we think reporters there are speaking with democratic representative brian higgins of new york. a live coverage today of events all happening behind closed doors. the leadership election, democratic leadership elections and caucus meeting to elect their leaders for the 116th congress. the democratic leader, nancy pelosi, arriving a short while ago. we also understand that her husband, paul pelosi, is there. scott wong of the hill tweeting this, just a short while ago, the democrats have passed their internal caucus rules package. moving on to nominations for democratic caucus chair now and then speaker. scott wong is senior correspondent for the hill covering leadership at the hill. up on capitol hill, scott wong, tell us about the day, how it will unfold after this passage of the rules package. >> we're going to start to see votes on leadership position fairly quickly. they are in the nomination process for the house democratic caucus chair. that is a very interesting race between two members of the congressional black caucus, hakim jefferies, a rising star, young congressman f

. >> host: brian higgins come back with us at our table to talk about democratic party leadership elections happening thisty week. you were one of 16 democrats who signed a letter of nonsupport for nancy pelosi. how did you vote on wednesday? >> guest: i voted for leader pelosi to become speaker. i was one of 203. i broke with the leader last june based on an issue as relates to health care and protection for pre-existing conditions to an aged demographic that gets clobbered by private health insurance. we talked about over three days. we reached, move forward and we agreed to work in principle to get something done on the issue in the 116th congress. that was good enough for me. >> host: you spoke with the lead over three days? >> guest: i did. just prior to thanksgiving, over 72 hours and we just reviewed what it occurred back in june with my expense with her and her senior staff. she was very willing to listen again and we came to an agreement in principle. every member of congress, your vote is your legislative tool, and thisyo circumstance obvious, your vote, your legislative tool is g

brian higgins from new york was another strong the tractor of -- the tractor -- detractor of pelosi. the original letter that went out with 16 signatures and pelosi got him on the phone and promised to work on medicare legislation and infrastructure things higgins wanted to focus on and now he is supporting her. there is a long time between now and january 3. that machine is not going to stop. she will continue making phone calls and having her allies make phone calls on her behalf. we will see what happens. there is a long way to go. host: mike lillis joining us, telling about the democratic leadership elections. talking about nancy pelosi as >> back live to capitol hill this morning. to the visitors center. this is just outside the auditorium where house democrats are meeting on their leadership elections today. from roll call pelosi and opponents down play the importance of caucus votes in speaker battle. writing this morning house democratic leader and nancy pelosi and small contingent of members who oppose her are both heading into wednesday's leadership elections knowing she's

step one, congressman brian higgins announcing he's defecting from a group of democrats who signed a letter vowing to oppose pelosi for a speaker. not vowing anymore. he's abandoning them. marsha fudge who was considering running against pelosi for speaker backed out and pledged her support for pelosi. house democrats are voting next week. manu raju is out front. at the beginning of the week she didn't have it and now they're falling like flies. >> no question about it. remember the beginning of the week we believed there were going to be 17 democrats who were going to sign a letter vowing to oppose her on the floor of the house. when that letter emerged there were just 16 democrats because marsha fudge didn't sign it. then she ended up supporting pelosi getting something that only pelosi can give her, a position on a key subcommittee. brian higgins, he had signed that letter but now he's supporting nancy pelosi after getting his own deal. this to push on legislation dealing with infrastructure, dealing with health care, something he believes is important to him. now this comes, erin

joining me now is brian higgins of new york. happy thanksgiving to you and your family. i want to get your perspective on where you were not long ago on nancy pelosi. this was november 14th, one week ago yesterday. >> the issue is after 16 years of the same leadership, we need a new direction. that's what people voted for this november. that's what people are looking for in the new congress. >> that wasn't that long ago. what changed? >> i broke with the democrat ek le leader in june over a legitimate issue. i want to see people between the ages of 50 and 64.5 to be able to buy medicare as a health insurance option because that age demographic is getting clobbered by private insurance. so as protections that i believe needed to be made public as to what we would do if we became a majority. we had a disagreement. i do believe we need new leadership in the united states congress. i supported a candidate by the name of karen bass, a member out of california, former speaker of the assembly, a member, a leader in the congressional black caucus. she sannounced she is not going

