Transcripts For CNNW Inside 20240702

So hes been representing the louisiana Congressional District now since 2016. Hes in the leadership, but hes not too high in the leadership. So hes the vice chair of the House Republican conference. Heres the other big thing. He served on trumps first Senate Impeachment trial defense team. Hes a defender of donald trump, and we can see that in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, so what we see is that johnson, in fact, had drafted the house gop legal brief supporting the texas suit. And he objected to Certifying The 2020 Election Results. Now perhaps theres some interesting sort of back and forth. Perhaps some republicans want to forget about it. Lets look back and compare it to now. We have a solemn responsibility today, we must vote to sustain objections to states of electors smutted by states that we genuinely believe clearly violated the constitution and the president ial election of 2020. This is the threshold before us, and its an issue before us for the state of arizona. You helped lead the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. They dont want to focus on dividing them. They want to be unite d as a conference. We should sort of note why mike johnson couldnt succeed. He kind of tries to get in that middle of the republican caucus, doesnt want to be too far out there on the right side. So he voted to raise the debt ceiling, but not to avoid the Government Shutdown. Now hes asking for a possible continuing resolution to keep the government open. Heres the other thing about john sob. He sponsored more bills that pass ed than the average republican. So he has an ability to get things done. Hes been able to sort of get this broad gop support. So remember we had matt gaetz here. Matt gaetz essentially sunk Kevin Mccarthy. And mike lawler, what we saw there, he sunk jim jordan. He has support on the left and sort of on the right side of the gop caucus. One last thing i will note in terms of fundraising. Mike johnson is not been the biggest fundraiser in the world. Hes not anywhere close to Kevin Mccarthy. Hes not even near tom emmer. We saw some improvement from 2019 to 2021, so thats something that a lot of republicans will be wondering about. Can mike johnson raise the money they need. Well just have to wait and see. I want to start can david chalian. Whats the significance of someone who is actively in involved in trying to decertify the president ial election, which joe biden won. Whats the csignificance of thi person potentially becoming the Speaker Of The House . I think it was perfectly on display. Yesterday Tom Manslaughterer served as the speaker designee. He voted to certify the election as a results in 2020. Donald trumps Republican Party, thats the significance here. If you were trying to overturn the legitimate election result of 2020, thats a credential to sell in todays House Republican conference. Not a Disqualifying Factor in todays republican conference. And that is a crucial piece of where we are. And why they are still also where we are. The house will come to order. Wolf, to that, this is a member who wasnt just on the bus on trump and an election denier, he was driving the bus. Sources said to me today he has the votes, that he could get it on the first ballot. And that the fact hes not well known is actually helping because moderate republicans dont have to worry when they go back to their districts, their constituents dont know yet just how conservative he is. One republican source said to me, he doesnt present the way jim jordan presents people just dont know. Who does . I i think he is a person who is hard to demonize. Its very easy to demonize somebody like a jim jordan, who is a fire brand. Hes out there and fighting and then donald trump can demonize an emmer because he didnt believe the election was rigged. But you had this kind of thats not quite the right word, hes a serious person, who is not prone to getting in big, huge fights with people. He is known as a listener. He is hugely conservative, but he doesnt wear it on his sleeve all the time. So he can get along with moderates and listen to them t will be interesting to see what happens with ukraine aid, for example, but hes not the devil incarnate. He can listen. He will listen to colleagues, but hes never been a chairman. To davids point the lie that trump won the last election is now deeper in the republican bloodstream. The Republican Party constantly face this is choice when it picks its leaders. Theres a chance to say lets flush that away. Its not true. Its a mistake. Lets move on. They are going to elect the speaker today, who was driving the train, not just voted for it, but was driving the train. But the question is, this is a victory for republicans at the end of the circus. They get a leader. Okay. So they picked a leader. Now what happens . Can he get the votes to avoid a Government Shutdown . Israel aid, no brainer. Ukraine aid, will the party have a fight over that. Then what . Every time they need to vote on anything significant, thats when they fracture because they have a very fractured, narrow majority. So can a guy who