cornyn, no. ms. ernst, no. the clerk: there fetterman, no. mr. hickenlooper, no. -- mr. fetterman, no. mr. hickenlooper, no. the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. mrs. capito, no. mr. braun, no. mr. thune, no. the clerk: mr. crapo, no. the clerk: mr. sanders, no. the clerk: mr. lujan, no. the presiding officer: this motion the yeas are 14. the nays are 76. the motion is not agreed to. order in the chamber. the senator from utah. mr. lee: i have a motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from utah, mr. lee, moves to commit the bill, h.r. 7463 to the committee on appropriations of the senate with instructions to report the same back to the senate in one day, not counting any day in which the senate is not in session with changes that one, are within the jurisdiction of such committee and two, provide continuing appropriations for the entire federal government through the end of fiscal year 2024. the presiding officer: there will now be up to two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. lee: mr. president, this measure, this mot

>> well, look, i mean, john cornyn, from everything i understand.understand he's a very good man, a good senator. secondly, i don't think he's, like, this huge trump fan from everything i hear. here's what i think is going to happen, chris. we're going to have to see who wins the race. if trump gets elected president, we're likely to have somebody who's kind of a strong trump person, okay. now, most of the senators from what i hear, the research i've done, the people i have talked to, they're not thrilled with the guy, okay. but they go for him just to avoid lots of internal hassles and things, you know, politics and all that. if trump were to win, there will be somebody who will be more of a person that trump could rely on to move senate business. if he does not win, you can forget about that. then i think you're going to have somebody who is not a trump acolyte, and he probably could put cornyn into that category. but you also can put john thune in that category. john thune, served with him in the house. he's a good man. telegenic, young, aggressi

let's put them up there again. >> soon. >> cornyn barrasso, thune barrasso, cornyn down at dawn from where i sit barasa is the more maga candidate he has been unwilling as far as i can tell, to cross trump whereas foun in cornyn have shown flashes of independence from the maga wing. do you agree or do you not see there's much difference? >> not sure. i see a ton of difference mean we'll see thank you know, eight months is a long time for people to campaign publicly and privately for this job. i think we've seen across the board a reticence on the part of leadership, the republican party to break with donald trump. i have a really hard time imagining that any of these guys, as they're as they're campaigning jockeying for this job are going to make standing up to donald trump a centerpiece of their case. i just i don't see that happening. so as much as i have my own issues with mitch mcconnell, certainly i think he has politicized the judicial nomination process more than probably anybody else in the history of the country, which is i think has been damaging he was somebody who at time

cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr.nsions in the middle east have escalated dramatically since hamas, an iranian-backed terrorist organization, launched its war on israel on october 7 of last year. -- killing innocent men, women, and children and taking -- and still holding -- up to 132 hostages. over the last few months, another iranian proxy, iran-backed militias, have intensified their attacks throughout the republican. there are houthi in yemen, there are hezbollah in lebanon, and of course as i mentioned, the attacks against americans and american interests by iranian proxies in iraq and syria. these conflicts are not -- are playing out thousands of miles away from here, but we are not just a distant and disinterested spectator. thousands of american troops are stationed in the region, not engaged in combat operations but in carrying out a range of security and intelligence missions and helping the residents and citizens of those nations defend themselves and provide a stabilizing force against what is the number-o

i don't think it is foregone conclusion john cornyn or john thune gets there.senator tim scott is not nominated vice president, he will be mentioned, j.d. vance, marco rubio. >> harris: it will not look like what it did in the house going 15 rounds? >> they will settle this. growing number of younger senators don't think you should get to your leadership position based on seniority alone. that change took place first in the house and now in the united states senate. >> harris: both parties dealing with this, the commander-in-chief is dealing with this issue. he said he would run one term and pass the baton and now wants another bite. we are watching day-by-day, is that a good idea? >> tammy: november election and result of what happens in summer and political arguments will affect this clearly. depends what happens to senate, it is old crew that votes in new leadership for the new crew, they have to recognize if new president is donald trump, this is all hands on deck dynamic. we need everyone to come together and got to be a leader who can do that and doesn't

