that's what they told their constituency. that's what they told everyone. they haven't been able to do that. and obamacare is popular. people want to keep health care. they want protections for their pre-existing condition. and that's what we're seeing right now. as to the protesters, look, i was out there, at the capital, when the mtp was voted on, the motion to proceed. there was a protest out there. and i got to talk to everyday people who came out with their kids, who are sick. how is this going to affect their lives? this is really real. people are concerned able how they're going to live. you hear the protesters out there when ryan is talking, those are the people who are out there.

what's interesting, you bring up a good point, when senator john mccain is opposed to obamacare. he will be the person who will most likely save obamacare. as you heard, and in that passionate speech, he said -- i'm saying this to everyone, and dana included, we must return to order. we have to stop the partisanship. we're deadlocked. nothing is happening here. the only we accomplished as a body, is neil gorsuch. and this is -- >> yeah. i think you're exactly right. and look, for all of the drama and the well-wishes and the somber and emotional tone and moment that went along with john mccain returning to the senate, for the health care vote and the

speech he gave that you were quoting from, there was disappointment in some circles. certainly not conservative circles. but in circles, i would say, maybe more independent and some democrats who truly like john mccain, disappointment that he didn't go as far with his maverickyness as he could have because he voted for the motion to proceed. so, the question now is whether he is going to take that maverick label and wear it proudly, from his perspective, as he potentially is somebody who takes this down because of the reasons that he was citing in the speech he gave earlier this year. earlier this week. >> he is dealing with health issues. issues of his own health. and he is, you know, facing the health care system right now. so, to him, out of anyone in that body, this is more

important, i think to him, than anyone else. he's in throes of it. >> that's true. he has empathy, to be fair. john mccain doesn't have money issues. he's just fine. he can get whatever health care and whatever he needs to. it's not just because of the senate health care system. >> he understands that. >> he's empathetic. absolutely. that's a really good point. but that aside, i think it's, you know -- we'll see what he does. and if he votes for it, we'll hear from him on the reason why. but if he votes against it, he is looking his mortality right in the face. and it's not the first time this has happened to john mccain who is in a prisoner of war camp in vietnam for 5 1/2 years. but this is different. brain cancer is different. and he's not sure -- nobody is sure how long he is going to be there to even see paul ryan's promise on the phone go through.

let's be blunt about that. and that might be going through his mind right now. we'll see what he ends up doing. >> as we wait on this vote, let's remind viewers what john mccain said just days ago. >> the administration and congressional democrats shouldn't have forced through congress without any opposition support a social and economic change, as massive as obamacare. and we shouldn't do the same with ours. why don't we try the old way of legislating in the senate? the way our rules and customs encourage us to act? if this goes to failure, let's return to order. hold hearings. try to report out of committee with contributions from both sides. >> the question is, dana, did he set

the tone? we don't know at this point. >> we don't know. look, he was the mccain that i've seen so many times earlier today in his press conference with his bff lindsey graham and others, explaining where things stand, throwing down a gauntlet to the -- his fellow republican, the house speaker, saying you got to make a promise because what this bill is before us in the senate floor is not good. and they use words much more strong than that. and so he is kind of energized by the notion of being the guy to stand up for what is right, not necessarily on policy, al the that's clearly a big issue here. because he thinks that this bill is not good. but also on process, which speaks to the sound bite that you just played from his big speech this week. >> ryan nobles on capitol hill joins us now. ryan, we're sort of at a stall here, trying to figure out what is going on.

you're there. update us. >> you know, don, just to add to your conversation with dana about john mccain and the gravity of the situation and what it means for his career historically, dana is 100% right that he is always someone willing to challenge his party, at least through his rhetoric. but really, he is the ultimate team player when it comes to the republican party. and that's really been to the republican party's benefit throughout his entire career. i think perhaps maybe one of the best examples of that is back in 2004 after he lost a bruising primary to george w. bush in 2000. he certainly flirted openly with the idea of perhaps being john kerry's running mate, who was the democratic nominee at this time. but eventually pulled back from that. and then gave one of, if not the most important speeches on behalf of george w. bush at the republican convention. i'm not saying that's the reason that george w. bush won, but certainly the fact that they were able to bring john mccain

