where you can learn more about the authors of the books features. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers. we are just getting started. charter communications supports c-span as a public service along withhese other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. wasson the congressional reporter from bloomberg. welcome. guest: thanks for having me. host: there is a house speaker candidate form tonight at 6:30 p.m.

there are nine people running. what strikes you about that list? guest: it's very large. we never seen anything like this. the last round was steve scalise versus jim jordan. steve scalise came out on top and bowed out and jim jordan tried to get the full speakership and didn't get it. this will whittle down quickly. on tuesday, the loser of each round gets pulled. this is a very large list. host: are you surprised so many people want the job? guest: that's right, it's become a tough job and some say it's the worst job in washington. can buck said he would support a candidate because he did like him. host: there is a form tonight at 6:30 p.m. so what happens there?

guest: it will be a closed-door meeting in each member will introduce themselves or two minutes and it will be a q& session and closinga remarks and they will lay out their questions before the conference like handling israel and ukraine ate and how you will and void -- how you will avoid the government shutdown and how you will pass these appropriations bills. even the conservative ones the house appropriations committee has passed, they've had trouble clearing the floor. host: who can get to two hundred 17 votes? guest: that's right, it's just a simple majority. you can see 111 out of the 221 people supporting it. host: what's been the mood of the gop congressmen. how has it changed?

is there a sense of fatigue that has set in? are they all on antidepressants? guest: there is a lot of outrage and high tension. it was remarkable on friday that a lot of people came out red-faced and angry and yelling. we see that sometimes in foreign legislatures with fistfights and so forth we are almost getting to that point. they said of the meetings continue, there would be physical altercations. people are angry and embarrassed. michael mccaul said is the most embarrassing thing he's been involved in. there is a sense this disarray cannot keep going. there is a government shutdown deadline coming so this could drag on for a few more weeks. we get to the mid november deadline and congress has to act. when they have to act, they tend

to get their act together at the last minute. host: you can join our conversation and the numbers are (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 democrats, and (202) 748-8002 independents. you can send us messages on facebook and x. how did the jim jordan thing fall apart? guest: he's very popular but members here for long-termer member that jim jordan was the matt gaetz of his era, controversial and picked fights with leader john boehner and other longtime appropriators. he was railing against them as rhinos. institutionalists who were here for a long time have that memory and they think they were unwilling to support him. we see a list of people on here of very conservative policies

who were basically the same menu but different waiters. this is a different set of personalities. these people perhaps don't have the same enemies jim jordan did in the conference. host: why do you think he went to three votes? steve scalise was out neatly but jim jordan stayed in even though he got less and less support with each vote. guest: it's not clear but he was in backdoor talks with the new york delegation, three members who were interested in specific policy goals, 9/11 victim funding and state and local text inductions. they wanted to see that doubled or tripled. there was some progress as negotiations. there was a sense that maybe those guys would come on board and show some momentum. there certainly was a sense if you got into the single digits, the opposition would collapse.

it was worth trying and i think it's the closed-door vote that happened friday night, had it gone differently, he would have continued all weekend to try to hammer it out. he tries to wrestle opponents. he's a very determined individual in congress. host: how do you think former president trump's endorsement of jim jordan affected his candidacy? endorsement of jim jordan affected his candidacy? guest: it certainly boosted it and solidified it. in the end, it caused steve scalise to bow out. there is a series of events that happened there were jordan got a tepid enforcement -- endorsement of scalise. trump will be a fairly big factor. some talk about the whip who is running. he is the front runner but he has trump issues. he did not vote to overturn the 2020 election that something trump held a grudge against him for.

that will make it difficult for him to get to the majority. host: the idea of the motion to vacate, what are you hearing about the status of that staying in the rules package once the speaker is chosen? guest: after maccarthy was deposed, i heard a lot about that being changed. but as it dawned on people that they were not sure who would be the speaker, is not clear they want to change that. it's sort of a last resort. if jim jordan got in there, maybe moderates want that in their back pocket if jordan started covering -- governing in a way that was too conservative. there is a sense of leaving adam place. -- to leave that in place. many people have not supported the speaker designate. steve scalise got the vote and

is there some way to motivate people to get in line? there might be some way to get more unanimity instead of a carrot approach. host: let's talk to our callers. chantilly, virginia, democrats line. caller: hi, good morning. this is a crucial time for israel. the hummus terrorists -- the hamas terrorists have no sensitivity. you cannot equate hamas terrorists to israeli citizens. there is a small faction supporting israel 100% of the time. most people their support hamas.