cornyn, aye. mr. welch, aye. ms. britt, no. mr. mcconnell, aye. vote: the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 77. the nays are 20. and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, melissa damian of florida to be united states district judge for the southern district of florida. night. my my u.s. senate again regulation. the truth is, just happy anybody remember my name. president reagan called me mitch o'donnell. close enough, i thought. my wife and i married on president reagan's birthday, february 6. probably not the most thing to admit for both of us. thirty-one years, she's been -- the great state of texas will celebrate 1818 years -- 188 years since we declared our independence from mexico and fought for liberty. in the fight for our independence, many brave texans laid down their lives at the alamo, including william barret travis, james buoy and davy crockett. they risked everybody to make liberty a reality for generations of texans to come. it's a tradition on texas independence day to r

cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, be

cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i think it's, after listening to the majority leader's comments, i think it's worth taking five minutes to recall how we got h here. you know, it's ironic to me that people give speeches here on the floor of the senate about their support for israel, and there's no doubt israel is involved in an existential fight with iran proxies like hamas, hezbollah, the houthi rebels, the shi'ia militias in syria and iraq. but the house passed an israel aid package on november 2. israel was attacked october 7. the house acted on november 2, and the majority leader, who's the only one who can schedule a vote on anything here on the senate floor, has done nothing to help our best ally and friend in the middle east, the state of israel. nothing. and he's insisted that we package together aid to ukraine, aid to the indo-pacific, and there's been endless discussions about a border bill, which i'll come to in a moment. but this problem we're running into is one of his own creation. he could d

i ran into john cornyn, the republican senator from texas coming out of a leadership meeting shortly before mcconnell spoke on the floor, he's one of the people who might be on the short list to succeed mitch mcconnell as the leader of the republican party be they in the majority or the minority in the fall and he said he wasn't even aware of this. again, keep in mind, when they have this leadership election in the fall, it's not like speaker of the house where the entire house votes. this is something internally and mcconnell had a challenger last time around, rick scott, the republican from florida. >> john: chad pergram with the in-depth report on mitch mcconnell stepping down. chad, we thank you. we'll stand by for any more news out of this. sandra. >> sandra: bring in white house correspondent jacqui heinrich live on the north lawn. what are you hearing there? >> sandra, we haven't gotten word from the white house in terms of a statement or remarks from the president on this news. we also don't know if the president got a head's up yesterday, you had the big four congressional l

what is senator cornyn's pitch to be leader?porter: he is talking about finding a way to get every single member of the republican caucus involved in the decision making process and has promised he doesn't want to see a republican caucus where details and decisions are made behind closed doors with a small group of people. this is part of what he said in a statement this morning announcing his bid for leadership. it's pretty clear john cornyn won't be the only person who puts his name forward to become the next republican leader. he is not the only person named john. we expect john thune to jump in, likely john barrasso. there's a possibility of a dark horse, that comes from the more conservative wing of the republican party, even closely more associated with the former president donald trump. we should point out, right out of the gate, one of the first things john cornyn made a point do was tell reporters he has been in communication with donald trump and has talked to him about his intention to run for the republican leader of

cornyn, aye. the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. mr. hoeven, no. mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: ms. hassan, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. lujan, aye. the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. mr. markey, aye. mr. casey, aye. mr. lankford, no. the clerk: mr. brown, aye. the clerk: mr. sanders, aye. the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. the clerk: mr. durbin, aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, no. the clerk: mrs. britt, no. mr. reed, aye. the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. the clerk: mr. lee, no. mr. peters, aye. the clerk: ms. ernst, no. ms. ernst, aye. the clerk: mr. daines, no. mr. scott of florida, aye. ms. butler, aye. the clerk: mr. johnson, no. mr. schmitt, no. ms. duckworth, aye. the clerk: ms. cortez-masto, aye. the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. mr. hagerty, no. the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, no. the clerk: mr. rounds, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: mr. graham, aye. mr. sullivan, no. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. the clerk: mr. warner, aye. the clerk: ms. warren, aye. the clerk: mr. wic

