c-span2. you can also watch on our free video app, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? no, it is way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with community centers so students of low income families and get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. urnal continues. host: my guest now is niels lesniewski. he serves rollcall as their chief correspondent, covering the white house and congress.

when we left congress last week, week's votes in the house when it came to abortion-related legislation, both passing. the of us a sense from the white house side or senate side what is next. are those bills actually becoming law? guest: it is not likely that any of the legislation passed recently related to protecting abortion rights is going to make its way into law. we saw in the senate that catherine cortez masto and several of her colleagues were trying to get a unanimous consent to take cap one of the bills that the house had passed related to protecting rights for interstate travel to make sure that women have the opportunity to cross state lines to receive

abortion services and reproductive health services. that was blocked. we have also seen in women's health protection act, the legislation that would largely codified the old roe v. wade decision. that has not advanced in the senate. it is not clear whether or not chuck schumer and the democrats will take another bite at the apple of trying to it, but those are largely questions for voters in a couple of months into november in terms of whether or not they want to elect a larger and pro-choice abortion rights- favoring majority in the senate or go in another direction.

that is where this is going to go. host: we set the president overseas talking about this becoming a campaign issue. there may be hesitancy in leadership on the senate side to take another bite at this. what is the basis for this? the time that is left to do other things for other factors? guest: the biggest factor -- this may not be true for the kill regarding -- the bill regarding crossing state lines, but the broader abortion rights bill has been something that has been debated in the past. they may call it up for a vote. it would not put, but i do not they will dedicate serious fraud time to it, because there is a limited amount of time.

we look at what the senate democrats want to get done before the august recess and presumably the truncated session in september because of the eagerness that always exists for members to get home in an election year. there really is only 3-5 weeks of legislating, most likely, before the election. there are bills amateur sure we will talk about in a couple of minutes that leaders want to get done before voters start voting. host: niels lesniewski joining as. if you want to ask him questions about things taking place is weak in congress or the white house, call and let us know. host: --(202) 748-8001 for

democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. our text as at (202) 748-8003. a bill looking at china and semiconductor chips, can you put that together for us? guest: that bill looks like it will be narrowed significantly from what we saw when the senate passed its sweeping competitiveness bill and it has been under discussion in the house. there is talk that as early as tomorrow senator schumer may try and call up or at least start the process of calling up a narrower bill that provides $62 billion in incentives to help

promote domestic semiconductor chip manufacturing. other provisions that have bipartisan consensus from that earlier package, which was a broader effort to counter chinese influence in technology and manufacturing, that could come up this week. there was some discussion last week and the last couple in which mcconnell had said that that could not happen by that it was not likely to happen as long as there was still a partisan, democratic reconciliation package with environment-related provisions and tax provisions, but, as we learned in a tweet

from john cornyn over the weekend, now that joe manchin is torpedoed anything other than health care provisions in the reconciliation bill, that objection to the republicans may go away. we have all these moving parts moving in one direction. at the semiconductor bill -- it looks like the semiconductor bill is one that is going to move while democrats work with the parliamentarian to figure out what they can do on the health care front and comply with the senate's reconciliation procedures. host: i want to talk about joe manchin as far as the reasoning he gave for pulling back, the response he is getting from belgium at -- getting from

fellow democrats. >> one of the poorest states of this country. u.s. people of west virginia whether they want to expand medicare, ask them whether we should demand that large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes, ask the people of west virginia whether all people should have health care, that is what they will say. in my humble opinion, joe manchin represents the wealthiest. >> if the provisions do not get passed, what does that mean for democrats' climate goals and the climate itself? >> it is not the precedent. it is in future of the planet. when joe manchin sabotages climate change, this is for future generations.