some are sympathizers. host: where is the supplemental aid package going? i understand the senate will act on that? guest: it looks that way in the biden administration set up a request which is $14 billion for israel and $61 billion for ukraine. the senate is moving pretty slowly. i thought they would get started on this this week but the senate appropriations committee is having a hearing on this october 31. is later than i expected. they want to build support for this. . mitch mcconnell is very big support of ukraine was to see this package put together the way the biden administration has put together. they want to support israel which is more popular in their conference separated and leave ukraine. they also want to tie it to

border security. it's not just money for border barriers or the wall but also changing u.s. asylum and immigration policy. that's a real redline for democrats. they feel the asylum system could be speeded up at the don't want to see the right people seeking asylum be affected. host: ohio, republicans next. are you there? caller: can you hear me? host: i can, go ahead. caller: yes, for me, this is just no more than the chamber of congress does not want anybody they do not control whether that's the speaker see. jim jordan and the freedom caucus do not take corporate money. therefore, their corporate stooges would not be allowed to vote for them. congress is controlled by special interest, it's not

controlled by the people, we know that. it's the old adage, money talks and bs walks and that's where we are down to it that. this serves another purpose for them to approach -- to push this budget vote out to the end so they can push through a big package that they want. host: what do you think? guest: that's certainly the freedom caucus argument and i think there's an element in which the defense hawks interested in the u.s. national security posture and the defense industry let's be honest, are worried jim jordan would be very comfortable with allowing 1% across-the-board cut to the pentagon. i think there is a sense in which defense hawks like kay granger the head of the appropriations committee, mike rogers, head of the armed services committee were worried about that aspect. business has their interest in

seeing defense dollars flow to the right people. host: independent, next. caller: i like the way you let people express themselves. i believe the creator, god or whoever you want to call him, is allowing the american people to see just how disoriented come out of order and sometimes downright perverted congressman and congresswomen are as far as taking care of the people's business. jim jordan should not be a congressman, let alone the chair. he's been implicated in many things, january 6. he is an election denier. this is a time for the american people to take a good look at who is leaving us. a lot of people reference the bible when they call in. i have a scripture and it says when the blind lead the blind,

they both fall into the ditch. one more, as far as israel, those people in gaza are i a five mile area? no food, no water, no medicine. and they are supposed to be god-fearing love god and love jesus? can't they see those people need food, water and shelter? on the news, i've seen bombs falling on three-story buildings day and night. israel is a giant as for his military. test as far as military. -- as far as military. i would put a buffer between gaza and israel and let the palestinians have their own state and america's help -- should help though them back up and put a buffer there and see what happens. host: he did mention election

deniers. talk about the nine candidates and how that might play into the speak race? guest: a telling vote was the vote to certify the election are not. we know several congressmen voted to certify the election and other candidates did not. democrats would categorize that as being insurrectionist or election deniers. democrats in the past and raise questions about certifications but that's a telling vote and that separates the field in a way. it will be interesting to see who gets the nod for speaker in light of that. host: i want to ask you about jack lew's senate confirmation hearings and what the processes for that? let's take a look at an between him and republican jim riche

from last week. [video clip] >> my problem goes back to your performance previously. to quote from the washington post opinion piece --" lew must explain why in 2015 he promised the same committee he would not allow iran access to the u.s. financial system on the test under the recently announced plan and he secretly tried to do that by turning 5.7 billion in iranian assets into convertible assets. i will pursue that line at this point. i want to ask you first of all if you recall sitting in that very chair in july of 2015 and stating " iran will continue to be denied access to u.s. financial and commercial markets." you recall that? >> i remember that testimony well and i believe we kept iran

from becoming part of the u.s. financial system. and i'm happy to discuss the implementation of the jcpoa. you and i may not agree on the policy. >> that's an understatement. >> what we did was we implements a policy that was transparent and i testified before this committee on in terms of what was being done. we negotiated with iran to have them rollback their nuclear program in exchange for which they would have access to money that was there money we had frozen. all we did was facilitate that transaction. we did not welcome them back in to the u.s. financial system. host: your reaction to that and are we expecting a vote on his confirmation this week? >> it may come up for a committee vote. this is clearly something the republicans are preparing to oppose.

