapids thursday. michigan one of the key states that he won in 2016. stephen: i think his last it will be fascinating to see how much more he has. >> what are you hearing from congressional republicans today? what have they been saming? in of them with a lock break. they are facing that decision we talked about ermier about how far do they go -- earlier about how far do we go in response

investigation versus they turn the page. there's a division there. but i think most of them are -- most of them are at the point of saying, look, these are the findings. it's time that american accept that they are the findings. i believe the election was stolen. this would counter that. by no means the only attitude out there. >> we begin our conversation with the senate chair of the injure rare committee, republican lindsey graham. here's more from the news conference that you were at earlier today. >> it's clear to me from the four-page summary by attorney -- al barr, that the rush russians did hack into the d.n.c. >> it wasn't a 300-pound guy sitting on the sbeverage. and the conclusion was firm without equivocation that no one on the trump campaign colluded

with the russians. when it dime the 2016 election. as to the obstruction of justice matter, apparently the special council gave some of this. and sam of that. >> and was in sufficient to move orward on obstruction of justice. steve: where will this put the senate committee. does it put them in a tough spot. for two years i've been saying collusion, evidence. and so how far is too far for them to go? >> well, there will be some interesting hearings and maybe some interesting floor debates when senator mark warner who the ranking -- i guess he's the vice chairman of the intelligence committee, the democrats there.

i see evidence of collusion there. >> there are a number of house dem crates. in addition to wearn, several senate democrats. >> it will be interesting to see hat conclusions at this point. mike warner has access to a lot of information that they developped. and mueller is hals developed. >> i'll be fascinated with what he sees differently than what mueller sounds. >> i know you've been looking into the story. the story they broke today, ichael avenue nal -- avenatti. if he's found and extortion of up to $25 million. what do you know? there are two different sets of charges. the nike extortion charges lodged in federal district court in new york. fraud charges lorged in

california. the california case appears -- it steamed from an i.r.a. investigation. leading back to the obama administration. >> i believe he's a law form. investigating for failure to pay -- payroll taxes. it was just an i.r.s. taxes. you open, let's get this done. >> they tried to shift around money. and so they turned it over to the criminal division. and that the indictments today that involve charges that he 2011-213. taxes in that he lied in order to get a bank lone from bank in mississippi and that he embezzled money. he won a settlement for this client and then lied about the base of the settlement was going to be saved. and used it for one of his

purposes, to use one of the side businesses, ownership of a shop. it's nike. >> she posted a tweets saying i'm going to have a press conference tomorrow where i'm going to make shocking allegations about night ke making pafe. -- mighting playoffs. and he suggested publicly but he had information about that. within minutes the property cuters apanchtly arrested him. attempting to ex-tort up to $25 million from nike in order not to go public. he was going to go public with. >> this from stormy daniels, knowing what i know about michael after avenue nat yes. i was sadn't that he was ideally charged. >> he discovered that he had dealt with me extremely

dishonestly and that there will be more announcements to come. >> yeah, so remember they had a falling out over some of the financial arrangements? it was from the go d fund me. and then after natty said no, no, behind this one. but remember avenue natty is also the lawyer for one of the women who accused the judge of actually gang case. >> avenue natty and that woman as far as we know are still potentially at fourth place. o there's a lot of legal entanglements. stephen dinan is joining us. >> prime minister cutting short his trip to washington returning to yeast after a gasa attack. >> even people were wounded in

the weekend attack before leaving the prims was at the white house with where president trump signed at the executive order that officially recognized the building of the occupied goals in mights. this was seized back in 1966. more with the prime minister. >> mr. president. my dear friend, donald. you've shown consistently, incredible support for israel, or our right for self-defense. when we exercise that self-defense, you've never flinched. you got here. including today. yesterday, a rocket was fired from georgia gaza. hit him a home north of televive. including two small children. and miraculously no one was hurry. no one was killed.

>> at least will not tolerate this. i will not tolerate this. and as we spoke as i told you mr. president just now. israel is responding force flifment i have a simple message to israel's enemies. we will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state. after this meeting, i'll return home ahead of schedule to lead the people of israel and the soldiers of israel. but before agot into president, it was so kind of you to invite me to come here and was so important for me to come here to the white house and to thank you . mr. president over the years, israel has been compleesed to sitting in theds

oval office. but you showed us time and again. >> you show us when you where meal.rom the disastrous >> this is a horrible deal. you said it you, did it. >> you restored sanctions. against a genocidele regime that seems to destroy the one and only jewish state. >> you said i will restore them. you said it. and you did it. you showed that when you recognize jerrells as we move the american embassy there. you said it. you did it. >> the u.n. secretary of the golan heights has not changed. this by the way, steven and erica over 612,000 miles. you're haecing their head. >> it's just amazing how -- how

