CNN "CNN Newsroom - TRANSCRIPT Supporters Of Bolsonaro Invades Brazil's Presidential Palace, Congress And Supreme Court; President Joe Biden Visits El Paso Border; Congress To Vote On Rules Package In The House; Interview With Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH); Buffalo Bills Returns To Play After Damar Hamlin's Collapse; School Shooting In Virginia Involving A Teacher And A Six- Year-Old Boy. Aired 5-6p ET
Interview
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And with us now, Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Carey. He voted for Kevin McCarthy to become speaker all 15 times. Hi, congressman. Nice to have you on the show. So, I know you and your colleagues have a full agenda starting tomorrow. Hopefully, you've been able to rest up since that late night vote Friday. But first I have to ask you about that wild scene then on Friday night. What did you think, being in that chamber as Congressman Mike Rogers went storming after Congressman Matt Gaetz after the 14th vote?
REP. MIKE CAREY (R-OH): You know, we're that -- where Mike went up to Matt was completely on the other side of the House. I was sitting with the Ohio and the Michigan, and believe me, Ohio and Michigan actually do sit together on the floor of the House. But I was sitting with them on the other side. There was a little bit of loud voices, but there was no altercation. So, I agree with what other people have been saying.
Let's -- let bygones be bygones and let's get the rule package forward. Again, there have been many concessions made. There were many concessions made before we entered the voting for the speaker. So, I think we're going to have a good rules package. We'll get it over the hump and we can get to the business of the American public.
BROWN: And you mentioned the concessions. Let's show our viewers the key areas where Speaker McCarthy made concessions to when they include requiring only one vote to oust the speaker and just 72 hours to review bills before they come to the floor. Is the speaker in a weakened state going into this job? Did he give away the store to get the job?
CAREY: Oh, absolutely not. I think what you got to remember is that this motion to vacate the chair, with only having one member doing this, that's what we had for many, many years. This just changed rather recently. What the Republican conference agreed to was we wanted the majority. Then in negotiations before the vote for the speaker, we went to five and then the group of 20 wanted one.
It doesn't change anything. And honestly, I think when you saw us at the last vote, it took a little longer than I think some of us wanted, but listen, I think the Speaker McCarthy is stronger than he ever has been. He's been very clear. It's not how you start; it's how you finish and the way (inaudible) I think he's going to come into this with a -- in a very strong position.
BROWN: If it wasn't such a big deal to go down to one, then do you think that Kevin McCarthy should have done that earlier rather than let this draw out for four days, the first time since the mid-1800s since that happened for the speaker?
CAREY: Yeah. I think that the thing was we thought that the five because the concessions were made to go from majority, which is what our conference wanted, to five, which is we thought the group of 20 wanted. So, I mean, if that would have been something that could have got it done earlier, yeah, probably should have done it then, but that wasn't part of the issues.
I think there were so many different issues that were being floated around, so. I think, listen, I think we're in a good place. We just got to get this rule package. We got to select our chairman, and then we got to go about getting the commitment of America done and moving our agenda forward.
BROWN: And how do you expect it to play out with the rules package? How do you expect this next week to play out after what we saw this past week?
CAREY: Yeah. Well, listen, I think that we're going to be in a very good place and I think we'll get back tomorrow. We'll start going over all the details in the rule package. And most of us, I think, understand that we have, you know, the rule package has been something that's being developed for some time, so I don't think we'll have as much difficulty as you saw last week because I think most of us have buy in to that. So, my hope is we'll get this through it in short order.
BROWN: Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat's new House leader said this today when asked about working with your party.
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BROWN: So, what is your reaction to that?
CAREY: Listen, I think if you look at what -- and I've only been here a year and I understand that, but just in the first-year time I've been able to partner with the opposing party to get legislation passed and I have a very good working relationship with the members here in Ohio and I think we'll find a lot of common ground.
And I think if you look at the framework, which is the commitment to America, it's a lot different than the contract. The contract was very specific. But I think if you look at the framework by which -- what the commitment to America is designed, I think there's going to be a lot of things that we'll be able to reach out to Democrats and Republicans and really move this agenda forward.
BROWN: What's this all --
CAREY: And I was glad to hear (inaudible).
BROWN: Okay. You know, this past week we did learn a lot, also, you know, seeing the former President Trump helped seal the deal for McCarthy. In your view, does he lead the Republican Party in 2023?
CAREY: Well, listen, I think if you're looking at the House, I think the leader of the House is going to be Speaker Kevin McCarthy and I think if you're looking at the president, I, you know, I endorsed President Trump for his next run for president. So, I think he has a -- he plays a major role in Republican politics. There's no doubt about that. But I think as far as the politics of the House, I think that's going to be Speaker McCarthy.
BROWN: All right. Congressman Mike Carey, thanks for coming on the show.
CAREY: Good to be with you.
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