[0:03][music] Welcome to Washington Today on CPAN Radio for Friday, December 19, 2025. The [music] first batch of files on the late sex offender and accused trafficker Jeffrey Epstein are released
[0:14]by the Justice Department, but the deputy attorney general says not all the files will be [music] released today, and today was the deadline under the law. President Donald Trump announces
[0:25]deals with nine pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices. [music] President travels to North Carolina for a speech on affordability and to support [music] Republican US Senate candidate
[0:35]Michael Wattley. Federal court hearing in the last surviving case against President Trump over his alleged role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US
[0:45]capital. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio holds an endofthe-year news conference getting questions on US policy [music] towards Venezuela. moving to phase two of the Israel Hamas
[0:56]ceasefire [music] and talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. USA Today writes, "The Epstein files are finally seeing daylight after the Department of Justice began publicly
[1:06]releasing its trove of records to meet a deadline imposed by Congress. A pivotal moment in the years's long saga that has emerged as one of the most explosive issues of President Donald Trump's second administration. Trump
[1:18]administration began making records available December 19th, setting off a race to dig through the files for information that could shed new light on a case that has generated intense public
[1:28]interest. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch told Fox News that several hundred,000 documents will be released on Friday with more to come next week. An acknowledgement that the Justice Department would not meet the legal
[1:39]obligation to make public the entirety of its Epstein files by December 19th. That was from USA Today. And the files are available at the Justice Department
[1:49]website, which we have now linked at c-span.org. Here is the deputy attorney general Todd Blanch this morning on Fox News. >> Today marks the deadline for the DOJ to
[2:00]make the Epstein fouls public after the president signed a law requiring those to be released. So, in these files, are we going to learn any new information
[2:11]about uh Epstein and people that may have been associated with him? So, yes. So, today is the is the 30 days where and I expect that that we're going
[2:21]to release several hundred,000 um documents today and and those documents will come in in all different forms, photographs and and other materials associated with with all of the
[2:32]investigations into into Mr. Epstein. Um and and just just so everybody appreciates, President Trump has said for years that he wants full
[2:43]transparency and he wants the Department of Justice to release everything that we can with respect to this investigation in cases. And we saw during during the
[2:52]Biden administration radio silence from the very Democrats that are screaming from congressional steps today that we haven't done enough. But guess what? President Trump signed that law 30 days
[3:04]ago and we have been working um tirelessly since that day to make sure that that we get every single document that we have within the Department of Justice, review it and and get it to the
[3:15]American public. Now, the most important thing that the attorney general has talked about, that director Patel has talked about is that we protect victims. And so what we're doing is we are
[3:26]looking at every single piece of paper um that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim, their name, their identity, their story to the extent it needs to be protected is
[3:36]completely protected. And so I expect that we're going to release more documents um over the next couple of weeks. So today, several hundred,000 and then over the next couple weeks, I
[3:46]expect several hundred thousand more. um there's a lot of eyes looking at these and we want to make sure that that when we do produce the materials we're producing that we're protecting um every
[3:57]single victim. A judge in New York um has has required the US attorney in New York to also look at the materials to make sure that that victim's information
[4:07]is protected. The judge in Sorry. >> Yeah. Yeah. Only got 10 seconds left. Uh uh Todd, but real quickly since you guys are releasing these files, um we shouldn't expect any charges to come
[4:17]out, any more charges, right? >> Well, we're look, as the president directed, it's still being investigated and and I expect that will continue to happen. So, so we as of today, there's
[4:27]no new charges coming, but but we are investigating. >> Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch on Fox News this morning. New York Times writes, "Several members of Congress quickly moved to criticize Mr. Blanch
[4:39]saying that the department's partial release of the Epstein files meant it failed to meet its legal obligations. Representative Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who broke from Mr. Trump to push for the release of the
[4:48]files, voiced his discontent in a social media post sharing a photo of the law in which he highlighted the language requiring the department to release all of the files by Friday. Times Up release
[5:00]the files, Mr. Massie wrote in a follow-up post. And Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, accused the White House of breaking the law and assailed Mr. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi as
[5:10]being hellbent on hiding the truth. That reporting from the New York Times, Congressman Roana, Democrat of California, who introduced the Epstein files bill with Congressman Massie,
[5:22]warned on the House floor on Thursday against failing to release all of the files. Tomorrow at midnight is the deadline for Pam Bondi to release the
[5:31]Epstein files. That is what Thomas Massie and my bill calls for. It passed this body 427 to1, passed the Senate 100 to zero, and the president signed it.
[5:43]Now, three federal judges have ordered the release of all of these files in Maxwell and Epstein's grand jury. Here
[5:55]is the reality. Any Justice Department official who does not comply with this law will be subject to prosecution for obstruction of
[6:05]justice. If Pam Bondi does not comply with the law, she will be held either in inherent contempt of Congress or subject
[6:14]to impeachment. We will not rest until the law is complied with and justice is served. Congressman Roan, a Democrat of California, on the House floor on
[6:25]Thursday, again today. The Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch said that the Justice Department would release some but not all of the Epstein files. And that release happened late
[6:35]afternoon. It's posted at justice.gov. And we have a link to it at our website, cesspan.org. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, putting out a statement,
[6:46]"The Trump administration is the most transparent in history by releasing thousands of pages of documents cooperating with the House Oversight Committee subpoenas request." And President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein's
[6:58]Democrat friends. The Trump administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have. And while President Trump is delivering on his promises, Democrats like Hakee Jeff
[7:09]and Stacy Plask have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. American people deserve answers. That statement from Abigail
[7:19]Jackson, White House spokeswoman. CNBC writing, "Severalver of the largest US and European-based drug makers inked deals with President Donald Trump on Friday to voluntarily sell their
[7:30]medications for less as his administration pushes to link the nation's drug prices to cheaper ones abroad. That includes Merc, Bristol
[7:39]Meyers, Squib, Amgen, Gilead, GSK, Sani, Ro's Genitech, privately held Boringer Ingleheim and Novartis.
