explore our nations passed on american history tv. every weekend. c-span3. next, house republican leaders talk about the party's priorities heading into next years elections. house gop members are meeting in baltimore for their annual party retreat. during this news conference, they were also asked about last night's debate with democratic presidential candidates. >> good morning. thanks for being here.

you saw the contrast between the president, the compliments we have seen in the last three years, all across the board. from the economy that is growing at a historic pace, unemployment has been down to historic levels. unemployment for women, unemployment for african-americans, unemployment for hispanics. across the board, you have seen regulatory reforms. you see the effort which has been crucially important to rebuild the military. , long list of the compliments the defense of life by this president. the appointment of judges to the bench. you have seen that. we have the opportunity to talk about that last night. the opportunity to talk about where we are headed in 2020. while that was going on, you have the democrats on the debate stage in a situation where frankly one of the most concerning moments that came out of the debate that had a lot of concerning moments was when one

of the democratic candidates announced, he was going to advocate confiscating peoples firearms. seeink you will continue to a very clear contrast between the democratic party that is absolutely in the throes of the socialist democratic party that fundamentally wants to massively expand the role of government in our lives. that's a choice you're going to have. will they choose the true fraud of socialism or are they going to be in a position where they choose to continue the kind of successes we have seen now for the three years of the trump presidency. we know that when people make those choices, we will be able to take back the house. we will keep the senate. we look at the president reelected. we are excited about where we are headed today. we have vice president pence coming to speak to us. our leader will talk

about some of our other breakout sessions where we will really be focused on the future. we look forward to a good day in baltimore into a great 2020 cycle coming up. i will turn things over toward with mr.'s police. doing such a great job of putting this conference retreat together in bringing our members together. it's an exciting time. our members always get invigorated when we hear president trump come and talk with us. the things we have done together and big things we could you give us when we get the majority back. is onenference retreat of the more visionary we had. we were in the majority, working with president trump. we got big things done.

america has the hottest economy in the world right now. it happened because of conservative policies. we cut taxes for every income level. what are the results of those tax cuts? and the regulatory relief we brought in. we now have the lowest unemployment levels in so many different important demographics. hispanics, inans, the history of our country. today on average, every single day, more than 1800 women start businesses. think about that. women owned businesses. every day now in america because of this incredibly hot economy we created. chose to oppose these policies when we were passing them through. when we look to the future, the

things we will be talking about at this retreat, like putting together a better health care plan for americans. the biggest problem is that the health care costs too much. the democrat answer is to go the other way. they aren't satisfied with obamacare. they want medicare for all which we know means the elimination of more than 180 million private health insurance plans. for people in medicare advantage, they eliminate that as well. we knowwant to do -- what will happen. longer lines, higher cost for health care. the american people don't want that. they want us to focus on lowering cost, giving them more choice, and protecting people with pre-existing conditions. that's what this president talked about last night. that's what we stand for. that's what we want to implement when we get the new majority next year. we will. the biggest applause line was when the president introduced

are two new members of congress who will get sworn in next tuesday. to see how president trump's influence played an active role in increasing turnout. higher turnout than we had last year. it's much closer to the kind of turnout we will see next year when president trump will be on the ballot with us. we can go into all those districts we lost. many that president trump one and 2016 that he will do even better in in 2020. that around the country when i travel into the swing districts. you see enthusiasm for the president's policies. you see a real enthusiasm for moving away from socialism that the democrats are trying to go towards. working with republicans to get even bigger things done for this economy. the president is leading us in that charge, our leader, kevin mccarthy. offered --o ignore

acknowledge marked the henry in baltimore. one the war of 1812. we were outnumbered. we were fighting the same things we're fighting today. freedom against tyranny. that battle to place the second , they lowered the small american flag and raised the 30 by 42 american flag. why? a sign of victory. president scott key witness that and wrote what became the star-spangled banner. that was 205 years ago today. have may bewe different. the theme is still the same. had we bring more freedom and liberty to this country? how do we fight here and he? ---tyranny.

