With the president and with others despite differences from time to time. How about the if the president spends his time getting the Government Back open . While they remain deadlocked over the shutdown. Even trumps base doesnt think the government should be shut down over the wall. Even people who like the wall dont think there should be a government shutdown. Mcconnell has the power to open up the government. The 5. 6 billion is such a small number. Literally. Its one month in afghanistan. Were talking about national security. This isnt just a border. Are you willing to come up and give him some money for the wall . Apparently thats the sticking point. No, were talking about Border Security. Theres no amount of persuasion you can do to say to us we want you to do something that is not effective. That costs billions of dollars. That sens the wrong message about who we are as a country. If you dont compromise, why isnt the shutdown partially your responsibility as sghel. It has nothing to do with this. The president saying i will hold six agencies of government hostage to my Campaign Promise that i was going to build a wall and that mexico was going to pay for it. Many democrats are talking about impeachment. Youve said it would be sad and divisive for the country to pursue impeachment. Are you willing to rule it out . We have to wait and see what happens, the Mueller Report. We should be impeaching for a political reason. We shouldnt avoid impeachment for a political reason. A president who is in office. Right. Will Robert Mueller come back and say i think that is an open discussion. I think that is an open discussion. Talk about your dynamic with President Trump. Whats it like to negotiate with him . When youre negotiating with someone, you have to know you stipulate to some fact. Its hard to do with the president because he resists science, evidence, data, truth. Its hard to pin the president down on the facts. I think and hope that we can Work Together in a positive way now that the president is more acclimated to the fact that hes dealing with a democratic majority in the congress of the United States. Within the hour, congresswoman pelosi is expected to become the most powerful woman in american politics and President Trumps biggest nightmare. A vote happening right now on the house floor. Will likely hand pelosi the speakers gavel for a second time. She would remain the only female speaker in the history of the United States. And the first person to regain the speakership since democrat sam ray burn and republican Joseph Martin jr. Traded the gavel five times between 1940 and 1961. The question now for the woman who will be third in line for the presidency of the United States is how she will use the power formed by the combination of her extensive political experience and a democratic majority in the house. In her first speakership, she had, for a time, a democratic house, senate and presidency. Allowing her to pass significant legislation. In 2010 alone, three significant pieces of legislation passed the house and were signed by president obama. The Affordable Care act. A law that has only grown in popularity since the republican majorities of the 115th congress threatened it to the passage of dodd frank, after the greater recession, a Consumer Protection bill that sought to remedy the disaster of the Great Recession and one that democrats did manage to undo and repealing dont ask, dont tell. A measure that allowed Gay Service Members to serve the country proudly, not having to hide their identity. History is being made in washington today. I want to take a closer look at the new congress. The most radically racially and gender diverse ever in the United States. The host boasts more than 100 women. Shattering the previous record of 84. There are now 52 africanamericans and 39 hispanic men and women. The first africanamerican women to represent connecticut and massachusetts. The first latino woman to represent texas along with the first two muslim women in congress from michigan and minnesota. One of them, congressman omar, showing this photo with her father and the caption, 23 years ago from a refugee camp in kenya, my father and i arrived at an airport in washington, d. C. Today, we return to that same airport on the eve of my swearing in as the first somali american in congress. The first two native american women elected to congress will represent kansas and new mexico. The four new openly lgbt americans will take office today from across the country. Senator Marsha Blackburn will be the first woman to represent tennessee in the upper chamber. And all of these are great steps. Diversity is a strength. The record breaking number of women is just shy of a quarter of house seats. But in the population women are 51 . We still have a long way to go for women in the congress. Only an africanamerican, asianamerican representatives in the house come anywhere close to their groups share of the population. In the senate, the disparity is even greater. Other groups are in single digits, if they are represented at all. The data showing how far weve come from an all white, all male representation but how far we have to go for our lawmakers to truly represent america. The faces of the new house members. The new