20 who have said they will not vote for her on the floor. we have to have this discussion. nancy pelosi said it herself. power is not given to you, you have to take it. that is what this effort is all about. these are not easy positions to be in, but we have to have this conversation. reporter: [inaudible] rep. rice: we'll see. my hope is we will continue the conversation, because i think the more we talk, the more productive we can be. but i for one think we have to put a focus on listening to the voters and what message they sent us in november. thank you. >> first of all, i am very pleased that nancy pelosi was

elected as the nominee. and i will it before say it again. she is a phenomenal person and leader. i am also pleased that steny hoyer got selected. and then what is very important to me -- one of the things i said when i was nominated steny hoyer is that we as democrats do not have much time to show the nation true leadership. over the last two years, we have been blocked in every way. , oversight,mmittee the republicans have basically

our presidentted in doing a number of things he has done that have made many of our constituents feel pretty bad. so now it is our chance to lead. i think nancy pelosi, jim clyburn willjim put us in the position where we can not hit the ground running, but hit the ground flying. we don't have any choice. reporter: what message will they send to the voters? [inaudible] rep. cummings: i guarantee you nancy pelosi will get the vote. i don't have any doubt. to answer your question, i don't anticipate that. -- people have to keep their minds on what we are dealing with. we have dealt with a republican party that is no longer a republican party.

it is the party of president trump, and there is a big difference. what we have got to do now is we have got to reclaim civility, number one. why do we need to reclaim civility? so that we can be most effective and efficient in the things we do. the american people have been very clear. even the people who are big-time trump supporters, what they have said is that we want you, democrats, to hold our president accountable. and so we are in a position to do that, but we are in a position to do something else. we are not going to spend all of our time issuing subpoenas. we want to spend our time trying to address those problems that affect the american people on a day-to-day basis. that is what the american people want. they want us to deal with things like prescription drugs and making sure we have acceptable

health care, making sure we deal with issues like voting rights. by the way, the voting situation in our country has become in some instances very sad. very s. we go around the world trying to democracy,to adopt but we have people standing in lines for five to six hours to vote. voting booths are outside the town, so people can't vote. , they arearolina trying to prevent people who would normally vote democrat from voting. we have a lot of work to do. we have very little time to do it. that is why it is so important we have the vote.

i think that is why on january 3, she will have the votes. reporter: what would you say about the democrats not wanting to support nancy pelosi? despite her being the only -- rep. cummings: in a way, we need -- we would get a clear picture. what i would say to them is that here we are, a woman who has given her blood, sweat, and tears, who has sacrificed over and over again. the most phenomenal complement -- accomplishments of any speaker ever to serve in the house. i could go on and on. and then at a time when she has led us to have one of the

greatest numbers of women we have ever had. i would say to them, what do you want? --the time that this woman and it is not just that she is a woman, she is a great woman, and great leader. i just cannot imagine taking her out when women are emerging to their rightful places in our congress. keep in mind, i am the son of a female pastor, all my life. women in to leadership. again, i hope that i answered your questions. what i was pleading with our members to do, even the ones that are against her, is look at what she has done with regards to bringing in new people.

and she has done that. she has done all kinds of reforms, she has done a lot of good things. one of the things they need to understand is that she has been through a lot. she has seen a lot. i think that we need to mix the older with the middle and the new. as far as leadership is concerned. i think we are beginning to see that happen. again, we have to lead right now . reporter: [indiscernible] >> no, no, i don't think -- nancy pelosi, watching her, i do not mind her being in leadership for a long time.

because she is able to take a diverse caucus and get people to do things that maybe they might not normally do. were dealingen we with the affordable care act. the congressman from iowa got up and said, if i vote for this -- and he voted. that is leadership. she knows her members, she understands them. she makes sure that she places people in positions that they can be successful. i think nancy pelosi would be good for us as a caucus because it would allow us to go in there

and get things done, and done fast. hesident trump has said wants to make sure that people -- just before the election, he said he wanted to make sure people were protected with regard to pre-existing conditions and things of that nature. what we are saying to the president, and i think nancy is one to deliver that message, is mr. president, you want to do these things, so let's do them together. let's make it happen. i think we have a golden opportunity, hopefully to get something done. and now that we do not have republicans in the congress blocking us from everything we want to do, i think we will be

in a position to get things done. and hopefully, the people will -- the democratic party thank you, all. [indistinct chatter] announcer: c-span's "washington journal." live every day with issues that impact you. thursday morning, we will discuss the findings of a new national climate assessment and get reaction from our guests. news, aer from ene

congresswoman, new york democratic congressman, and florida republican congressman. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal at 7:00 eastern or stay morning. join the discussion. thursday on the c-span networks, the house returns at 10:00 a.m. for speeches. at noon, they take up several noncontroversial bills. on c-span2 the senate continues work on a nomination to the u.s. district court in north carolina. at 9:00 a.m. on c-span3, paul for an interview with the washington post. at 10:00 a.m. the house oversight and government reform committee evaluates fedor -- federal disaster response and recovery efforts. at 2:00 p.m. in a house foreign affairs subcommittee hearing on u.s. policy in syria and the administration's response to humanitarian need and the refugee crisis.

>> coming up this weekend on book tv, sunday at 7:30 p.m. eastern, bernie sanders talks about his book, where we go from here. two years in the resistance. television from morning to night for years. that question will not come up. the toppropriate that 1/10 of 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 90%? is it appropriate that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world we have the highest rate of childhood poverty? of almost any other major country on earth. concerned that a handful of media conglomerates control what we see, hear, and read? on sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, national review executive editor salon discusses his book, melting pot

or civil war. the son of immigrants makes the case against open borders. he is interviewed by the former commissioner of the u.s. immigration and naturalization service. >> when you think about the next several decades, because of falling birthrates among nativeborn americans, immigration is a driver. composition of immigration is important in terms of human capital policy. the character of our schools, our future workforce, and much else. it is a very important issue touching on many different sectors. this weekend on c-span2's book tv. >> our final guest for the day is -- ,sergeants the chair of the democracy reform task force. good morning. guest: great to be here. host: you recently wrote an op-ed