and then there's 40 others that are sitting around thinking about this meeting with the john cornyn and barasa is and dunes and trying to figure out what's best for this conference going forward. so look, i think he's going to play out over a period of time is no question that the president has influence within the party mean he's going to be the nominee of the party. but i think in terms of how you actually elect a republican leader of the senate a little bit more inside baseball than that what do you guys thank who's got the upper hand? which of the johns? >> oh, gosh. >> we have a john ourselves >> i think it's big, unlike the speaker, you actually have to be a senator. >> it's way too early to know i mean, it's way too in there. there's also talk about maybe another person emerging on in the game player to be named later. >> so it is >> just so early to know cornyn's the only guy who is officially announced at this point. but you know that these games are played out on the inside level. and here's the other thing. republicans have not had this sort of situation for a long time. you

cornyn: madam president, i yield 30 minutes of debate time to the -- to the manager. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. the senator from maine. ms. collins: i yield 30 minutes of debate time to the senior senator from south carolina. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. ms. collins: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. schatz: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: madam president, there is no good reason to delay the security and humanitarian assistance in this national security supplemental package any longer. ukraine is running dangerously low on munitions on the eve of the second anniversary of putin's invasion. millions of innocent palestinians in gaza are suffering daily without access to basic necessities, a

cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i think it's, after listening to the majority leader's comments, i think it's worth taking five minutes to recall how we got h here. you know, it's ironic to me that people give speeches here on the floor of the senate about their support for israel, and there's no doubt israel is involved in an existential fight with iran proxies like hamas, hezbollah, the houthi rebels, the shi'ia militias in syria and iraq. but the house passed an israel aid package on november 2. israel was attacked october 7. the house acted on november 2, and the majority leader, who's the only one who can schedule a vote on anything here on the senate floor, has done nothing to help our best ally and friend in the middle east, the state of israel. nothing. and he's insisted that we package together aid to ukraine, aid to the indo-pacific, and there's been endless discussions about a border bill, which i'll come to in a moment. but this problem we're running into is one of his own creation. he could d

lastly, john cornyn has also been close to leadership for a long time. he seems likely to make a run for this position. he's a texas republican conservative, also has little bit of a difficult relationship with former president trump but he has endorsed the president, never endorsed any other primary challenger for the president, which john thune did. >> host: stef kight is a political reporter with axios. you can follow reporting on the story and others if you go to ask also on axios.com. thanks for your time. >> guest: thanks for having me. and now we turn to all of you to get your reaction to the news of the minority leader mitch mcconnell republican of kentucky stepping down from that top spot. stephen in new york democratic c caller. you are up first, stephen. >> caller: good morning c-span. c-span. good morning, greta. i just want to say that what mitch mcconnell created by stopping putting merrick garland court, then rushing conifer onto the court has created a republican super majority. not a legal super majority, a republican super majority. the

minority whip john thune, former whip john cornyn and john barrasso. bret?bret: chad pergram live on the hill. thank you. up next brit hume and jonathan turley with analysis of the legal news of the day. and later taliban brutality on display again in afghanistan. we'll take you there. ♪ ♪ help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. men tell us when they use just for men® to eliminate gray, there's a great “before and after”. then, there's the 'after the after' — that boost you get when you look and feel your best. and that's why more men choose just for men®. [crowd noises] [dramaticlly beat] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque

but if he loses, that doesn't mean it's going to be john thune or john cornyn, right, then i think johnthe most sense, good at 1 foot in maga world and 1 foot in establishment world. >> let's talk about the possibility that donald trump doesn't win the presidency, that joe biden gets reelected, he just made comments, the first we've heard from him about this decision, this announcement by mitch mcconnell, and he said, he and i have trust. we've got a great relationship. we fight like hell and he never, never, never misrepresented anything. i'm sorry to hear he's stepping down. what would this potentially mean for joe biden? >> well, certainly if president biden gets reelected, he would like to see or he'd prefer to see someone more like mitch mcconnell. i mean, it's not a big secret that mitch mcconnell and joe biden have a good relationship, that they cut a number of deals when they were in the senate, and then of course when joe biden was president obama's vice president, and i do think if biden does get reelected, if he defeats donald trump, then candidates like john thune, and john

cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. the clerk: mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. graham. mr. grassley. the clerk: mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmati

cornyn: no. the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. mr. bennet, aye. the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. s the clerk: mr. booker, aye. mr. king, aye. the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. the presiding officer: the yeas are 51, the nays are 466, the dpsh 46 -- 46, the motion is agreed to. the clerk: nomination, office of special counsel, hampton y. dell dellinger, of north carolina, to be special counsel. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we have the means and just enough time this week to avoid a shutdown and to make serious headway on our annual appropriations. but as always, the task at hand will require that everyone rose in the same direction towards clean appropriations and away from poison pills. mr. president, those are not my words. the republican leader said that yesterday, and he is absolutely right. and i just heard the speaker said he doesn't want to shut down after meeting with the president. that's good. but leads be clear. a shutdown that hits air traffic controllers and food inspec

. >> thank you senator cornyn. >> thank you senator cornyn. i look at continuing the conversation about 702. i just want to start by thanking you and the men and women of the fbi for your service to our nation and the protection of the rule of law. and specifically thank the fbi for your work in my community in the last year. you've worked with state and local prosecutors on several rights violations, on robbery, on cyber stalking, on kidnapping cases and as someone who had a decade responsible for a local law enforcement entity before coming here to the senate, i greatly respect and appreciate the role the fbi plays, the academy, the resources you provide and the professionalism in willington, delaware and all other the country. let me go to that 702 conversation. the proposal put forward by senators warner and rubio would prohibit warrant queries in a crime. what do you think of that compromise. would it head off the significantly negative consequences you laid out if we fail to reauthorize section 702. >> i thin

senator john cornyn republican saying he has serious concerns about this bill. john cornyn is someone who has been -- langford's efforts for the last several weeks saying it was important for republicans to try to find a solution on this issue. but speaker johnson standing by his opposition. getting even more specific. >>> i've been very clear from the very beginning about the elements that were necessary to solve the border crisis. these are not republican talking points. this is what we have been told by the experts on the ground. that includes the sheriff's and the counties that are on the border. it includes border patrol agents officers longtime veterans of the agency. they said you have to fix asylum. you have to fix have to end of the catch and release. >> reporter: minority leader mitch mcconnell is still continuing to work to get support within his conference. when pressed by whether or not he was planning to back the bill he did not answer. we should note he often does not engage in hallway interviews. but he had answered the previous question. >>> wal

but lindsey graham knows, mark cornyn knows.bout foreign policy, and yet it's just appalling their capitulation to a very, very dark reality for the people of ukraine. >> it is appalling, and, in fact, it is breathtaking. and to mark's point i think this is really crucial, this is not a position the republicans reasoned themselves into. there has not been this long rethinking of america's place in the world. this is this knee jerk reaction to donald trump. it has been donald trump's obsession. the really troubling thing is there are still republicans like mitch mcconnell, and, you know, in the senate who understand the immediate stakes and who are trying to, you know, stand up to vladimir putin. but look at the generational shift in this party. i mean a lot of this is donald trump, but what's the trajectory here? what is more likely to be the future of the party? people like j.d. vance and marco rubio, or people like mitch mcconnell? it feels like they are kind of the last line, the old guard trying to remind people what republi

john cornyn said target tehran as soon as the reports came in. he had iran now. hit them hard. what do you think of that kind of rhetoric? >> look, i think this kind of chest beating marco-ism is what could lead to a wider war. i think the response should be based on the intelligence, and we've been told by the white house that the intelligence points to these militias that are in iraq right now. so i would caution those who want to trigger a much bigger war in the region. we are already seeing the exchange of u.s. forces with the houthis. there's a real chance that you could see escalation on the northern border of israel with lebanon and hezbollah. so look, the united states needs to follow through and what the president said. those who hit and killed americans must be held accountable. how you do that matters. >> you have been quite outspoken about the humanitarian situation in gaza, specifically the amount of aid that is not getting in, and evidence the palestinians have died since the israeli assault in response to the hamas attack. there was at first shut off of anything