has never led a committee now lead what we have seen is an incredibly fractured, divisive conference in which a decent number of them dont really care about governing. They care about attention. They like disrupting the process. So he has a giant opportunity to prove that some nobody can rise up and be a star and bring them together. But theres so much peril. The fundamental reality here is that while, yes, we may see the circus, this three week circus end today, just because they are able to get 217 votes on the floor doesnt mean that any of the fundamental fractures, as john was saying in this party, have been fixed. Because the reality is john boehner up and quit because he was so frustrated with the dynamics. Paul ryan resigned from congress. He said, not only am i stepping out, im leaving town. Kevin mccarthy wanted this job and got thrown out because of these dynamics. Just because mike johnson today doesnt have enough people saying hell no to him, doesnt mean that any of those problems have been fundamentally fixed. Its just that these two groups of people are increasingly apart from each other, but they cant hold any power at all without each other. Im not convinced because they get together today they can keep the government open. I want to point out, they are taking a procedural Attendance Vote right now to make sure everyone is there who is supposed to be there. We are going to know very quickly if you think about aid to israel, you think about aid to ukraine, are those going to be packaged together. Is that something that folks in congress, particularly the people who. Ed Kevin Mccarthy help. Will the House Majority allow that, particularly some of the hardliners there and then after that, keeping the government open. Is this something hes going to be able to do. Theres all this reporting about they are going to give him something of a longer leash. He was leading election denialism. What does it mean if hes Speaker Of The House still and donald trump doesnt win the election. Does he further try to undermine democracy in 2024 and use his seat as Speaker Of The House to wreak havoc on the system once again. Its not just that he voted against Certifying The Election Results. They had to do with some battleground states, it was absurd. The Supreme Court didnt deal with it and it was his strategy and he was the chief whip for donald trump in getting republicans to sign on to this absurd lawsuit. Its only a few weeks since he was one of 90 republicans, who did not vote for the continuing reso resolution. He was not with a majority of his conference, of the conference hes going to lead now on that issue, he was on the opposite side of Kevin Mccarthy and a majority of republicans to actually avoid a shutdown, to pay the military and all that. He was on the side of, no, and now hes floating this idea of a possible continuing resolution through january 15th, april 15th to keep the government open if they dont finish all their Spending Bills. Before November 17th. You already see how hes having to move from where he was to try and do this very difficult task of keeping this fractured conference together. I think hes got to discover who he really isso do members h who he really is. Because its very hard to move no continuing resolution to be the architect of a kobtsing resolution. And quite frankly, part of this is the exhaustion on the part of the republicans and the recognition that they look like clowns for the last few weeks and that they had to do shotgun. In the republican caucus, somebody who denied the election is okay. Not for those members who won in the biden districts, perhaps, but for most of them, its okay, which is why when the journalists asked a question about it last night, she got booed because they are like thats over. We dont want to deal with anymore. Who is better to start with a clean slate than someone we dont know really well. The fact that the congresswoman said shut up, its antidemocratic. They are antidemocratic. Thats a fact. And they are antifree speech. They dont like questions that they dont like. They dont want to answer questions they dont like welcome to america. Thats the great charm of the american experiment that we ask questions and people get to ask these questions. Soon to be speaker was against this continuing residolution, which thats the washington speak for keeping your government open because they cant pass an actual budget. So now the plan is either january or april, he will go into the conference. If he gets one of those two, so january, just when they are starting the president ial nominating process or april, when actually the primary season is kicking into a higher gear where all of these House Republicans have to go home, most of them dont have primary challenges, but thats all they worry about, 90 only worry about being challenged from the right so then they are going to pick a leader. Everybody, standby. Were waiting for the House Speaker vote. It will come very soon while israel pounds gaza with another round of airstrikes in response to hamas attacks. And concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza Continue to grow. Well