jack lew former treasury secretary for obama, a jewish american, very pro-israel but also someone who is involved in the con -- in the controversial iran-nuclear deal. they rollback the threat of an iranian nuclear weapon. republicans come to see that as a mistake and blame everyone involved for it. host: wisconsin, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, what are the chances republicans are actually possibly making a deal with the democrats to get this all wrapped up considering the democrats not going to allow an election anywhere near that [inaudible] ? guest: we haven't seen that kind of coalition government in the united states but you see it a lot in europe with small parties coming together. i think it is a last resort.

perhaps it won't continue. we have a strong list of nine candidates and one could emerge as soon as tomorrow and get it on the floor. if it continues, there is interest among the problem solvers like brian fitzpatrick for the republicans. it would deafly not to put hakeem jeffries in the speaker chair. they will not vote for a democrat. could it be mchenry getting powers through to conduct business as a temporary speaker? democrats want to see something for that. what they are looking for is maybe one more seat on the rules committee. it's balanced for republicans. they could see the change on the suspension calendar. they could argue they have someone on there and they may still be popular.

there is talk about doing that. i think it's a last resort and would only really come up in a situation where the next nine candidates all failed and chaos was persisting. host: let's go back to what you are saying on the next deadline of november 17 when the government would not have any more funding. there would be a shut down november 18. what are the chances of that and what needs to happen before to keep the government open? guest: chances remain high. i thought jim jordan would get the speakership and he would reduce the chance a bit. they would've raised the chances to a spring shut down. he had already pitched that to his supporters. his supporters were excited to get a freedom caucus number in there and seemed to be willing

to go along with that. maybe there were some holdouts but that seemed to lower the temperature a bit and now we don't really know how it will play out. they need to figure out what they are saying about government funding and are they pitching a claim cr/stopgap bill or will they try to be more confrontational? host: point pleasant peach, new jersey, republican. caller: how are you, good morning. i have a quick statement i want to ask your guest a question. the guy before me said jim jordan should not be the chi because he is an election denier. the democratic party denied my president a chance to be a president. after spying on him and using the fbi and cia in every agency to undermine him and even having

a meeting before trump was elected, how they undermine general flynn. jim jordan is a denier because he wanted to protest on january 6 which is constitutionally allowed to check out but she didn't push back on that, i'm wondering why. guest: i love the new jersey accent because i'm a jersey guy myself. both parties right now, republicans are arguing about investigating him and democrats were doing the same. both parties continually undermine the president of the opposite party. the distinction is when the results were coming in at there were certain activities by the president that are under investigation by the authorities potentially to overturn the result of that election. that's where it really lies. there is a distinction there that's worth making. jim jordan says what he was

doing was questioning and raising issues and not trying to create a fraud that the democrats allege. host: austin, texas, good morning. vicki, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. what areemers chances? who else is among the nine that doesn't have the ma baggage and what are the chancesga are that democrats would coming to get a moderate in place? guest: i thinkemer has a good chance and he's the whip. he has an operation place and has the leadership experience. he is slightly more moderate than mccarthy coming from minnesota.

pete sessions is interesting. that pushed out jodey arrington. he was campaign chairman when they took back the house after big in the wilderness for decades in the 90's, rules committee chairman. he is an institutionalist and deeply conservative. austin scott who was obscure but was president of the freshman class and he moderated a bit. his stances are very conservative. he does not like the freedom caucus bomb throwing approach. he is focused on specific issues like farm bill and i think his candidacy is representative of that and he will put himself up there and make sure whoever gets the gavel will make commitments to get the farm bill across. jack bergman is relatively minor figure but has military

experience in the marines. i put these people on the more moderate wing. byron donalds and would be historic being the first black republican speaker. these relatively no. he was involved in crafting this government funding extension with an 8% cut. he has negotiated with the mainstream partnership folks. he's a very personable person. kevin heard is also very personable and has proposed in the past cuts to future so security benefits but someone is well-liked. mike johnson is number five in leadership. dan muser is from pennsylvania. one that surprised me was garpalmer from alabama.