brian higgins told me earlier today he had this conversation with pelosi herself. she would not say when she plans to leave. she's pitching herself as a transitional leader. he told me he came away from the conversation believing this is going to be her last congress, the coming congress will be the last one. after the 2020 elections he believes she will step aside. of course, erin, she didn't say the that. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for joining us. the history of comedy" starts now. we're all going to die. didn't mean to remind you of it, but it is on your schedule. >> we find the loss of comeed yabs so profound because we had fun with them and they were in our home. >> she would make you feel that you had a special place in her heart. >> laughing with somebody binds you to them. >> comedians don't have a great mortality rate. we lose a lot of people. >> i feel it's more personal because i know them. >>

then congressman brian higgins on the house democrats new majority and the leadership elections. [video clip] >> he is a weak person and what he is trying to do is get a reduced sentence. he is lying about a project everybody knew about. >> i could not be more honored. that is not a figure of speech, but is as true a statement as anyone could make, to be honored thehe nomination and support i have from our colleagues in this caucus. >> the only petition -- position that cannot garner 50 votes is the president's position. he is adamant about having a partial shutdown. he keeps repeating over and over again he wants a shutdown. make no mistake about it, he is the only reason there would be a shutdown. >> if we can put the partisan knives down on the immigration , we fix both sides do that, there is no stopping our country. >> i get yemen. the strategic relationship between us and saudi arabia, but i am not going to blow past it. if that briefing is not given soon, it will be hard for me to vote for any spending bill. ♪ host: good morning on this friday, november 30. we begin with

new york democrat, brian higgins one of 16 democrats who signed on to a dump pelosi letter has now changed his mind and says he's going to support pelosi in her bid for the speakership. congressman higgins joins me from his home city of buffalo. thanks for being here. it's good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> please explain this change of heart. your name was on that letter, and it seems like a pretty abrupt about face, how did nancy pelosi convince you she should be the next speaker? >> we hit a break in june: i took a hard position. there was a misunderstanding that we have talked about over the last four days. we've come to an agreement to move forward and to focus in on the issues that i felt were important. >> i'm misunderstanding was that a personal misunderstanding or policy related? >> it was, i think, it was policy related but it was also base based on the way that it was dealt with, and we have talked about it, and we're moving on. the fact of the matter is we're going to do a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to put the construction trades back to work and provide pati

why the change of heart for democratic congressman brian higgins? >> the opposition is melting faster than the ice cream on my apple pie last night. >> julie: i forgot about that. i knew i forgot something. >> that's key. you can't forget. pelosi knows what she is doing here. she has been picking off detractors one-by-one. started with marcia fudge to put her in charge of a committee and brian higgins signed a public letter saying he would oppose pelosi under any circumstance. she gave him promising she would let him be in charge of a bill to expand medicare. >> julie: he released a statement saying he took a principled stand on issues of vital importance. that's a quote. i wonder how much of a principled stance he would have taken if they actually had the votes to take pelosi out of that seat? i believe what basically came down to was push comes to shove and they knew they weren't shoving her out. if you can't beat her, join her. >> i think that's exactly right. they're looking at the situation and see the writing on the wall and thinking what can

. >> host: brian higgins, democrat of new york, represents the 26th district. enter for the conversation this morning. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> house minority leader nancy pelosi will be holding a news conference shortly on the legislative agenda for the remainder of the 115th congress and for the new congress, the 116th in january when democrats have the majority. live coverage in just under 30 minutes. we will be live again at noon eastern eastern when republican study committee chair mark walker and the incoming chair mike johnson talk about the future of that conservative house caucus, the american enterprise institute will host a discussion. live coverage at noon eastern. current house speaker paul ryan is retiring from the current congress and recently he talked to the "washington post" about his accomplishments and his plans for the future. >> good morning, everyone. fred gave an amazing introduction as always. just add a few other things just for sort of data details. paul wright is a 54 speaker of the house come has led the house for more tha

democratic congressman brian higgins from new york talks about democratic leadership and the future of the party. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern sunday morning. join the discussion. up this weekend on book tv, sunday at 7:30 p.m. eastern, senator bernie sanders talks about his book "where we go from here, two years in the resistance." >> you can watch television from morning to night for years, that question will not come up. is it appropriate that the top 1/10 of 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 90%? that in theriate wealthiest country in the history of the world, a we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any other major country on earth? are we concerned 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 discusses his book "melting pot or civil war the son of immigrants makes the case against open borders." he's interviewed by the former commissioner of u.s. immigration and naturalization service. >> when you think about the ne