in were part of the reasons they were able to coalesce independent voters and go on to beat john kerry. there are numerous examples throughout the course of his career where he will challenge his republican colleagues. ewill stand up and say he isn't necessarily in favor of their course of action, that they need to right the ship. and a lot of times that does lead to them doing things a little bit differently. but at the end of the day, he is still a pretty reliable republican. he usually sides with republicans and sides with the team. 10 if he were to make a break like this, i think if you go back throughout his history, this would be perhaps his most important statement, the most important example of his ability to be a maverick, because this would actually be a physical vote that he was taking in opposition to his senate majority leader in opposition to his vice president, who has personally gone up on the senate floor tonight to try and plead with him to cast a vote in the affirmative. so john mccain has had obviously a very important history and a

legacy in this country that is second to none. but this will rank right up there as one of his most important moments in his political history, if he turns out to not vote for this bill. >> ryan, you're there, and i know you're not on the senate floor. but are you getting a sense of the mood there? >> it seems to me, and i think from -- to dana's point, to our producers who have been in and out of the chamber all night, the republicans are concerned. they're trying to figure out how the handle this situation. you see a variety of different conversations happening throughout the senate floor. and you see the most important players involved in those conversations, you know. the idea that the vice president himself who thought he was copping up to cast a tie-breaking vote would actually be on the floor talking to senators, this is something you hardly ever see on the senate floor. so that right there gives you an indication as to how concerned republicans are. and also, the timing of this. you know, if they had the votes, this would have gone off without

any kind of a delay. but the fact that we've been waiting so long in between when they dispatched of this amendment that would have sent it back to a committee. and waiting now for them to vote on this replacement bill, and they haven't even taken up the vote yet, that shows you that the votes aren't in place. so if they aren't able to marshall these votes, if there are three no votes on this, the question now is what does senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and john cornyn, his whip, what do they do next? do they forge ahead and vote this bill down and try and fight another day with a different form of legislation? or do they bring it back and continue to go through this process all over again? because keep in mind, don, and this is an important part of this conversation, one of the reasons they keep attempting to ram this particular bill through is because it falls under the rules of the budget reconciliation act. and therefore, they only need a simple majority to pass it. if this bill fails, and they've got to start from scratch, now

you're talking about needing a bill that has 60 votes, which is something frankly that john mccain suggested they needed to do anyway to come up with some sort of bipartisan solution to this health care situation. but that's one of the reasons -- i would be really surprised if mitch mcconnell just allowed this bill to die because he would lose that very important tool that he has right now in his arsenal in order to get this health care reform bill passed at some point down the road. >> stand by. dana bash? >> i just want to bring up some color as ryan has been talking from our colleagues who are up there. first of all, mike pence, who as ryan said, i mentioned earlier, has been in an extraordinary move for a vice president on the senate floor for a pretty long time, sitting with john mccain, talking to john mccain, clearly trying to get him to vote yes. and i should also say that at one point, apparently john mccain was so emphatic, our mj

lee reports she could read his lips. at one point he said i promise you, to mike pence. we don't know what he is promise organize what he is talking about. but that gives you a sense as you can imagine, how intense these considerations are. and also for a time, lisa murkowski of alaska, susan collins of maine, both of whom were the only republicans to vote no on even proceeding to this, were kind of huddled around john mccain, almost wanting to kind of be there for him for moral support. >> i'm being told mike pence has left the chamber. and at one point democrats were surrounding john mccain, speaking with him. and again, the vice president of the united states has left the chamber. and as you said, if they had the votes. >> exactly. i want to reiterate that that votes are not held open and stalled. because they want to give us drama at 1:11 a.m. on friday

morning. they're held open and they're stalled because generally they don't have them. could there be a parliamentarian issue, a rule issue? because this is a very complicated piece of legislation, and it has to -- in order to bring it through the senate under, again, the so-called reconciliation rules, which allow it to come in and be voted on with only 51 vote, sometimes there is that. and this is a new piece of legislation, because this skinny repeal vote bill was only kind of finalized earlier this evening that could be it. but it seems from the mood, from the body language, from what we're hearing and what we're seeing that it's much more likely that it's stalled and it's open because they don't have the votes. >> i just -- again, i think marco rubio and john mccain are seen there at the top of the screen. and trying to grab something. here it is. this is from claire mccaskill. claire mccaskill tweet there's

now a glimmer of help we stop this and find a way to stabilize insurance markets and bring down costs. so here we go, dana bash. and this is again, claire mccaskill, tweeting that out just moments ago. and so, again, we're just watching the floor here. as you said, if they had the votes, they would be voting. they don't just hold it over. but how long can they go on this way? >> oh, they can go on until the sun comes up. >> okay, great. >> i'm sorry. that's not what you wanted to know. but they can go on for a long time. and i think that the question is -- the question that ryan asked is a really key question. which is if they don't is have the votes, as it seems the case to be, given what we have been witnessing, what is mitch mcconnell do? he has been full steam ahead rhetorically. we're going to take this vote. we promised our constituents. we're going to do it. so on and so forth.

