Cochair of our Organization Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. [applause] and you will be hearing from secretary rice in about half an hour she will be one of our conversationalists our good friend could not be here to the former secretary of defense bill and janet cohen. Welcome. [applause] and those that are involved in every effort across partisan lines and that is former National Security advisor. And rahm emanuel we have worked together i think all of us agree the relationship with china will be the greatest challenge we face as a country in the next several decades. And in that relationship to establish full diplomatic relations, ed jimmy carter and Deng Xiaoping but most of that time to the democratic administrations, we all felt that we were seeking cooperation with china that was the basic strategy in recent years there is no question that both countries have swung from cooperation to a strategy of competition and that gets to the heart of our Vital National interest
Cochair of our organization, Condoleezza Rice. [applause]er you will be hearing from secretary rice in half an hour she is one of the conversationalists. The other chair could not be here but he is very much a part of this effort perk i want to pay tribute to former secretary of defense mr. Bill and janet cohen. Welcome secretary. [applause] and i also want to paid tribute who embodies bipartisanship every effort across partisan lines is a National Security advisor as well. My close friend as one of the people doing the interviews the subject is china. All of us agree our relationship is the greatest challenge that we face as a country in the next several decades. It is an important moment in that relationship jimmy carter and deng xiaoping. For most of that time republican and democratic administrations. We all felt that we felt we wereth seeking cooperation with chinese and they felt the same way. In recent years there is no question that both countries have swung from cooperation to
Thanking them for their service to our country. Both have served our country in various capacities for a long time. Not an easy thing to do. I respect and appreciate that work. I look forward to continuing to work with you. The good news i want to start with is unlike last year we have a budget agreement. And last year we spent a lot of time talking about how difficult it is to run anything in the government but certainly the department of defense without Appropriations Bills in a timely manner. Now, last year we were off by i dont know 3. 5 months, Something Like that, but thats better than drifting into the next year. We did get Appropriations Bills and an authorizing bill done by december of last year which gives some predictability to the department. I think thats important. This year we hope to come a little bit closer to october 1st. Certainly on the authorizing bill, but also in the appropriations bill. Most importantly, we have a budget number. And hopefully we can get that pre
Educe the national debt. As always, well take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter as well. Washington journal is next. Host good morning. It is 7 00 eastern time here in washington. The start of a holiday week. Congress returning in two weeks. President trump spending christmas with his family in florida. It is monday, december 23. We begin our first hour with Foreign Policy. The leaders of china, south korea and japan meeting today in beijing it. Comes as the pentagon and u. S. Officials are on, quote, high alert, after new threats over the weekend by north korea. In the past President Trump has said that he and president kim jong un fell in love. But since that comment back in february, talks have broken down. We want to get your reaction to these developments in north korea, what it means for the u. S. And for the region. 2027488001, thats our line for republicans. 2027488922 for democrats. 2027488002 if oure democrats. Or on twit or facebook. Good m
Them for you so theres an advance announcement for that. Some of you may remember andy was here three years ago and it was august so we are conservative and 30 so i guess weve always had to do that the same way and due to extreme planning on andy and my part, including double lot i am so thrilled to announce that this year tonight is the World Premiere of andyafter the release of his book which happened today. Sometimes that just works out. Those of you who work here three years ago may recall andy spoke about blind shake and some of those passings so hes the center of attention for that. He was at the center of attention with the Mueller Probe and the book of collusion which you will hear about in a few minutes and has some thoughts on the epstein case and if theres time in your questions he can talk about that as well because hes always the center of attention so thank you so much for coming and ladies and gentlemen, mister andy mccarthy. [applause] thank you so much erica, thank you