[7:50]In exchange, the companies agreed to a three-year grace period during which their products won't face Trump's planned pharmaceutical specific tariffs as long as the drug makers further
[8:00]invest in US manufacturing. That makes up the majority of the 17 drug makers Trump sent letters to in July calling on them to lower prices as part of his most
[8:10]favored nation policy. Trump signed an executive order in May to revive that policy, calling for prices to be increased outside the US and to end global freeloading. That was from the
[8:21]CNBC article. Here's President Trump meeting with the CEOs of the drug makers at the White House. >> I'm thrilled to be joined by the leaders of nine of the world's largest pharmaceutical
[8:32]manufacturers. All very big names, celebrities in their own right, very, very powerful people. and they head some of the most uh admired companies
[8:44]anywhere in the world. It's a great group [snorts] to announce that they've agreed to offer many of their flagship drugs really all of their flagship drugs
[8:54]at heavily discounted most favored nations prices. In other words, whatever the drug sells for over the world, in the world, whatever the lowest number
[9:04]is, if it's Germany, if it's in uh UK, anywhere, we will match that price. Right now,
[9:14]sometimes it's 10 times higher. We've been laughed at and scoffed at for years. For years. In fact, I was going to do it in my first term, but unfortunately with the advent of uh
[9:26]COVID, as you would say, uh it was not I don't think it was a very good time to be hitting up Spain, Italy, France, but
[9:35]now we're doing it. So, uh, the hardest thing to do was going to be to get a country to do it because we would have a pill in New York that was for sale for
[9:45]$130 and you could buy it in Germany and France and Spain and someplace. Anyways, they set their own prices for $10. So,
[9:55]we'd pay 10 or 13 times more, pay five times more, pay all different prices. Now, whatever the lowest prices now, uh, the pharmaceutical companies were
[10:07]difficult, but they also love our country. They knew it was unfair. Uh, but the and and they were great. I appreciate it. But the bigger problem is going to be the countries. How are you going to get the countries to do it? And
[10:18]we told them, if you don't do it, we're going to have to use tariffs, and we're going to charge you a 10% tariff, which is far more money than the money we're talking about. And they immediately
[10:30]agreed to do it. So we have all the foreign countries uh agreeing to do it. If we didn't have the use of tariffs we would never be able to do this but we use tariff and they said is it a threat?
[10:41]I said yes it is a threat and they said we will do it and they dropped the price. So what's happening because the world is bigger than the United States in terms of people, that same pill would
[10:53]go from $10 to $20 for them, which is an increase, but it wouldn't go to, you know, midway, but it would go from $10
[11:01]to $20. Ours would go from $130 to $20. So we dropped way down. They went up a little bit. >> President Donald Trump at the White House with the pharmaceutical company's
[11:12]CEOs. After the president's remarks, each of those company leaders made a statement starting with Amgen's Robert Bradway. >> Mr. President, thank you uh for the
[11:24]opportunity to work with you to improve the affordability of medicines for American patients. Amjen recently launched Amjen now, a direct to patient option for Rapatha that cuts out PBM
[11:35]middleman and significantly improves affordability for people who are uninsured, facing high out-of-pocket costs, or paying on their own. Rapatha
[11:45]will also soon be added to trumprx.com. A US-based pioneer for more than four decades, we've invested more than $40
[11:55]billion in US research and manufacturing since 2018, supported by pro-inovation policies that you've championed.
[12:05]Thank you again, Mr. President. We look forward to continuing to work together to deliver meaningful benefits and innovation for US patients. >> Thank you very much. Great job. Thank
[12:16]you. Robert Bradway, Amgen CEO at the White House and the other drug company CEOs, also made statements after the president's remarks. Again, from the
[12:28]CNBC article, Johnson and Johnson, Abby, and Regeneron are the remaining companies among the largest that haven't signed drug pricing deals. But Trump
[12:38]noted that Johnson Johnson quote will be here next week. And President Trump also said he plans to call a meeting with big insurance companies to get them to lower prices. Congress adjourned for the
[12:50]holidays Thursday night without passing an extension of enhanced affordable care act subsidies. And that means over 20 million Americans will be seeing their healthc care insurance premiums go up
[12:59]dramatically come January. That is one topic on C-SPAN's ceasefire program this week. The guests are two US senators, Republican Katie Brit of Alabama and
[13:09]Democrat John Federman of Pennsylvania. >> When it comes to the ACA conversation, um the Obamacare conversation, John and I were actually in a group the other
[13:19]day, a bipartisan group talking about what is a pathway forward. >> Bipartisan conversation on healthcare. That is a big headline [laughter] for Americans right now. No, truly, it does
[13:30]seem like on this issue, it's just been so hard to find common ground. Yeah. So, I was en encouraged um by the dialogue because to your point, there has not
[13:40]been that before. Um obviously, Republicans and Democrats are coming at the issue um from a different perspective, but both wanting to achieve
[13:49]the same thing and and trying to find a solution or at least the people in in this room were. So, um I was encouraged by that dialogue. Obviously, I hope that that continues. we'll see something move
[14:01]over from the house and um you know would be hopeful that that we are able to coales around something. John John may have a little bit of a different perspective. >> The the base demands
[14:13]demands no no common ground. No common ground. You know it's really becomes more and more extreme kinds of absolutes and and now so like I have a responsibility as someone that
[14:25]represents Pennsylvania. you know that it's like just like this table, you know, red, blue. It's just like I mean that that's literally Pennsylvania. >> You got the symbolism. [laughter]
[14:36]and and and it's it's a lot easier like if I'm in like a deep deep blue state for example and then of course no doubt so that that's part of like an honest conversation where we're at right now
[14:47]and you know conversations about healthcare you know there's there's a lot of embedded truths on it and you know I want to have a vote that has a chance to pass rather than just making some kinds of statement
[14:58]>> so the threeear you you had mentioned um in an interview [clears throat] recently that the three-year straight extension you don't think is is realistic. What do you think Democrats need to consider as as they push forward different different
[15:10]plans? >> Well, I for me I I'm calling that just like a oneyear clean extension. It doesn't require any more than the minimum of of the Republicans to vote
[15:20]for that, the ones that are the more moderate ones, the ones that are concerned about those things. And now that doesn't mean that they love, you know, Obamacare. And it means for us that we have one more guaranteed year
[15:32]for this for our constituents and then we have a long time to negotiate you know like a more durable solution. >> Is that something you consider Senator one year clean >> extension? So when you're looking at
[15:42]where we are and this is where we just have a different perspective about it. [clears throat] You know you kind of look back to Obamacare being instituted in 2010 and then look at you know needing subsidies in 2014 and then 2020