democrats, on right, the new republicans in this historic congress. Joining me, Garrett Haake on capitol hill and New York Times Congressional Correspondent sheryl gate stoleburg. Also opinion written jonathan gayhart. Whats the atmosphere . Been positive, one of the few days, you know, up here on capitol hill covering congress. Everybody is in a good mood and happy to be here. Its the first day of school vibe. A lot of these members came here with their parents, their children, friends from back home, and theres a real sense of optimism i think in both chambers from members of both parties to start something new. They start in the middle of a shutdown. They started a time when theres going to be a striking Ideological Division between a democrat controlled house with a younger more diverse more Progressive Democratic caucus. And a republican majority in the senate that is leaning even more towards President Trump in the upper chamber. But for right now, for this day, for the next few hours, and really until House Democrats pass their version of the bill to end the shutdown, for this short moment, we have a very positive attitude up here on capitol hill. Jonathan, we just laid out the dynamic. The demographic of this incoming house. I dont want to get past that without realizing some of the remarkable gains. Were not even close to correct representation of women and my norpt minorities but what a difference this year makes. The many lgbtq members being elected to the house. Two native american women being elected to the house. It is a day where the congress looks more like America Today than it did yesterday. Yes, they were elected, but lets remember why they jumped into the political fray. These were people who were uncomfortable. Any word you can think of by what happened after the election in 2016 by what was happening in their communities. Whether involving Law Enforcement or health care. Just this notion that it was so personally offensive to them that they decided to stop looking to someone else to run for congress, looking for someone else to solve the problems. They decided themselves to jump in the race. Tra theyre going to bring that to congress which i think will be interesting to see. Very interesting to watch, to actually better their interests and the interests of constituents. I just read an article you wrote. You talk about the new progressive democrats who are getting a lot of press. Not huge numbers but theyre there. Some cases, pushing on nancy pelosi. The truth is to a lot of america and a lot of people, nancy pelosi was that person who broke glass ceilings. She was the part of the Democratic Party that pushed party a little bit to the left. Many of whom got into politics for real reasons. I think as republicans have already learned, you should never underestimate pelosi. She is really a master negotiator. She pulled off an incredible hat trick when she in essence won her speakership again. By convincing republicans of all political stripes excuse me, democrats of all political stripes within her party to vote for her. So i would watch her listening k carefully, which she already has. On the first day, Ocasio Cortez staged a protest. In pelosis office over climate change. We saw pelosi has established a select committee on climate change. Shes going to be listening carefully to what they want. Shes also going to be balancing that with some of her other members who are more centrist. Because shes also got to take care of those who won in republican districts. Shes got a number of members who won in districts where President Trump won and their agendas are not going to align with those of the progressives. I would not underestimate pelosis strength in bringing her caucus together. A are tthere are a lot of peo look at pelosi as a vote counter, somebody who knows how to live up to her promises or threats, whatever they may be. Who dont want to see her, who really respect and have a lot of times for these new progressives who have come in and are shaping a new Democratic Party as democrats head into the 2020 president ial election. They dont want to see a weakened nancy pelosi or a nancy pelosi with her wings clipped because they want somebody who can in the eyes of democrats be Donald Trumps worst nightmare. We dont have to worry about that, to piggyback on what sheryl was saying, you know, nancy pelosi is getting a speakers gavel again. Because of perfectiveness in the last time she was speaker. In the first meeting she had, she had a punch of opinion writers airplane the table. I was there. We were talking about the budget fights. The new speaker bainer with his own caucus, trying to get a budget bill passed. I would focus on the debt ceiling crisis. If they couldnt get a budget passed, how on earth was he going to get the votes to raise the debt ceiling. She said, jonathan, you have to ask him. You just spent ten minutes telling us how you were a vote counter and you knew where the votes were. She said, well, yes, thats true. Ill remind you, i passed the Affordable Care act without a single republican vote. Thats something people need to understand and to remember that very controversial piece of legislation. She got it through her very can tankeress caucus. One could argue shes got her speakership