have all the latest on the ground, thats next. Welcome back to the Special Coverage. Youre looking a at the floor of the House Of Representatives here in washington. Welawmakers are about to vote o the fourth republican speaker nomination. Cnns jake tapper is joining us now live. Hes in tel aviv. The dysfunction here in washington, d. C. Isnt having a real impact on the middle east . Reporter people in the middle east are very concerned about the potential impact in terms of the fact that the legislative branch of the u. S. Government can do really nothing as of now. Cnns mj lee is at the white house, where President Biden is going to take questions from reporters in about an hour from now. And this will be President Bidens first News Conference since the hamas terrorist attack on israel on october 7th. Reporter thats right. And you have obviously seen how this israelhamas war has been a consuming focus for President Biden. We certainly expect that to be a major topic of discussion between the president and the australian prime minister. You will recall that the president had to cancel a previously scheduled visit to australia earlier this year when the u. S. Government was on the verge of a debt default. So this invitation to the white house serves as a way for the Biden Administration to reebb foe u. S. Australian alliance. This is an alliance that has so much to do with trying to co counter chinas influence in the region. Youll recall its within the last few years that the two countries reached a major agreement to provide australia with nuclear part submarines. That has everything to do with trying to counter chinas military might in the region. I will tell you that it goes without saying even with all of this going on at the white house today, white house officials are very closely monitoring what is going on in the House Of Representatives. There is a top priority for the administration right now, which is getting tens of billions of dollars in additional aid to ukraine, to israel, and at this moment in time, how exactly House Republicans will deal with that matter is entirely uncertain. Mj lee, thank you so much. I want to turn to jeremy diamond, who is in ashkelon. What are you hearing about the Israel Defense forces next move . Reporter what we are seeing right now is an intensification of airstrikes carried out by the idf on the gaza strip. All of this designed to prepare the terrain in gaza, according to the idf, for a potential Ground Invasion. A Ground Invasion that we know the israelis appear willing to delay for a few days at the request of the United States in order to allow for more time for hostage negotiations. But the fact that they are continuing to carry out those intense airstrikes indicates that israel is still intending to move forward with that Ground Invasion, even if it waits for a few days, it will not wait indefinitely to move forward with those plans. Overnight, the idf carried out airstrikes that destroyed several tunnels and also took out several hamas commanders. What we also know is that these intensified airstrikes are leaving a significant number of casualties, including civilian casualties. More than a third of casualties of those killed inside of gaza in these two weeks of war have been children. You see these absolutely devastating images not only of the aftermath of some of the airstrikes, but also in hospitals, which are increasingly running out of fuel to be able to carry out operations, not only for those critically injured in the strike, but also for patients who is need lifesaving care, whether thats dialysis or prenatal care, the World Health Organization says 12 of gazas hospitals are out of service because of a lack of fuel. So theres no question that as israel continues to intensify its air campaign inside of gaza, as hamas continues to harbor its fighters in civilian areas as well, the toll for civilians inside of gaza is only growing. Now to nic robertson. People say they desperately need that fuel. Is it coming . If not, why not . Reporter it doesnt appear to be coming. It appears to be part of that negotiation over release of hostages that also involves calls for a humanitarian pause or some might call it a ceasefire. The Israeli Government are putting pressure on hamas in every way they can. They said this from the outset that that siege, the cutting off of food, water, all supplies to gaza, so it is an intentional Pressure Point. And the gas is the one things that will put pressure on hamas. One of the other key things i should say is the continuing artillery strikes, continuing airstrikes that weve been seeing along close to the Border To Gaza today. When we consider where these apparent negotiations are, both sides seem to be coming down to the wire. And israel lost the initiative to hamas pause they captured so many hostages. One of the only way it is can regain them is with this extreme Pressure Point, which is fuel. And neither side seems to be back ing down. Thats where we seem to be tonight. So one of the things that i have heard from israeli officials are, one, that they are willing to allow more supplies in if hamas res leases