[15:54]2021 um and kind of where we are now. So it's from my perspective it's clear that the system has failed with regards to affordability because we continue to have to subsidize it to quote make it
[16:06]affordable. So I think you kind of have two conversations here. You have the immediate conversation of what happens with the enhanced COVID premium uh subsidies and then you have a larger
[16:16]conversation that has to be had about how do we make sure that we can deliver um affordable healthcare. Senators Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, and John Federman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, on
[16:27]C-SPAN's Ceasefire this week with host Dasha Burns program airing tonight at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN C-PAN radio and on our free app
[16:39]C-SPAN Now, and then also available as a podcast. Politico writing that Senate leaders gave up on trying to pass a government funding package before adjourning for the holidays, punting the
[16:51]issue to the new year when lawmakers will have just a few weeks left to avoid a partial shutdown on January 30th. Senators huddled on the floor Thursday night as they made an 11th hour attempt to find a path forward on bringing up a
[17:02]bundle of five bills, but Democratic Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickin Looper of Colorado announced they would hold up the package after White House budget director Russell votes decision to dismantle the National Center for
[17:14]Atmospheric Research. That was from Politico. The Senate Majority Leader John Thoon, Republican of South Dakota, spoke on the Senate floor late Thursday night. When I became majority leader, I
[17:24]made it very clear that I was committed to funding the government through the regular order consideration of appropriations bills, not through an omnibus or long-term CR, oftentimes
[17:36]written behind closed doors. The regular order process gives senators from both parties the fullest chance to make their voices and the voices of their
[17:47]constituents heard. Uh, which is why I'm disappointed that we will not be moving to our second package of appropriations bills tonight. Republicans were ready to
[17:57]go, but unfortunately my Democrat colleagues are not there yet. Hopefully, they will get there. Mr. President, Republicans have worked hard all year to
[18:07]get us back to taking up appropriations bills through regular order. We had a positive start with the Senate passing three appropriations bills before the August state work period, something that
[18:17]hadn't been done here since 2018. But then we hit a setback when Democrats decided to shut the government down for 6 weeks. That, Mr. President, was disappointing
[18:28]obviously, but I want uh this body to know that I remain as committed as ever to funding the government through the regular order process. And when we come
[18:38]back after the holidays, we're going to redouble our efforts to get this government funded and prevent any repeat of the Democrat
[18:47]shutdown. I hope, Mr. President, that my Democrat colleagues will join us. I hear them uh speaking to that effect, and I
[18:57]will take them at face value. And I hope that we can work together to fund the government in the way it should be funded through regular order and the appropriations process. The Senate
[19:08]Majority Leader John Thun Republican of South Dakota on the Senate floor late Thursday night right before the Senate joined the House in adjourning for the holidays. Before they the Senate
[19:18]adjourned, the Senate did confirm 97 of President Trump's nominations by a vote of 53 to 47 party line. This was the third nominations trunch that
[19:29]Republicans have confirmed since they changed the rules to allow for most executive branch nominees to be confirmed with a single vote. From a Washington Post article, a barrage of postshutdown data this week has left
[19:40]economists with more questions than answers about the state of the US economy. Unemployment rose to a 4-year high in November. Inflation improved more than expected and retail sales appeared surprisingly resilient in
[19:52]October. Though economists say all of that is likely to be bogged down by low response rates, disruptions in data collection, and other shutdown related complications. The result, more
[20:03]confusion about an economy that's already confounded policy makers, politicians, and business owners for much of the year. Reporting from the Washington Post. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, John
[20:14]Williams, was interviewed today on CNBC about Thursday's inflation report. Yesterday that inflation report came in lower than expected but it was a little controversial. Give us your takeaway
[20:25]from that report. >> Well, a couple things. I think that you know uh the the some of the data that we're seeing is actually pretty encouraging in the sense in the on the CPI news. Uh and I think it represents a
[20:36]continuation of the disinflationary process we've seen and I feel like it's a you know consistent with what we were or I was expecting. Now on the headline though there were some special factors
[20:46]some technical factors that really are related to the fact that they weren't able to collect data in October and not in the first half of November and because of that uh I think the data were
[20:57]distorted in some of the categories and that pushed down the CPI reading uh probably by a tenth or so. It's hard to know. We'll get some we'll get some when we get the December data. I think we'll get a better reading of how much that
[21:08]distortion had uh how big the effect was. But uh I do think that that was pushed down a bit by these technical factors. >> Sorry you John, because this is a a big issue right now. Did your army of
[21:20]economists already crunch the data and figure it was pushed down by a tenth? Is that a running estimate you have? >> Well, that's just a rough estimate I'm saying. But yes, it is because a couple the technical factors. one is you they
[21:31]only collected uh data in the second half of November when when all the sales are on and that's going to give you a bit of a downward bias. Also, there was some you know issues about uh the the rent data and things like that. So, it's
[21:43]it's hard to know but definitely um you know I took uh some positive signs from some of the categories that weren't as affected by that, but uh I think that really this is just a continuation of of
[21:53]the data we we've been seeing and I'm going to wait and collect some more data in the next month or two to get a better reading of that. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams
[22:02]on CNBC. Wall Street today. The Dow up 183, NASDAQ up 301, and S&P up 59. Wall Street Journal writing that Tik Tok
[22:13]parent Bite Dance has formalized agreements with investors to form a new US joint venture as it works to complete a deal to prevent the app from being banned in the US over national security
[22:23]concerns. According to a company memo reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the article says that 30% will be held by affiliates of certain existing investors
[22:33]of the Chineseowned Bite Dance and 20% will be retained by Bite Dance. Fox News writing that President Donald Trump heads to Battleground North Carolina on
[22:43]Friday as he aims to keep an open Republican held Senate seat in GOP hands in next year's midterm elections. Trump will hold an evening event on affordability as he teams up in the
[22:53]crucial southeastern state with Michael Watley, a former Republican National Committee chair and clear frontr runner for the GOP Senate nomination in the 2026 race to succeed retiring Republican
[23:04]Senator Tom Tillis. Watley is likely to face off next year against former two-term Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in what's expected to be one of the most expensive and crucial Senate battles in
