we know mike johnson can't get a majority of republicans in january. even our colleagues who aren't co-sponsors of this have privately admitted there's no way in hell they're going to vote for mike johnson to be speaker in january. is so that's why we need to handle it now, put somebody in that seat who can lead our conference and present a united front to republicans who are going to go vote in november. reporter: are either of you considering running for speaker? ms. greene: everybody, we're going to end the press conference. what i'm calling on, like my colleague said, mike johnson can do -- pray about it and think about it all weekend and resign, giving our conference time to elect a new leader, a new speaker of the house. he should reject the endorsement of hakeem jeffries and the entire democrat leadership team. that's not an endorsement that any republican speaker should ever want or embrace.

and this vote will be called next week, and i just want to urge all of our colleagues to prepare for it. it's the right thing to do for america. it's time to clean house and get our conference in order and get ready to support president trump's agenda. god willing he wins this november and we take back full power here in washington in january. thank you very much, everyone. reporter: will there be a motion today? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> house democratic leader hakeem jeffries talked about his party's intent to dismiss the resolution to remove speaker mike johnson. marjorie taylor greene said she'll call up the motion next week. leader jeffries also talks about women's reproductive rights and the college protests over the israel hamas war. this is about 20 minutes.

mr. jeffries: good afternoon, everyone. freedom is under assault here in america and throughout the world. house democrats, we believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. and we strongly oppose any effort by extreme maga republicans to criminalize abortion care, impose a nationwide ban, target women and physicians and medical professionals across the country and try to impose government mandated pregnancies, even in instances where there's been rape or incest.

freedom is under ais salt by the extreme maga republicans and ground zero at the moment is in florida where there is a ban that will impact millions of women in the state of florida and throughout the deep south because up until this point, florida was perhaps the only state in the southeastern part of the country where a woman could seek reproductive health care. freedom is under assault. house democrats are defending it. extreme maga republicans are determined to undermine it. and donald trump and everyone who blindly follows him are

responsible for what has taken place in this country as a result of the fall of roe v. wade and the attacks on freedom that have been underway ever since. freedom under assault in america. freedom under assault across the world. particularly in ukraine. which is why it was so critically important that we worked together to get the national security legislation that was bipartisan and comprehensive over the tippish line -- finish line and defeat the pro-putin republicans who were determined to undermine america's national security, undermine freedom and democracy throughout the world and

undermine american leadership in a way that would have hurt the safety and security of the american people, perhaps for decades to come if vladimir putin and russian aggression is allowed to prevail. freedom under assault in america. freedom under assault throughout the world. freedom will be on the ballot in november. questions? reporter: i know that as much as members of your caucus have said they will help johnson out of a motion to vacate scenario, you also heard earlier this week from members of your caucus, you don't remember this guy as the architect of the japan 6 committee, all that. how do you make the case when the americans see the motion to table, i guess there's a distinction but you guys come in and saved the speaker's job? mr. jeffries: my statement on

this issue speaks for itself. the member who you are referencing is a very distinguished member of the house democratic caucus who in those very remarks made clear she also is a team player, and you can ask her correctly what that means in terms of how she ultimately decides to vote. we've made clear this is a vote of conscience, a procedural vote on a motion to table but also a vote of conscience that every single member of the house democratic caucus will make a decision on based on their assessment of the situation. katherine clark, peteing aily are and myself, joined -- pete aguilar and myself joined by many others have taken the position it's time to end this chapter of pro putin obstruction

among the extreme maga republican wing on the other side of the aisle, and we're prepared to do just that. reporter: leader? congressman greene said she might force repeated votes on this. is it your position to table a one time thing or continually vote to table? mr. jeffries: we'll take it someone step at a time. reporter: two questions, are you going to condemn the comments made by ms. omar and called the students, at least some of them, pro genocide, i don't know if those are words you would use yourself and will you commend the actions of the nypd about what they did last night in columbia university? mr. jeffries: as far as i can tell, the efforts by the nypd were thorough, professional, and exercised the degree of calm in a very tense situation that