two things that were interesting to me. i never heard impeachment,. i never heard them talk about the economy. has noongest economy discussion. part of why is because the economy is strong. the democrats didn't have much to do with it. the reforms that make american businesses able to compete around the world, not one of them would vote for it. something's we wanted to finish getting done like immigration reform, not one democrat would vote for. the president had a lot to talk about last night. complimentsout did of that time and what we need to published going forward. that's what this retreat will be about. the vice president will be here at lunch. mike pompeo will be at dinner. we will have breakout sessions

in between. going through from russia, china, the new technology, the environment. we have household, workforce, others. members were all be participating throughout. we havewe are looking forward to building on a very exciting first night of the entry. -- retreat. we will take any questions or comments. go right ahead. seats that thef republicans lost in the midterm were not lost on policy but on tactics. such as ballot harvesting and other things. how have the house republicans turned up to take advantage of these new tactics going into 2020? >> there were election marked changes. there's a couple places you want to look. they changed the law of how you vote in a federal office. now you no longer pick one

person. there's too congressional seats in maine. you don't vote for one person. bruce poliquin got the most votes in that election but is no longer a member of congress. they dropped the last place. now it's a first vote. in california, they changed the election my. a lot of us vote by absentee. you would fill up the ballot and put it in the envelope & the back of it. either you return it or somebody in your immediate family. when it went into the election office, your ballot didn't count yet. they looked at your signature to checkcertain people to make sure that it was you when they opened your ballot. no longer do you have to sign it. people can come to your door and pick your ballot up whether it is filled out or not. even in a case like david valid

dale where the day after the election, he was ahead by six percentage points. three weeks later, he lost by less than 900 votes. startsim comes in and giving her orientation. a few weeks later, it changed. the democrats went about doing it because they control california. republicans will have to play as laws say. i don't believe it's healthy for elections where other people are picking up your ballot. that's what the law in california's. when we had a supervisor race in north county, a very large district, republicans picked up that c. we were strong. we walked through this yesterday on some of the races we have going forward. you have 31 districts that democrats currently sit in that donald trump carried. 13 of them he carried by more

than six points. we are swearing-in to new members next week. seats toave to win 19 be the majority. fewer than the democrats one before. voteshan 107,000 determine whether we are in the minority or majority. it is closer than anybody looks at. when you look at where the tonomy is today, you listen liz give you some of the stats and see. women working today, every nationality improvement to the best of implements they've ever had. i think president trump will carry those 31 and much more. >> [inaudible] do you have any more details on the discussions are about that? what it might look like, when you might come up with a plan? >> the president talked about

tax 2.0 and 3.0. had we keep americans competitive and raise the middle class and make them stronger? sessions, weeakout will be talking about the cost of college. how do we make college more affordable? this is something the president has near and dear to his cart. -- heart. he promised he would make america stronger. he wants to continue to grow with that. >> one of the candidate -- none of the candidates mentioned impeachment. you talk about the 31 districts now. do you envision suggesting the candidates and those districts talk about impeachment? >> no. why would you want to impeach the president? i mention that because of the contrast. there was an interesting poll that recently came out. they pulled them a credit for voters. they know more about investigations than they can name one thing this democrat

majority in congress has accomplished. i think that's a sign that democrats in congress have a real problem. the question will be not the candidates against those 31. what will those 31 mention of why they should be reelected? because they voted to make jerry nadler the chairman because he promised he be the best person for impeachment? not only that committee cannot run properly, the leadership doesn't know what the committee is doing. they can't determine whether they are working on impeachment or not. it's an embarrassment. no one can contrast what is happening in that city. there is so much challenge along the border. he will not have a hearing on it. generalctor investigation of the judicial department and he want bring them in to ask them a question of what he found. >> [inaudible] >> the democrats are making it an issue.

it's the wrong issue for them to talk about. handful of members announced retirements in that they will not seek reelection. what you say to a member who is considering retirement? what is your pitch to get them to say? >> each time is different. i'm not concerned about any retirement. billy retirement i was concerned about was will worth. that's a hard state. he's an exceptional person. every two years, we will have people on both sides. susan davis announced retirement recently. i will miss her as well. ted poe was going to retire two years ago. i love ted poe. done. all the work he had i never knew dan crenshaw but i got to know him. he's doing exceptional job. john crenshaw has been on the

ballot since 1988. there's a time to serve in there's a sign -- time to do something out. 100% to put't have into the majority again. named him i i worried about losing. i look at seeds that we did lose last summer. let's look at houston. george bush is 41 c. -- think. i met this guy named leslie hunt. he's a graduate of west point. his sister graduated 10 years before him. his brother graduated one year after him. he's married and has his first daughter. freedom, now i think i have to make sure i defend them right here at home. he entered the race. we recently did a poll. easily.