yet at every turn when he didn't have the votes to pass it, he pulled back. so will he force dean heller, for example, just on the pure politics of this, he is the most endangered republican incumbent senator. will he force him to take a vote on something that he can be completely attacked by -- attacked with by democrats for no reason? if they know that this is going to fail? i kind of doubt it. that's not something that i would guess he would do. that the more likely scenario than making people take a vote that they know is going to fail that. >> come up with another way to kind of move off of this without forcing people as they say in washington and the senate, walk the plank for no reason. >> for no reason. >> what i'm thinking of, as i am sitting here, you and i are of sound health and it's 1:00 in the morning. we're a bit tired. still going to continue on. the folks that are watching are watching from their cozy comfy couches or beds.

senator mccain just had brain surgery not long ago. and it's 1:00 in the morning and he is still at work. i'm wondering how he is holding up and how much long he can deal with this, right? >> it is remarkable. >> it is remarkable. >> i would also point out and somebody said on twitter, senator hirono from hawaii has also had cancer, and she's had surgeries. and she is back there too. she doesn't have inoperable brain cancer, but there are a lot of people there who are doing things just frankly like people we know in the real world who get up and go to work every day because they have to, even though they're sick. >> and it's important i think because we're dealing with health care. and it doesn't get any realer than that. you're voting on it, deciding if how this country is going to deal with and handle the health care issue and you're in the throes of the health care crisis. ryan nobles has new information for us. ryan, what do you know? >> i just wanted to add to your conversation about senator mccain and his constitution as

it were to withstand a vote like this, given everything that he has gone through with his health. i can tell you he has been here all week. and the way that he has maneuvered around the senate is no different than what he was like before he discovered that he was dealing with brain cancer. he is clearly one of the older members of this body. but any of us who spend any amount of time on capitol hill can tell you that he is always full of energy, always moving interest one side of the capitol to the other. he is very difficult for reporters like us to keep up with. and that didn't change at all this week, just because he happened to have had brain surgery. so, you know, i don't think anybody would ever count him out in terms of his ability to stay up late and be a part of this process. but i do also want to make another point about where we go forward with this legislatively. and the question has to be asked. and dana kind of made this point as well. how often are republicans going to be content to bang their head against the wall when it comes

to this particular piece of legislation? we don't even have to talk about the fact that they had the ability to have this conversation for the past seven years about what they were going to do with some form of replacement if they ever got the opportunity to pass a repeal. but here they are. they've been in power since the beginning of january. and they have not even been close to some sort of consensus. so even though we're talking tonight about their inability to get this particular piece of legislation through, i mean, it's really just a mask for the much broader problems within the conference about exactly how to move forward on health care. you talk about medicaid alone. you have one side of the conference, the moderate side, the susan collins and lisa murkowskis who really don't want to see any changes to medicaid. they want the medicaid expansion to stay in place. they don't want any reduction in the outyears spend. and then you have republicans on the other side like ted cruz and ben sasse and mike lee who want fundamental reforms of medicaid.

they want to change the program completely. that's not something that you do in the next couple of days. and that's also not something that you can easily bridge a gap between these two different sides. so those problems don't go away if they decide to pull back and start this process all over again. they're never going to go away. so i think the question that a lot of us have been asking here for the past several weeks is exactly what is the path forward? what type of legislation could you envision that would meet all of these different requirements that you're looking for? and i just don't know where it is. >> we've got to jump in. thank you, ryan. go ahead, dana. >> i just want to make one point. as ryan is talking, the vice president who is still on the floor of the united states senate was having yet another, the umpteenth conversation with john mccain. and then john mccain turned around and walked away. not in a huff, but just the conversation was over. and i think that as we're seeing this, probably it's worth noting