should be commended. with respect to any comments that have been made by representative omar, my policy has always been until i've had an opportunity to talk specifically to that member, i'm going to refrain from making any other public comments. my position on the conflict between israel and hamas is clear. israel is fighting a war of necessity. they have to decisively defeat hamas who brutally attacked the israeli people on october 7. hamas must be decisively defeated. we have to do everything possible to free the hostages. and at the same time make sure that we are surging humanitarian assistance into gaza so we can help out palestinian civilians

who are in harm's way through no fault of their own. reporter: when will you talk to her, leader? mr. jeffries: thank you. reporter: ralph norman said there must be some way the democrats are treating johnson differently than mccarthy, why would they do that unless there was a quid pro quo, what do you see is the difference between mccarthy and johnson in this situation? just also, how much are you democrats enjoying seeing the republicans in disarray like this? mr. jeffries: we'll continue to keep the focus on getting things done for the american people and delivering real results on their behalf. with respect to the decision that was collectively made on october 3, and the decision that has been made in connection with the current motion to vacate, katherine clark, pete aguilar,

and myself issued a very thorough statement on october 3 laying out our rationale as to why we would vote against a motion to table in the prior instance and we've also articulated in a very thorough way our rationale for why we've taken a different position at this point in time. reporter: back to the agenda fast approaching is the 2025 appropriations. how are discussions with the republicans on the type line? are you going to adhere to the debt ceiling agreement? is there some decision not to do that? mr. jeffries: it remains our position that the top line spending number has to be the number that was agreed upon in the bipartisan fiscal responsibility act that was passed by the house and the senate and signed into law by president joe biden.

nothing less than that will ever be acceptable to us as house democrats. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. you talked about your statement -- back to the motion to vacate. with the other leaders and together the three of you said you wanted to turn the page on the chaos. can you tell us a little bit about what that looks like? are you in talks with speaker johnson or with other republicans on what sort of post chaos might look like, are there shared goals? is this a coalition government? what does it look like? mr. jeffries: our focus right now is on the three important things substantively that are in front of us which relate to, one, f.a.a. re-authorization, two, the farm bill, and three, making sure we fund the government in a manner that takes care of the needs of the

american people in advance of the fiscal year 2025 deadline. from the very beginning of this congress, house republicans have visited chaos, dysfunction, and extremism on the american people. marjorie taylor greene is the star of the show, the show is called republicans gone wild. it is undermining the well-being of the american people and preventing us from delivering real and meaningful results on the issues that matter. house republicans are either unwilling or unable to get marjorie taylor greene and the extreme maga republicans under control, and so it's going to take a bipartisan coalition and

partnership to accomplish that objective. we need more common sense in washington, d.c. and less chaos. the republicans have done nothing but deliver chaos. we're in the common sense business. second row. reporter: are you going to vote for the anti-semitism bill that's supposed to come to the floor today and how wide do you expect democratic support to be? mr. jeffries: in terms of the second part of the question, you have to ask katherine clark. i intend to support the resolution that will be before the floor and my view of the situation is this, there is a troubling and disturbing rise in anti-semitism in the united states of america. that existed prior to october 7

and has been exacerbated since october 7. we should be doing everything possible in a serious and sensible way to combat, to crush anti-semitism, to bury it in the ground, and make sure it can never rise again. combating anti-semitism is not a democratic issue or republican issue, it should be an american issue. and we should be working together to confront anti-semitism and all other forms of racism and hatred and xenophobia in america and throughout the world. reporter: do you plan to visit columbia university or any of the universities that are in unrest right now?

mr. jeffries: i have no current plans to do that right now. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. the biden administration yesterday reclassified cannabis, and booker and widen reintroduced it for the ramifications of the biden decision for the country. do you support what was reintroduce dad? mr. jeffries: i support the legislation introduced by the senators and have been long involved in the effort to try to deschedule marijuana and break the back of the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration in the united states of america. it was an honor for me to be part of helping to make sure that the first step act was ushered into law which was done in a bipartisan way with democrats and republicans, the left, the right, progressives, and conservatives working with the prior administration to get

meaningful criminal justice reform done for the first time in decades and begin to try to reverse the adverse impact on mass incarceration which affects many communities across the country, including those that i was raised in? central brooklyn. the effort taken by the biden administration was impactful and another step in the right direction that we should build upon legislatively. to the back and then back up front. reporter: to follow up on the comments on anti-semitism. the house republicans announced they'll expand their investigation on anti-semitism and the vote today. if democrats were in the majority, what steps would you be taking in response to what's been happening on campus. reporter: a great question.