the more than 200 hostages, and their concerns about fuel is that hamas uses that fuel for rockets that are constantly used against israeli population centers. And two, that hamas uses them for oxygen for their Extensive Network of tunnels. Hamas uses fuel to fight the war. Theres no doubt about it, if they dont have fuel, they cant fight their war as effectively, its moving their soldiers around, whether its providing electricity to run the pumps that keep that underground network of tunnels supplied with oxygen, with air, for all sorts of things. The fuel is used in hospitals as well. And thats how hamas uses that as a Pressure Point and how it tries to enlist the support of the International Community and more pressure there is on the hospitals because of more civilian casualties. The greater that works to hamas effect. Because its able to sort of put some muscle, if you will, behind the narrative around fuel. But absolutely, they need the fuel. Thats israels point. Put the fuel into gaza. It will end up in hamas hands. They have the ability to get their hands on whatever they want. Nic robertson, appreciate it. Were moment was from what looks to be the final decisive vote for House Speaker. Mike john, the congressman from louisiana, well bring that to you live, next. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its the only we need. Go, go, go, go ah Touchdown Baby touchdown are your neighbors watching the same game . Yeah, my 5g Home Internet delays the game a bit. But you get used to it. Try these. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. I stole them from an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Welcome back to our Special Coverage live from capitol hill, where minutes from now, there could be a new House Speaker. Finally after 22 days, more than 3 weeks and 4 nominees, republicans seem to be rallying behind somebody who a lot of people were googling overnight. Louisiana republican mike johnson, we are standing by for the vote. I want to go to lauren fox, who has been there as well with the rest of our Team Reporting on this Surprise Development last night. I know you have been talking to some of the holdouts. What are you hearing . Reporter there were a number of members, a handful of them who voted present last night in that private republican meeting. But johnson was able to change minds, including the mind of representative a republican from this morning and he said he the voted present because he and johnson have not run in the same circles before. He did not know him well and his argument was if hes going to go back to nevada and argue he supported someone for speaker, he needed to know that person was open and amenable to some of the issues that are really important back in his state, specifically some lands issues that he wanted to talk to johnson about. So he had a conversation with johnson last night. Then he had a meeting with johnsons staff this morning. He said after the conversation with johnson, he felt comfortable saying yes, committing to voting for him on the floor, but it just shows you the work that has gone into getting the votes you need to become the speaker. Johnson started with just a handful of people who are outstanding. Obviously, that was a far cry from the more than 20 that jim jordan had to convince and never could, that tom emmer could convince, but it shows you how much work republicans have been putting in behind the scenes to air their grievances, but also try to convince members to vote for them if they are vying for the speakership. Mike johnson on track to win this fwavl. Were waiting for that vote to begin shortly. Thank you, lauren. And as we are watching the bed check, they are making sure that the people who are supposed to be there, the members of congress are there, we can see Mike Johnson Hugging A Fellow member. Working the floor as he awaits the begin ning of the vote. Fist, he will be nominated and they will start to vote on whether or not he should be speaker. As we watch that, i want to bring in our panel here. Charlie dent, you are the only one of us sitting here who served in congress. You served for one term. We should note that you served for quite awhile. Hes only been there for six terms. No, excuse me, six years. I served seven terms. Mike johnson, i think, hes going to probably win today simply because they are all exhausted. They are tired. He doesnt have a long track record. Not a lot of tape. So think theyll find him acceptable. This is a win for the Trump Pop List Wing of the party. And i think theres also a question, if were an emmer person, i would be upset that emmer beat johnson, but the small wing of the party tries to impose their will. So johnson is going to step into a tough situation because hes going to have to tell many of his longtime allies he needs to cut a deal on funding come November 17th and probably again some time after. The things that Kevin Mccarthy was thrown out for . Correct. Hes going to do the same thing that mccarthy would have had to. Unless were going to have a shutdown. Is thats the reality. So hes going to step into this. Will the folk who is are supporting