higgins reserved his stand saying he plans to vote for nancy pelosi as well. 15 of the democrats upside a letter vowing not to vote for her. >> a year filled with political gaffes but which blunders surpass them all. we have the winners if you can call them that, the biggest political turkeys of the year. we always see you around the holidays. let's kick off with andrew cuomo saying america was never that great. >> we are not going to make america great again. it was never that great. we have not reached greatness. >> a great way to kick off the 2020 presidential run. >> if you listen quietly you will hear andrew cuomo's presidential aspirations go out the window. kim jong un, you can't say that. if you're an elected official in america, any hopes, you can't say that kind of thing. >> the president tweeted about this, we're not going to make america great again, it was never that great, that is a quote. can you believe this is a governor the highest taxed state in the us, andrew cuomo having a total meltdown. this seems to help trump in 2020 because cuomo is one of 9000 people who could

there have been defections, brian higgins, every day someone is defecting, i think nancy pelosi has broad support, and she led the biggest victory since the watergate class for democrats. if you have a winning team you don't throw out the coach. and i don't think it makes sense to most democrats. >> what happens if final vote, pelosi will have enough support, what happens at that point? >> i don't think that will be the case given the defections. the caucus would have to reconvene, why they may have been a danger of that after the election, given the opposition- hunt started to dissipate and some people hurt themselves because the will of most democrats is what -- deliver for the people and things -- you know, politicians don't like to make predictions but i feel comfortable saying nancy pelosi will house. if i am wrong i am happy to come back and answer questions. >> all right. okay. we will follow nuary 3. thank y >>> frank joins us now with the stories we are working on for ktvu fox 2 news at 5:00 p.m. a woman facing serious charges? >> an invasive species dumped into a lake and the wo

a new york congressman brian higgins, one of 16 democrats opposing pelosi said he changed his mind. >> there will be a new speaker sooner rather than later, but the reality is you can't oppose somebody without an alternative candidate. there is no alternative candidate. if you want to run for speaker, stand up and announce your candidacy and advance the argument as to why people should support you. there is nobody to do that right now. i'm going to go g to you for the subpoenas. is this something we will see them coming before congress? what's your sense of this and why is it happen something. >> they are going to fight it and run out the clock on the republicans. we will see if they can. this is very revealing and it goes along with the sweet from chuck grassley, reproaching john roberts and the promises to investigate the same issues. it is a sign that despite this election, republicans in congress are doubling down on locking arms around president trump even though they talked about 90% of the voters said they disapproved of trump voted democratic. the highest share of presidential

and brian higgins in new york who signed the letter said, actually, i'm going to vote for pelosi because she told me she's going to prioritize infrastructure. the issue here is when you are the speaker or the top ranking democrat at the moment, you can do things like get marsha fudge, the ohio democrat who thought about challenging pelosi, you can get her out of that race by saying, you know what, i will make you chair of a committee. now you have given her something she wants and now she supports you. the group who are opposing her don't have that power. again, pelosi knows she has the power, and she's willing to yield it, which is really important. >> there has always been two math equations here at play. number one to get to 218. but the other is that even though 16 people signed that letter. it was hard to believe any one of them would vote for kevin mccarthy for speaker. in the end, all nancy pelosi needs is 201 votes, which is a lot easier for her to get to. the one i like is omar little from the wire. you come at the king, you best not miss. what happens now to seth moll ton and c

in a statement, new york congressman brian higgins said "following conversations with nancy and other caucus leaders, i have renewed confidence that more voices will be heard, that members will have greater opportunities to advance policies meaningful to the communities and country that we love." that is quite a change from earlier this year when he called pelosi a loof and misguided, this is also possibly an indication that with still no viable challenger, a lot of democrats are starting to view pelosi's appointment as inevitable and starting to get on board. >> charles: now i know what they mean when they say use of political capital. i understand. thanks. so with democrats now moving to the left in congress, that's so divided, the question everybody wants to know, can anything get done in d.c.? who better to ask than former house majority leader, them delay. thanks for joining the show. >> great to be with you, charles. happy thanksgiving. >> charles: you know, i have to tell you, we're hearing a lot of saber rattling from incoming democrats on the house side. not necessarily nancy