back because of that vote. Nancy pelosi has talked about compromise, has talked about working with republicans, has talked about working with the president where necessary. A lot of democrats who arent hoping for that. Stumbling though it is, to a halt. What has she got to do . Well, shes got to find a way to get President Trump to see that working with her is in her best interest. She has actually a couple of ideas. Shes been talking a lot about bay partisan infrastructure bill as one of the first efforts that democrats take up in the new congress. Shes also talking about lowering Prescription Drug prices. Legislation to do that. These are agenda items that have universal appeal. That President Trump has expressed an interest in. So well see. The first thing shes got to do is get past this negotiation over the partial government shutdown. Theyre really in a stalemate now. The president is dug in, saying he wants his 5 billion for a concrete wall. Pelosi is dug in. Saying were not going to give him the money for the wall. Weve still got a partial shutdown. I think that negotiation, how that ends, will kind of set the tone for the next few months at least. And maybe the whole of this congress. I mean, its historic on so many levels. The demographic of the congress. Nancy pelosi becoming speaker twice. Still the only woman to hold that chair. But being sworn in in the midst of a government shutdown, the light is going to be shining on her to see how she deals with this. Sheryl, thanks very much. And jonathan dkaypart, thank yo. That vote is under way. Pelosi is racking up the votes to serve as the next speaker. If cleared as expected, she will lead democrats as they wield the House Oversight and subpoena powers. What will the democrats do with it . Next. First, our other big story. The dow has been dropping all morning. Not because of a glitch as President Trump claimed about december stock losses. Well look at the real reasons. Take your razor, yup. Up and down, never side to side, shaquem, you got it . Come on stay focused. Hard work baby, it gonna pay off. Not having a Good Breakfast can make you feel like your day never started. Get going with carnation breakfast essentials®. It has protein, plus 21 vitamins and Minerals Including calcium and vitamin d, to help your family be their best. Carnation breakfast essentials®. To help your family i am a techie dad. N. I believe the best technology should feel effortless. Like magic. At comcast, its my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. My name is mike, im in Product Development at comcast. Were working to make things simple, easy and awesome. Welcome back. The 116th congress. Much of the focus is on nancy pelosi and her second term as House Speaker. There are other democrats the president needs to be concerned about. They have all been ranking members on highprofile house committees. These three men will take chairmanships and it with the power to investigate the president. The president prepares to take open investigation, lets look at where the oversight power comes from. Article 1 of the constitute. While it covers everything from minting money to punishing my ra piracy on the high seas. The founders did get a chance to address this issue. Because in 1791 during the very first congress, arthur st. Clair, Major General arthur st. Clair, a general in the revolution, he led troops into what is now ohio, losing 700 men in a battle with native americans. The house formed a committee to investigate the incident. The first time an official under the president s direct supervision was investigated. Thats according to house archives. At first president George Washington was uneasy about handing over documents to the house committee, unsure if the house even had the authority to investigate. But washington consulted his cabinet, drawing agreement from bitter political foes Thomas Jefferson and then secretary of state Alexander Hamilton who was the secretary of the treasury, that the investigation was legitimate. St. Clair was ultimately cleared but the precedent for house investigation had been set. Through the 20th century, the powers had been asserted and brought down a corrupt interior secretary during the 1920s tea pot dome scandal and investigated president ial misconduct in the watergate hearings. Leading to president nixons resignation. Now maryland congressman Elijah Cummings prepared to head the newly renamed oversight and reform committee. Adam schiff is getting ready to control a committee. And new yorks jerry nadler will chair the judiciary committee. All three with the power to look into the president , his appointees and more. Joining me, daniel dale, eli stokeles. Daniel, i noticed something you wrote wrote or tweeted, but said the partys over for donald trump because hes been enjoying a republican majority that hasnt actually taken its oversight responsibility seriously. Yes, the republican majority showed no interest in seriously scrutinizing the Trump Administration. And now its a whole different ball game. Its not just three individuals whose face you put on the screen, although they will be crucial. Its everybody including maxine waters, congresswoman trump has did disparaged repeatedly. Its Veterans Affairs committee will be able to