michael:. -- michael cohen. this is 20 minutes. good morning. all the excitement that is going on around here and is the world, thank you for being here this morning. while that is all going on, we are keeping the house running proud of our legislation to overturn the president's ill-conceived idea about undermining the constitution of the united states very proud of the work he did, helping us to be ready when the president took his actions to congress, the house was ready to honor the institution which we serve, article one of the constitution sends the legislation over to the senate. yesterday was a big day for us. for many of us who had worked for years on gun violence prevention, it was a big day when the bipartisan background check act of 2019 past with such a strong vote on the floor the night before many of us were to observe the 20th anniversary of the bill. that was historic when it happened and has saved many , peoplence, millions have not been able to get, millions of people, millions of times people have not been able to get a gun should not have a expanded it we have to include online sales and gun show sales as well. which happened yesterday. anecdotally, i was especially happy because of mike thompson, he worked for such a long time, chair on the gun violence prevention task force, this bipartisan bill and constance have theew york, to congresswoman tell the story of her son losing his life, it was policy and personal. i anecdotally tell the story of when we passed the bill before, the brady bill. i was a relatively new member of the congress, chuck schumer was our champion. he led the way, and he was fearless. similarly, grassroots retail member to member contacts, and the first time we did not succeed. some of us went over to see senator brady, a person from your profession, really. such a counted man, who as you know was shot at the same time present reagan sadly widespread he and sarah have been such an inspiration. it is a guardian angel on all for so many years, even after his passing. that day, we went over and we were so in all of jim brady. said we are and here for two reasons. to whip the rule and to pay our respects to you, to which he said without a second set at least you accomplish one of those things. relentless, they made a difference. time, we are following through with what we promised in the campaign for people. one, to lower the cost of health care and lowering the cost of prescription drugs and to preserve the pre-existing conditions benefits. the energy and commerce committees have already had a hearing on prescription drug costs and we will do so very shortly. we have also had hearings on the affordable care act protecting pre-existing conditions. lower health care costs, bigger paychecks by building infrastructure integrate and modern way. in that regard, the one committee, the infrastructure and transportation committee has had their hearings with governors and others to build the record as we go forward for legislation. yesterday, in the education workforce committee, hey have already marked up a bill for school construction which will be part of the infrastructure legislation. so infrastructure, bigger paychecks. part is the equal pay for equal work legislation, which was marked up in committee yesterday. so, three things. lower health care costs, bigger paychecks, and the third, hr one, clear government that bill will come to the floor perhaps next week. we are very excited about it because it reduces the role of a, dark, special interest money in politics and strives to reduce the voter suppression that is so prevalent in our country. we were pleased to reestablish the elections test subcommittee and the house administration committee. her first hearing out of washington in brownsville, texas a couple weeks ago. very well attended, very important. reassertr one is to and repass the hr four, which is the voting rights act. we hoped to introducing this week in preparation to the visit to some of this weekend, the first week ended march, as you know. to that, we have said we will pass gun violence prevention. we did yesterday, and now it goes on. you have another bill on the floor to expand on that in terms of a timetable. we said we will do the equality act, and we will be marking that and announcing that in about 10 days, two weeks, perhaps. we are going to do dreamers and pps in the same timeframe, and as we said, it will continue with equal pay for equal work. again, a lot of high-profile offense going on around here, but our work to support the financial well-being of working families goes on. returning from vietnam from his meeting at kim i guess it took two meetings for him to realize that kim jong-un is not on the level. jong-un big winner, kim is getting to sit face-to-face with the most powerful person in the world of the president of the united states and really, it is good for the president did not give him anything for the little he was proposing. as you know, he said he would shut down, or said he was going to, but it has been a subject for a long time. he would shut that down. one is denuclearization. they did not agree to it in the first meeting, they did not agree in the second meeting, and as you know they wanted lifting sanctions without the denuclearization. i'm glad the president walked away. diplomacy is important and we always supported, but the dimpect for success seem to in light of the insincerity of kim jong-un. i've been, as many of you know, to north korea, to pyongyang. very serious concerns about north korea, always hopeful that diplomacy can take us to a place , ever suspicious of the motivations of a person like kim jong-un. i'm glad it did not work earlier. last weekend, i was pleased to lead a delegation to munich security conference, and then on to brussels. i am proud to say that our delegation was part of other delegations that went, over 50 members of congress were there. reasserting our commitment to the transatlantic relationship. nator commitment to strengthens, people seemed very happy to see such bipartisanship in the house and senate with a very positive message of the importance of that region to us. so those are some of the things that have been going on here. thet now, we are debating second bill, hr 1112 for gun violence prevention. so if i run out the door, it's because i have to go make a vote. the president