names to watch, gop whip john thune, former whip john cornyn and john barrasso of wyoming. gop arkansas senator tom cotton is interested in a leadership bid. david: another historical moment for washington, d.c., chronicled by our own chad pergram. we had a lot of them. good work. thank you very much. let's bring in edward lawrence live from the white house on president biden's remarks today, edward? >> reporter: the president going for his physical today, saying everything is squared away. he says his doctors actually told him he looks too young. the president spent several hours at walter reed medical center. he did not get a cognitive test but the white house press secretary says the president doesn't need one. >> the president doesn't need a cognitive test. that is not my assessment, that is not my assessment. that is the assessment of the president's doctor. that is also the assessment of the neurologist who also made that assessment as well. >> reporter: so after seeing his doctor the president spoke about making communities safer and fighting crime, highlighting how

john cornyn, who was the senate majority whip until the last cycle here.thune, current minority whip, current number two republican. john veraso. all have bases of support. all have different degrees of maga to them. it's probably not an accident that john thune, the current senate number two, and very much a trump skeptic, let's say himself, endorsed donald trump just over this past weekend. john cornyn did so around the time that the former president won the iowa caucus. john beraso was an early trump supporter in this race, has been quick to put his thumb on the scale in favor of trumpy senate candidates. the most important election with the fewest voters in america, the effort to attain that position will start right now. frankly, they probably started at the beginning of this congress if not sooner as mitch mcconnell's health problems became more apparent and simply the fact as mcconnell says himself, father time is undefeated. he could not and would not stay in this position forever. >> i think you are right on all points. let's talk about the most i

if not, someone like john thune or john cornyn, they have a chance. people mentioned steve daines, people have mentioned tom cotton, anybody who has eyes on becoming the senate republican leader is going to throw their hat in the ring right now. >> the senate has been seen as kind of the last, as i said, bulwark toward maga republican-ism, it's been kind of eroding lately. there have been louder voices than the senate gop. obviously the bipartisan immigration deal was an example of that, the fact that ukraine funding was so hard to pass in the first place in that chamber is another example of that. do you see this devolving into what we see in the house, the trump-led conference that is trying to silence or nullify the influence of the few moderates that are left. >> not to sound repetitive to jake, but all of this depends on november. if trump wins, then, yes, you're going to have, you know, it's going to be the apprentice show at mar-a-lago. you know, and you're going to have to go down there and kiss the ring, and it becomes an audience of one and

but lindsey graham knows, but marco rubio knows, john cornyn knows.ved in the senate. they know about foreign policy. and yet, it's just appalling, their capitulation to a very dark reality for the people of ukraine. >> it is appalling. and in fact, it is breathtaking. and to mark's point, i think this is really crucial. this is not a position the republicans reasoned themselves into. there has not been this long rethinking of america's place in the world. this is this knee-jerk reaction to donald trump. it has been donald trump's obsession. the really troubling thing is that there are still republicans, like mitch mcconnell in the senate, who understand the immediate stakes and who are trying to stand up to vladimir putin. but look at the generational shift in this party. a lot of this is donald trump. but what's the trajectory here? what is more likely to be the future of the party, people like j.d. vance and marco rubio? or people like mitch mcconnell? they are kind of the last line, the old guard trying to remind people what republicans used to st

two of the five bills are my bills with senator cornyn. one has passed through the senate and is awaiting action in the house. the other is the shield act, and i do appreciate the support of x. it is about revenge porn. the fbi director testified before the committee. there have been over 20 suicides of kids attributed to online revenge porn in the last year. but for those parents and those families, this is for them about their own child, but it's also about making sure this doesn't happen to other children. i know because i've talked to these parents. visits -- parents like bridget, from hastings, minnesota, who lost her teenage son after he took a fentanyl-laced pill that he purchased on the internet. amy neville, who is also here. her son alexander was only 14 when he died after taking a pill he did not know was actually fentanyl. we are starting a law enforcement campaign, one pale kills, in minnesota, going to schools with the sheriffs and the law enforcement. the way to stop it is at the border and points of entry, but we know that