look into just whats going on with the va and the three mara logo members who appear to be controlling some of the agencys decision making. Its his own finances. Its the activities of the cabinet members who escaped scrutiny. Along the scandals that many liberal democratic voters have been frustrated have just disappeared because trump buries them with ever more scandals. Will now last longer i think because there is someone outside the media in the form of the Democratic Congressional majorities who will now have the power to keep them going with subpoenas, with investigations. What are you hearing from the white house about how far nancy pelosi will let these powerful chairmen go in their investigation . Shes got to walk this tight line this tight rope. Jerry nadler told me the other day first order of business is get wit keshhitaker to testify. Adam schiff feels the House Intel Committee didnt do its job under republicans. How does nancy pelosi manage this . Thats the tight rope that nancy pelosi has to walk. President trump and his administration are giving House Democrats a lot to work with when it comes to Oversight Authority they will have now. The issue for pelosi as she understands obviously her new majority comes largely from voters who wanted democrats to serve as some sort of check on this white house and yet also very aware of not overplaying that hand, of being sober and straight forward and following the facts and not appearing to be politically motivated. When it come to answering criminal investigations, the mueller probe, charges from democrat, he dismisses everything as being political. Its always a political response to these investigations. And it wont be any different with the new investigations that the House Democrats bring and he will be able to say look, theyre the democrats, this is all politics. He might have an easier case because they all have ds after there names than what hes trying to do in terms of broad brushing everything mueller and the Southern District of new york come back with. Thats where trump will be coming from in terms of trying to prench the country against whatever results come out of these things, sort of of inoculate themselves preemptively. They were elected to unearth a lot of the answers and to provide oversight and yet heading into president ial election, they do not want to appear overzealous or overly motivated by politics. Thats a tricky one. How not to overplay their hand. You heard pelosi saying look if we move toward impeachment it cant be political. Its got to be for legal reasons after the Mueller Report comes out. There are those who want him to move forward. How does nancy pelosi manage to do that and not make the democrats a foil for donald trump . I think no matter what she does, she will become a foil to at least some extent. I think it will be hard for the president to make a more effective foil than shes been. Because the president and his administration have given the democrats so much meat to work with. Its harder to make an investigation or subpoena look politically motivated. I think the thing with the Trump Administration is theres so much real stuff to investigate. You know, why were trooped deployed to the border to deal with a smaller caravan . What was going on with pruitt, with zinke . So i think if the democrats exercise oversight over these matters, i dont think its a very effective argument at least in the eyes of the population if the president says this was all politics. This was real stuff. Good to talk to you, donald dale of toronto star, eli stokeles of the los angeles times, thank you. Were keeping an eye on capitol hill all this hour. Well bring you the latest on the house vote on this historic day in america. Were also watching another big story, the markets, the reaction to the shutdown drama in washington, the trade dispute and news from apple things arent going so well. Ill dig into the range of reasons why. Heres a live look at the dow. 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If she secures that its a simple majority of everybody whos present, she will be sworn in immediately. Nancy pelosi becoming the first well, remaining the first woman to be speaker of the house now for a second time. Lets take a look at the dow. Down 2. 25 . It was down more than that earlier. Volatility among investors has followed us into 2019. Apple stock plunges today following the warning of an iphone sales slowdown in china. Tweet, the United States treasury has taken in many billions of dollars from the tariffs we are charging china and other countries that have not treated us fairly. At some point, this had to be done. Heres what the president said yesterday about last years rough stock market performance. Were the talk of the world. We have a little glitch in the stock market last month but its still up around 30 from the time i got elected. Its going to go up once we settle trade issues. Lets dig into that. Joining me now is cnbc contributor and American Enterprise institute Economic Policy analyst james bethkakus. Its an conservative economic think tank. Youre probably a little more conservative than i in the way we look at things. What the president said indicates he doesnt have a basic understanding of markets. When a market goes down, a glitch is a technical thing. Thats not a glitch. Thats investors thinking that things that are going on make Companies Worth less money. So its simplistic and somewhat misleading for the president to say that to people. Well, yes. When you hear glitch, you think one of these like flash crashes where the market goes out in five seconds. Thats not what happened. Youre right. Whats happened is investors seem to be very worried about the fed, the trade war. So the markets are sending a signal. Its really weird that the president has ignored the single. When the market was going up, that meant things are good. Now that its going down, its a glitch. How much of this is true . I think 15 years ago if you and i were sitting here with this dow board, down 2. 