looking at the evolution and exercise of political power in america. he shares his progress on the biography of lyndon johnson. >> he had compassion from the beginning. but his ambition was the overriding consideration with him. it was only when camp edition and ambition that coincided in the senate, he realized he wanted to be president and had to pass a civil rights bill. and then he said --was he feeling false ? all of his life, he had wanted to help poor people am a poor people of color. at 8:00 p.m.ht eastern on c-span's q&a. >> at his weekly briefing, paul ryan discusses the senate health care bill and the federal budget. this is 10 minutes.

speaker ryan: first off, i want to begrudgingly congratulate the press corps on their victory last night in the congressional women's softball game. it was a pretty close one, right, 2-1? who played? come on. [laughter] all right. well, congratulations anyway. you know, it was really cool to see special agent krystal griner throw out the first pitch. i don't know if you watched it, but she had just got out of the hospital yesterday. to see her throw out the first pitch was a very, very cool thing to see. i saw steve this morning. his spirits are up. he's talking. he's doing well. and he sends his regards and his thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers. this has been a busy week. delivering on our agenda for the country. yesterday, for those of you who may have missed it, republicans and democrats came together to

send important veterans administration reform legislation to the president's desk. we've all seen the scandals in the last few years. we saw the waiting list, we saw the scandals. things clearly need to change at the veterans administration and this bill will help deliver the kind of fundamental reform that's needed to solve these problems. it will help our veterans get the world-class care and treatment that they deserve and that they have earned. we still have a lot of work to do but we will keep at it until we as a country can say that we are really and honestly keeping our promises that we have made to our veterans. and then later today, today we expect a big bipartisan vote for glenn thompson's bill to improve career and technical education. this initiative is going to make it easier for people to get the skills they need to fill better higher quality, better paying jobs. a good technical skills job can mean anything. it can be the foundation of a successful career and a great future. i see this everywhere i look in my home state of wisconsin.

this bill can make a real difference for american workers. so bottom line, every day here we are working to address the problems that people face in their daily lives. these are just two more examples of us coming together and delivering on our agenda. questions. reporter: thank you, speaker ryan. have you seen the senate version of the health care bill yet? speaker ryan: i have not. i have been briefed on the senate version. i have been a little busy myself. reporter: and can you give us reaction of what you've been briefed on? speaker ryan: believe me, i know how hard this process is from personal experience. from what i understand, their bill tracks in many ways along the lines of the house bill. i think that is a very good. i am not going to opine on their process. they gave us the space to go through our deliberative process. the last thing i want to do is be disrespectful of their process. they have a lengthy process ahead of them. the bottom line is i want them to pass a bill so we can all get on with keeping our promise. got to remember, the system's

collapsing. it's a real -- look, anthem blue cross yesterday pulled out of wisconsin. that's one of the most flagship health insurers we've had in our state for many, many years. so this system is in a tail spin. we made a promise we will repeal and replace this law. i am very happy the senate has gone through the work of putting together a bill that keeps that promise and so, yeah, i'm eager for them to pass it. but i am not going to opine on the details as they go along. reporter: and you referenced the process. they have largely done this behind closed doors. you in a recent interview talked about the fact that your process was open. you were very proud of that. speaker ryan: yeah. reporter: are you comfortable with the way -- speaker ryan: you release legislation after you draft legislation not before. this is a talking point in search of a problem. you don't release a bill before you finish writing the bill. you write the bill. then you release the bill. that's what the senate's done. reporter: but they want to vote next week. is that enough for the american

public to digest and debate it? reporter: do you think increases in discretionary spending should be matched by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget? speaker ryan: yeah. if you're asking if we have a cap adjustment, should we have offsets in mandatory, i think the answer is yes. the question is quality and quantity. reporter: because you said the health care bill in the senate does track so closely with the house bill, do you anticipate the house would take up the senate bill? speaker ryan: it's premature to say how -- we haven't made that decision yet. they are just beginning their process. we are not at the point of making that decision yet. reporter: can you address the designate's bill, the loose lip problem -- speaker ryan: how many of you know what that problem is? this is a very technical issue but it's the constitution so we take that very seriously. my understanding is ways and means is giving the technical assistance the senate needs to make sure that conform with the constitution, the origination clause and blue slip.

ed royce, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, indicated he's eager to move this bill. we need foreign affairs to do their scrub of the legislation which is what we do every time a bill comes over from the senate but chairman rice has indicated -- chairman royce has indicated he wants to get moving quickly. reporter: will that a formal committee referral will they will mark up that bill? speaker ryan: don't know the answer to that we got to unthe blue slip which is a constitutional new jersey origination clause issue. that's why we get foreign affairs or foreign relations the technical work they need to get this right. reporter: do you support the policy? speaker ryan: i support sanctions. i have always supported sanctions. i will let hvac foreign affairs scrub and do it to make sure it is written in a good way. reporter: so president trump's -- speaker ryan: i apologize. who are you with?

reporter: c.n.s. news. so president trump 2018 budget calls for eliminating the federal funding for the corporation for public broadcasting. do you support that proposal? and will you follow the funding elimination of the c.b.p. outlined in the president's budget? speaker ryan: i'll refer you to the appropriators. they are just getting started on the bills. i don't get too deep into the microdetails. i refer you to the appropriators. reporter: a budget question for you. diane black, the budget chairwoman, is really supportive of the idea of doing $150 in mandatory cuts. some of your other chairmen not so comfortable with the idea coming up with the savings. i know you're still having your family discussion but how do you -- how do you envision like going through this? do you think maybe there's a halfway point? speaker ryan: deja vu all over again. i served as budget chair, ranking member for eight years. i had these kinds of conversations each and every year with all the authorizing chairs.

she's doing a fantastic job of getting consensus on the kinds of instructions we need to make sure we get some savings out of the budget. every budget should have savings. and diane black is doing that just like any other year -- any other budget chair should. she's just basically going through, talking to each authorizer about the kind of savings targets they can hit. that's the way the budget process works. i'm confident she'll get that done, that she'll find consensus with our other chairs. that's how you put a budget together. yeah. reporter: mr. speaker, do you think it will be appropriate for the senate judiciary committee to subpoena former attorney general loretta lynch? speaker ryan: i am not going to comment on what they're doing. that's not even in our -- yeah. reporter: i was going to ask you, knowing how hard it was for you to pass the house bill,

health care plan, was there any red flags when you were briefed on the bill that came to your attention and you thought, hey, my members, i will lose -- speaker ryan: no, i haven't seen any of that yet. like i said, i know how hard it is to pass a bill like this. what was helpful is that we did not have armchair -- we did not have them playing armchair quarterback with us. i have not read through all of the bill myself. i have been briefed on the basic content. what is important is that they pass the bill and we get the process going so we can keep our promise. reporter: can you tell us more scalese ? >> we are not going to comment on his prognosis. i had a great meeting with him this morning. he is right and older. he wanted to go through the agenda and what was coming to

the floor. he wanted to be briefed on work. he is so thankful. by the way, we are doing blood drives for which he is very thankful as well as the outpouring of support he has received from friends, comments, and people from work. talking about bailey and crystal and his affection for them and his thankfulness for them -- it is really something. it seems like he is doing really well. >> several house democrats have come out publicly wanting nancy pelosi to step down. her about herd future as democratic leader. she also talks of the senate health care bill. this is a half-hour.