of the united states seems to side with kim jong-un on the question of auto one beer -- otoot. -- otto. what is your opinion? >> i'm unfamiliar with what the president has said. >> he was asked about it and kim jong-un said that he denied a role and he believes kim jong-un. i don't think kim jong-un is on the level. the president believes putin as opposed to believing his own intelligence leadership. again, i note the president said that, but it is strange. i don't know, there is something wrong with putin, kim jong-un, in my view. the president chooses to believe. >> what should the consequence be if the president did finally come -- campaign finance laws while in office? say, what we are doing here, we're constantly busy. i did not sit down and watch the proceedings yesterday. but i do know what i saw in the thatting of many of you, chairman cummings was just a magnificent maestro, and each and every one of our members did a very good job in trying to elicit the truth, to try to get to the facts. as they said confirms things that they have heard otherwise, and some of it, as you heard, was possibly new. some of the high-profile statements seem new. positionm not in any , but thatwhat he said would be mr. cummings, i trust his judgment and he had some questions about suspicions that might be true. i am not going into that. investigations and a mueller report we are all anxiously awaiting your as was indicated, the one thing i did see widely reported was that the witness said that other issues that he was aware of were under consideration by the southern district of new york. so let's see what that is. again, impeachment is a divisive issue in our country. let us see what the facts are, what the law is, and what the behavior of the president. i have said to some of you up and down the hall that, right now, what i'm confirmed that -- concerned about is the president undermining the constitution, which is ill advised. it is totally wrong. i was at this border this past , what he is proposing is going on there, it is mythology, not reality i wish you could all there for the birthday of george washington and honoring george washington. so patriotic, such private heritage, such patriotism about that concerns me more than what may or may not he said no. when the facts are known, then we will make a judgment. i'm also concerned about what the president is doing, denial of what is happening in terms of climate change. in our public policy arena that he is still in denial and concerned about heaping praise that gives 83 percent of benefits to the top 1% and ignores the needs of people as we write budgets. i am more concerned about his policies than his personality, however, when the facts are known, we can make a judgment. >> on the gunboat, you are a good vote counter, what you think are the chances either of these can get 60 votes in the senate. and if it can't advance, what would you say they have achieved? >> these bills are bipartisan, ,specially the one yesterday the one we have worked so hard on for such a long time. me say it over and over, public sentiment is everything. 90% of american people support background checks, even members of the national rifle association. most of them, who are gun owners, have had their background checks and they personally don't avoid that. 90%. some of the figures are stunning. know that 43 children or teenagers die from gun violence in our country a day. in a day. i think public sentiment is going to play, i quote him all the time, abraham lincoln, public sentiment is everything. public sentiment is there. i think the public is tired of moments of silence, a time of mass murders high-profile tragediesbut these happened to a lot of american people every single day of the week. i don't count the votes in the , but i do think that when the opportunity is there for a bipartisan bill which is very discreet and focused, it is the bill that will save the most lives, hopefully we can get a positive vote. >> yesterday, house republicans passed another motion to amend the gunboat. there are some reports other democratic leaders are considering changing house rules to perhaps get more notice and have members more time to read. changes, andhese also the ability of leaders threatening this background all legislation to a halt. the power of the speaker is awesome. however, they should remember that. i am a big believer in respecting the whole house and the rights of the minority to have their say. category i different think you should just a vote against all motions to reconnect. it is a procedural vote, a gotcha on the part of the opposition. review,t there be some of everything that we do, we have modernization of a select committee on modernization. they are going to be having open of concern.issues let me make their announcement about their agenda for i think that is an appropriate place for some of that discussion to take place. .n the meantime, but no >> [indiscernible] [laughter] >> do you agree, or is that a one-man show? >> just a follow-up on john's question. the idea that some of these roll calls are good votes for your members show voting against leadership there from swing districts, if they are freshmen. that was the case in 07. is that not a good vote? >> no. >> houston? -- how so? >> just about no. the fact is, to vote no is to give leverage to the other side. it is to surrender. our members are so fabulous, and so great. weren't they wonderful in a hearing yesterday? and now they are behind closed doors in intelligence. if it weren't for you as an ex officio, i would love to hear what is going on, but unfortunately i don't have time. my view is that they should vote no on it. there are plenty of other times they can vote no express their, shall we say, opposition to the leadership on the form of a bill. but terms of the order of the house, it's a procedural vote. the should be some discussion of any of what we do here. give now established a modernization of congress, and happily, the minority leader has appointed people to it. we're still waiting for his appointments to the climate, the subcommittee on climate. thank you all very much. announcer: house minority leader kevin mccarthy talks to reporters at the capitol about procedures, the recent es-north korea summit and the hearing with president trump's former personal attorney, michael cohen. this is 15 minutes.