25 , we could agree that is a reflection both of the economy and of the sentiment of the people. Now fewer than half of americans are invested in the stock market and most of them through 401ks so theyre not that actively investing in it. Does it Say Something about the economy or is it not . No, i still think it says something about the economy. When the stock of apple goes down, that says something about whats happening with apple. It says that perhaps its really worried about revenues in china which is like 20 of its business. Also says something about the chinese economy which was of course one of the points of this trade war, is to kind of hurt the chinese economy. Of course we live in a complicated world and what happens there affect us. Yes, markets still Say Something. They Say Something important. So there was also a time, lets go back 15 or 20 years ago when if you wanted to hurt another country because they werent abiding by trade rules you wanted them to abide by which would be china, you could impose certain things like tariffs and barriers on them and it would work. Were unless a world where so much more of our economy is dependent on trade than it was 20 years ago or h40 years ago that the president said in his tweet this had to happen at some point. I dont disagree that something had to happen in order to indicate to china that the word is serious about them following trade rules but theres no question were hurting ourselves as well. I think, listen, i think if when the president first started, you know, putting these tariffs on china, if he were to sit down and give a speech to the American People saying this is the strategy, this is what were trying to accomplish on trade. Heres how it fits into our broader geopolitical approach to china. That would have been one thing. Instead, we got trade wars are good and easy to win and when markets go down, its a glitch. That is not being upfront with the American People that this thing will have cost. Listen it may have an overall net benefit long term but pretending this is a costfree endeavor that will be over quickly with no job losses, no losses he seems to go the other way, suggesting the u. S. Treasurys making lots of money so its beneficial. Thats misleading. James, always good to speak to you. Thank you, sir. American Enterprise Institute policy analyst. Were nearing the end for the vote for the next House Speaker looking to be nancy pelosi. Well bring you the final count as soon as we get it. A rare bipartisan move. Next, ill speak with new yorks republican congressman tom reid would says hell vote for a set of new house rules drafted by the democrats. Women are now running the military industrial complex. The ceos of four of the five biggest defense contractors are, in fact, women, northrop, lockheed, General Dynamics and boeings defense wing. Also americas lead weapons negotiate, the undersecretary of state for arms control and the undersecretary of state for energy for nuclear security, also a woman. Woman [knocking] woman memories. What we deliver by delivering. Welcome back, were following breaking news on capitol hill. Right now, the house is nearing the end of its vote for the next speaker set to be nancy pelosi as democratic leadership takes over the house. One republican lawmaker is already looking to reach across the aisle. Saying he will vote for a set of house rule changes drafted by the Incoming Democratic leadership. A rare move for what is typically a strict party line vote. And the vote that could bring him consequences from republican leadership. That is new yorks tom reid. Hes a member of the problem solvers caucus. A friend of our shows. He joins us again. Good to see you. Great to be with you. This will be an historic vote. What compelled you to decide to support the new rules as drafted by democrats and what consequences do you think you might face for that . Over a year ago, we in the problem solvers caucus, that Bipartisan Group of members who are committed to breaking the gridlock of washington, d. C. , negotiating some rule reforms to empower members to get the power back to members to be a voice for the people. With nancy pelosi, getting some of those reforms done. I think not only from a substantive position, we should be supporting these rules. Im going to support them to show good faith to the new leadership that we want to Work Together to solve the problems for america. You talk about wanting to come together, to reach across the aisle. We talked about this