look at young kim. born in south korea. they change the rules and he only got two new member orientation. look at the poll. she's in the lead. numerous points after the other. if one thing that happens you want to continue to be able to be the very best, new individuals with new ideas and new energy is what we really need. i thank those who have served their country. they will continue to be our friends and to serve our country as well. just in another capacity. >> >> the president didn't say a lot about guns in the second amendment last night. they spent a lot of time in the white house discussing that. when do you expect him to make his feelings on this known? you watched the debate last night. you saw beto o'rourke stand up

and say, we are going to take your ar-15's and ak-47s. >> he used other words. >> yes. what is your reaction to that? what are the ramifications to democrats embracing that mandatory buyback concept? >> he said he was just going to take them from people. he used different language than most people. it shows the contrast. who looks at a problem and tries to find a solution. when you look at the neck fix, removing the bump stocks that the obama administration put in. the president is getting all the in -- information from law enforcement, the legal community, he's meeting with members on both sides of the aisle. i expect he will come forward with a package quite soon. he wants to gather all the information first and make sure whatever we move forward solves

the problem so that none of this happens again. i was wondering if you might be able to weigh in on the twitter feud you had with riggle and whether you have spoken with him? >> i enjoyed it. i thought it was an enlightening exchange. here i had been thinking the senate is still -- don't. -- dull/ / . this key issues at the heart of that disagreement. issues that surround whether or not you put america first as president trump does or blame america first as rand paul does. if you go back and look at senator paul's records, he has blamed america among other things for world war ii. you have a situation where he ran on his own in 2016. he only managed to get 4.5% of

the vote. he had to drop out. the american people are not isolationists. we know very clearly that america is not to blame. we have to make sure we are clear eyed about our enemies and what it takes to defend the nation. one of the most important things this president has done is devote the resources we need to rebuild our military. an effort that senator paul has not supported. said, it was an enlightening exchange of views. i enjoyed it. they are very important issues. >> more questions? yes. know whatwanted to you want to run on 42020. you talked about the democrats and stuff. i want to hear about what you are hoping to talk to voters about and what you want to accomplish. >> we hope to build on what we

have. continue to build a stronger america and economy. there are challenges we didn't get fixed. we want to fix immigration. we have a problem along the border. when you run, there's the power of ideas. one wants border laws. when i look atn, where the democrats are offering, let's talk about health care. let's talk about pre-existing conditions. we want to lower the cost of health care and raise quality. look at what the democrats are offering. medicare for all. they want to and health care for more than 180 million americans. i look to a place we want to make sure we prevent gastric -- protect the environment. the contrast between the green new deal that lowers the economic life of all americans. california wants to remove plastic straws. we want to remove plastic from the ocean. 90% of all the plastic that goes into the ocean today comes from

10 rivers in the world. not one of them is in america. we can still do something about it. the ocean is the entire world. look at the extraction of co2. everybody is concerned about co2. co2u.k. company can extract and use it in the production of energy. we are building this on a small basis in texas. chevron is involved. dan crenshaw has a bill that enhances the ability to extract co2. simplytuck in committee because dan crenshaw happens to be a republican. i hope we are not running on the idea that we have to pass usmca a year and a half from now. this is something we should do this month. find 180,000 americans

would have adopted a if this was passed. we saw mexico already wet affiant. -- ratify it. what is college have to cost so much? i look at colleges like purdue. low have kept the tuition but increased the number of graduates. they have located outside of the box. that is something we will talk about today. the college itself has skin in the game. it makes sure you will get an education. it will take a small percentage of what you are able to make to pay for your college in the short time frame. wants toge actually meet you have a job when you walk out. we look at workforce. the challenges in the 21st century to actually find employers in training to be here. look at everybody's way of life. privacy itself. what is happening when it comes to the internet? i believe in private property.