all over the world, we are looking at more and more heat waves. this is an existential threat to humanity. what this election must about is whether or not we are going to vote for candidates who are prepared to stand up to working people, for the planet, and have the courage to take on the billionaire class that dominates our economy and political life. the republican party is not there. we need more progressive democrats who are going to fight for workers. host: there is one reaction from a democrat in the senate you can talk about others and why senator manchin chose the steps he did. guest: senator sanders there expressing the sentiment we heard from avril members of the -- from several members of the democratic caucus martin heinrich from new mexico questioning openly whether or

not joe manchin should be the chairman of the energy and natural resources committee, there are other democrats like john fetterman, lieutenant of pennsylvania, nominee for senate, who are willing to counter manchin on the campaign trail, tuck about the need to bypass manchin. that is something we are starting to see is a democratic talking point, that voters need to elect more democrats so that manchin does not have this functional veto over the process. manchin's most recent claims have said that he has pulled back from the are getting table most recently because of

inflation concerns. there was the real order last week over -- the report last week over the 9% inflation. he wants to see what happens in the next report, which should come out in the middle of august, but that means if the democrats were to wait for manchin to read the next inflation numbers, you would not see this move until after labor day. what it appears is happening, thanks in large part to has by -- present biden, is that they are just going to move a hard with what manchin seems willing to go along with, which is some health care provisions, efforts to extend expanded benefits under the affordable care act that largely came about because of the pandemic.

i think that what we are looking at is a narrower effort, but always with the senator from west virginia, you never know quite what the questions he is going to be. this inflation report certainly changed his calculation. host: (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a question for niels lesniewski. the semiconductor industry is the backbone of the economy of the american states.

that is going away soon, china is taking over everything. taking over the supply line. they are now making their own technologies. unless our congress does something, we are not going to be --. there are new technologies on the horizon, but it is so difficult to traction. congress should be doing something. host: that is a viewer. guest: one of the things that the caller reminded me of is the fact that there are so many

emerging technologies that choose a lot of chips. i remember last year when the senate was first working on this bill that there were discussions about how many chips are needed to operate the backbone of the oncoming electric cars and the emerging technology regarding self driving vehicles. the lot of these emerging industries are so dependent on semiconductors that relying on the idea of potentially having to rely on chips that are chinese in origin is a dangerous national purity question, to that date -- security question,

particularly with more advanced technology. that is part of the reason why this has become a priority. both the house and senate last week had closed briefings on the risks of not getting this done. host: let us switch to the house . later on this week, the judiciary committee supposed to take up assault weapons. can you explain what viewers can expect? guest: the house is going to try and continue to advance more than safety, gun control legislation -- gun safety, gun control legislation. the president is continuing to advocate for a return to the assault weapons ban that was in effect from 1994-2004 that he

was the chairman of the judiciary committee the type went in past -- time when it passed. the house will presumably take it in committee and call it up for a vote on the floor. it will not go anywhere in the senate with the current conduct. this is another example of the house attempting to lay down a marker. we are at that point in the here where the house is going to be laying down markers going into the election where house democrats are going to say, if you reelect us and keep us in the majority, this is what our agenda looks like. on the opposite side, you will republican opposition and you

will see the makings of what the agenda would look like if speaker kevin mccarthy comes into office next january. host: greg, pennsylvania, independent line. caller: how could it be worse if the next speaker is kevin mccarthy than what we have got right now? how could that possibly be worse? anything is possible. the sun may not, tomorrow, but the bottom line is why doesn't c-span cover what the governor of california did in the white house while the president was too young -- while the president was overseas?