many times. The shutdown did have bipartisan the bill to keep the government going. The continuing resolution did have bipartisan support. The president didnt want to compromise. And were stuck with a shutdown. You are 12 hour, 12 days, 13 hours into a shut you. I think where we have to go is get away from this extremism, this partisanship, where folks are focused on a word, a symbol, a wall. When we should be focusing on what is best for america. What about Border Security can we agree upon. And i will tell you, if you really are sincere, the Border Security is going to include a wall, a fence, other structures. Its much deeper than that. Thats why i think a compromise position will emerge. Tell me how that happens. Because 12 days in, where does the compromise position come from . Obviously democrats in the house will pass a continuing resolution probably for a month. And then at the end its going to go to the president. What do you how do you see this happening . That type of resolutions not going to make its way through the senate and get on to the president s desk. The reality of being divided government will singer k in. People need to recognize, we need to govern for the people back home. Two deaths with children at the border. Also a Law Enforcement officer was killed in the line of duty because of our broken immigration system. We should be able to recognize those horrific situations and build a successful outcome of fixing the border. I think most people do, right. Most americans recognize theres work to be done to fix immigration. Most democrats do. Most republicans do. So were in a weird situation where its kind of Like Health Care or its kind of like, you know, gun control measures. These are things that have broad support in the population. But its when it gets to washington it cant get done. Exactly. Thats because the extremes, the far right and the far left are controlling the leadership. And thats why im supporting this rules package that says enough of that. Lets start gov verbing together where proud republicans, proud democrats, american citizens at our heart. With this rules package, this is a step in the right direction. Obviously more work to be done. I will tell you, youre nailing it. The majority of americans, the silent voice, wants us to govern to solve these problems. Thats what we should do. Soon well see nancy pelosi getting sworn in as speaker for the second time. This morning on the today show there was an interview between her and Savannah Guthrie. Talk about your dynamic with President Trump. Whats it like to negotiate with him . When youre negotiating with someone, you have to know, you stipulate to some fact. Its hard to do that with the president because he resists science, evidence, data, truth. Its hard to pin the president down on the facts. So talk you know, when i talk to republican members of congress, i say talk to me about the policies. I dont want to answer for the president. But on this particular issue, it has become an issue. Two years in, it is hard for legislators who have promises to their own constituents to get things done because the president does get a little bit hard to pin down on facts. When youre negotiating there are parameters. I think the president especially on immigration has sent a signal. He wants to agree on Border Security. He want to solve this problem. The fact is, we all agree the border is broken. Immigration policy is broken. We can assume we agree that that is the factual situation which it is, then why dont we build off that and put the past in the past and move forward for the American People . All right. I want to talk to you about one of the things that came up a lot in the midterm elections, health care. Poll after poll showed it to be the most important topic out there for americans. You voted to repeal the Affordable Care act. Nancy pelosi was the speaker when the Affordable Care act was passed. What does it look like for health care . Thats what i think a lot of americans is concerned about. I think the Common Ground we can identify in health care is getting the issue of Health Care Costs under control or at least going in the downward trajectory. When you talk about health care, a lot of folks mix it with Health Insurance. A lot of the Affordable Care act dealt with Health Insurance reform. Maybe if we could focus on the health care and the issue of cost, we can find that Common Ground to bring people together. Dont you think in the thats where i think well end up. The experience of most of the developed world is the costs are managed when you have a larger pool, right, when you have everybody cover and youre getting everybody seeking the health care they need as opposed to Emergency Health care. True but what we focus on is costs and have Reimbursement Policies that reward efficiency and quality, to make sure that end of life treatment is engrained in our health care so protect the quality of life but also those Health Care Dollars that are going out the door those last six months. There are compromise positions you and agree on that drive Health Care Costs down. Then youll have a corresponding reduction in Health Insurance costs because theyre two different markets. I think you and i could. Lots of people could. Do you have