Television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. Up next next, we are joined y the hills editorinchief, thanks for waiting to finish it up its work. Guest thanks for having me on. The house has to do its business. Host youre on this morning to talk about whats ahead in the fall for congress, but i want to start on the Midterm Elections, so when we went into the summer for the democrats, and it was inflation, gas prices, the president s Approval Ratings in the tank, as we end the summer, the democrats get a couple of key legislative wins over the summer. They get a couple of wins in elections, including the new york special election, and the president s favoritability ratings go up. Do you think that makes any less likely a red wave in terms of the house in the election . Guest yeah, i mean, you have to think that things are Getting Better for democrats. I mean, really, the last year, starting with the u. S. Withdrawal in afghanistan, that was, that began a spiral for the president and his party that lasted up until a month ago, the baby infant formula, you mentioned inflation hitting record highs and gas prices, all that kind of stuff. So but then theyve had a few wins, and they have some moment momentum. They won a couple of special elections that were deemed bellwethers. I think it makes more of a difference in the senate than the house. Certainly the house shouldnt be privately said, hey, we cant be overconfident were going to win the house, but history does favor republicans flipping the house. But the senate is a different story. Republicans are already blaming each other. Mitch mcconnell and donald trump going at it like they have over the last year, theres tension between rick scott, who heads the campaign committee, and Mitch Mcconnell, who openly has said that their candidates may not be the best. They have been struggling, and republicans are defend ago lot more seats in the senate, they have to run the table. They have to win key races and win most of them, if not all of them, to take back the senate. Its very interesting times. Look pretty cut and dried. I thought three months ago the house was definitely gone, the senate was going to go to the republicans. Now its a different story. Host with the election season ahead, its always this time of year for congress, the things they have to get done and the things they want to get done. What kind of pressure does this put on the democratic leaders, particularly in the house, to get done, and with Chuck Schumer in the senate, to get done before the Midterm Election . Guest some of the pressure was relieved when they passed the Inflation Reduction Act and the message wars have begun on that bill, which was supported by democrats and, of course, by all republicans. Anyway, i do think that they have a lot of other things that they want to get done, they want to protect gay marriage in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on abortion. Thats something that the question is, can they get to 60, will enough republicans support that legislation. It remains to be seen. I think if they had to vote, they would be voting on it, but they do want to vote on that. Theres legislation that would change after the january 6 riot, how the electoral count to verify the Vice President cannot overturn a president ial election. That has the support of some democrats and republicans. But bill, it all comes down to senate floor time. The house can move multiple bills in a week. The senate really can only do one or two things at most, and theyre focusing on nominations, both in committee and the floor. They take time. Why are they focusing on nominations . They want to give President Biden his team, but also they know nominations could be a lot more difficult if Mitch Mcconnell is the majority leader, so they dont want to get as so they want to get as many nominations done before the election as they can. Thats why they have, on the schedule, the senate could be back for two weeks in october. Schumer, charles schumer, majority leader, could change his mind on that, because usually in october all members are home campaigning. But in the senate, not every senator is up, so they could come back to do some unfinished work. But youre right, the most important thing is must pass legislation and that means funding the government by october 1. Then the question is, what is in that bill other than the government . Thats the big question. Host one potential landmine, if you will, or holdups or things that could be attached to the spending bill that could really grind it to a halt . Guest the first one is permitting reform. This is a bill that was looked to be promised to joe manchin in supporting the Inflation Reduction Act. If legislation is not supported by environmentalists and certainly a Key Committee chair on the environment in the house has said he wants to block that bill, and he says, listen, Inflation Reduction Act is in law. This permitting bill, which he opposes, is not in law. That could be a real problem, because progressives could band together and potentially vote it down. Its a problem for leadership. Do i think there will be a shut down . No, i dont think its in anyones interest on either side. Aisle to have a shutdown, but theres going to be drama until they get that bill passed. Host wed like to hear your calls and comments, bob cusack of the hill is with us. 2027488000 is the line for democrats. 2027488001 for republicans. 