there is a lot of white guilt, a lot of people afraid to say what they really think. we will find out in november. i hope that there is a big change. people can say, here is the big change. in 2024, who knows who will run for the democrats. it is ridiculous how people are going, maybe joe is not good enough. is it going to beat joe and donald again? , i vote donald -- if it is, i will vote for donald. he knows what he is doing it that she knows what he is doing. host: let us assume if the republicans do take control of the house, has there been any

telegraph and of what a republican-controlled house would look like? guest: the republican majority, if it does come into existence, as my colleague nathan gonzales at inside elections would be suggesting is the most likely outcome, as are other prognosticators, because there is a democratic president, much of what the house republicans would be doing would be the opposition play. you will see a lot more investigations. they have already telegraphed, if you look at the judiciary committee likely chaired by jim jordan of ohio and other allies of former president trump, and

others with gavels in republican hands, there has been talk they would investigate the operations of the january 6 committee, as well as various departments and agencies of the government. you will not see legislating that will become law all that much. you have the opposition party, particularly if they control the senate but only narrowly and mitch mcconnell does not have 60 votes, it will not able to send a holdout of things to president bynum's -- present biden's desk to be vetoed. legislating is not likely, other than that which needs to be done to keep the government operating

and even that may become a challenge/ you will not see a holdout of legislating if you have a divided government, based on what we are seeing from people likely to be leading committees from house republicans. host: glenn, california, independent line. caller: hello. would like to talk about joe biden and the iranian deal he has been brokering with russia. why isn't nancy pelosi [inaudible] ? what did she know about the trillions of dollars joe biden wants to give russia? amongst other things, january 6 committee and the peaceful transition of power, like barack

obama in the secondary white house? host: that is glenn in california. let us take the point about the president back from the middle east and iran coming the conversation. write down what was said in the future when it comes to iran's nuclear program. guest: that would be a point of discussion. well the president was in the middle east, -- while the president was in the middle east, particularly israel, that deal, as far as we know the efforts to revive the agreement continues. the nsaid that they are not -- the president has said that they are not going to wait forever, but that can -- continues to be a point of negotiation for those

who have been in the audience and who were around during the obama years when that agreement first came into effect, before it was jettisoned by trump, there will be the question of whether or not in the to go through congress and in which form. it would not get the votes if were submitted as a treaty because it would need to third -- would need two thirds, but there will be some sort of symbolic vote if a new agreement is reached between the parties, but as of right now, that does not seem to be -- does not seem

imminent coming out of the most recent trip to the middle east. host: mike, ohio, independent line. caller: good morning. good morning, gentlemen. as far as senator manchin goes, the story is that he is worried about inflation and he constantly moves the football as far as the build back better or climate change, the fact of the matter is he is probably the most corrupt politician in the country. if journalists would do their job, you will see that the number one recipient from the coal mining industry, the mining

industry, number one from natural gas transmission and distribution, the oil and gas industry, savings and loan, number one tobacco, you can see that he is worried about his bank account, not inflation or anything like that. west virginia is one of the poorest states. it mystifies me as to how guy gets reelected every time, even when his -- so that to pharmaceuticals and transferred 1200 well-paying jobs to india. there is no backlash. host: that is making up time making his point about senator manchin. guest: the caller's sentiment is

shared by a lot of folks. it is certainly true that senator manchin has received substantial campaign funds over the years, from fossil fuel- related businesses and some others that our caller from ohio outlined. it is also true that when you look at the demographics of voters in west virginia, it is a state that was overwhelmingly favorable to president trump. the question is always could any other democrat other than joe manchin ever win that state, at least in the current construct? there is always the tension with the democrats -- would the democrats rather not have to be

relying on senator manchin is a tie breaking vote, but with a rather have senator manchin and have the ability to have senator schumer calling up president biden's edges confirmation votes? -- judges for confirmation votes? it is hard to say he would rather have mitch mcconnell as the geordie leader then have -- as the majority leader than have joe manchin as a democratic senator. is that the most comfortable thing to say -- that is not the most comfortable thing to say, but with it this narrow, it will end up with somebody like manchin as the swing vote. host: deandre, miami, republican line. caller: i had a question.