that it is the vice president who has been up on capitol hill, up in the senate. >> where is the president? >> every single day. he has practically lived there this week and last week as well. he has been the guy. what we don't know is, as you said, where is the president? is he making phone calls? is he stepping back? this is his legacy too. this was his promise too. now, he does have a proxy in his number two, the vice president, who has taken the lead for lots of reasons. not the least of which is that when the president did it in the house, it didn't go that well. and the vice president, in all fairness, has a relationship with a lot of these members. he served in the congress. and he has kind of been the point person. this isn't just about the united states senate and the republicans. this is about the president, the republican president, who promise head was going to do this. and it was a huge part of his campaign. >> i'm not a body language

expert. but as we were sitting here watching the vice president and john mccain, as they were talking, john mccain walked away and patted the vice president on his hand and left behind standing there. it was interesting. body language. did you notice that? >> yeah, he kind of walked away. and the vice president was okay. >> so we're going to walk away, but just for a moment. don't go anywhere. we need to take a quick break. and we're going to continue to watch this vote. the vote is stalled on this skinny repeal of obamacare after multiple tries, multiple tries of trying to get this done. and here we are into the wee hours. and it's still not happening. but we're on top of it and we're going to bring to it you live. so don't go anywhere. we'll be right back.

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they could get them, but we don't know at this moment. dana bash is here, our chief political correspondent as well as jonathan tosini, margaret hoover and scott jennings. ms. hoover, what's going on? >> i remember i was but a wee staffer on capitol hill hen the medicare part d prescription drug bill was left open for two hours and 51 minutes. and it took waking up george w. bush, the president in the middle of the night and having him get on the phone with representative doc hastings of washington to convince him that he absolutely had to vote for this bill. now i don't have a clue where president trump is right now. but i know looking especially at the layout of this senate, getting president trump on the phone with any of these republican senators on w.h.o. are on the fence won't make a bit of difference. >> they were just announcing the votes so people know on the vote. the democratic vote to recommit the bill. now they're going to go,

presumablify that have the vote, we'll see if they hold it open. a democratic vote went down to defeat by 52-48. >> which was expected. >> totally expect. >> but the fact that they closed that vote means that -- well, we'll see. we'll see if there is going to be a resolution to whether or not they're going to go ahead with the vote on skinny repeal. or they're going to do something else. >> we're told this is a vote now. >> then they're going to do it. there you go. >> so you they either have the votes? >> this is a moment that we've all been waiting for. and especially the folks there in washington, i'm sure the white house is watching as well. i'm sure the president is up watching. the question is, is the president going to have to call, as margaret said, as president george w. bush did to have to convince folks? and margaret is saying at this point it won't -- >> mr. cassidy. >> -- it won't make a difference. >> the majority of senators who are on the fence here have far

outperformed donald trump in their districts and in their states, right? and the people that were looking at collins, murkowski, john mccain, these people, john mccain outperformed. john mccain is not up for six more years if he is in the senate. >> let's listen in. >> ms. collins? mr. coons? >> no. >> mr. corker? mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. mr. donnelly. >> no. >> ms. duckworth? >> no. >> mr. durbin? mr. enzi.

mrs. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mrs. fisher? mr. blake? mr. franken? >> no. >> mr. gardner? >> i hear them. >> mrs. gillibrand. >> no. >> mr. graham? mr. grassley? ms. harris? >> no. >> ms. has semsem. >> mr. heinrich. >> no.

>> mhide camp. >> mr. hirono. >> no. >> mr. hoven? mr. inhofe? mr. isackson. >> aye. >> mr. johnson? >> aye. >> mr. cain? >> no. >> mr. kennedy? mr. king? ms. klobuchar? >> no. >> mr. lankford? >> aye. >> mr. leahy? >> no. >> mr. lee? >> aye. >> mr. manchin? >> no. >> mr. markey? >> no. >> mr. mccain? mrs. mccaskill? >> no. >> mr. mcconnell? mr. menendez? >> no.

>> mr. merkley? >> no. >> mr. moran? ms. murkowski? >> no. >> mr. murphy? >> no. >> mrs. murray? >> no. >> mr. nelson? >> no. >> mr. paul? >> aye. >> mr. purdue? >> no. -- sorry, yes. >> mr. peters? >> no. mr. portman? mr. reed?

mr. reich? >> aye. >> mr. roberts? mr. rounds. >> aye. >> mr. rubio? mr. sanders? >> no. >> mr. sasse? mr. schatz? >> no. >> mr. schumer? >> no. >> mr. scott? mrs. shaheen? >> no. >> mr. shelby? >> aye. >> miss stabenow? >> no. >> mr. sullivan? >> aye. >> mr. tester? >> no. >> mr. thune? mr. tillis? >> aye.

