WEBVTT 00:02.066 --> 00:04.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: The first public testimony of former FBI Director 00:04.166 --> 00:08.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Jim Comey since his firing by President Trump captured the Capitol's attention this week, 00:10.233 --> 00:13.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% but there were other significant developments on the Hill outside of that spotlight. 00:13.200 --> 00:16.933 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% "NewsHour Weekend" special correspondent Jeff Greenfield joins me from Santa Barbara, California, 00:16.933 --> 00:18.133 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% to discuss that. 00:18.133 --> 00:20.133 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% So, what did we miss? 00:20.133 --> 00:21.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JEFF GREENFIELD, NEWSHOUR WEEKEND SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the entire political 00:21.366 --> 00:24.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% universe was focused on the Comey testimony. 00:24.933 --> 00:29.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Up on Capitol Hill in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the Republican 00:29.333 --> 00:34.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% repeal and replace Obamacare bill and put it on a so-called fast track. 00:34.000 --> 00:37.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% That means it can go right to the floor of the Senate with no committee meetings, no 00:37.533 --> 00:41.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% hearings, virtually no debate, and it would only take 50 votes to pass it. 00:41.333 --> 00:43.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% There were some concessions to moderates. 00:43.466 --> 00:47.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% It's not clear that the most conservative senators will sign on, but it represents a 00:47.500 --> 00:49.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% significant step in that direction. 00:49.966 --> 00:54.000 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% On the other side of the Capitol, the House passed significant cutbacks of the Dodd-Frank 00:54.000 --> 00:56.033 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% bill. 00:56.033 --> 00:59.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% That's legislation that puts significant caps on what big banks can do in the wake of the 00:59.166 --> 01:01.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% financial meltdown in 2008. 01:01.633 --> 01:06.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% That faces some tough sledding in the Senate, but what it indicates is that the Republican 01:06.066 --> 01:11.066 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% majorities in the House and Senate are determined to press ahead with the core Republican agenda 01:13.066 --> 01:17.166 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% on matters ranging from financial regulation to the role of health in the government and 01:17.633 --> 01:19.700 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% beyond. 01:19.700 --> 01:21.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% SREENIVASAN: Is there a pattern here on how they are going to pursue this agenda? 01:21.766 --> 01:26.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% GREENFIELD: Well, I think the pattern extends beyond Capitol Hill, and it indicates why 01:26.433 --> 01:31.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% some congressional Republicans who might have a lot of problems with Trump's behavior are 01:31.233 --> 01:33.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% not going to be that willing to step away from him. 01:33.533 --> 01:37.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The executive branch has done all kinds of regulatory changes. 01:37.833 --> 01:42.833 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% They've granted a lot of exceptions to the energy industry, to for-profit colleges. 01:44.833 --> 01:48.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They've appointed into positions of government representatives from various interest groups 01:48.800 --> 01:52.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and have given them exemptions from conflict of interest rules. 01:52.133 --> 01:56.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They've clearly appointed some -- or trying to appoint staunch conservatives to the federal 01:56.466 --> 01:59.066 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% bench. 01:59.066 --> 02:02.333 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% And that suggests that for congressional Republicans looking at Trump, there's a thought that, 02:02.333 --> 02:07.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% well, he may have problems, but he seems to be pursuing what we conservatives have wanted 02:09.266 --> 02:12.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% the government to do for some time, which is why I think that they will be less inclined 02:12.033 --> 02:16.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% than otherwise to take sides against him in, say, a fight with the former director of the 02:16.366 --> 02:17.866 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% FBI. 02:17.866 --> 02:19.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% SREENIVASAN: So, where does this leave the president then? 02:19.766 --> 02:24.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% On Thursday, we heard basically Jim Comey say that the president in some ways lied, 02:24.433 --> 02:28.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and then Friday, we explicitly heard the president refute that. 02:28.800 --> 02:32.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% GREENFIELD: Well, you know, I think in the short run -- and we've talked about this before 02:32.800 --> 02:35.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - - the whole impeachment idea is a nonstarter. 02:35.766 --> 02:40.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We don't have a lot of history about impeachment, but one thing is as long as the president 02:42.766 --> 02:46.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% retains the support of his or her party, removal from office is almost impossible. 02:48.066 --> 02:52.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But when the president said publicly he'd be willing to take -- to testify under oath 02:54.600 --> 02:57.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% before special counsel Mueller, he may have bought himself a world of trouble because 02:57.666 --> 03:02.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% once you testify under oath, anything you say that's false can be used as either a source 03:05.066 --> 03:08.366 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% of a criminal indictment or in the case of a president, impeachment. 03:08.366 --> 03:12.900 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% And under those circumstances, I think you would see congressional Republicans, particularly 03:12.900 --> 03:16.033 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% from those in the swing districts, begin to move away from him. 03:16.033 --> 03:20.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The fact of the matter is, right now, whatever his overall poll numbers are, he is hugely 03:20.600 --> 03:21.966 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% popular within his party. 03:21.966 --> 03:24.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% SREENIVASAN: Yes. 03:24.066 --> 03:26.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% GREENFIELD: But I do think he set himself up for a potential problem with that statement 03:26.333 --> 03:27.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% about testifying under oath. 03:27.433 --> 03:28.433 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% SREENIVASAN: All right. 03:28.433 --> 03:29.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Jeff Greenfield, thanks so much. 03:29.433 --> 03:29.933 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% GREENFIELD: Yes.