the biden administration put forth a comprehensive report and series of recommendations in may of 2023 designed to aggressively combat the rise of anti-semitism in the united states of america. representative kathy manning has introduced bipartisan legislation that is designed to bring many of those recommendations to life. in order to get to a better place in the united states of america. and it is my hope that representative manning's legislation will receive an up our down vote in the next few weeks before we leave town in advance of memorial day. it's bipartisan legislation. kathy manning's legislation has the support of the anti-defamation league. it has the support of a.g.c.

it has the support of a variety of different jewish organizations. and no one has been more of a leader throughout her professional career in dealing with these challenges than representative manning. and so i'd like to see her legislation brought to the floor. reporter: you have tomorrow, many members will travel for the funeral of the late don payne, looking forward with that seat, do you have any intel when that seat might be filled, is that looking to be next congress and do you imagine a next representative will be elected between now and november? mr. jeffries: we haven't had those conversations because we're in the process of mourning a great member of congress and a classmate of mine, representative donald payne jr., as well as celebrating his life. , which has been done throughout the week in different ways, including on the house floor

yesterday in a special order hour led by the congressional black caucus and the leadership of assistant democratic leader joe neguse, representative paper jr. will lie in state today at the essex county courthouse and then dozens of members are going to travel to newark, new jersey tomorrow morning to pay our honor and respect to representative payne. until that happens, we've given zero thought to what comes next in the 10th congressional district of new jersey. thanks. second row? reporter: thank you, mr. leader. so earlier on you said you commended the way the nypd handled the unrest at the university of columbia's campus. i wanted to know, do you think their use of force was appropriate? and are you at all worried that

in the future police brutality cases against peaceful protesters might become a thing? mr. jeffries: i didn't see the nypd use excessive force yesterday. reporter: a bit after two-parter, taking a broader look at these protests, what do you make of the protests against israel happening across college campuses. mr. jeffries: the first amendment is an important part of the fabric of america. peaceful protests is an important part of the fabric of america. civil disobedience that is nonviolent is a important part of the fabric of america. but we shouldn't see any protest ever bear into threatening the safety and security of others and into anti-semitism or racism or xenophobia or islamophobia or anything that is inconsistent with the fact that america is a

gorgeous mosaic of people of different races, religions, and ethnicities, and that is what makes us an incredibly strong nation and different from any other nation in the world. reporter: thank you, leader. do you believe that colleges and universities should lose their federal funding if they've been found to not be cracking down on anti-semitism? 's mr. jeffries: i haven't taken a look at any specific proposal in that regard. but we'll have a conversation about the best way for colleges and universities to respond at the appropriate point. i can say that with respect to the most recent appropriations bill, house democrats wanted to increase funding for the office of civil rights of the department of education which is the office charged with the

responsibility of making sure no student is targeted in any way because of their race, their religion, or their ethnicity. house republicans wanted to slash and burn the office of civil rights of the department of education by 25%. and ultimately it was house democrats led by rosa delauro that were able to restore the proposed extreme maga republican cut that would haved a engineersly impacted the ability of the department of education to combat anti-semitism and all other forms of hatred on college campuses. we don't need rhetoric from some of my republican colleagues, we need real action. reporter: thank you, leader. there were repeat clashes at

ucla between protesters and counterprotesters and for hours there were no police to be found. do you have any response what was going on at ucla last night and the police response or lack thereof? mr. jeffries: i have have not had the opportunity to take a look at what happened on the ucla campus. reporter: i know it's been alluded to some members have visited campuses. what is your message to democratic lawmakers who have gone in and supported sort of the demonstrators at columbia or other campuses? mr. jeffries: i don't have a message one way or the other. i'm sorry. one last question, sure. reporter: your caucus is likely to provide the votes to keep leader johnson in power next week. you feel it gives you a stronger hand headed into these appropriation negotiations? mr. jeffries: from the beginning of congress as house democrats we have said we'll find bipartisan common ground with our republican colleagues on any issue whenever and wherever possible in order to deliver real results for the american people.