him give him the same slack that they never gave to Kevin Mccarthy. Susan collins, who served in congress for a very long time, shes the Top Republican now on the appropriations committee, a really important job. She was asked this morning by one of our colleagues what she thinks of mike johnson. Her response was, i dont know, i have to google him. And i think that singular story says so much about the lack of knowledge about this guy, and why he ultimately was picked for that very reason. If you do google him, you will find some video out there of him, and the thing youll notice is how moderate in tone he is. His disposition is not one of a confrontational conservative. I was chatting with one of his key advisers this morning and they said johnson is a man of deep Christian Faith and he often says im a staunch conservative, but im not angry about it. If you look at the video, his first floor speech he talked about civility, the need to work across the aisle. The importance of institutions. So i think if youre comparing him to someone you have seen on tv before like jim jordan, this is a totally different departure. The phrase that keeps coming up is that hes going to be a governing conservative. Hes a staunch conservative, but hes already laid out this agenda for the next year on funding the government, on dealing with a farm bill, which was a lot of conversation going on about supporting a farm bill. And how to get this done in a way that can unify the republicans. Im going to take a Glass Half Full approach and say this is trump is going to be happy about this, but i think institutionalists and moderate republicans are going to like the fact hes not going to be on tv screaming his head off. Hes going to be a legislative tactician, a legislative person. Theres a lot of democrats out there who will disagree with you about saying hes very different from jim jordan. In fact, one said to me the only difference is that mike johnson wears a suit jacket and jim jordan doesnt. Standby. I want to bring in manu raju. You just spoke to the democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. What did he say about mike johnson . He said they have not spoke yet, even as we expect mike john sob to become the Speaker Of The House this afternoon. He did tell me he did you want see any daylight between mike johnson and Kevin Mccarthy. He went on to say i dont believe his politics are more conservative than Kevin Mccarthy. He said that mccarthy and mike johnson voted to overturn the president ial election. He talked about the position on abortion. He talked about the position on Social Security and medicare. He says theres no daylight between mike johnson and Kevin Mccarthy on those issues. So youre seeing a bit about how democrats plan to message this. Theres a question about some was it worth the vote to oust Kevin Mccarthy from the speakership, given that the ideologically johnson is more ideological than Kevin Mccarthy on some of the social issues in particular. But Hakeem Jeffries said, no, he told me he has no regrets for the vote to oust Kevin Mccarthy from this speakership. He also made clear if mike johnson tries to move forward on any Spending Bill to keep the government open and seek deeper spending cuts, democrats will not go for that. Thats one of the big redlines and the big fights that will be coming under the speakership. So here in a matter of moments on the house floor, we expect that at least the conference chairwoman to give the nominating speech for mike johnson before they kick off this roll call vote. As you can hear from comments from Hakeem Jeffries, the moment is big fights ahead with democrats. No question about that. And we are going to hear shortly on the flor those nominate ing speeches. Were going to talk a lot more about what we are all collectively learning quite quickly about mike johnson. Well take a quick break and be back with the vote. Dont go anywhere. Welcome back to cnns Special Coverage. Youre looking a at the house floor. Quite ans interesting image if you look up towards the speakers chair to the right, you see the back of Patrick Mchenry, who is the acting House Speaker, and the man talking to him is mike johnson, who is going to have a vote. Hes the speaker dez i signee. There will be a vote on he can move a couple feet to the right and get the gavel in a formal way. Were going to watch for that. As we do, we are going to keep talking to my panel here. And i want our viewers to see a moment that happened late last night when he was norminated by fellow House Republicans and went before the press. So he was asked about efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He wouldnt answer it. He got a lot of help from his fellow republicans. The back story here that were going to be hearing a lot more about is he is an attorney. And he helped lead the effort to sign whats known as a friend of the court brief to push a texas lawsuit to overturn the Election Results, not in texas, but in other swing states. The Supreme Court didnt hear that. They said were not evening ian going to hear this case. It was something he is very involved in and a at that point, he