2027488002 for independents and others. Whats ahead this fall for the january 6 committee . Guest they want to have at least another hearing. I dont believe theyve announced when that hearing will be. Now, this was interesting, because before the august recess, there were suggestions from members on that panel that they would be wrapped up by the august recess, but theyve had new witnesses, apparently, new information has come to light. So i think theyre at least going to have one more. Well see if its in primetime again. But that investigation really has to wrap up and will wrap up at the end of this congress, and certainly if republicans, as expected, as they are favored, to win the house this january 6 panel will not exist in the next congress. They know that, and thats why theyre looking to wrap up their work in a final report, and weve seen some interesting tension between the january 6 committee and the department of justice and the big question is, of course, will the department of justice indict President Trump and others in his orbit . Clearly, the january 6 commission is pressuring, and i think its pretty certain that theyre going to recommend something along those lines. So i think they want to make a Closing Argument in the fall when everybody is back from vacation and probably have one last primetime hearing, but we shall see. Host where do things stand on the Defense Authorization bill . That has passed the house, correct . Is there a holdup on the senate side for that . Guest yeah, its always tough to pass a bill of that legislation in the senate, because of senate rules and procedures. Thats another one thats thorny. Sometimes they will take other mustpass legislation, like the Defense Authorization bill and spending bill and potentially wrap it up in one big bill, when theres a will, theres a way to get things done quickly. So thats at the top of mind, too, of legislators and leaderships priorities, because that is considered a mustpass bill. But when you get into defense and various policies, amendments that you brought up by one senator, that can also slow down the process, and floor time is so precious in the senate, and its certainly precious in the senate this fall, because Chuck Schumer has been very adamant in saying im not going to give you a time table, because hes still trying to put the puzzle together. Host one of the lead pieces in the hill is by your reporter, max greenwood, seven races that could determine control of the house. As youve seen these races evolve and get being tighter, closer to election day, which ones out there, what are you following the most . Guest i think you watch virginia. Ive traveled around virginia, its my home state, and you have Congress Woman luria, Congress Woman spanberger, these are democrats who won in tough races, in tough territory for democrats, and certainly theyre targeted. Along texas, you have a number of contests where you have Texas Republicans running latino and latina candidates, and republicans are saying, hey, weve got the most minority candidates than weve ever had, and theyve made a conscious effort on that, and they think some of these republicans can win, and so that they are going to have a more diverse class of 2023 should they win. The thing is, with democrats, big picture is youve had over 30 of them announce their retirement, and its really hard for incumbents usually win, and nonincumbents, its hard to get to congress. Any time you have an incouple bunt announce retirement, especially in a purple district, thats almost a loss for the party that is retiring. Host lots to get into. Lets get to callers as well. Well go first to melissa in lookfield, iowa, on the independent line. Good morning. Caller good morning, thanks for taking my call. My question is, why do you why did the hill decide to run certain articles about things and not others . Referring to the hunter biden laptop. Why did you guys choose to not publish that story and everything when it was true . And it is true. And still dont come out in the paper and say anything that it was true. Guest well, we have written about hunter biden as far as the laptop that emerged before the election. There were a lot of questions about it, and i think it was valid to look into it, but it was unclear where it was coming from, especially after recent events in 2016 with the email controversy, you want to be responsible in what you publish. We interviewed the perhaps the next chairman of the oversight committee, james comber from kentucky. And if the house does flip, he told our reporter, and we published it, that hunter biden is going to be a big part of his oversight plan. So hunter biden is one that youre going to be he potentially could be subpoenaed. The department of justice is investigating hunter biden right now. I suspect theres going to be more news in the new year about hunter biden. Host engineer friday new jersey, democrats line, good morning. Caller hi. I am a registered democrat, and i have a couple of real big concerns. I think its going to hurt us in the long term. You got all these guys that dont want to debate the republican candidates, and thats going to be a big mistake. Its not going to look good. What is it that theyre afraid of . Thats concerning to me. The other concern i have is youve got biden. Now, biden, clearly theres something not right with him. Hes not 100 . The fact that youre all hiding it, all the news media and everything is scary, because it has a lot to do with the next election. People can see it. They can see its being hidden, and its going to affect long term. Theres more coming out about biden, hunter biden. So the concern is that even all the relationships, china and all that, biden is involved in that, and hes definitely compromised. Host bob cusack, you want to comment on the report about John Fetterman and mehmet oz, the republican candidate, in that senate race in pennsylvania . Guest that race has gotten pretty nasty. Oz is behind, and republicans are nervous about it. Fetterman has had some major health issues, and he says hes recovering from it. Oz and fetterman have gone back and forth over his health, and fetterman has said its not appropriate for him to comment on his health. This is where were headed. I agree, you should debate. Usually the news that comes out of the debate is significant, but doesnt change a race. There are exceptions to that rule. But if youre constantly dodging debates, and weve seen that with candidates in the past, that does not look good. And