higgins on his change of mind. >> after 16 years of the same leadership, we need a new direction. that's what people voted for this november and that's what they're looking for in congress. >> there's not an alternative right now. i'm a politician. my vote is my legislative tool. i use that to advance very important public policy objectives. >> michael, she was able to sweeten the deal for congressman higgins there. how nervous do you think she is at this point? >> i don't think she's that nervous. the higgins example is the perfect one of the rock and a hard place these democrats are in. it is significant to note how much of the democratic majority did campaign on not being an automatic vote or even a vote at all for nancy pelosi. so this is an interesting dynamic. we've seen an element of it when republicans were in charge of the house. it's not the far left of the party that's a problem for pelosi in getting over the finish line but the moderates and places like orange county, california, for example. they're not actually enamored of the speaker to be from the northern part of

and brian higgins, from new york, says democratic leadership and the future of the party. but live at 7 a.m. eastern, join the discussion. >> coming up this weekend on book tv, sunday at 7:30 p.m., senator bernie sanders talks about his book, where we go from here. you can watch television from morning to night for years, that question will not go up. is it appropriate the top 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. are we concerned that a handful of media conglomerates control what we see, hear, and read? >> that, national review executive editor discusses his war."melting pot: civil he is interviewed by the commissioner of u.s. immigration. when you think about the next several decades, partly because of the falling birth, immigration really is a big driver. the character of our schools and workforce, it's a very important issue touching on many different sectors. on c-span2is weekend book tv. >>

higgins from new york state has said openly that he is going to support nancy pelosi. there was never a clear front runner, never a clear challenger which i think played it directly into her hand, showing how skilled she is in regards to moving boats and being strong legislator. i wrote about this on foxnews.com. >> julie: kevin, nancy pelosi is in, she is going to be the next speaker. >> i don't think that was ever much in doubt. i think the interesting thing is they will be kind of like the tea party caucus to the democrats, they will be able to push on legislative agenda but if they were thinking this would be a big win for them they were mistaken. good to see bribery is alive and well. >> julie: that's what i'm saying. it does highlight nancy pelosi's skills as a dealmaker, sure. but what is it going to do for her in two years? is she doing it any damage at all to the democratic party for this being such a shoe in and not allowing somebody else to rise to the ratings? >> i've never been someone out there saying nancy pelosi should continue to be at the helm, i've a

higgins to take his name in exchange for a consideration of a medicare reform bill. don't forget democrats expected to pick their candidate for speaker wednesday. leland? >> we will watch it closely. until then, peter doocy in washington. thank you. with that, we bring back kristin hahn and cliff maloney. krist kristin, any reason to think that nancy pelosi won't pull this out? >> i do. there's -- as somebody that worked in the house with her when she was last speaker, you never underestimate her ability to get the votes. there are -- you want to reference the bipartisan letter that a number of the members of the problem solvers caucus sent. i do not agree with what aoc said about ocasio cortez say about this being republican friendly rules. they're modest changes to the house rules that are house friendly. they should be done and they're members -- >> everything comes down to politics, cliff. how do republicans exploit this or is it better to stand back and watch the democrats fight it out? >> christmas came early for the republicans. nancy pelosi gets in. my collea

the big announcement today of brian higgins, a new york democrat, someone who signed that anti pelosi letter, saying he will now support her. now, higgins told me earlier today that he spoke with nancy pelosi five times over the past 72 hours, and she made some assurances to him. one, she promised to move on a $1 trillion infrastructure package. she also proposed to move on the ability to expand the eligibility of medicare for people who are 50 years and older. and also he raised some significant concerns about that anti pelosi faction, saying they have no-no alternative. he said not only is there not a viable alternative, there is no alternative right now. he said why is someone not willing to step up? i think if they game this out and look to deny nancy pelosi on two, three ballots, the votes to become speaker, even if somebody else emerges, is that personnel better? i would argue they're undeserving, because they haven't had the guts to stand up and say they're going to run. and jim, he asked nancy pelosi how long she plans to stay as speaker, and she would not tell him. but he cam