i believe your privacy is a private property. these internet companies, we should know exactly what they are extracting from us. if they want to monetize it, we should get a piece of it. we should be able to move our own data and we should be able to delete our own data. i want to make sure there's competition in this world. that not a few companies are controlling at all. there's a long basis of ideas. one of the main items we are doing is making sure this country is able to defend itself. we've watched in the obama administration the destruction of our military. you've watched since we've been in to rebuild our military. to make sure our planes can fly and our men and women are well-trained and safe. we will continue to do that as well. when america leads, the world is safer. i believe in. leadership. when anyone in the world stands for freedom, we stand with them. that includes in hong kong.

for the same time in the 1980's when we start with the ship are -- shipyard workers in poland. those are a few contrasts of what i see happening in congress today. i don't see legislation being passed. i don't see problems being solved. we have a surprise billing problem. individuals go to a hospital that is in their network, have a procedure to find out that dr. is not in the network themselves and get a surprise bill. why is that not solved? prescription drug prices continue to rise. in this ministry can, we've been able to lower them. we were able to pass three bills on the floor this year. bipartisan, 100% coming out of the committee. what did the speaker of the house do? she put a poison pill in so it would never become law. idea oftrated with the how congress is being run. no problems can be solved.

that's what's wrong. we can find that we can work with anyone who's willing to work with us to make sure america is stronger. i'll be less concerned with the idea of where the speaker is today. she's more concerned about tearing down this president the building up america. if you want to know what we will run on, we will put america first. we will make it stronger. we will make a prosperous. we will make it for everyone. not just those who philosophically agree with us. we're done? >> i just wanted to follow up on something. you said your first priority if republicans retake the majority would be addressing the debt. why should americans believe that will be a priority the republicans will have, after you control congress and the white house, and there hasn't been much effort on that? representative mccarthy? what did we do when we were the majority in the house?

the first thing that happened was nancy pelosi gave the gavel to john boehner. bill. 12 appropriations the power we have is over discretionary funding. mandatory funding, which is a real rise in the spending, goes on even when government shuts down. when i had to hold and give that gavel back to nancy pelosi eight years later, what we spent on discretionary funding was less than when she handed it to us today, then more than eight years ago. over,, what we had power we controlled. we passed a budget that balanced in 10 years. democrats took the majority and they won't even produce a budget. how are you going to take control of spending if you want produce a budget? it takes 60 votes in the senate. when it came towhen it came to t reform to make sure we protect

these entitlements for future generations, we passed a budget that did that, to make sure future generations, social security would be there, medicare would be there for them. i watched democrats with medicare for all bankrupt medicare. more than half of all democrats in congress today have cosponsored that bill. not only am i fearful that the debt is out of control, because every society has collapsed when they have overextended themselves. i have watched democrats expand it further. but i watched republicans, when they were in the majority, when they had control over just cash that discussion harry spending -- discretionary spending, spend less than the democrats spent eight years before. my promise will be we will not allow democrats to stop ups again -- stop us again. we came one vote short in the senate for entitlement reform. ability with the republican senate and president trump to change it once and for all and make america strong. tonight, an interview with

house speaker nancy pelosi on a wide range of policy topics and issues. in this portion, she talks about the effort in the house to impeach the president. speaker pelosi? book, talking to strangers, author malcolm gladwell talks about why he thinks people make an accurate judgments about people they don't know. >> i'm going to drag you out of here. >> you're going to drag me out of my own car? >> get out of the car. >> she has been in prison because she resisted arrest and then two days later, she hangs herself in her cell, a tragic and unexpected results. that we whole exchange saw, which goes on and on and on and on, we small -- we saw a ,mall snippet of it, that was when i first saw that online,

that is when i realized what i wanted to write about, because if you break that exchange down moment by moment, you see multiple failures of understanding, of empathy, have a million things. 8:00 easternht at on c-span's q&a. ♪ the house will be in order. >> for 40 years, c-span has provided america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events from washington d.c. end around the country, so you can make up your own mind. created by cable in 1979, c-span is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] tvnext, an american history exclus