i think fetterman will debate. I think theres going to be pressure for him to debate. He hasnt debated yet, but we just had labor day, and this is when the season gets going. I anticipate youre going to see a debate or debates. Now, thats an interesting dance that they have. You know, the candidate that is winning usually doesnt want that many debates. And the candidate is going for six, seven, eight debates, that candidate is usually losing and need to make up ground. Host tell us about the streaming channel the hill has launch and had how you plan to use it during election season. Guest its called hill tv, and we have a morning show, daily morning show thats popular called rising, where weve interviewed members of congress. Weve also been bought by nextstar, which is a Large Media Company that has about 200 local stations around the country, as well as a 24 7 news cable operation that is just getting going. Were looking at all types of ways we can show our content on those stations and news nation, and its just another way to produce news in video form. If we have a big interview, we write it up, and you can read it on thehill. Com. There was an article that streaming has taken over cable. That doesnt mean cable is not going to be around. Its a very strong presence, obviously, but more and more, especially the younger audience, is embracing streaming, so thats why were doing it. We have a plan for other shows. Host lets hear from groveton, georgia, democrats line. Youre on with bob cusack, go ahead. Caller thanks for taking my call. By the way, i read the hill every day, alook with a lot of other publications. I love the hill. Its where i get, quickly get all the news of the world, and i really appreciate it. My comment to you is that i hear a lot of times callers call in, and i have to say its especially republicans that seem so angry. Theyre just so angry. And i wanted to just relay a conversation i had with a relative of mine that we all grew up the same way, and we haa conversation. We have basically the same morals, you know, brought our children up the same way and everything. And we got on the subject of politics. Hes a very big trumper. And im obviously a democrat. But we still get along great. And i said, i laughed, and i said, well, you know, i think you trumpers are patriots. Do you think im a patriot . And there was dead silence on the phone. Now, this is an intelligent person who is basically telling somebody that he loves that im not a patriot. And he felt it was ok to do that. And i just it sort of sent chills down my spine thinking, oh, my goodness, even in our family, that they really feel that way. In my mind, you know how you feel, you think, wow, would they put me in jail if they got power or something . Even though i love him. To me, that is why this whole maga thing is scary to me. Thank you, bye. Guest yeah, ive heard other stories like this from people, whether its family or friends. You know, used to be you didnt talk about Politics Around the dinner room table. And now you do. And politics has gotten certainly more polarizing. Its not like it was always kumbaya. Its also gotten more violent in recent years, not to say there hasnt been violence decadessing with with assassinations, but we saw with january 6. Weve skein Steve Scalise shot on the baseball field, gabby giffords. Both thankfully made it through those very difficult situations. Its a very polarizing time in politics. Weve seen a number of president ial candidates say theyre going to unite the country, and i have to say, on both sides of the aisle, that has not happened. Were a very divided country, and i think thats going to remain the case. It used to be after elections people would say, ok, one side won, one side lost, lets go and work for the country. Now thats not the case. Its really looking at the next election. You dont see the kind of conciliatory remarks from the losing side that you used to. Host your calls and comments welcome for bob cusack. 2027488000 for democrats. 2027488001, republicans. All others, 2027488002. Bob cusack, over the years, the hill is note for being a news outlet, but you daily have opinions from all sorts of people, both from the printed edition, and currently online. You cant log onto the hill. Com without seeing an opinion piece there. Why is opinion so much a big part of what you present editorial at the hill . Guest yeah, we attract and solicit pieces on both sides of the aisle. Whether thats members of congress or former members of congress, members of the administration. Weve had obama, and i believe biden write opeds for us. Its interesting to see what people want to weigh in with. Sometimes some of those Opinion Pieces do quite well, and theyre quite insightful. We have a team of great editors f. Youre going to make a claim, youll see in our Opinion Pieces, we link to the proof of that. So were Fact Checking these Opinion Pieces, and i think that makes us more thorough, i would say, than others. And if we dont like a piece, then we dont accept it. So its not like we take every piece. We actually reject a lot of them. Thats an important part of seeing the voices, whether its a columnist like Juan Williams on the left, or we have on the right, john fury, who used to be a Top Communications person on capitol hill. Hes also a columnist, along with many, many others. Host lets hear from arnold on the independent line in lafayette, georgia. Good morning. Caller good morning. Yes, im just trying to figure out why people are so ignorant of whats going on in our country. The commies had taken over the democrat party. And in the republican party, you have what are called rinos. Those are commies. Back in the 1950s, there was a guy named mccarthy. He said theres commies in our government. Well, prior to j. F. K. s trip to dallas, he gave a short speech, and in that short speech he said theres commies in my party. And they killed him. So since j. F. K. , i was a democrat back then, and i started lookin