some plan that you can see this moving forward in the next congress because i think americans are going to be very frustrated if this next Congress Comes in the 2020 election and nobodys moved forward at all. Nancy pelosi as the new speaker has a decision to make. Do you want to engage in politics . Do you want to engage in the extremism of the hard left . Drug pricing. Keep an eye on drug pricing. That is something where we can find Common Ground and at least get drug costs going down. Do you think that is the kind of thing you and the problem solvers can work . Can republicans and democrats Work Together in this Congress Moving forward to get things done on drug pricing . Like you did with Prison Reform . Totally agree. I think yes. Not speaking for the caucus per se. This is the type of issue we are united as democrats and republicans say we can agree and find Common Ground here. Drug pricing to me is the national one to lead with. We all know americans are suffering from increased drug prices. So its time to come together and this is the type of issue where we will find some Common Ground. This is tricky. Nancy pelosi said this morning to Savannah Guthrie she believes a president who has commit ated crime can be indicted while in office or says its open for discussion. Whats your take on that . Ill let the legal scholars make that determination. I dont see an indictment coming down here for the president based on what i know and have been briefed upon. The bottom line is if you want to focus on impeachment, thats not going to bring people together. What is a problem that the American People are facing like drug prices, like our broken border. And if you can focus on those areas, now you can bring people together and not dividing people. I look forward to talking with you more. Thank you for always making yourself available for these important discussions. Appreciate it, good to be with you. Congressman tom reid of new york. All right, nbc news capitol hill there are a good chunks of votes for folks that dont sit there. Several people votes present which as an aside strikes me as odds politics for your first vote in congress to vote for no one. That lowers the tlehresholds fo nancy pelosi. We dont call votes based on the numbers. We call them based on the gavel going down and a decision being made and announced in congress. People will probably see on their phones that nancy pelosi has been made speaker. We wait until the declaration has been made. Were looking at the front row. The reason we havent called this is there a four talliers. Four people in the front who are tallying the votes. There are two republicans and two democrats. This is based on a voice call of every member. They call each name and the person says who they are voting for and as garrett says, sometimes they introduce other names. Thats okay. You can vote for anybody if youre a member of congress. It does appear that nancy pelosi has enough votes. The talliers give the official tally over and its announced she is speaker of the house. A couple of interesting things happen. She gives brief remarks. She takes the oath and she as speaker swears in the members and the delegates who will form the next congress. Yeah, thats right. That will be the last of the big ceremonial pieces. The house will break for a little bit. You have a lot of receptions and things of that nature. Opportunities for folks to visit with their family who is have flown in to be here for this. Then they will resume the work of putting together this congress. Voting on a rules package later tonight. Literally the rules of the road for this congress. Then at some point we expect potentially quite late tonight by normal workday standards, sometimes maybe after 8 00 even, youll have the house vote to reopen the government. Along with a vote on Election Integrity and a couple other pieces of business the democrats want to make sure they can say they got to on their very first day. Were looking at a picture of Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff in the white house who is in that room. He was not only a congressman but a member of the tea party but traditionally the way we think of chiefs of staff is much of their job is managing the president , managing the white house, managing crises but managing the relationship of congress which has not been for the last couple of years all that effective. Does it mean anything to you that Mick Mulvaney is in the room . I think its a show of solidarity in the white house. I think she the head of two federal agencies. Is he still not is head of the omb and the Consumer Protection financial bureau. Running a consistent message through congress is an area that the Trump Administration has vug led and would do well to improve upon. Look at just last week when you had the Senate Voting on that continuing resolution. Maybe two weeks ago now to keep the government open after senators had received reassurances from the Vice President that President Trump would support it. There needs to be the trust between the members and the white house. Perhaps for republicans now in the minority having mick mu mulvaney will provide them some kvr comfort. I was talking to tom reed about what happens next. They will have this vote to reopen the