two of the five bills are my bills with senator cornyn.one has passed through the senate and is awaiting action in the house. the other is the shield act, and i do appreciate the support of x. it is about revenge porn. the fbi director testified before the committee. there have been over 20 suicides of kids attributed to online revenge porn in the last year. but for those parents and those families, this is for them about their own child, but it's also about making sure this doesn't happen to other children. i know because i've talked to these parents. visits -- parents like bridget, from hastings, minnesota, who lost her teenage son after he took a fentanyl-laced pill that he purchased on the internet. amy neville, who is also here. her son alexander was only 14 when he died after taking a pill he did not know was actually fentanyl. we are starting a law enforcement campaign, one pale kills, in minnesota, going to schools with the sheriffs and the law enforcement. the way to stop it is at the border and points of entry, but we know that 3

senator john cornyn says target tehran senator tom cotton says anything less than devastating militaryetaliation will confirm that joe biden is a ward and unworthy being commander in chief. now, is it helpful in any way for the iranians to hea this rhetoric? >> it's an election year. it's much easier to offer thoughts on these actions when you're not in the actual situation room. politics are obviously at play here. by the way, i talked toll three of those individuals. >> is it helpful that they say it? is it literally just politics, or is there some geopolitical impact for iran and tehran to hear really aggressive rhetoric, at least from some quarters of the united states? >> it's not unhelpful, actually, in the sense that they should be on notice. by the way, if i were advising, on the target option list would be targets in iran, without question. it's just i'm not certain this is when you want to begin those targets. >> how imminent do you think a retaliatory strike or series of strikes should be? >> again, i think we should do it as has been stated, at the time and place of our cho

senator john cornyn says target tehran.enator tom cotton says anything less than devastating military retaliation will confirm that joe biden is a coward and unworthy being commander in chief. now, is it helpful in any way for the iranians to hear this rhetoric? >> it's an election year. it's much easier to offer thoughts on these actions when you're not in the actual situatn room. politics are obviously at play here. by the way, i talked to all three of those individuals. >> is it helpful that they say it? is it literally just politics, or is there some geopolitical impact for iran and tehran to hear really aggressive rhetoric, at least from some quarters of the united states? >> it's not unhelpful, actually, in the sense that they should be on notice. by the way, if i were adsing, on the target option list would be targets in iran, without question. it's just i'm not certain this is when you want to begin those targets. >> how imminent do you think a retaliatory strike or series of strikes should be? >> again, i think we

cornyn, aye. the clerk: mr. cruz, no. mr. markey, aye. the clerk: mr. romney, aye. the clerk: mr. brown, aye. the clerk: mr. kelly, aye. mr. casey, aye. the clerk: mr. reed, aye. the clerk: mr. coons, aye. test. vote: phish the clerk: mr. merkley, no. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. hagerty, no. mr. lujan, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. moran, aye. the clerk: mr. crapo, aye. the clerk: mr. carper, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mr. booker, aye. the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr. budd, no. mrs. blackburn, no. the clerk: mr. braun, no. the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. mr. sullivan, aye. mr. marshall, no. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye.

thune cornyn or barrasso of the three johns two will be in tension. obviously, >> we see three, they're all in leadership. there's talk that rick scott may run. there's talk that thom tillis also from north carolina, may run. it's what makes this hard is you have to do real math at this point because you're talking about multiple people. so it's not one person versus another who, who gets the most. you have a lot of politicking that's going to happen. and we have a lot of months for it to happen in you didn't answer my question at all. very strategically and intentionally. >> i'll give you one more shot. know who do you think? who do you think has the skills and his position to do it? >> i think all three have the skills to do what i tell you, josh hawley was asked to we support it and he said, john, that's probably a smarter. >> there you go. well i guess he's right. doug. thank you very much. boris. >> as if that weren't enough to digest out of capitol hill right now, hunter biden is being grilled behind closed doors as part of house republicans imp