[23:14]the country as the GOP works to hold its 53 to 47 majority in the chamber and rising prices will be a top issue on the campaign trail. That's the article from
[23:24]Fox News. The rally will be in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. C-SPAN will be covering it. You can watch it on C-SPAN 2 television and and on our free
[23:34]C-SPAN now mobile app. Michael Watley was interviewed on Fox News digital on Thursday about the president's visit. >> He is not on the ballot next year. You
[23:45]are. We've seen in the past when Donald Trump is not on the ballot. Sometimes MAGA voters don't go to the polls. Tell me how much of an issue that is going forward. >> Well, we're certainly going to need him uh to be on the ballot. And when you
[23:56]think about what happens if we lose the House, if we lose the Senate, if the Democrats take over and they go right back to investigations and hoaxes and impeachments, uh that is really truly the president and his legacy are going
[24:08]to be on the ballot. Uh you know, for me right now, the president needs an ally in Washington and North Carolina needs a conservative voice in the Senate. Uh that is the the lane that we're going to
[24:18]take. Uh and I'm excited uh to be on the campaign trail with him. >> He'll be talking affordability at this event on Friday. Uh it's an issue that the Democrats have really hyped and talked about on the campaign trail here
[24:29]in 2025 and they've had a lot of success either with victories or over performances. That issue is going to be just as big next year. Your concerns if inflation doesn't come down. I mean, how much is this going to affect your campaign?
[24:41]>> Well, look, I mean, we ran on affordability last year. The president ran on housing prices, grocery prices, gasoline prices. Uh we talked about interest rates. We talked about inflation being way too high because of
[24:52]Joe Biden. Uh and Biden inflation was was a very real factor in the president winning. Uh he is fighting right now to bring down gasoline prices. We've seen dramatic shift. Uh we're fighting, you
[25:04]know, every day against the Fed uh trying to get them to lower interest rates and make housing more affordable. Uh and you know, there's there's a a fight every day uh with this administration to try and bring down uh
[25:15]the prices for everybody. You know, when we talk about what are the fundamentals of winning in North Carolina, you know, we're going to to have economic policies that are going to create jobs, raise
[25:25]wages, and lower prices. That is the fundamental formula for for winning in any battleground state, uh especially North Carolina. >> Michael Wattley, Republican candidate
[25:34]for US Senate in North Carolina on Fox News Digital on Thursday. North Carolina's Democratic Party held a rally today in Raleigh ahead of the president's visit. Anderson Clayton is the chair.
[25:46]>> Donald Trump is coming to North Carolina tonight to lie and say that cost and the economy are great right now. And if you're somebody who's just had to go to a grocery store recently, you know
[25:56]that's not true. Costs aren't down. And Trump and DC Republicans are making life less affordable than ever, especially for people here in North Carolina and especially people in Eastern North
[26:08]Carolina. North Carolina families are facing skyrocketing costs because Republicans have created a health care crisis and refused to fix it. They've gutted Medicaid. They put five rural
[26:18]hospitals in North Carolina at risk of closing already. They continue to refuse to extend the ACA tax credits, which means that on January 1st, every single
[26:28]person across North Carolina is going to see their health insurance cost skyrocket. We couldn't understand a a North Carolina that doesn't prioritize healthcare and education in it,
[26:39]especially after yesterday when we just saw a North Carolina legend unfortunately pass away. Governor Jim Hunt was a legacy in North Carolina. Somebody that stood up for the fact that
[26:49]no matter what your zip code is, you deserve to have the opportunity and the access to health care and to education. And what we've seen from Republicans in North Carolina and from a Donald Trump
[27:00]administration is an administration that's willing to destroy and demise the social safety net that has kept so many people across North Carolina, not only in this state, but able to thrive in
[27:12]this state. In 2026, we're going to elect a US senator. And who we choose to elect could be the difference between affordable health care or medical debt,
[27:22]between cheaper groceries or going hungry, and between a champion who will fight for North Carolina, or for a DC insider that's handpicked by Republicans who's also going to face a primary
[27:34]himself because even the grassroots know that Donald Trump handpicked Michael Watley for this seat. And you might have heard of that DC insider. He's pushing the same agenda that is hurting North
[27:44]Carolina families across this state. Michael Watley supports gutting Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, calling it a huge win, saying that he would have voted for it
[27:55]in a heartbeat if he had been our US senator. And we know THAT RIGHT NOW TOM TILLIS, the reason why he's not running for reelection is because he WAS FACED
[28:04]WITH THAT HARD CHOICE OF HAVING TO SAY 600,000 PEOPLE ACROSS North Carolina immediately deserve to have that healthcare access revoked that Governor Cooper fought so hard to get in a
[28:16]bipartisan deal right for decades across this state. Anderson Clayton is the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party at a rally today in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ahead of President Trump's
[28:28]visit, he's scheduled to give a speech on behalf of the Republican US Senate candidate Michael Watley in Rocky Mount beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll have live coverage on CPAN 2 television
[28:38]and on the free C-SPAN Now mobile app. A poll conducted by High Point University's survey research center found 46% favoring the Democratic candidate for Senate in North Carolina
[28:48]compared to 41% for the Republican candidate. 4% support another party. 9% remain undecided. This is an open seat. Republican Tom Tillis not running for reelection. And today, another
[29:00]Republican senator announced she will not be running in 2026. Cynthia Lumis of Wyoming will retire after one term in US Senate, although she has been in public
[29:09]office since 1979. First the Wyoming House, then the Wyoming Senate, Wyoming State Treasurer, then the US House, and finally the US Senate. Also, the New York Post reporting that Republican
[29:20]Congresswoman Elise Stefonic unexpectedly dropped her bid to become New York's next governor on Friday. She posted on X while spending precious time with my family this Christmas season. I have made the decision to suspend my
[29:32]campaign for governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family. While we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use
[29:42]of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of the next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York. The
[29:52]decision by Stefonic will spare a likely bruising gubanatorial primary battle with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman over who will be the Republican
[30:02]standard bearer in 2026's election. President Donald Trump had pointedly remained neutral in the emerging primary battle between Stefonic and Blakeman. That was from the New York Post article. Back to North Carolina, the News and
[30:14]Observer there writing that James B. Hunt Jr., A one-time Wilson County farm boy who rose to become one of the dominant figures in 20th century North Carolina politics has died. He was 88.