government. That has to go through the senate before getting to the president. Thats right. So far Mitch Mcconnell says he has no interest in take it up. Chuck schumer says the votes are there. If you put that bill on the floor of the u. S. Senate, there are enough people in both parties who want to see the government reopen but they would vote for it. Mitch mcconnell doesnt like to split his caucus and he doesnt like to break with donald trump. Hes said he will not allow a vote on that package, at least for now. The democratic strategy is predicated on the idea that over time and the question of how much time is really important to 800,000 federal workers around the country who arent getting paid now but over time the pressure will mount on the Republican Controlled Senate to do something. Perhaps to take up this democratic bill to lift the shutdown. One of the things is important is reorient them. A big part of the dynamic has been all of these red state Democratic Senators who had to get reelected in states that donald trump won, the dynamic is markedly different in 2020. Theres a number of republican senator who is will have to get reelected in states that Hillary Clinton won or big president ial battlegrounds. The vulnerable members who will need to take good votes and be protected from bad votes are largely republicans this time around. The democratic strategy is based on making sure parts like Susan Collins and tom tillis in North Carolina are sweating this vote and feel the president to reopen the government and put pressure on their own leaders to break with the president and force a vote on this or negotiate some other off ramp for a white house that hasnt been willing to say yes to anything democrats have put forward. He said the reality of divided government will have to settle in over the weekend before Mitch Mcconnell will decide he will have to do something with a house that will vote for reopening of the government or continuing resolution that funds that last piece of government. To the average person, how does one move forward from a government closure to the government reopening in this congress . Its going to be tough to see. Mitch mcconnell is not a stranger to divided government. He operated that way under a good portion under the Obama Presidency in which he was major negotiator with Vice President biden to get deals that would pass through both chambers. Nancy pelosi has a history with Mitch Mcconnell. Theres a will the of people involved in this who know how to make deals. The person who will have to learn how to work within a divided Government Environment is donald trump. Hes not had to do it as president. He was the ceo of his own privately held business before he came to government in which his decisions were decisions that got made. Thats no longer the reality that will govern the functioning of the United States government. It might take a little while for that reality to sink in at the white house. The democratic strategy is based on the fact that reality wont change and that any efforts by the white house to drive a wedge between the different elements of Democratic Coalition here between the democrats in the senate and nancy pelosi and her folks in the house is not going to work. All the other Major Players know how this goes. Know there will have to be a negotiation and know that forcing congress to pay for something they dont want to pay for is a very tough road to travel. It will take perhaps some time for the president to realize hes got to find way to get to yes without getting everything that he wants here. I got to put you in a tough position because youre not wac watching it. The vote counters, the tally counters in the front row, two democrats, two republicans. They dont seem to be doing anymore counting work. Half the crowd is up standing. Nancy pelosi is literally kissing babies and greeting people. Were not calling this done. Whats the hold up . Whats the thing were waiting for . Thats an excellent question. Its possible they are waiting for folks to get back in the chamber. I dont know if congressman reed missed his name being called or not. A lot of times they will leave vote open for the opportunity for members to vote or change their vote. Im in a bit of a bind here. Im watching the same thing you are. It doesnt look like anybody is perturbed about it except these small children who would like to not be trapped on the house floor. Some day they will be glad they were here but not this day. This is historic. Regardless of who is in power or becoming speaker, the swearing in on a congress is a very big deal. The swearing of a congress for the second time with the only woman to ever be the speaker of the United States congress will take place in just a few moments. You will have katy tur to preside over it. It is fascinating to watch. Anybody who is interested in our government, and thats a lot of folks, this is a great time. The democrats will have any control since the past eight years. They will use that. Its donald trump really facing a completely new reality that he has never faced before. This is the beginning. It will be a wild 2019. You thought 2018 was crazy. It will be even nuttier. Lets reset for everybody
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