did not answer the question. It was a very legitimate question. It was an important question. I think we deserve the answer honestly. I would love to have the answer before he became speaker. Im not sure that the Republican Party is going to demand that. When i see that clip, it reminds me that this is the party of donald trump still. And that this party is a great threat to our democracy, particularly if you have someone who still wont say that the Election Results of 2020 are valid. Because of the role that the speak er plays in Certifying Th elections, if he is speaker in december of 2024, when we will have to certify another president ial election, if he cant get it right for 2020, what will it mean for our democracy in 2024. Now filing a lawsuit, lots of people file lawsuits, but when you lose, can you accept you have lost and state the truth. It didnt seem like he was able to do that after being asked the question. He definitely got support from people standing behind him. I think my general view is they had a narrow constitutional view of the election. They lost and he moved on. And i dont think you can see in his statements and plans that he put out for the conference that hes not focused on the past. Hes look ing ahead to the next year and what the republicans have to do. So hes going to know hes the president because hes about to sit across the table from him of the Speaker Of The House. It does seem like what kind of world are we in when we have to ask the question. We dont know if hes moved on and wont know that until he says that joe biden is the legitimate president , but will put him at odds with the former president who is a candidate for president again. Hes going to have to answer that question. He cant ignore it. He will be forced to answer it. Now he is a serious guy. He is smart. The question that hes going to have is can he lead the republican conference with a real policy agenda while also taking care of donald trump, who is really not policy driven. Its a pop list movement. Thats the real issue. The people in the conference who have a Policy Governing Agenda were the ones tanking jim jordan. They werent allies of him. So this is where johnson is going to have a really difficult challenge. Hes going to have to answer the election denial question. Hes going to have to prove that hes going to be a govern ing republican. If he can do that, hes going to be back in the same boat where Kevin Mccarthy was. Thats the problem. These guys are going it give him slack they would have never given mccarthy. I adopt know how hes going to walk this tight rope. You usually dont want people to have to learn on the job to decide whether or not hes able to do that. Hes never served as a committee chair. We dont know. Theres so much at stake in the country and the world. Johnson is going to have to learn on the job. We hope he can get it done. Its not just to appease donald trump, but can he appease the folksousted Kevin Mccarthy. Will he be able to do that or do we go into a Forever Shutdown . Everybody standby. I want to get to melanie zanona, who is also here on capitol hill. I know that you have been inside the chamber. You have been trying to get a sense of what is happening on the floor, some of the conversations that we can see but cant hear. Whats your sense of whats happening as these members gather as they prepare for this big vote . Reporter dana, i have now covered a couple of these votes over the past few weeks, and the mood amongst republicans is full of hope and optimism. They are finally going to be able to rally around a speaker, something they have not felt over the past three weeks of chaos and turmoil. Mike johnson has been on the floor talking to members. Some are taking selfies and handing him personal letters. Someone handed him a book that had jesus scrawled on the front of it. Also sign of growing confidence is the speaker Kevin Mccarthy sign that had been hanging over the speaker was take down yesterday. I saw boxes of Kevin Mccarthys old belongings being move d out just this morning. So republicans really being driven here by an overwhelming sense they want to unify and put this very ugly chapter behind them. But i can tell you that the wounds are still very deep inside the gop. Its going to take awhile to heal. They have all these other challenges they are immediately going to have to confront, whether thats Government Funding or the white house request to tie israel aid and ukraine aid. Well see how long the unity will last. But republicans are all smile on the house floor. Melanie, thank you. We are watching the house floor because Patrick Mchenry is getting ready to end this call vote and begin the speakers vote shortly. As we watch this happen, wolf, i want to toss it back to you. Dana, once the they finish with this procedural vote, there they will had move on to the next vote for the Speaker Of The House. That will begin with nominating speeches. Lets talk a little bit about that. Were going to hear from someone who is going to recommend that mike johnson is the next Speaker Of The House and someone will recommend that Hakeem Jeffries, the democrat, is