>> mr. toomey. >> aye. >> mr. udall. >> no. >> mr. van hollen? >> no. >> mr. warner? >> no. >> ms. warren? >> no. >> mr. whitehouse? >> no. >> mr. wecker? >> aye. >> mr. wyden? >> no. >> mr. young? >> a

. >> senators voting in the affirmative, alexander, barrasso, blunt, bowesman, bury, capito, cassidy, cochran, corker, cornyn, crapo, daines, enzi, ernst, fisher, flake, gardner, graham, grassley, hatch, hoven, inhofe, isackson, johnson, kennedy, lankford, lee, mcconnell, paul, purdue, portman, ratio, robert, rounds,

rubio, scott, shelby, strange, sullivan, thune, tillis, toomey, wicker, young. senators voting in the negative, baldwin, bennett, blumenthal, booker, brown, cantwell, cardin, carper, casey, collins, coons, cortez masto, donnelly, duckworth, durbin, feinstein, franken, gillibrand, harris, hassen, heinrich, hidecamp, hirono, king, klobuchar, leahy, manchin, markey, mccain, mccaskill, menendez, merkley, murkowski, murphy, murray,

nelson, peters, reed, sanders, schatz, schumer, shaheen, st stabb stabbenhow, tester, van hollen, warner, warren, whitehouse, wyden. >> mr. moran? mr. moran? aye. >> okay. so they're still voting. it's not closed yet. but it could change. and so we don't want to report something that going to change. the important thing to report, though, is that senator john mccain has voted no. >> along with murkowski and collins. >> and the key thing here now is exactly that there are three republican senators who have voted no, which means unless somebody has a change of heart before that gavel goes down,

this skinny repeal bill. >> is dead. >> is dead. and it also means that this whole process is thrown up into complete chaos. not that what you've seen has been smooth sailing, but even more so. so the skinny repeal bill is dead. and mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader is going to have to figure out what to do next. likely he is going to figure out a way to technically send it back to committee, which will try to kind of keep it on life support while they figure out if they can have another path forward. but i think the most important thing to say is what you see on the bottom of your screen. senator john mccain voted no. he came in here. he asked his doctors, despite the fact that he has aggressive brain cancer. he asked his doctors to let him come back in the arena. this week at this very important momentous occasion, gave the

speech that he gave about, you know, standing up to partisanship, being bipartisan, regular order, letting the process work. scolded republicans, scolded democrats. but then at the beginning, he voted at least to allow the debate. and now he is -- he is -- he knows that this is not good for him. his prognosis, his medical prognosis is very grim. and he has made his career out of being a maverick. that's how he ran in 2008. it's certainly how he ran in 2000. and this is a moment that he understands is going to help cement that, which i guarantee you, and we'll hear from him is a big reason why he just did this. and -- go ahead. >> go on. >> no, no. it's an unbelievable thing that's going to have a lot of republicans mad at him. a lot of democrats cheering for him. and, you know, this is -- this is one of those -- one of those

ah-ha moments. >> right. the important thing, before everyone jumps in. everyone will get their chance. and we want to be very clear here. until that gavel goes down, as you said. >> yes, exactly. >> anything can change. but for all intents and purposes, with three republicans voting no, if this stands, once this gavel comes down in moments, attempts to repeal and replace obamacare are now over. obamacare is the law of the land. and, again, until this gavel comes down, it's not official. this is his signature legislation. this is one of the things that he ran on, repealing and replacing obamacare. it has failed. seven attempts have failed so far. so the question is, and again, i want to wait for that gavel to make it official here on cnn. because it's not real until that happens, and it's not real until we say it. but if it does, what happen news to the gop? >> to the gop? ask the republican at the table. >> is there any way for mitch