i hear what everybody is saying about the democratic side, it looks like they're are throwing everything out the window, but as far as a possibility of trump running with the santos -- with ron desantis as his vp? do you think that is possible? host: that is deandre in florida. guest: i have no idea what would come together in terms of former president trump and governor desantis. i know the betting money you into this sort of thing is that governor desantis is the most likely alternative to trump, but

i have not the faintest idea of whether or not the former president -- i covered the white house for the last year or so of the trump administration. i cannot render a gas what he -- a guess what he would do it a running mate. it probably will not meet make pence again -- mike pence again, given the opposition that the former president has to vice president pence fulfilling his constitutional obligations regarding counting votes, but i had no idea where he read go for a running mate or if running with desantis would be tenable. host: one topic many people

caught up was inflation and what the white house will do about it. is there more clarification as far as it steps ahead when it comes to combating inflation? guest: part of it is they are already noting that gas prices have started to fall. if you look at the trajectory from where it seems to be going, it seems to be going in the right direction, prices are going down a bit, but in terms of cutting costs, you will hear the white house talk about ways to reduce costs rather than inducing inflation -- reducing inflation, which is not the same thing. this health care bill ensuring that -- trying to control the cost of prescription drugs while

also trying to make sure people continue to get subsidies and reduce costs for insurance coverage on the lower income levels is the kind of thing that they can actually do that are not within the policies of the set. -- of the fed. one of the convocations is that one of the ways to control inflation english by raising interest rates -- control inflation is bite raising interest rates, which also seems to raise the cost of rent if you have got a lot of landlords that may be seeing higher interest rates. it is a challenge, because sometimes reducing inflation brings higher costs in the short term and that is difficult to message. host: the fed is leading toward

another increase when it comes to inflation. california, democrats line. caller:.good morning -- good morning. also, i wanted to make a point, they have changed their minds so many times and it came to former president trump. he took us down the wrong route and we do not want to support him anymore but after meeting with him in florida, they change their mind and said we do not agree that president trump did anything wrong. if he becomes in charge of house and senate, how can we trust

him? they are wishy-washy. how can i vote for these people when they cannot make up their own minds? there is money, power. -- where they are doing to the country. if they become wishy-washy, how can we trust that they are going to do the right thing for the country and people? host: that is mohammed in california. caller: that is --guest: that is going to be one of the real points of the democrats are going to try to make going into november, that if you are a democrat, you do not necessarily want this congress set comes in will be the one that will be in

power for the ration dental -- operation of the next presidential election. if you are talking about election integrity quote what could happen vis-a-vis not specifically the electrode college counting -- electoral college counting date, but if you are looking at how they go about handling the republican primary for president the next time, the past is prologue. will be -- it will be interesting to see how mccarthy, mcconnell, other leaders would handle a potential reemergence of trump. some would get close to him again, others might not.

host: dan in memphis, independent line. caller: every time a democrat gets elected, they amount the will lose the house, lose the senate. they do not know what is going to happen, but we have to bank do is vote. -- have to do is quote. host: do you sense any shift amongst your colleagues as far as if there will be great interest in voting and what drives that, particularly as the supreme court factors in? guest: i just

how much worse it could have been then it got. there's another hearing of the january 6 committee coming up this week, but i actually appreciate the color's -- the caller's question because i have

absolutely no idea what the answer would be if the secret service and the police had not been able to keep vice president pence away from the mob. i have no idea how much worse it could have gotten. i think it is important that we all recognize that we really have no idea how much worse it could have gotten. host: that hearing this week will be a primetime hearing. the committee hearing from pat as far as recently, do you get a sense of activity on the hill as far as the committee's endgame here? guest: i think the real question is going to be what the justice department does with the information that has been brought forth by chairman thompson and vice chair cheney and the committee because

whatever it is that the committee ultimately issues as its final verdict, whether it is in a written report or the extent to which the record of these hearings stands for itself , what the justice department decides to do with the information that has been turned over or will be turned over and the interviews which have all been conduct, some in these live hearings, some in the taped as to we have se excerpts of, all of this information that has been presented under oath, we don't really know for sure how much of this the fbi or the lawyers at the justice department may not already know, but certainly the ball will shift into their court, so to speak, with what to do with it in terms of whether or