we have repeatedly done it throughout this entire congress, having to overcome republican chaos, dysfunction, and extremism that began during the very beginning of this congress when it took 15 different votes before congress could begin, and a loaded gun was handed over to some of the more extreme elements of the house republican conference in order to even get started. this is what the american people have faced from the very beginning of this congress. and we have decided that we are going to approach our jobs maturely to find common ground whenever possible to deliver real results for the american people, to protect their health, safety, security, and economic well-being while at the same

time pushing back against republican maga extremism whenever necessary. that has been the blueprint that we followed throughout the entirety of the 118th congress, and i expect that's going to continue until the extremists are vacated from the majority during the first tuesday in november. thank you. reporter: does the anti-semitism bill vote happen today? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> house speaker mike johnson has respond to congresswoman marjorie taylor gree'slans to call for a vote next weeko remove him by saying this motion is wrong for t republican conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for t

country. according to c-span's capitol hill producer craig kaplan, the motion to vacate will reportedly be a privileged resolution once corewoman greene calls up the resoluti, ere will be up to two days before a vote takes place. house democrats already announced they plan to vote to table or kill the motion. >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of governing congress like no other. since 1979, we've been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where the policies are debated and decided all with the support of america's capable company. c-span, 45 years and counting. powered by capable. powered by cable. >> earlier today federal reserve chair jerome pole answered questions about the economy and said interest rates will remain

stable. the bench mark interest rate has not changed since last year. you can watch the full news conference tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> secretary of state antony blinken talked with reporters after meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and encouraged the leader to accept a cease-fire deal in the israel hamas war. secretary blinken was visiting israel, jordan, saudi arabia, focused on getting a cease-fire deal done and humanitarian aid flowing to gaza. >> good evening. i met with benjamin netanyahu and talked about the hostage deal on the table that would produce a immediate cease-fire, get the hostages home, alleviate the suffering of the palestinian

people in gaza and give us something to build on for the future to get to durable peace and security. israel has made very important compromises in the proposal on the table demonstrating its desire and willingness to get this agreement and get it done. now, as we've been saying, it's on hamas. hamas has to decide whether it will take this deal and actually advance the situation for the people that it purports to care about in gaza. there is no time for delay. there's no time for further haggling. the deal is there. they should take it. we also spoke about what's been a priority for president biden and the conflict between israel

and hamas, to make sure that people caught in the crossfire get the humanitarian assistance they need. and this has been, as i said, a priority for the president from day one and been a focus of every trip i've taken to the region, and this is now i think my seventh since october 7. we have seen in recent weeks real meaningful progress that is starting to make a difference for people in gaza. yesterday we were in jordan, some of you saw the trucks being loaded in jordan. they went through eras for the first time today and that's very important because that's direct access to the north of gaza, and this is a result of a very important collaboration involving israel, involving jordan, involving as well the united nations. we have our own maritime corridor that is probably a week away from being operational and here where i am today, israel's

primary port, we're now seeing a real flow of assistance that is going to the people in gaza. and it's a pretty good example of all the efforts the president has been making on this. back in february, he requested of israel they allow flour to come through the port. and as a result, we had u.s. flour going to gaza, enough to feed 1.5 million gauzans -- gaza ns for five months and other items are coming to the port to go to gaza. we're seeing demonstrable progress and i discussed that today with the minister of defense as well as the army chief of staff and all those working on the israeli side to make sure that assistance is moving and flowing to gaza and we got a detailed briefing to that and we had the senior

coordinator who is playing a instrumental role among many u.n. agencies. the progress is real. but given the need, given the immense need in gaza, it needs to be accelerated, it needs to be sustained. and as we focus on on all the necessary input, all the trucks, we're focusing on impact and measuring that an making sure people are getting what they need and that it's being delivered to them. one of the remaining challenges is making sure when assistance gets through, it can be effectively distributed within gaza and we have to make sure that it's not interfered with or impeded by hamas. so these are remaining challenges and there are a number of others as well. particularly making sure that we have effective deconfliction