[30:24]Elected to an unprecedented four terms as governor, Hunt, a Democrat, was a hard driving chief executive who led efforts to lift the state out of its legacy of rural poverty by improving its
[30:35]public schools and modernizing its economy. That was from the News and Observer newspaper. Jim Hunt was governor 1977 through85 and then again
[30:44]1993 through 2001 and in 2002 he spoke at a national education summit in Chantilli Virginia that was covered by C-SPAN. The idea, folks,
[30:56]is to bet on leadership just the way that business leaders do when they hire the best folks
[31:08]to run their companies and to make their products and provide their services just as investors do. I have worked with uh venture capital
[31:20]out uh activities and been on the boards of companies that have used that. They invest primarily in leadership. Of course, the product or the service
[31:31]must have great potential, but they're looking at the people and betting on them. We must have superb leadership
[31:42]in every school and in every school district in America. In fact, um I think perhaps we should consider
[31:52]urging the Congress to add a new provision in the Leave No Child Behind Act, and that is the requirement of a highly
[32:03]effective principle in every school, a highly effective leader as superintendent in every district in America.
[32:14]Wouldn't that sort of complete the picture and really [applause] really make clear what it's going to take to make it happen? Former North
[32:25]Carolina Governor Jim Hunt, a Democrat, in 2002 at a national education summit held in Virginia. He has died at the age of 88. Former President Bill Clinton, who was also a former Arkansas governor,
[32:37]Democrat, writing on exgovernor Jim Hunt, was an exceptional governor, a keen political talent, and most importantly, a kind, smart, and dedicated public servant. I'll miss him very much. And from former Florida
[32:49]Governor Jeb Bush, a Republican this post, Jim Hunt was a good man and a great education leader. Rest in peace. Washington today continues in a moment.
[32:59]Democracy, it isn't just an idea. It's a process. A process shaped [music] by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few [music]
[33:09]with guarding its basic principles. It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course [music] is charted. Democracy in real time. This is
[33:20]your [music] government at work. This is C-SPAN giving you your democracy unfiltered. Welcome back to Washington today.
[33:34]Available as a podcast on the free CP now mobile app and wherever you find your podcast. A few more headlines. President Trump saying today that sales of the new immigration Trump gold card
[33:44]have reached $1.3 billion. He says the money raised will be going to the US Treasury to reduce [music] the nation's debt. He called it essentially the green
[33:54]card on steroids. Foreign nationals pay $1 million plus a $15,000 processing fee for fasttrack for US residency and corporations pay $2 million contribution
[34:04][music] and a processing fee for that service. New York Times writing Trump administration is suspending the immigration program that granted permanent residency to the man suspected of killing two Brown University students
[34:16]and an MIT professor. for Homeland Security Secretary [music] Christy Gnome said on Thursday night, but some immigration law experts say it was unclear what authority the administration had to take such a step
[34:27]as [music] the diversity visa program was established by Congress. That was from the New York Times. Story from Politico. The new Republican le subcommittee investigating the events around the January 6, 2021 attack on the
[34:38]capital will have its first hearing next month. Panel chair Barry Louderdermilk said Thursday. The Georgia Republican said the hearing will focus on the Biden era FBI's inquiry into the pipe bombs
[34:49]left at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee the day before Congress gathered to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. The select committee's hearing
[35:00]will officially launch the next chapter in the GOP's attempts to rewrite the narrative around the violent riot at the capital. Republicans have long argued that the previous incarnation of the
[35:10]January 6th committee led by Democrats was unfair to President Donald Trump. They allege it was more focused on maligning Republicans than exploring the security failures that allowed the
[35:21]violent event to take place. That was from Politico. There was a US District Court hearing today in a case stemming from the 2021 attack on the capital. Lee
[35:30]v. Trump is a class action suit filed by black and Latino members of Congress. And after some of the attorneys came out to speak with reporters along with
[35:41]Barbara Lee, who is now the mayor of Los Angeles, a Democrat, and back in 2021 was a member of Congress. Her name is on the case. You'll hear her and then attorney Joe Sers.