much that relationship between these two countries affects the politics of both countries. yahoo!. neton this invest station almost certainly timed in order to give a boost to the 'em battles prime minister. and yet here at home -- as we speak. which is unone of the reasons. look, the -- the -- difficulty i guess for democrats trying to explain their handling of some of the comments of some of their pressuremen members. the house majority leader from maryland having to come out today and clarify some comments he mad yesterday. he said, hey, america -- the freshmen democrats are defined by just more than the three

members. they're talking about the three freshmen, superstars like o cass you cortet. he said we're defined by more than that. and then had to issue a statement today saying that he didn't mean to minute that we value owl of them because of his comments and i think rightly so. were interested him as saying they don't represent us and having to walk that back because there are a number of aggressive rooms because those are more important than the house democratic leadership. my head haking steve: the lecks in israel in three weeks. and the president running for re-election next year. that's this from the post and courier. nikki haley is back. freed from the restrictions of a political job. the former government demor and unam bass door launching a policy group scoring a

nomination who s has served on a beat including residence there in comba are georgia. >> she made clear that all options are uncertain varding her political future. >> >> i'm doing some writing. the book is coming so that will definitely be something i'm looking board to to. and i launched a platform and i would so love if every single one of you will go here. because i'm too young to stop fighting. i'm just not going to stop fighting. [applause] it's in my blood. this allowed me to continue fighting for all the things i care about. it's allowed him having a voice on this things that matter. i'm not going anywhere. just because i left the u.n., my house will tell you, i'm still

loud and proud. and will continue to fight sever every single day. >> that from the conference. >> it sounds like it. it's interesting. she is perhaps the most successful ex major trump dministration figure, right? steve: one final headline i want to share with you. this from the "new york times." kristen jilly brand, outside of a trump hotel, calling the president, a coward as he formerly kicked off his candidacy for the white house. let's listen. >> president trump is tearing apart the moral fabric of this country. she dem nices the vulnerable. and she punches down. he puts his name on gold on every building.

he does this because he wants you to believe that he is strong. he is not! [cheers and applause] our president is a coward. cheers and applause] and that is not what we deserve. we deserve a president who is brave, a president who will walk rough fire to do what is right. we deserve a president who inspires us to stand for something greater than ourselves. look up at that tower. divisive and vanity. now, look around you. the greater strength by far is

ours. steve: we were live with her announcement speech yesterday part of our "road to the white house" 2020 coverage. stephen, final point on you with this? the optics of this speech. >> it's interesting because i didn't know her before the trump phenomenon. you would have had a candidate. boldly, you know, challenging's candidate. but i will say the competition among the party out of power for those seeking that party's nomination to be the most vehemently opposed to the president. we saw that john kerry and jon edwards.nd this is standard operating procedure for the party out of power. i think flaps time it will be note worthy because of the size of the democratic field that is ome piece -- competing for the

attention. >> perhaps president trump changed the rules for what is acceptable in that -- in that case we're dem nicing. final point on that, you know, she didn't deal specifically in that clip with the mule other bar, summary report. but i think the sentiments she's expressing there is clearly democratic activists have not -- still don't accept president trump as a legitimate president. aren't sure what to make of the mueller report. i think that the democratic financial. it's how far they tack towards the activist. versus sort of where the country is right now. >> on what has been a very busy 24 hours. steven, he's the political editor for "the washington

times." thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> you're listening to "washington today" on c-span radio. >> tuesday on c-span radio, live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. the house armed services committee looks into president trump's physical year 2020. >> receiving will be the acting defense secretary patrick shanahan and general joseph doneford. the president is requesting 750. nearly a 5% increase over the current year. that's live. 10 a.m. spurn on tuesday. >> listen on the radio app or on your smart speakers. -span radio. >> monday the 25th day of march. and this is washington today on c-span radio. i'm steve scully.

we're glad you're with us. >> law makers are preparing for a chaotic week on capitol hill from the mueller report to a number of controversial votes. first from earlier this month, the senate leader mitch mcconnell on why republicans on their record with a vote on the democratic pro-mo sal called the green new deal. >> the hard of the green new deal is the government, i guess to tell wow what kind of house you live in. what kind of house you can drive f you can drive it at all. arguing that this kind of sperscrippings for america might make sense. if that wasn't bad enough they're coming now with what i call medical for all. that's 10 million americans will lose their private health insurance. we're going to have a great deespecial bait about the veryer fence of america. the essence of america.