with the humanitarians. there's been a significant improvement there as well but we have to make sure that that's happening right down to the unit level so that everyone in the chain knows when a shipment is moving through, a convoy is moving through gaza, and it can work its way through efficiently, effectively, and get to people who need it. there are a number of other things that we want to see continued progress on. i left a list of items with the prime minister and with other officials in the government. there's one other aspect of this that is critical. and i mentioned this yesterday. besides the food, it's usually important that everything people need for their basic well-being is provided and provided effectively. safe water to drink, medicine when you're sick, access to hospitals and health care facilities, if you need urgent care. all of these things are absolutely vital.

again, we're seeing progress. the water pipelines that had been cut off or had been destroyed or had other challenges are being restored. that's good. but then once within gaza, we have to make sure the distribution works, and that requires some work inside of gaza itself, including with the palestinian water authority. so this entire ecosystem of care, of support for the people in gaza needs to be front and center in our minds and very much front and center in president biden's mind. again, this is what he's been focused on from day one. we're seeing good, important results but got to see more, faster, as effectively and efficiently as possible. let me lead with that and take a few questions. reporter: good evening, mr. secretary.

prime minister netanyahu threatened to go into rafah whether there's an agreement on hostage release and a cease-fire. has the israeli government provided a viable plan for rafa. we talked about needing a workable humanitarian plan if they are to proceed with an invasion? or have they given you assurances they'll allow a deal to play out before proceeding with an invasion? secretary blippingen: as i said secretary blinken: as i said, getting this cease-fire, hostage release, and then something to build on. that's what we talked about today in our meetings. and that's the immediate focus. and there is an agreement that if we're able to get the deal, get the cease-fire, get the hostages out, we'll look for ways to build on that and have something sustainable over time.

on rafah itself, look, our position is clear, it hasn't changed. it won't change. we cannot, will not support a major military operation in rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed. and no, we've not seen such a plan. and at the same time, there are other ways, and in our judgment, better ways of dealing with the real ongoing challenge of hamas that does not involve or require a major military operation in rafah. we've been talking to the israelis about that and we'll continue those conversations. reporter: mr. secretary, you said that you're focused on trying to get these hostages out and trying to get hamas to agree to the deal and you're seeing the ball is in hamas' court. at the same time, the prime minister said on tuesday he'll do a major song on rafah with or without a deal and we heard from

reports he told you today he won't agree to anything to a long term cease-fire. all that undermines any incentive for hamas to take this agreement since they want to reach a long term decision and how do you address that? secretary blinken: i'll let him speak for himself. but i'll tell what you we discussed today, among other things, was getting this agreement, which involves an immediate cease-fire, hostages home, and then working to build on it, and that's what we talked about today. so let's see if we can get this done. look, i think this is something that the whole world is watching. and if hamas actually purports to care about the palestinian people and wants to see an immediate alleviation of their suffering, it will that deal. if it doesn't, i think that's further proof that it doesn't

care a bit about the palestinian people. reporter: does it undermine things for hamas to take the deal? secretary blinken: what we're focused on is getting the deal and understanding that that's something that will give us an opportunity to build on. hamas will have to make its own judgments but the most immediate thing that can happen to actually improve the situation for palestinians and also create a dynamic that moves this in a different direction is the cease-fire, the hostage deal. we'll see what they do. thanks, everyone. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> former president nald trump has accepted an invitation from the libertarian party to speak at its national convention on may 25. members of the party will share their top issues with the former president and expect him to address their concerns during his remarks. mr. trump will be the first major party presidential

candidate to speak at the libertarian party convention. president biden also has been invited to attend but has not responded. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more, including wow. >> the world has changed. today the fast reliable internet connection is something no one can live without. so wow is there for our customers with speed, reliability, value and choice. now more than ever it all starts with great internet. wow. >> wow. support c-span as a public service among these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next, a news conference on college protests focused on the israel hamas war with committee chair james comer and other members of the committee. they spoke at george wng