mcconnell to resurrect this i think is the real question. because what's maybe historic about this, if it ends up closing, if they don't change any votes, right, it's still open. this can still change. it's an incredibly historic moment that is a negative moment, right? this is a moment where people have voted no. i can't even think of a historic parallel where something so significant has happened in the negative, not in the affirmat e affirmative. >> i want to say three quick things. one is before we forget, while i was off camera, you did a great job in really building the drama. i just want to recognize that i want to describe that. for a viewer like me sitting on the side, it was really fantastic. look, two things. millions of people are going to have health insurance. i think people are going to breathe a sigh of relief. and on the democratic side, since speaking for democrats, i wouldn't be surprised if chuck schumer after the vote, maybe it won't happen tonight, but he will probably rise and say now that this is lost, and been

defeated, i want to go back to the republicans and ceja the democrats have been saying on the floor for the last number of days. let's go back now to the committees. we all democrats said the affordable care act has issues, has problems. all democrats have said that. and my guess is from a political standpoint and take the high road, i wouldn't be surprised if schumer makes that offer. >> okay. listen. i just want to show. this is a moment that john mccain voted no. i'll tell you what happens. he walks across the screen. stand by. they're closing the vote. >> the motion is not agreed to. the amendment is not agreed to. >> lost by one vote as we expect. >> unanimous consent that hr-1628 be returned to the calendar. >> is there objection? without objection. >> so, mr. president, this is clearly a disappointing moment. from skyrocketing costs to plummeting choices and collapsing markets, our

constituents have suffered through an awful lot under obamacare. we thought they deserved better. it's why i and many of my colleagues did as we promised and voted to repeal this failed law. we told our constituents we would vote that way. and when the moment came, when the moment came, most of us did. we kept our commitments. we worked hard, and everybody on this side can certainly attest to the fact that we worked really hard. to try to develop a consensus for a better way forward. and i want to thank everybody in this conference for the endless

amount of time that they spent trying to achieve the consensus. to go forward. i also want to thank the president and the vice president who couldn't have been more involved and more helpful. so, yes, this is a disappointment. a disappointment indeed. our friends over in the house, we thank them as well. i regret that our efforts were simply not enough. this time. now imagine many of our colleagues on the other side are celebrating. probably pretty happy about all this. but the american people are hurting and they need relief.

our friends on the other side decided early on they didn't want to engage with us and in a serious way, in a serious way, to help those suffering under obamacare. they did everything they could to prevent the senate from providing a better way forward, including such things as reading amendments for endless amounts of time. such things as holding up nominations for key positions in the administration. because they were unhappy that we were trying to find a way to something better. than obamacare. so i expect that they are pretty satisfied tonight. i regret to say that they succeeded in that effort. so now i think it's appropriate

to ask what are their ideas. it will be interesting to see. what they suggest. as the way forward. for myself, i can say, and i bet i'm pretty safe for saying for people on this side of the aisle that bailing out insurance companies, bailing out insurance companies with no thought of any kind of reform is not something i want to be part of. and i suspect that not many folks over here that are interested in that. but it will be interesting to see what they have in mind. quadrupling down on the failures of obamacare with a single payer system. we had that vote a little earlier thanks to the senator from montana.

almost everybody voted present. apparently they didn't want to make a decision about whether they were for or against socialized medicine. the government takeover of everything. european health care. only four of them weren't afraid to say they didn't think that was a good idea. so maybe that's what they want to offer. we'll be happy to have that debate with the american people. so it's time for our friends on the other side to tell us what they have in mind. and we'll see how the american people feel about their ideas. so i regret that we're here. but i want to say again i'm proud of the vote i cast

tonight. it's consistent with what we told the american people we'd try to accomplish. in four straight elections, if they gave us a chance. and i want to thank all of my colleagues on this side of the aisle for everything they did to try to keep that commitment. what we tried to accomplish for the american people was the right thing pour the country. and our only regret tonight, our only regret is that we didn't achieve what we had hoped to accomplish. i think the american people are going to regret that we couldn't find a better way forward.

and as i said, we looked forward to our colleagues on the other side suggesting what they have in mind. so now, mr. president, it's time to move on. and i ask unanimous consent that at 10:00 a.m. on friday, july 28th, that's tomorrow, the senate proceed to consideration of calendar number 175 hr-2810. the house-passed national defense authorization bill. >> mr. president -- >> objection. >> i object. >> objection is heard. >> i suggest -- >> mr. president, mr. president -- >> give us a second. >> the clerk will call a role. >> mr. alexander.