what is american. it's not just a.o. 6. harris, booker? standard? >> what i'm telling you, running around on the left. saying ridiculous things. being adopted by a much border segment on the country. so we'll be voting on the green new deal. >> the most important thing gets to do the other night and i don't is decide what we're going to do. i hear now they may all vote president which will be an interesting thing to explain. i think it's time to step up and be counted. this is really what think they think is good for america. >> back home in kentucky and alex bolton here in studio. he covers all of this for the

hill newspaper and the hill.com. >> it's about mitch mcconnell trying to drive a wedge between the democratses who are running for president. kamala harris, chris tern jilly brand. bernie sanders. one has to admit this could cost . t's expensive. your clip there sums it. it's socialism. and so he wants to drive a wedge between the 2020 democrats who e trying to stand up and appeals to the liberal base. the ref of the democratic caw cause. specifically doug jones of alabama. very endangered. jean shaheen -- jean in new

york. maybe mark warn other from georgia. sina smith from minnesota. it's classic wedge politics. we're hearing from some of the dem yachts including those running for president saying i agree in principles. this plan. forth by and the freshman democrat. >> yeah, that's right. mcconnell just said in the clip you played. they're going to have an interesting time explaining this. i mean, the primary voters in knock.st four contests they safered the green new league deal. on. i think she's 6%. 47% have a strong favorly view of the green new deal.

>> numbers are very strong. here are these democrats. they're not look to pursue a. what is this all about. what grames they playing? and i think that's what mccollin is trying to do. maybe to the average voter, but not vote for it. in our podcast this week. who knows the senate. exception maybe the late senator robert c. bird of wf. i think it's a classic move. i think it's signature mcconnect. using the floor to draw differences between him and his opponents and the democrats. i mean, this is an early inside kay tor that they have. is that whoever is going to be on top of the

and you posted a story that senator mcromney is looking for a plan that would look for a path to change it maybe not to the extreme. what is he trying to do? are well, so the democrats response to what is dooming. >> bell, republican what's your plan. >> you're going to attack us. do you have any ideas and his to his own question is no, you donalts. >> and so poles show that the -- the view in america is changing. actually a growing number of americans think they can climb a tree ininfected by humans. >> they haven't had too many solutions. so mitt romney. lamar alexander. lindsay graham. they are trying to come up with a republican proposal. and what they're taking about. just gave a speech about this on

the sflat floor. hey have federal investment. with climate change. what does that mean exactly? >> well, they're talking about -- he just talked about manhattan project. >> endeavor. >> that's what developed the atomic bond. >> federal government pro sides it. in the private sector university scientists. we'll be able to come even through some kind of breakthrough. it is an extremely business zpi, week. put it a chaotic suddenly money. you have the house before senate committees. you have the investigation of the cemetery. a lot to keep track of.

>> at 10:00, you have the paycheck fairness act. there's something that they pushed in congress. you know, back when that were in control. car come rose delawyer back. discrimination. that is also going on in the house. in the snad once this green new deal is voted on. disaster moving to a relief package. we saw what happened in the midwest. so that is the next order of business there. so what's ironic that even though the puler report dropped this week, it seems like there's that much time to talk about. . . congress is moving toward cashes. >> "the washington times," was

it this time. that was the advise that given ver -- do you sense that the white house will tend to that -- >> you know, right now he hasn't -- he hasn't really been pushing the lengthive agenda. 2017 when he had obamacare refeel and the tax reform agenda. really, he's been focused on railing against the mueller report. now that he's claiming the vacation, maybe he will focus on the legislative agenda. >> what is the pressure. both part es -- i can also groo to. >> if you talk to people on who work for the infrastructure committees and who has different issues of this issue. the problem is there isn't money to pay for it. and what president trump is roposing is public partner

patter inship. you get things like tall roads and that's not necessarily popular with even republicans on back. . it's not that profitable for private investors to invest. so if you're representing a place like alaska, you want the fellow government pay for the there's a budget crurge. and so i think that bodes purely for infrastructure. we have a sequestration. and they're due to second arm. prolonged ng to be a discuss tove budget caps. and avoiding the question. a billion dollar. relatively small amount of money. from the folks i spoken to there isn't a whole lot of that. >> this is equal washington

today." and our guest is alex bolton two. retirement announcements today. jose serrano has been in the house since 19 0. >> he is battling parkinson's disease. >> hillary clinton winning by 94% compared to the republicans in new york's 15th congressional district. udall won't seek a third team. he comes from a lodge lineage. he's in the senate. his dad was -- served in the house in the 1960's and 1970's who ran for president. >> new mexico senator. his brother -- is the colorado centers. >> no one was expecting this in fact, you know, tom udal has hit a high me in -- he took profile road teaming up with

