Speakeasy With John Harwood

Before Donald Trump came along, Bill Kristol exemplified virtually all the leading elements of the modern Republican Party. After watching his father help found the neo-conservative movement, he joined the Reagan Administration as an aide to Education Secretary William Bennett, a leading figure on the cultural right. Later he pressed President George H.W. Bush from the right on taxes and other issues as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle. In 1993, at the newly-minted Project for the Republican Future, he helped direct the party’s successful effort to block President Bill Clinton’s health-care plan. He launched the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard and became a commentator for Fox News. He staunchly backed President George W. Bush’s Iraq War and promoted Sarah Palin for the vice presidency in 2008. Now, at 65, Kristol has made a radical break. Alarmed at Trump’s policies and his methods, he has become a leading voice of Republican opposition. That has damaged old friendships and made new ones;

John Harwood talks with Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a Democrat suddenly back in the national spotlight as he helps lead the Senate’s Trump-Russia investigation. Once considered a presidential contender, Warner could be back in the mix for his party’s 2020 nomination. They discuss his belief that the notorious “dossier” hasn’t yet been disproven, that Trump campaign contacts with Russia turned out to be far more numerous than expected, and that firing Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller would provoke a constitutional crisis and political disaster for the president. He condemned GOP tax proposals as the worst legislation he’s ever seen, and talks of new proposals for a 21st century economy that could represent a White House platform. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Produced by: Mary Catherine Wellons & Pat Anastasi Edited by: Shari Rosen & Geoff Dills

John Harwood interviews Gary Cohn, top White House economic adviser. Cohn discusses a range of topics including the Republican push for tax cuts - and complaints that the benefits will go to the rich. The interview was recorded on November 7, 2017 at American University, where Cohn went to college. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Produced by: Mary Catherine Wellons & Pat Anastasi Edited by: Shari Rosen & Geoff Dills

A conversation with Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican point man for the bipartisan effort to stabilize Obamacare, in Nashville’s songwriting mecca, The Bluebird Cafe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Produced by: Mary Catherine Wellons & Pat Anastasi Edited by: Shari Rosen & Geoff Dills

CNBC’s John Harwood has been covering Washington politics for more than 30 years, reporting on the people in the White House and Congress who make decisions affecting our lives. In his “Speakeasy” podcast, Harwood brings those conversations to life in diners and bars, Capitol offices, and even hits the road to meet with political players in their home towns.