[35:52]>> Thank you very much. And I want to thank uh Mr. sellers, the entire legal team, uh, especially the NAACP, um, for continuing to ensure that this
[36:03]case move forward and to be sure that people understand that our plaintiffs, myself included, uh, believe that no one
[36:12]is above the law. And uh I believe when the discussion today in court uh revealed the fact that there are some in
[36:22]this country who do believe that uh a president could be above the law. I today think of the um police officers
[36:32]who uh faced the traumas, the people who passed away, who died as a result of this. And I want to thank the Capitol police officers. I was sitting on the
[36:43]floor of Congress on January 6 and their their response their their fight to make sure that our democracy
[36:55]prevailed. Uh I want to salute them today and tell them how deeply grateful our country is for that. And also they
[37:04]uh really uh called me several after what took place. Several of the Capitol Police officers uh told me that they were called the n-word. And I want to
[37:15]again site and salute the NAACP for leading on this case. Uh myself as the lead plaintiff. My mother was one of the
[37:24]plaintiffs in Texas, integrating the Texas Western College, one of the 12 plaintiffs in that uh case. And so the
[37:33]NAACP has had a tradition of fighting for equal justice under the law. This is another one of those cases where we're moving forward and I want to thank them
[37:43]again for making sure that uh we continue to ensure that democracy prevails. The peaceful transfer of power was almost thwarted on January 6th, but
[37:55]it prevailed and that's a testament to our the strength of our democracy, but the fact that we must be vigilant. Thank you again. >> Is this the last chance at
[38:03]accountability for January 6? Uh this is the last of the cases that is
[38:12]uh that is challenging um President Trump's in role in the January 6 uh riots. Um so um in terms of legal cases,
[38:23]I believe it's the last one that remains. >> And the president's arguing that he has >> I'm sorry, what say again? >> The president's team is arguing that he has immunity. >> Yes. >> What's what's your counter argument to
[38:34]that? this case. >> Well, I'm not I think that we made our arguments in court. I'm not going to re review all the arguments here. I just will say I think that there are good
[38:44]arguments for why the president does not have immunity. Um we briefed this issue and we don't think the Supreme Court's decision with respect to immunity from criminal prosecution
[38:56]um changes the outcome here. So >> what would it mean if this case is not successful? Well, it would be uh it would mean that there's, as far as I know, no legal
[39:07]means to try to hold President Trump accountable for his role. Uh on January 6th, 2021, >> attorney Joe Sers speaking to reporters
[39:19]outside US District Court in Washington DC. Also there, Barbara Lee, who is now the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles. Back in 2021, she was a member of Congress. Her name is on the case, Lee
[39:30]B. Trump. And also there, Ed Casper, co-chief counsel, the lawyers committee for civil rights under law. After today's hearing, ABC News writes that Erica Kirk endorsed Vice President JD
[39:42]Vance for president during a Turning Point USA conference in Arizona, vowing to throw one of the most influential conservative organizations in the country behind Vance. In 2028, Turning
[39:52]Point, founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012, played a key role in helping elect President Donald Trump and shaping the modern conservative movement, particularly among younger voters. Erica
[40:04]Kirk spoke Thursday night at America Fest in Phoenix. It's the first major turning point event since her husband's assassination. >> I'm also really excited about everything that we're doing at Turning Point
[40:15]Action. We are locked in and mission focused for both 2026 and 2028. We're investing in states and not just
[40:26]in races. So what I mean by that is we are building the red wall. Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire. That's going to be very important to us. We're going to ensure that President
[40:37]Trump has Congress for all four years. >> [applause] >> We are going to get my husband's friend
[40:48]JD Vance elected for 48 in the most RESOUNDING WAY POSSIBLE. Erica Kirk at the Turning Point USA
[41:02]conference America Fest in Phoenix Thursday night. Vice President Gy Vance has not said whether he'll be running for president in 2028. By the way, you can find the video of that TurningPoint
[41:13]USA conference at our website c-span.org. This is Washington today. Turning to foreign affairs from Associated Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on Russia,
[41:23]Ukraine, and Israel, Hamas peace efforts and defended the Trump administration's increasing military presence on Venezuela during a rare end of the year news conference Friday. in a freewheeling meeting with reporters
[41:35]running more than two hours. Rubio also defended President Donald Trump's radical overhaul of foreign assistance and detailed the administration's work to reach a humanitarian ceasefire in
[41:45]Sudan in time for the new year. That was from AP. Here are some of the exchanges with reporters. We start with Venezuela and the US military attacks on boats
[41:55]allegedly carrying illegal drugs. >> Thanks, Mr. Secretary. uh White House chief of staff Susie Wilds said that the US would need congressional approval to conduct ground strikes in Venezuela. Do
[42:05]you share that view? And and in your response today on regime change, uh you already acknowledged that the point of the Bose strikes was to pressure Maduro, i.e. have him leave? Why not just
[42:17]acknowledge that this is a regime change? >> Do you have the quote she said >> that this is a do you have the quote >> to to cry cry uncle? >> Okay. So cry uncle. All right. Um I
[42:28]guess in Spanish you would have to say deal but um [laughter] I think I don't know how that I mean you can interpret any way you want. Uh but
[42:39]at the end of the day it is clear that the current status quo with the Venezuelan regime is intolerable for the United States. The status quo that they operate and and and cooperate with terrorist organizations against the
[42:50]national interest of the United States. not just cooperate but partner with and participate in activities that threaten the national interest of the United States. So yes, our goal is to change that dynamic. Uh and that's why the
[43:02]president's doing what he's doing. Change that dynamic by ensuring that no one wants to get on drug boats anymore. You know, people were just going out there, you know, openly without any fear of the Reaper. And now I think people
[43:13]understand like it's not a good idea. We have, by the way, we haven't had a strike in the Caribbean basin in almost 5 weeks. Do you know why? It's not cuz we stopped looking. It's because no one wants to get on a boat anymore and do that. So, it's been effective at cutting
[43:24]that down. Now, there's been strikes in the Pacific. So, the bottom line is that sure, our goal is to I mean, what's the point of doing something else? But the change people want to focus on regime
[43:34]this and this that the goal here is very simple. The national interest of the United States. The president of the United States was elected to protect the American people, to protect America. That's what he was elected to do. It's one of his fundamental promises that
[43:45]Donald J. Trump made when he was elected president of the United States is I am going to protect this country. Protect us from what? From the threat of terrorism, from threats to our economy and from threats these drug
[43:56]organizations and these terrorist organizations pose against the United States. And if you are an ally, a friend, a partner, or cooperate or participate in an activities that threaten the United States, you're going to have a problem with President Trump.