the next Speaker Of The House. We have heard these speeches before. Hakeem jeffries is not going to get 216 votes, if thats what the magic number is today. But. Lets listen in. On this role call, 429 members have recorded have the please come forward to take their seats once again. Were waiting for the actual nominating speeches to begin. As we do, whats going through your mind here . Seeing Patrick Mchenry up there, the Interim Speaker who has been overseeing this chaos for the last three weeks, it is such a reminder that he did not want this job in the longterm. There was a lot of discussion of trying to find some way to actually elevate him to the role. For some temporary period of time, to get the house open. And he just didnt want a part of it. And the conference, the republican conference made really clear, they were not interested in working with the democrats or even considering democratic treaties some way in a bipartisan fashion to open up the house. They believed this was a problem for the majority to solve and they believe they are on the cusp of solving it today for the notion of opening the house. As we discussed earlier, solving todays issue is not solving the long term. The chair recognizes madam clerk, colleagues. On behalf of the House Republican conference, i rise today to nominate the gentleman from louisiana, mike johnson, as speaker of the peoples house. We convene this esteemed body today at a time of great crisis across america. A time of unprecedented challenges in this hallowed chamber. And a time when our most precious ally israels very existence is under attack from forces of evil. Yesterday, our dear colleague, our former conference chair, our chair of energy and commerce, kathy write Mcmorris Rogers nominated mike johnson. She put it best and i quote her today. She said trust has been broken and we have come to a standstill. How do we restore trust between members, leadership, and ultimately between congress and We The People . Kathy went on to say, there is a sense that it cannot be business as usual. She went on to note above the speakers chair in the House Chamber is our nations motto. In god we trust. Miss Mcmorris Rogers went on to say the time in which we are living demand boldness, unity and Transformational Leadership that begins with trust in god and each other. Trust is when the magic happens. In the story of king david, we are reminded that man looks at the outward appearance but the lord looks at the heart. End quote. Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look in our hearts and elect mike johnson as speaker of the peoples house. A man of deep faith, mike epitomizes what it means to be a servant leader. A deeply respected constitutional lawyer, mike has dedicated his life to preserving americas great principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Mike is a titan on the Judiciary Committee and a dedicated member of the House Armed Services committee, and as vice chair of our conference, he has united all of our members to speak clearly and boldly on behalf of the American People. A friend to all and an enemy to none, mike is strong, tough, and fair, and above all, mike is kind. And at this very moment, this republican conference knows that we live in perilous times and the American People are hurting. Families are struggling under the pain of inflation caused by reckless far left spending, unable to afford groceries, heat or gas. We have an inhumane open border with millions illegally smuggled and trafficked and Tens Of Thousands of children lost in the chasm of the incompetence and negligence of the Biden Administration. Israel is under attack by iranianbacked terrorists committing atrocities with israelis suffering the bloodiest days in modern memory. Crime is skyrocketing on our streets while there are vicious call from the left to defund our great men and women in blue. American Energy Production american Energy Production has been crushed by joe bidens radical failed far left democrat policies causing seniors, farmers and families to pay more and americans finally understand the federal government has been illegally weaponized against We The People, shedding the constitution, targeting conservatives, parents yes. Ill say it again. The federal government has been illegally weaponized against We The People. Shredding the constitution, targeting conservatives, parents, and even joe bidens top political opponents. The people are looking to this Great Chamber to save america and save america we will. And as we embark on the path ahead, i am rnled of galatians 6 9. Let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up. House republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson will never give up. Today is the day we get this done. May god bless our next speaker, mike johnson. May god bless the United States of america. I yield back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. Aguilar. Thank you, mr. Speaker pro tem pore. I noticed a little more of a smile on your face than we have in the past. Mr. Speaker, i rise today at the direction of the Democratic Caucus to place into nomination for the position oea