it could fall to someone like meuser or palmer get in a deadlock. host: virginia, independent line, you're next. caller: yes, hi, i was listing this morning. i find this to be an important subject. i just wanted to say to you, moderator, i'm disappointed for your mentioning of antidepressants. for all those people out there who have a situation with disability regarding mental health and suicidality -- host: you are right, i should not have said that. i'm sorry about that. i should not have joked about that. william and pennsylvania, republican, go ahead. caller: you keep on calling jim jordan an extremist. nancy pelosi is an extremist but she still had her speakership for some reason.

for all these so-called moderate republicans, you keep calling people extreme. these guys will never be in office again because primaries are coming up and i have a feeling that all of them will be gone in 2024. that's just my extremist opinion. i will leave it at that, thank you. guest: i don't really use the term extremist. it's a pejorative but jim jordan probably embraces he is more conservative than the majority of the caucus. bloomberg did an analysis and he leans far to the right of the center of his conference. that's something he has proudly embraced. i agree extremist is not an appropriate term. one thing about primary members is the republican party could do that but that was severely limit

their ability to hold those seats and risk turn the conference -- the house over to hakeem jeffries and the democrats. host: what will you be watching closely for whatever's happening with the speaker candidate form tonight and tomorrow? guest: i will specialize in spending and tax policy in an interesting to see how the speakers can answer the questions on how to keep the government open how you plan to reduce the deficit and what your strategy. how will you fund ukraine, israel and handled the border situation? i'm interested in that and interested in what kind of deals they cut. will we see the state and local tax to duction's change? that's tens of billions of dollars. it was almost changed an a backdoor negotiation and homages in those policy details. having met these guys, i'm personally interested.

host: john in pennsylvania, democrat, good morning. caller: i have two things to say here. first of all, isn't it a great thing that palestine has no women and children in this battle? only israel has women and children. israel is not going to invade. they will starve these people out. you can tell i don't want to fund either place. in the end, they will come around after they shovel all this money in and they say oh my, we have to cut so security -- cut social security, we can afford this. how can you afford this other stuff? about a month ago, you had a guy on their, on the program and i

watch every day come i think his name was brad and he was a former representative. i think he would be great as the speaker of the house. i thank you very much. host: last word, eric. guest: the numbers are tough. ukraine is 100 billion dollars but the issue of social security is trillions of dollars and that's bigger. you can argue about the wisdom of sending billions of dollars to israel. the magnitude is very different. if you are talking about the shortfalls of security, it's probably most closely related to tax policy. it involves the trump tax cuts and raising the cap on the payroll tax which would force higher income people to pay more. social security is heading torry fiscal cliff in the middle of the next decade but there are ways to do it and probably not by cutting foreign aid.

it's too small a piece of the budget. you have to look at big items like tax policy or big reforms to medicare/medicaid/social security which are orders of magnitude bigger. host: ericwasson, congressional report for bloomberg. >> this evening at 6:30 eastern the house rublicans will hold a secret forum after jim jordan was removed after failing to win a majority in three separate speaker elections on the house floor. the house will be back in session tomorrow morning a 11:00 eastern and could hold another vote f speaker when they gavel in. follow live house coverage on c-span and live coverage of the speaker election, also here on c-span. now our live coverage coming up

today on c-span. at 2:15 eastern president biden will deliver a state of address on the u.s. economy and the agenda from the nation's capitol. and then former president and frontrunner for the 2024 republican nomination, donald trump, will hold a rally in deary, new hampshire. announcer: tonight watch c-span series in partnership with the library of congress, "books that shaped america" will feature mark twain's novel "huckleberry fin." it was controversial from the beginning because of the subject matter and youth of dialect and the book has sold more than 20 million coppies worldwide and had a profound impact on american literature. ernest hemingway is quoted saying all american literature comes by one book by mark twain called "huckleberry finn" and

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