>> bret: as far as jen, you had lawmakers like senator lindsey graham and senator john cornyn saying there should be strikes inside tehran, inside iran proper. no indication that that's going to happen, right? >> absolutely. we have talked to u.s. officials that is not in the cards in this first round of strikes. and the u.s., of course, would like to avoid a broader conflict. but, again, the enemy gets a vote. and the problem is things could escalate and nobody is ruling anything or out. >> bret: last thing, jen. you say this is the beginning, and that's what they are telling us. but we don't have any sense of, you know, how long this is going to go, do we? >> i'm told it will be days, possibly weeks. but this is a campaign. it's a campaign that has been put together with targets by centcom. you saw 58 targets tonight. and they're leaving out the houthis. so if the houthis decide to escalated attacks, that's a whole -- that's a different part of the campaign. so, again, they are hoping that iran and its proxies get the message. we're hearing some reports that one top commander of a

in the past month i have spoken to senator cornyn, senator warner democrat from virginia will feature some of us what they are both still strongly supportive. tumor last week still strongly supportive so i have no doubt when we say no the companies and we get calls from senators saying how come you're from the company? they will be uncomfortable calls but fundamentally, i understand why, they want to stick up for their state to tell them, give me more money and i will. [laughter] is an easy solution to this. [laughter] i can double the number of companies both limited money i have from oakwood got to make tough choices but short answer, we have a lot of support. i mentioned i was of the compass this weekend national governors association and i did a panel in there like 15 or 18 governors who showed up and they were all bipartisan. big states chemical states so i feel pretty good about. >> what you're saying, there seems to be enormous potential necessary to make our echo system work but i've been disturbed lucy maybe either horizon. how do you see the longevity? >> i'm pointing to my

and i know senator cornyn has been very helpful, but i think it is absolutely ridiculous when you look at these numbers, please answer, thank you. >> well, i can't speak to specific legislative proposals, but what i can tell you is that sextortion is rapidly escalating threat and, as you say, there have been way too many teenagers victimized, and they don't know where to turn. so, having this discussion in a forum like this, people like you, and senator cornyn raising awareness like that, that in itself is hugely valuable. as for what we need, i will tell you, i come back to the answer earlier to chairman derman about the threat if you will of the proliferation of war encryption. if companies are going to take responsibility for what happens on their platforms part of taking responsibility includes the ability to, when presented with a warrant, following all of the due process that that entails they will provide the information so that law enforcement, not just fbi, but other agencies can take action to rescue the kids and take down the predators. >> thank you very much. i will ask my

you heard of the kc cornyn bill. obviously, mr. mchenry has his opinions as well, as do others, so we need to come together on this. >> and you've had investigations into black rock, other investment firms, are those still ongoing and you know, what are you looking to-- if they are, what are you looking to glean from them? >> yes, they're ongoing. i don't want to get into the specifics except that probably most of you who follow this know that blackrock and others have investments in some of these problematic entities. when i say problematic entities, they might be on one of those entity lists. they might be on the uyghur force labor prevention act list or might be on one of the military sanctions lists, and so, you know, what we want to do is-- you know, finish the investigation, publish our findings and then go to legislation. >> and then the committees report last year laid out a number of economic recommendations. it called for an overhaul of the u.s. economic relationship with china, but stopped short of endorsing ending norma

cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the clerk: mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden.

cornyn: mr. president, tomorrow president biden will do something he's done only once before in his term as president of the united states. he'll travel to the u.s. mexico border, to brownsville, texas, in an attempt to address his biggest political liability. since the president took office three years ago, u.s. customs and border protection has logged more than 7.2 million migrant encounters at the southern border. by that, we mean people who showed up at the border and, by and large, have simply been released into the interior based on an initial claim of asylum, which is yet to be put in front of an immigration judge, and it may be along as, in places like new york, ten years in the future before they ever get in front of an immigration judge. or, as we have seen tragically here most recently, these migrants will be paroled or simply released into the interior of the country, even without a claim of asylum, given a work permit, and stay here indefinitely. 7.2 million is higher than the total

john cornyn from texas in is the whip. >> he's a jockeying for this position. and john barrasso. >> from wyoming, all 3 of them probably in that are kind the gold, silver and bronze candidates to replace mitch mcconnell. but they're going answer to donald trump. >> whether or not he's goes back into the white house or is just simply running the republican party. that only important element to watch here as well. and what does this say to you about the future of the republican party? >> yeah, i mitch mcconnell is someone who's a ronald reagan republican who sees america is active in the world. he's an institutional us about the senate. >> but it's a globalist about america that in very active about ukraine. he's very active about israel. and what comes next. all of those elements. but i'm in a different for there where the republican party is now, which is much more isolationist. >> all right. what do you think his legacy will be? and then i have a question about the supreme court. >> sure, his legacy and certainly one where he's been and that institutional fram