[44:08]I think the only shocking thing here is that a lot of people say that people run all the time for office. I'm going to take on the cartels. I'm going to do this. He's actually doing it. He's not doing anything he didn't say he was not going to do during this campaign. He
[44:19]said he was going to go after the cartels and now he's going after the cartels and everybody's shocked. Everybody's Don't be shocked. This is a man who was elected president because he says and then he does. He doesn't just
[44:30]say and then forget about it. >> Any congressional approval on land strikes? Do you think that the United States does need to go to Congress uh in order to conduct land strikes in Venezuela? >> Well, look, I'm not going to speculate about things that that, you know,
[44:42]haven't happened and may never happen. I'm not going to speculate on that. All I'm going to tell you is that two things, and I remind Congress all the time, by the way, I was very consistent on this position because it was my position when I was in the Senate. Number one, no administration,
[44:53]Republican or Democrat, has ever accepted the War Powers Act as being constitutional. That said, multiple administrations, including this one, have sought congressional approval andor
[45:03]certainly congressional notification of actions taken. Why? Because American action is always strongest when it has the buyin and the participation of a broad set of actors. Now, given our current political climate, that's not
[45:14]always easy because we do have people today in politics that are against everything that President Trump is for. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter if they themselves had the same position. If it's President Trump's idea, they're against it reflexively.
[45:25]Okay? That's the nature of the current climate in our politics. But I can tell you that to this point, nothing has happened that requires us to notify Congress or get congressional approval or cross the threshold in the war. We
[45:36]have very strong legal opinions. We have now briefed Capitol Hill 23 times. 23 briefings, bipartisan briefings on Capitol Hill. I have personally participated in six of those 23 at the
[45:48]highest levels of the committee, but then the full House and then the full Senate, which by the way are always interesting. Okay, get it. I' I've been there before. Okay, so I, you know, I was part of this thing in the past as well. But you do this briefing, you
[45:59]answer all their questions, then they go out and tell people, "We heard nothing. We saw nothing, you know, that we were pleased with." They they already had their answer before they went in, but we do them anyways, and we continue to do them. Not to mention the individual
[46:09]calls I've had with leaders in Congress, and I'm not going to disclose what those are. So, everybody over there does know what we're doing. They know why we're doing it, and we've kept Congress fully apprised, and we'll continue to do so.
[46:20]>> Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a year-end news conference at the State Department in Washington today. NBC News reporting that President Trump in a phone interview on Thursday did not rule
[46:29]out a war with Venezuela. And today, the Treasury Department announced new sanctions against extended family members of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Secretary Rubio also took
[46:40]reporters questions on the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. AP reporting about that today. President Trump's M East envoy Steve Witoff is hosting top officials from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey
[46:51]to discuss the second phase of the peace plan that took effect on October 10th after a war that lasted more than 2 years. That was from AP. Here's the question to Secretary Rubio.
[47:02]>> You said a few moments ago that everyone wants peace for Gaza. And yet, by any metric, the Israelis are flouting the ceasefire that President Trump negotiated by killing an average of two
[47:14]children a day, not allowing the agreed upon humanitarian aid into Gaza. How long can this continue? How long can the Israelis be allowed to show such disrespect to President Trump?
[47:24]>> Well, look, that's your characterization of it about the term disrespect. What I would say is this. This we un this was first of all it was a miracle that it happened in the first place. We all understand how difficult it was for that
[47:36]to come to the conclusion that it did where the actual the bombing and everything else with the the scale and scope of what we saw ended all the hostages were released and we have relative peace right now for the most part despite the things you're pointing
[47:46]to. That was very difficult. But this is not easy. Peace is a verb. It's not it's it's an action. It's not an a sentiment. Every single day will bring challenges. every single day. We also have had
[47:58]instances, for example, over the last couple weeks where Hamas elements emerged from a tunnel, attached an explosive device to the side of a vehicle, and injured and almost killed Israeli soldiers. We we still have this
[48:08]threat. We still have and see every single day Hamas openly taking steps to strengthen themselves, which with inside of those places in Gaza that they still control. We saw early on the atrocities they were committing in the streets
[48:20]against people as they were trying to show people how strong they were. So, I don't think I'm standing here to tell you this is going to be easy. This is an hourby- hour, dayby-day challenge. It's one of the reasons why we have stood up
[48:30]the center there in operating in Israel in partnership as well with another cell that exists in in a regional country. It's why every single day there are leading there are meetings among both
[48:41]intelligence, diplomatic and military officials of multiple countries that help bring about this deal to manage this. And that's why it is so critical. It is so critical and so key that we move to complete this first phase that
[48:52]we move to put in place the border of peace. get everybody agree to be a part of it. Move to put in place this Palestinian technocratic organization so that they can begin to provide some governance structure and move to put in
[49:04]place the stabilization force. That's the goal here. But it's not going to be easy. Every day will bring new challenges to that and we recognize those challenges are coming from all sides. >> Very quick follow up there. But who's going to be want want to be a part of a
[49:15]stabilization force if Israel is effectively using Gaza as a free fire zone? >> Well, these are the things we that's these are the things that we're working through right now. That again, that's why it didn't happen yesterday. That's why we didn't I don't mean yesterday
[49:26]literally. That means why we're not there yet. This is the hard work of diplomacy and peacemaking. Peacemaking isn't just signing a piece of paper. It's actually complying with it. And compliance oftent times requires many
[49:37]cases in most cases requires daily constant followup and nurturing. So that is why we are in such a hurry and I say as a priority to get to this point where we have the stabilization force in place
[49:48]overseen by the border peace and ultimately a Palestinian technocratic entity that can increase in its capability to provide governance. The stronger they are, the weaker Hamas will be in terms of threatening Israel. And I
[50:00]think the more security Israel should feel and the less need for some of these things to happen. But no one's claiming this is going to be easy. We have to work on this every single day. We have people in this building and deployed abroad. This is all they do 24 hours a
[50:11]day, day after day. Elements of the State Department, the Department of War, and all other agencies, including Jared and Steve, and even myself who talk or do something about there isn't a day in
[50:20]the last since we this was signed two months ago that I haven't had to do something with regards uh to uh making progress on the phases of the ceasefire.
[50:31]>> Secretary of State Marco Rubio at his year-end news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC. The war in Ukraine also came up many times in this news conference that ran over two hours.
