Republicans Join With Democrats To Protect Special Counsel; House Speaker Paul Ryan Wont Seek Reelection.
KING: The House Speaker Paul Ryan announcing today that he will retire after this year in Congress, adds to a steep hill for Republicans as they try to project their majority. These are the House Democrats and Republicans who've announced their retiring. Some of them running for other offices. You notice all that red? Way more Republicans. The speaker today also Congressman Dennis Ross in Florida, a Republican saying today he's not going to run either. It's not just the speaker. Nine chairman of committees on the House side. That tells you something. You're walking away from the speakership, walking away from chairmans. Let's a look at the bigger numbers. This is the big dynamic. In a midterm election, where the Democrats think they have the wind at their backs, only 18 Democrats saying were leaving the House, 41 Republicans now including the House Speaker, 41 Republicans. Democrats say this is proof it's a big blue wave here. Paul Ryan says no, I'm confident the Republicans, even if I leave, can keep the majority.</s>PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Again, I am proud of what this conference has achieved. And I believe its future is bright. The economy is strong. We've given Americans greater confidence in their lives. And I have every confidence that I'll be hand thing gavel on to the next Republican speaker of the House next year.</s>KING: That from the speaker earlier today. Now the timing of his announcement came to a surprise to many, on and off Capitol Hill. Just last week, the lawmaker who is leading the effort for Republicans to keep that House majority down played the possibility of a big shakeup. I spoke to Congressman Steve Stivers just a few moments ago.</s>KING: Congressman Steve Stivers thanks for joining us on this very important day. A week ago, you said, quote, I don't see a shakeup coming any time soon, what happened?</s>REP. STEVE STIVERS (R), OHIO: Well Paul Ryan decided he met with his family this weekend, and he decided that it was time for him to go home to Janesville, Wisconsin after this Congress. So, you know, it's important to note that there's not a leadership shakeup coming too soon, because he's going to stay all the way through December. He's committed to helping us make sure we maintain the majority and continue our legislative agenda through the end of December. And, you know, he's a man of his word. I know he's going to do that, and I feel confident that he's going to be able to continue to help us do that. So, you know, it's certainly not an immediate shakeup.</s>KING: Are you sure about that? Because as you know I know the speaker says he would stay through January, but a lot of members are saying, does that make sense? Will there be more disruption in the Republican conference as people now compete for the next leadership job? Some people saying maybe after Memorial Day, you should elect a new speaker, new leader (ph). Are you certain that that will hold through January?</s>STIVERS: Well, you know, that's what I think will happen. We'll see what the membership wants to do, what Paul wants to do. There's not a vacancy until Paul says he doesn't want to be speaker unless people want to remove him as speaker, and I don't think that's going to happen. And, you know, I think we need as few disruptions as we can have right now and we need to keep moving forward. And, you know, our mission to serve the American people is unabated, and our mission to maintain our majority is unabated. We're going to continue to move forward.</s>KING: This is one of your colleagues today Trey Gowdy from South Carolina saying, "For those within Congress who always seemed to have a better idea or smarter strategy, now is your chance to run for speaker." Are there some members of your conference, as you know, the speaker took a lot of harpoons from fellow Republicans? Are there some Republicans who are actually celebrating this today?</s>STIVERS: I don't believe there are. You know, I think today is a great day to thank Paul Ryan for his service, and to obviously continue to move forward towards serving the people of this country. That's what our service here in Washington is about. It's about the people at home for Paul Ryan. It's about Janesville, Wisconsin. For me, it's about, you know, Columbus, Ohio and Central Ohio and Southern Ohio. And that's what people ought to be thinking about today is how can we serve the people that sent us here. And, you know, I can't speak for any other members other than myself, but I can tell you that I'm glad that Paul Ryan has been our speaker, and I think he's made a huge legacy with the tax cut and jobs act and many other conservative victories over his time.</s>KING: Speaker Ryan today, Congressman Ross in Florida, 41 House Republican incumbents, 41 House Republican incumbents who decided now they are not going to seek re-election. Only 19 Democrats have said that. Mr. Chairman, you look at those numbers, Democrats say to them, especially now, that they have the biggest of the big names, the speaker of the House. They say those numbers prove Republicans are running scared.</s>STIVERS: Well John, not all retirements are equal. You talked about Trey Gowdy. Trey Gowdy is retiring. You know, that's an R-plus 30 seat. The retirements that matter are the retirements in seats that might flip. And frankly, there are now six Republicans that are in seats that Hillary Clinton won that are retiring. But there are five Democrats in seats that Donald Trump won that are retiring. So retirements aren't quite a wash. They might slightly favor the Democrats but it's not a big deal and a big change. You know, I think it might be a seat or two. But obviously we have more people retiring, but it's in those seats that can flip that really matter, John. You know, when somebody retires in a ruby red Republican district or in a deep blue Democratic district, that's not going to change hands. It really doesn't matter as much.</s>KING: Let's talk about some of those seats that can flip lastly. I talked to some of your colleagues who came back from the Easter break and you know the plan. You're part of crafting the plan, go home, run on the tax cuts, run on a strong economy, tell the voters Republicans are doing what they promised to do. A lot of colleagues are worried that the President tweeting about the Russia investigation, maybe firing Bob Mueller. The President tweeting about tariffs at a time they would prefer to talk about tax cuts. How much blame or responsibility does the President have for what a lot of your own colleagues say is a difficult climate?</s>STIVERS: There is always a difficult climate out there. And, you know, it is what it is. And, you know, our job is to serve the people of our districts. You know, I went home for a couple of weeks in Ohio and we had great conversations about tax cuts, about job training, about things we're doing at home on things like buckeye lake that are making a difference for people at home. And I know a lot of our members had those same kind of conversations. But, you know, issues like, you know, tariffs come up, and we've got to make sure we deal with those issues. But I feel confident that we're doing what matters for people, and we're making a difference. And that's what people are going to decide this November is who do they want to be in charge? Do they want a Republican majority that's going to, you know, keep their taxes low and keep the economy going well? Or a Democrat majority that says they want to get rid of the tax cuts that might take the economy off kilter? We also have funded the military in our recent omnibus bill. We have the strongest military that we've had, and we need them, because we live in a dangerous world. And so I feel good about the contrast. And, you know, we've got six more months of election here. We've got to run the campaigns and we'll see how it goes.</s>KING: Congressman Stivers, appreciate your time. A big day and a big challenge for you in those six months ahead. Again, appreciate your time in this big day. Thanks again.</s>KING: And thank you for joining us in INSIDE POLITICS today. A very busy breaking news day. Hope to see you back here at this time tomorrow. Don't go anywhere, Secretary Mattis going to the White House. A lot of news still to cover today. Wolf starts right now.