>> okay. so we're back now. so what they're -- i think the important thing that he said, it's time to move on. and he tried to bring on the calendar, move past this and bring up another bill on the calendar. and now -- >> there is an objection heard. so now they've called aquarium call. >> this is a pause button. >> scott jennings is a republican who worked in the bush white house and has seen many a big vote and understands the language of washington noted the key thing in what mitch mcconnell said. time to move on. they're sending it back to committee, which is what you need to do to keep the options open. >> let's listen to chuck schumer. >> and we're at this point. so i would suggest -- i want to say three things. first, i would suggest we turn the page. we turn. it's time to turn the page. i would say to my dear friend the majority leader, we are not

celebrating. we are relieved that millions and millions of people who would have been so drastically hurt by the three proposals put forward will at least retain their health care, be able to deal with preexisting conditions. deal with nursing homes and opioids that medicaid paid for. we are relieved, not for ourselves, but for the american people. but as i said, over and over again, obamacare was hardly perfect. it did a lot of good things. but it needs improvement. and i hope one part of turning that page is that we go back to regular order, work in the committees, together to improve obamacare. we have good leaders. the senator from tennessee and the senator from washington. the senator from utah, the

senator from oregon. they have worked well together in the past. and can work well together in the future. there is suggestions that we are interested in that come from members on the other side of the aisle. senator from maine, the senator from louisiana. so let's turn the page and work together to improve our health care system. and let's turn the page in another way. all of us were so inspire d by the speech and the life of the senator from arizona. and he asked us to go back to regular order, to bring back the senate that some of us who were here, have been here a while remember. maybe this can be a moment where we start doing that. both sides will have to give.

the blame hardly falls on one side or the other. but if we can take this moment, a solemn moment, and start working this body the way it had always worked until the last decade or so, with both sides to blame for the deterioration, we will do a better job for our country. better job for this body. better job for ourselves. >> and finally, i'm glad that the leader asked us to move to mdaa. we need to do it. i can say on this side of the aisle, we will move expeditiously. i know the searpt from rhode island has worked with the senator from arizona on a list of amendments that can be agreed to, and we can finish this bill up rather quickly. and as i mentioned to the majority leader there are some other things we can do rather

quickly, including moving a whole lot of nominations. so we can work together. our country demands it. every place in every corner of the world, of the country where we are, the number one thing we are asked, and i know this because i talked to my colleagues from the other side of the aisle, is, can't you guys work together? let's give it a shot. let's give it a shot. i yield the floor. >> all right, so, there you go. i'm sort of at a loss for words, as i'm sure a lot of people in the senate are. you heard from the minority and majority leaders. i think it's important, the important thing that mitch mcconnell said, it's time to move on. do you think john mccain came back, was this sort of his -- >> i think about two dates --

july 18th 2015, february 9th, 2017. these dates are the two times that i can think of that the president, donald trump, dramatically insulted john mccain. in 2015, he said, i don't like people who were captured. he's not a hero. in 2017, he said he's been losing so long he doesn't know how to win anymore. and here we sit tonight, and john mccain flew all the way across the country -- >> after having brain surgery. >> -- and stuck it to donald trump's legislative agenda. so i can't help but think about these three dates. >> who's winning now, donald trump? >> shouldn't he have been nicer? until he thought john mccain could help him, he called him brave. he put out that statement, but that's -- >> and let's call it petty drama. it's more than just -- i mean, this is seven years of -- eight

years of republicans saying that they were going to fix the affordable care act, that they were going to change it. policy after policy, idea after idea, it is not true that republicans didn't have ideas of how to do this. it is true republicans couldn't agree on a single strategy for reforming obamacare, and now it has failed and mitch mcconnell has said, it's time to move on. that means it's dead. this is a massive, colossal, cannot be overstated, failure for the republican party. >> there's a lot of focus on mccain because he tends to bring it on himself. but let's also point out that lisa murkowski and susan collins, in particular, was one of the most vocal people who voted against the motion to proceed. they were real heroes, they stood up against the republican leadership. and susan collins exhibited much more leadership in opposition to donald trump than john mccain. >> murkowski had her own run-in

with the administration this week. the interior secretary calling her up and threatening her. so the senate is harder to threaten than the house. senators are harder to sort of politically cajole if you're the white house. the house are on the ballot all the time. but the senators who have been around a little bit, they're much harder to push around. >> this is a huge loss for republicans, a huge win for democrats, as i'm sure you will agree as you've been sitting by, watching this unfold. >> the way that i see it, is for many people out there, millions of people who were on health care, this wasn't about politics, this was about their lives. this is a huge win for them. i think that's what's important here. people are now going to be able to move forward, knowing that they have health care. now the question is, will both sides come together to figure out how to fix obamacare. because i'm not going to be poly