[50:42]From another Associated Press article, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow's troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine, voicing confidence that the Kremlin's military goals would be
[50:53]achieved. Speaking at his highly orchestrated year-end news conference, Putin declared that Russian forces have fully seized strategic initiative and would make more gains by year's end.
[51:03]Again, that was from AP. Here again is Secretary Rubio. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thanks. Um, Shelby Talcott with Semaphore. Um, Vanity Fair quoted you as wondering whether Putin just wants the
[51:14]entirety of Ukraine. I'm curious if that's still a question for you and how confident are you in being able to reach a peace agreement, if that is a question. And then along those lines, is
[51:25]there a deadline for Russia and Ukraine to come to an agreement before this administration walks away? >> Yeah, I'm not in any position to give you deadlines on anything. And as far as that quote, that's a quote the president has said publicly, which is he has said
[51:37]three things. I thought it was going to be the easiest one and it's turned out to be the hardest. I don't know if Putin wants to do a deal or if Putin wants to take the whole country. These are things he has said openly. And um you know, I
[51:48]think that's I don't even remember when I talked to the guy from that magazine, but um you know, for much of the early part of this year, one of the things we were trying to deduce is exactly what is
[51:59]it that Russia wants to achieve. We know what they wanted to achieve initially when the war began. They haven't achieved those objectives. There's a new set of objectives now. I mean, part of reaching an agreement is trying to
[52:10]understand, I've already said this, what both sides want or need and what they're willing to give. And so, I think that that was a question that many of the administration had early on is defining what the Russian position, what exactly
[52:21]do they really, not what they say they publicly want, but what they publicly want and privately want are the same thing. That's part of and and the same is true on the Ukrainian side, by the way. what could they actually live with? What's acceptable? What's not
[52:31]acceptable? What are their red lines? That's how you put a deal together. You have to sort of figure out if the two sides overlap at some point. Sometimes some deals are just not ready. Sometimes the timing is perfect. You had to put it
[52:42]together. If you look at what happened with Gaza, that looked intractable. And then a series of events occurred that made it possible. uh uh that that for example the the strike inside of Qatar
[52:54]that the Israelis took at the time, you know, was a sort of a a dramatic thing, but in some ways it sort of set in motion a sense of urgency to bring this thing to an end before it spread. So sometimes you have you just have to be
[53:05]ready for a change in circumstances or conditions that allow progress to be made. But these things are hard to do. They take a lot of time. Sometimes it takes some patience. It's just unfortunate that you you know that every day that goes by more people are died
[53:17]and more people die and more things are destroyed. >> Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a year-end news conference at the State Department. Russian President Vladimir Putin also held his traditional end of
[53:27]the year marathon news conference in Moscow and at one point laid out how he sees talks to end the war in Ukraine. >> They are refusing to end this conflict
[53:37]by peaceful means. But nonetheless, we see, we feel, and we know about certain signals, including from the Kiev regime, that they're ready to engage in some
[53:49]kind of dialogue. We have always said this, too. We are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully based on the principles I outlined last June at
[53:59]the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by addressing the root causes that led to this crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin at a
[54:09]news conference in Moscow. One more AP story. A Kremlin envoy will travel to Florida to discuss a US proposed plan to end the war in Ukraine. A US official said Thursday part of the back and forth
[54:20]diplomacy as the Trump administration pushes for a potential deal. Krill Ditriv, who heads Russia's sovereign wealth fund, is set to meet with US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Whit and Trump's son-in-law Jared
[54:31]Kushner in Miami on Saturday. according to an American official speaking on condition of anonymity. That was from AP. And finally on CPAM radio's Washington today, astronaut Johnny Kim
[54:42]made his first public appearance today after spending 245 days, that's 8 months, aboard the International Space Station, Space Coast Daily says that
[54:52]works out to 3,920 orbits and nearly 104 million miles. There was a news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Okay, we'll now go and take our
[55:04]first question from the phone bridge. Um, first up will be Robert Pearlman from Collect Space. >> Hi. Um, thanks for taking my question
[55:14]and welcome back to Earth. Um, due to the government shutdown, we really did not get to see you and your crew on November 2nd when the milestone was reached at 25 years of a continuous
[55:25]human presence on the ISS. Can you describe what your crew mates did to what you and your crew mates did that day to mark the occasion? And did speaking of marking, did you designate
[55:36]the day somehow permanently on the station's walls or in some other means to to mark this was 25 years? >> Yes, we did. You know, um we weren't
[55:47]able to share it in real time, but the crew certainly was able to share it with the ground. We talked to the flight control teams all across the world to commemorate that day over space to
[55:58]ground. And then the crew ourselves, we got together and uh we broke some bread over the dinner table in the service module where it all started and we tried
[56:08]to recreate um a very famous photograph that I think of when I think of Expedition One. and uh all of our all of the crew mates um we got together, we had a great
[56:20]dinner, we had a good toast with Juice and we took that picture um which I think has been shared since then and
[56:30]we've all have matching blue polos and we're able to get the 25-y year logo um up in the background and uh you know it was a great opportunity to reflect on
[56:41]just the past 25 years of humans in space flight and it's hard to imagine But many people today in this world for as long as that they've been alive we've
[56:51]had humans in in space operating in space living in space coexisting. I think that's one of the one of the greatest human engineering feats that we've had.
[57:01]>> Astronaut Johnny Kim news conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He has just completed an 8-month mission to the International Space Station. Thanks for listening to Washington today. If
[57:12]you haven't heard, C-SPAN is now on YouTube TV. Current and new subscribers can get C-SPAN C-PAN 2 and C-SPAN 3. Find out more at tv.youtube.com.
[57:23]And also tonight, a new C-SPAN ceasefire program airs at 7 and 10 p.m. Eastern. Host Asha Burns will moderate a bipartisan dialogue with two US senators, Democrat John Federman of
[57:35]Pennsylvania, and Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama. Ceasefire tonight at 7 and 10 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN and CPAN radio and as a podcast wherever you
[57:45]get your podcasts. Have a good night and weekend.