higgins is now reportedly saying that he is going to endorse her. connecticut democrat jim hymes say those who oppose pelosi's for speaker better put up challenger now. >> unless they come up with alternative, they better run that play and then if it doesn't work stop, allow to us unify. allow to us move forward. >> lisa: congressman, what does marcia fudge's endorsement tell you where this is heading. >> sean: i think marcia fudge would have been a great choice smart, engaged and can be bipartisan. setting that aside, you have to look how this is coming together for democrats. jim hymes, good guy. they are going to go next week. it's a silent ballot by the way. no one gets to see it. not raising their hands and calling out publicly who they are going to vote for. no one is going to challenge nancy pelosi right now because she is going to beat them hard, those who oppose her. if she can't get to 218 in her conference. she won't get 218 on the floor. and when that happens, she steps aside and all of a sudden you have a whole bunch of other democrats

that includes brian higgins and massachusetts' stephen lynch. alexandria ocasio-cortez lashing out at democratic moderates in the "problem solvers caucus." they say they oppose pelosi unless she supports rules intended to reduce partisan gridlock. a copy of cortez tweeting nine dems are trying to hold the caucus hostage if we don't ask if the g.o.p. have been friendly rules that will hamstring health care efforts from the get-go. they said is here to get things done, not negotiate with an administration that deals children and god's people's health care. what you say to that, congressman? >> steve: and they say that republican inside habits and contradict all my congress. it is interesting to see this player. this will be about 234 democrats. one races still have been decided pete ultimo that mean she has an 18 vote margin. i think she gets the votes. nine people can't hold the conference hostage, because it would take 18 to block anything. and that kind of democratic majority. in the end, i think she will be elected speaker. she is well known a

higgins from new york, we'll talk about democratic leadership and the future of the policy. be sure to watch the washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. friday morning and join the discussion. >> with the new congress starts in january, the

joined now by brian higgins, he was among the incoming democrats who went public in their opposition to nancy pelosi and he joins me now. congressman, good to see you. >> good to be with you. >> you were pretty candid when you first went public as to why you thought its time for new leadership, you were worried that the leadership was out of touch with some of these -- frankly, some of these communities that are similar to what you represent in western new york. you were talking about its not just pennsylvania, its the lancaster, pennsylvania, its not just new york, its the buffalo's new york's. what's changed in six months? >> nothing. first of all, congress is the most powerful branch in the federal government and the house is the most powerful branch of congress. we have extraordinary constitutional powers that are not being utilized because too much power has been consolidated under the leadership. there was a time here where committees like the ways and means committee hit a very significant traditional role and they worked in a bipartisan matter. that's gone. congress members i

members are coming out, i believe that's congressman brian higgins of new york, let's listen in. [inaudible] i think 03 votes and look, all of us ane -- [inaudible] we'll see pportunity to negotiate. i think negotiations are going on today. i think they went on this morning. i think they'll go on this afternoon. i think they'll go on for the next few weeks. it's a variety of things. medicare fix, very important ill to me. it's a good faith effort, some members are looking for a chairman. there are new issues every the last year or so. there's a variety of things. >> how do you think she should number?ut the 203 mr. higgins: it's a good number. >> [inaudible] >> i think every democrat should want the speaker to negotiate on behalf of democrats when dealing with the white house and the senate majority leader. i think it would be short-term , but i think it's important to come out with the majority in a united conference. this is all very normal. i think in the end it's done. she's been very resilient and we should want that as a democratic caucus in negotiating with the white house

brian higgins from new york was another strong the tractor of -- the tractor -- detractor of pelosi. the original letter that went out with 16 signatures and pelosi got him on the phone and promised to work on medicare legislation and infrastructure things higgins wanted to focus on and now he is supporting her. there is a long time between now and january 3. that machine is not going to stop. she will continue making phone calls and having her allies make phone calls on her behalf. we will see what happens. there is a long way to go. host: mike lillis joining us, telling about the democratic leadership elections. talking about nancy pelosi as well. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. always a pleasure. host: you heard our guest talk about the position congressional democrats are in the house about nancy pelosi becoming speaker of the house. for this first hour, democrats in the audience about your thinking about nancy pelosi becoming speaker. if you support that, if you don't. usl us -- call us and tell why. if you live in the eastern and central time zones, it is 202-748-800