annish about this, because there are fixes that need to be made. democrats have admitted that, president obama admitted that, hillary clinton when she was running admitted that. we need to figure out how to cover more people, how to fix the things that need to be fixed in obamacare. that's what we have to wait and see. >> jason? >> it's a step in the right direction. it's a win for the american people. people don't want trumpcare, and it looks like it's not going to happen. senator mcconnell, he says, maybe it's time we talked to the democrats. looked around, realized there's 48 people in his workplace with ideas to offer. what i'm excited about right now is the potential here. and it's not just the potential to make some of the improvements to obamacare that president obama talked about on his way out of office. it's the potential for people who marched, people who went to

town halls, people who made the phone calls, people who have invested a lot of energy, spiritual energy into defending their friends and neighbors, who at least tonight can look at this and say, that made a difference and now we have a chance to do something. and i hope this is an injection of energy into some really amazing people around this country who stepped up and said, yeah, i know it doesn't look good, but we're not going to let this happen. >> dana bash, you have been speaking with a mccain aide? >> yeah, i just got a text from somebody who said, any color about how this went down. and the answer was, at the end of the day, he wanted to be consistent in this, at the end of the vote, with what he said before he agreed to start debate, which is, don't repeat the mistakes the democrats made in 2009. and from his perspective, that was, you know, doing it with just -- moving this process with just democrats. return to regular order. so that is sort of what he is going to say, that this is what

i laid out when i came in. and that's what i did. you know, there's so much to unpack here. the biggest of which is, of course, the failure of republicans to keep a massive campaign promise that they used, successfully, to win control of the house in 2010, win control of the senate the next time around, and win the white house in 2016. three branches of government, guys, three branches, all taken over by republicans, primarily on the promise to repeal obamacare, and tonight, they couldn't get it done, period. even though that is the biggest thing, i just, you know, as somebody who has covered john mccain for a long time, i just think a few other beefs on the fact that sticking it to donald trump was probably a very, from his point of view, nice side benefit, but i also think this

is about legacy. this is about his legacy. this is about cementing his legacy, knowing that he doesn't have a lot of time left, and he loves more than anything else, being the maverick, being the statesman, and this allows him to go out on a massive piece of legislation, cementing that label. >> and i didn't mean to cut you off. but it is a dramatic return. he made a dramatic return. he was a fierce critic of obamacare. >> and still is. >> and still is. but then he ends up saving obamacare and making it still the law of the land. i don't know if there's anything else, any other rabbits that republicans can pull out of their hat, but it appears at this moment, it's over. what did you say, jason? >> i said, he knows it's better than what trump care was offering. i think it's as simple as he, with senator collins and senator

murkowski, looked at this and said, this is wrong. we shouldn't over-think this. he looked at it and at the end, he did what a lot of americans have done. there were a lot of americans who maybe were not fond of obamacare and the reputation it had when it passed, and i've talked to a lot of them over the last several months, who look at it and say, what they're offering is not better. what should happen, people should do what president obama should be done and go improve it. that's what people do in their own workplaces and i think john mccain is one of the people who said, this is not better. >> you know, this failure is a colossal failure, as i've said. what i will be most interested to see is how the republican support for the president continues after this. because about 83 to 85% of republicans have continued to support president trump, and a lot of that is because they don't like the attitude, the shenanigans. they don't think his behavior is presidential. but they've believed that unified control of the executive branch and the congress would

get them a repeal of the affordable care act and tax reform and policies that republicans have stood for, for decades, frankly. and now you have -- this week has been really a turning point. you've had the failure of health care to pass after promises for eight years. you have signs in the senate and in washington that there's a real crack in the pillar of support for donald trump. with jeff sessions losing support from -- or gaining support from the senate, being this cleaving point between the congress and the president. and all these republicans coming out against the president's position on the trans-military service and voting uniformly for sanctions against russia. you're starting to see fissures between republicans and donald trump. and now with the unraveling and the failure of this health care bill, it is going to be very, very interesting. and i frankly think, this might be the beginning of an unraveling of republican support for donald trump. >> i