susan comes to come up with a resolution to d disapprove of the. emergency at the border declare ration. >> the senat took up the house plassed. he's been outspoken on exap example issues. and he was you know, praised warmly by senator saw them on the check. wow, he's someone who ha flown under the radar. mess rd. and hi retirement catches people. new mexico has been a swing state. and so that could be an opportunity for influence. >> one final checks into her. what's the relationship from your standpoint between speaker bellowsy and the snalt leader mcmcconnell. >> they do have that kind of a

relationship. time gh they are long appropriators and they served together on the foreign operations. and so, when mcconnell was asked about it, you know, in the beginning of the year when pelosi took over. he mentioned that he had worked with her in the capacity of the appropriations committee. but there hasn't been a whole lot of interaction recently because they've controled the house for so long. >> almost exclusively with john and. and, you know,, before the democrats had control of the house, you know, plus he was kind of an after thought in these pow corners of the investigation. >> the power that it does in the senate in the snass. >> so of course, that's a big

change. and you know, with these spending talks coming up. slowly and >> and keep in mind when there was the 2535-day government shutdown and there was some dispute over the wall. pelosi was seen by someone at least by the runs. >> thoy thought pretty hard to deal with. she would not accept any money inner the wall. >> it was after they took it ay from leaders and showed ird. house committee chairwoman. only then was a resolution. so mcconnell and pelosi have far aways to go before they develop a productive and working relationship. >> alex bolton who covers all things on capitol hill. thetill.com.n on >> thanks for having me. >> she was on fox and friend.

she talked about the mueller report, the rumry that came forth yesterday. by attorney general and what happens next? kellyanne conway this morning at the white house. >> what you've done to people's lives what, you've done to the presidency, what you've done to the institution. >> don't feel sorry for yourself. you've made a great victim of donald trump. has placed us close to the 2020 election. and i don't care do they run or 50 democrats run or 100 democrats run. anything times zero is still is zero. that's something else's problem. but the idea that this president has been under this cloud not of his making by people who centerly could not accept how wrong they were and that this an may have.

that he would not have been elected. 306, 340 electorial votes. you let hillary clinton have an extended amount toward you. this liar, locker. and -- >> you really have to reflex. i'm here and make ourselves. i was asked, 10 i times day on tv. final the debate where hillary clinton. >> i was asked six times a day will he accept the results? >> will you -- will people who are there for the instruction. and finally in 2016, intethese democrats who chair a powerful committee while people in the

white house who aren't under oath. the people mover with all this ime, all the money mo. i'll tell you it gets my open. >> you don't need to apologize. we. pull our your "newsweek" clear to you. >> you receive to cover it because you had to cover collusion, conspiracy and their russian. you had to cover indiletment and nonsense. >> that's from kellyanne conway. and she is the spokesperson and press secretary back to 20-20. today really marked the start, the unofficial. i think it started long ago. in fact, it nemp end. our campaign on path presidential company.

it continued. they's in terms of this very significant moment you point to. mull ter and the demarcation in a road to 2020 where we were able to look at jerry nadler and others. and there was none and that is what special council mueller found. that's. >> so today's very important. yet, rather. but today coming out of yesterday. >> so wheas ooh the president's mood? >> well, i have not spoke on the the president. but i think by all of the cuties. . he's very excited that this is over. from the. before it began. in may of 2016. so this has been more than two years when you add toe that the special council. >> he's. he continues his work without the special council between him.

congressman adam shift. and -- richard blooming that have been so great. and you're telling those who booked these individuals. can youer lap rate on that? are that's exactly right. a rather memo you. >> all of the major networks noise. saying to play them from alamb shift. >> i have plenty of evidence. tom pe race saying i have a mown of evidence. what is the goalie? they should be fireless can. they should be asked about them. >> the here's part of what he had to say. >> you think robert mueller -- >> lasted a long time. we're glad it over.