brian higgins said he pronounced the low see after signing onto a letter opposing her head. she would back a lucy after considering running for the position herself. lucy needs to secure 18 votes to win the pose. -- this isler is until the u.s. appeals court. mueller says papadopoulos has not expect -- accepted responsibility for his crime. he said he regrets his guilty plea. thanks to saudi arabia from president trump for keeping oil prices down. the president said lower prices are like a big tax cut for america and the world and he urged the kingdom to force prices lower after he said he would stand by studies regardless whether mohammad bin salman on ordered the death of jamal khashoggi. unemployment,s. rising to a four month high. that reflects holiday related volatility and what has been a strong labor market jobless 225,000.sing global news on air and on tictoc on twitter. this is bloomberg. caroline: 3:00 in new york. 8:00 in london. scarlet: this is bloomberg markets "the close." caroline: equities edging higher. theyollar drops on reports may close the hiking cycle

congressman brian higgins from new york talks about democratic leadership and the future of the party. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal," live at 7:00 eastern. join the discussion. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. subcommitteest a meeting on the u.s. civil war. this meeting is an hour and a half. -- syrian civil war. ais meeting is an hour and half. >> the subcommittee will come to order. >> thank you for being with us. usually, i would not deign to start without my ranking member or any other democrats, but they have caucus meetings. they are big shots now. we have to pay attention to them. we are going to start with the staff saying it is ok without them. whenever they can, they will pop in. after recognizing myself and whoever may come for opening statement

higgins from buffalo, who had signed an anti-pelosi letter, he's the latest to back her for speaker. so the democrats are lining up behind nancy pelosi. she's going to be speaker, right? >> yeah, i think she will. and the reason for this, this is best explained as these are all for trade. the people who are opposing her are doing it as power brokers for their own interests. it's not about principle. in the end, in higgins' case, he traded for medicare for all commitment. marsha fudge traded for access and power to the agenda. each of these democrats as they made their stance, they said i won't support nancy pelosi for these reasons but as soon as you pay up, then like okay, maybe i can support you. connell: one giant "house of cards" episode. brings up the question about whether that comes back to bite some of these democratic members in their own districts when they run -- >> oh, absolutely. connell: -- for re-election in a couple years. >> seth moulton, the congressman from massachusetts who won in a primary a couple years ago to take over that seat of his in massachusetts, look at

they know that marcia fudge and brian higgins, they want promises, too. >> she has the power sources and centers, the unions. >> yeah. david: they give a lot to the democratic party. she's got the unions behind her and she has the celebrities behind her, not so important for republicans anymore, but for democrats, the celebrities are pretty big deal. >> yeah, and it seems like what nancy wants, nancy gets within her party and you know, back to kathy's point, something that's very interesting, i think these people, the nine people that are resisting her and staying with it, a lot of people ran, if you'll remember, for their seats, they ran, you know, against nancy pelosi. so, they kind of ran by separating their campaigns from nancy pelosi, are saying that they want a new speaker if they get in control. so, i think that they're trying to also stay true to their campaign message and stay true to the type of campaign that they ran, you know. >> right, right. david: kathy. >> their constituents. david: we just talked with steve forbes, i don't know if you saw it about mayor deblasio and

brian higgins signs a letter says no way will i support her. then now he is supporting her. a deep blue district but a lot of people on the list of names who said i'll never support her, two women in michigan who represent previously republican districts, a woman in kansas. a former mayor of salt lake who won by 700 votes. how will they go home and say i did it after my arm was twisted or my leg was broken? >> bill: they're folding. that's what you are saying, right? >> they could. we'll see. jim cooper of tennessee who voted against her before. he is not folding. let's see how many do and how they explain, those that do fold, how they explain it to the people back home. remember, a lot of them were very clear about this under no circumstances will i support her. colorado, maine, these people were not unclear about it. she is a tough character, i know. i saw her up close and personal for seven years and she is tough. and she is backed by a strong, very liberal members of the house. in the democrat caucus, they make things like committee assignments and designates the chairs

congressman brian higgins from new york talks about democratic leadership and the future of the party. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal," live at 7:00 eastern. join the discussion. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the e

then congressman brian higgins on the house democrats new majority and the leadership elections. [video clip] >> he is a weak person and what he is trying to do is get a reduced sentence. he is lying about a project everybody knew about. >> i could not be more honored. that is not a figure of speech, but is as true a statement as anyone could make, to be honored thehe nomination and support i have from our colleagues in this caucus. >> the only petition -- position that cannot garner 50 votes is the president's position. he is adamant about having