a third of the senate republicans took office after john cornyn, who served as head of senate republicans campaign arm at the end of 2018, but most republicans believe he is short of a clear majority. that would leave about a dozen to 15 republicans up in the air, almost all of whom come from the wing that would vote against extending mcconnell's run after the 2022 election. if they work together, they could back rasco and possibly leave them short of a majority while trying to extract concessions from the top two on a second ballot. that is what is to come in november with the senate republican elected a new year. mitch mcconnell announcing that he is stepping down from that role. we are getting your reaction this morning. more of your phone calls coming up. first let's hear more from the kentucky republican on the senate floor yesterday. he reflected on his career over the many decades in the senate. [video clip] >> my career began in the reagan revolution. the truth is, when i got here, i was just happy anybody remembered my name. president reagan called me mitch o'donnell. close enoug

so in the past month, i have spoken with senator cornyn, republican from texas, senator warner a democrat from virginia who were leaders on this and they're both still strongly supportive. i was with todd young, the republican senator from indiana the other day. schumer last week, all still strongly supportive so i think, yes. i think i have no doubt that when we say no to the companies, i'm going to get calls from senators saying how come you didn't fund that company and those will be uncomfortable calls, but fundamentally, and they, you know, i understand why they make the calls, they want to stick up for their state and they want to see jobs in their states and i tell them, give me more money and i'll fund the company. easy to this, chip two, i can double this, double the companies, that would be great, but with the limited money i have to hit the national security goals you've got to make tough choices. anyway, short answer, i do still feel we have a lot of support. i mentioned i was with the governors this weekend, national governors association was in town and i did a panel and ther

you heard of the casey-cornyn bill. obviously mr. mchenry has his opinions as well as do others. we need to come together on this. >> you have had investigations into other investment firms. are those still ongoing? what are you still looking -- if they are what are you still looking to glean from them? mr. krishnamoorthi: they are ongoing. don't want to get into specifics except that probably most of you who follow this know that black rock and others have investments in some of these problematic enend teuts. when i say problematic entities they might be on one of those entity lists. they might be on the uyghur forced labor prevention act list. or one of the military sanctions lists. what we want to do is finish the investigation. publish our findings. then go to legislation. >> the committee's report last year laid out a number of economic recommendations. it called for an overhaul of the u.s. economic relationship with china. but that stopped short of endorsing ending normal trade relations with china. why did you stop short of that? mr. krishnamoorthi: i think thah is that if

you have john barrasso or john cornyn of texas.t to hear more from them and others who have put their hop forward to replace mcconnell but this is the end of an era. he's not leaving the chamber he will still serve as the senator from kentucky as he has for decades but he said this will be his last term as a republican leader and this is a pretty remarkable moment in history. it comes out intense time as they try to set out government funding. he was with president biden trying to find a way to keep the government open and a path forward on ukraine. but his role will be quite different. sonali: there are senators on the sideline to take that seat. but there are a few months before his plan to step down. how do you see those next few months playing out with key deadlines ahead? kailey: this friday, march 1 at midnight is when part of the government could shut down with appropriation bills like the fda and veterans affairs. mitch mcconnell was talking about the potential of a minibus to tie these things together and get them all past

the tough vote would be to advance it in a telling notion this morning was john cornyn, a texas republican close to mitch mcconnell saying he has serious concerns about this. he didn't express what those concerns are, but a lot of these concerns, dana, let's be frank, they were concerned and wanted to kill it before the bill came out. the house republicans wanted to kill it before they saw details. why? because it's a good campaign issue for trump. >> and he's explicit about it. >> you have the republicans in deep deep negotiations for months led by jim langford of oklahoma. you can hear the frustration in their voice. listen to what he said this morning about his fellow republicans. >> i want everyone in the country, unlimited numbers or do we want a faster stronger system deporting system. will we going to have press conferences and claim the border is bad and then leave it open after the worst month in december, we have to determine are we going to complain about things or address and change as many things as we can. >> that really is the fundamental issue. and it is that the border, th