lasts 100% -- i think by could have got their aim bmbingts's. very very bood things. i would say tressnist things across the country. nopefully that people that have done such harm to our country, we've gone through a period of -- really bad things happening. those people will certainly be looked at. i've been looking at this them for a loming time. they lied to congress many of them. we know who they are. >> they've done so manyer vail things. i will tell you, i love this country. i love this country. as much as anything i can love. . what they did, it was a. it was a terrible things ♪ we can never let this happen to

another president again. i saw it very strongly. >> can the president move beyond this? >> i cannot speak for what the president will do, but i imagine he will. it is significant that from the moment he got elected, he never got an administration unencumbered from an investigation. to learn that there was no substance to this, it is incredibly frustrating. he is speaking from the heart. he does not want future presidents to be encumbered like

he was from the get-go. the fbi investigation, after , it continued for two years thereafter. it will be a continual point of reference going forward. >> one of the issues that has come back, the president fired james comey which triggered the special prosecutor. was that a mistake? >> i don't think so. that is within his power as the chief executive to make those kind of decisions. that is a position that is appointed by the president, he can be removed by the president. it launched a special counsel investigation, when james comey leaked those memos. that was the impetus. there are questions that need to be asked. >> more investigations from the republicans into the democrats? >> senator lindsey graham made

it clear today he would pursue that line. host: the president in grand rapids, michigan. what will he tell the audience? what is his message for 2020? guest: the economy, first and foremost. it is hard to think back at a time when the economy has been so good. 71% of americans saying these are good economic times in the latest cnn poll. the bottom half of the income spectrum are seeing their paychecks rise. you will hear a strong economic message, coupled on with this president tackling issues other presidents have been too scared to. it is a big argument to make. there is a lot that has been done. host: as you look at the other side of the aisle, the democratic candidates -- how do you prepare in researching all these candidates, some who have

a fair shot at getting the nomination? guest: it is a big task. the rnc has done a great job at keeping up with research. we are more interested in putting forward the president's positive message. we are ready for whoever emerges. whomever emerges from the democratic nomination will be tethered with the surge of socialism. we have seen it with the contenders embracing the new deal, even amy klobuchar embracing it. you see elected officials like dick durbin saying i cannot get on board. we are prepared for whoever emerges. they are different iteration of the same old, radical far left. host: is the president running as a centrist conservative? reaganesquefledged conservative.

but ononservative certain issues that we have noted, the president has challenged republican doctrine on trade, for instance, something that needed to be challenged. this president made an articulate argument in 2016. what he said, he has done today heay in practice -- what said, he has done day-to-day in practice. mike pence has been a great ally of this president. as we have seen in capitol hill, he has been by the president side. -- president's side. host: what is the biggest challenge for you? guest: keeping up with the pace of this president. 2016, het of election made 3, 4 stops across the country. keeping up with the base. host: we appreciate it.

guest: thank you. host: we began with a discussion of don stewart on our podcast weekly, a guest for 20 years, a veteran of capitol hill, he also served as mitch mcconnell's vacation director. our viewer sees your boss on the senate floor but what is he like off the floor? >> he is very much that. he seems stoic. he is a funny guy. he is open. if he has something he wants to get done, he will focus on it and remind you over and over until it is done. he plans things out far in advance and does not care about which way the wind is blowing or what is happening around him. he will get that done. he is funny. he has a dry wit that you really see. he is humorous. he cares deeply about his people.

family, staff, which is also his family. i have seen empathy in him which is rare and most people. he does not talk about it a lot. i have had problems and he has called me and and walked me through it and handled it quietly, didn't make a big scene . he is very empathetic, very funny, supersmart. dangerous, be careful what you tell your boss, because they remember it. fact, figure, anecdote, locked in, he will remember it forever. he is clever, he can tell you about any district in kentucky, state senate race, statehouse race, he knows who is running, how far ahead they are and what their families are like. he remembers all his former staffers, their kids, everything about them. remarkable memory. host: don stewart, veteran

staffer. monday through friday, the weekly is available on the free free c-span radio app.e the dow rose 14.5, the nasdaq fell 5 the s&p was off by two. washington journal is live every morning. here is a preview. ♪ >> c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up tuesday morning, kentucky republican congressman james comber discusses the release of the mueller report and future investigations into president trump's business and political affairs. washington democratic youngest woman susan dell that a talks about her priorities and the new democrat coalition.

former representatives jason altmire and tom davis on ways to make government more effective, civil and less partisan. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal. join the discussion. washington, on the free c-span radio app, coast-to-coast on siriusxm and on the web at www.c-span.org. washington today continues right now. >> the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. >> asked not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. [applause] >> the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. [applause] >> c-span's newest book, the

president, noted historians rank america's best and worst chief executives. providing insight into the lives of the 44 american presidents. true stories, gathered by interviews, explore the life events that shaped our leaders, challenges they faced and the legacies they have left behind. published by public affairs, the presidents will be on shelves april 23. you can preorder your copy as a hardcover or e-book today at thepresidents, or wherever books are sold. >> next a debate about the palestinian -- israel conflict. this took place in new york city. it is just over 90 minutes.