good morning. i'm chris jansing. today there's a change at the top of the republican party. his name is chris christie and he's about to become the head of the influential republican governors association at the annual meeting in arizona. christie will be in charge of keeping 30 governors mansions red and not one to ever settle, he has his sights set on six more. that's 36 governors races he thinks the gop could win. of course, along the way, he can rack up a lot of political ious should he run for president in 2016. and there does seem to be a growing consensus within the party that the nomination should not come from washington. >> i think both the presidential and the vice presidential nominee should be a former or current governor. >> i don't think anyone should become president that they haven't been a governor first. >> there's been discussion among the governors that the next president has to be a governor?

do you agree with that? >> no. next question. >> so paul ryan does not agree, but for his part, christie has not been shy about answering questions about 2016, although in arizona his focus is anywhere, but there. >> i would think there are some people in this room that are encouraging you to look beyond just this job? >> oh, no. everyone here is laser focused kel kelly, on 2014. just do the best job you can in 2014, governor and everyone's been wonderful and really good. >> lois romano, senior reporter for politico. good morning. >> we know there is a historical argument, karen, for republicans. they have never elected a governor for president since harding. the reason we're hearing this so much in 2013 that congress is just so toxic?

>> i think that's part of it. this also reminds me, though of the late 1990s when we saw a similar effort among republican governors. the party at that point had lost two times in a row and the parties coalesced around george w. bush and pafrved his way to e white house. come 2016 americans will be just tired of washington and the governors, it's a story we've seen again and again. ronald reagan before that, bill clinton. they really represent a new direction, a fresh wind in washington. the other argument you could make about those two and chris christie is what ohio governor john kasich said about kraftie. i'm quoting him. people just like him. he has one other thing going for him it's called celebrity. in case you haven't noticed that's a big darn deal in america today.

he will draw crowds and be effective in raising money. i have no doubt. i don't think, lois, that there's any doubt that christie might be the brightest candle burning right now, but i think it's fair to say romney was head of the rga when he ran the first time. there is a line chris christie has to walk. he can't use it for more personal than for party gain. >> i don't know about that. i think he's going to use the role to maximize everything in his life. you know, chris christie is in an incredibly good position right now. the governors are coming together and staying on message and saying you don't want someone from washington right now. you want a chief executive. they're trying a take away the attention from washington to themselves. i think they have a good point. i don't think you can elect someone from washington in 2016. >> paul ryan disagrees. your paper has a list of members of congress, youthful lawmakers

considering 2016 bids. paul ryan is 43 and ted cruz, and marco rubio, 42. the others are in their fourth term in the senate just like president obama when he decided to run, but is it a lot tougher now, karen, to run for that position? >> i think so. it's a lot tougher in part because again, the republican party is standing with the american people. and the other thing to remember is that governors have sort of a different way of talking. a different way of relating to peop people. they don't get caught up in the minutia and the procedure and the battles that we have in washington that bring things to a standstill and that is why it has, you know, at least in modern history for both parties been much, much easier for someone to get elected as governor than as a senator. >> karen lois, we will get back to you. i want to point out there is

another big story coming out of washington today. democratic aides confirming to nbc news that senate majority leader harry reid is getting ready to release so the-called nuclear option this morning. here's how gail collins introduced it in the new york times. the filibuster is, of course, the fascinating tradition, every once in a while the majority gets fed up with the stonewalling and threatens to change the rules. this is known as the nuclear option because change is worse than atomic war. joining us from capitol hill, democratic senator bob casey of pennsylvania. good to see you, senator. good morning. >> thanks, chris. >> you have said in the past you're for filibuster reform. what's going on happen here? >> we don't know for sure, but i think it's the time now to consider a rules change which is limited in nature. what we're dealing with here is not the larger question of whether the rights of a minority in this case, the republicans in

the senate would be -- would be degraded. what we're talking about here is a very limited change for cabinet nominees, for judges and those instances where it's very clear. the record is abundantly clear that republicans are using pure obstruction. they're not saying this candidate for the district of columbia circuit is unqualified or this nominee for a cabinet. it's pure obstruction, so i think zee to move forward with the rules change, and i hope that we would get support on both sides of this. >> is that a yes for the nuclear option on your part? >> oh, sure. if there is a vote where there would be a rules change that provides a limited remedy for this total obstruction of cabinet nominees and judicial nominees i would vote for it. >> there has been a lot of frustration to allow a vote on

three d.c. district court nominees, but i want to play what lamar alexander has to say because it's being misrepresented. here we go. >> people are aren't being held up. the only person who can be reported to the senate floor is by the democratic commitet and only person who can bring it from the calendar to be confirmed is the democratic leader and why doesn't he bring them to the floor and let them be confirmed. >> so who is holding up these three judicial nominations, senator? >> i think it's very clear from the vote and we've had, i don't know how many. i don't even know the count. how many votes we've had on judges, on cabinet nominees and just unprecedented obstruction. so we're long past the time where this is really a debate about the use of the filibuster in an appropriate way. this is pure obstruction and pure partisanship and there's only really one way to deal with it now. we had thought this summer when we had the wonderful meeting in

the old senate chamber for three hours and virtually every member of the senator was there. we had a good discussion. there were discussions all night long. finally, the next day we had a good compromise, and i thought we're beyond this, but within weeks, the republican leadership in the senate started up again. we're back to where we were with this pure obstruction and it prevents not only highly qualified people from being confirmed and it prevents any action on a whole range of, because of this obstruction. it's long overdue. >> the democrats were in the minority and harry reed were against the nuclear option and do you worry that if this happens now that the democrats go back into the minority and it's not such a great idea all of a sudden? >> well, no question that is a concern, but one of the more interesting aspects of this is long-serving senators who had been against any kind of limited rules change have now seen this

issue from a different vantage point. this kind of obstruction is unprecedented in american history. nothing like it has ever occurred in american history and we know that unless you confront it directly, we will continue to have this kind of obstruction which makes no sense for our system of justice. it makes no sense with regard to the president, any president having what he or -- the dpooft nominate someone. the qualifications are considered and then they're voted on. this idea that you can just continually stall it makes no sense for the country. >> let me ask you about one more thing that's being held up besides presidential nominations and the bill and the hold-up there, and the salt a menment of which you are a co sponsor and i want to play what the author said to chris jill brand last

night. >> men and women who risk everything deserve a justice system based on core american val us that you will have an objective, fair reviews based on evidence and not bias. it's the least we can do for these men and women. >> what's your sense right now? is the senate going to be able to pass the defense bill with this attached? >> i hope we can because i agree with what senator gillibrand said and i'm a co-sponsor of her amendme amendment. finally in an institution to say they've been resistant to change is an understatement. to finally say that if a woman is serving her country that she will have the full measure of justice with no question, with no impediments and i'm afraid that unless that decision is taken out of the -- or that power is taken out of the chain of command that women will still be victimized and this is one of the ultimate betrayals when it comes to a woman serving who is

victimized over and over again. not just one incident or one particular time in her life, but over and over again because the system doesn't allow her to get access to real and full justice. >> senator casey of pennsylvania, good to see you. thanks so much. >> lois, and carol, i want to ask you about what's going it happen with this and let me start with you because the senate is back in session in 20 minutes and are we going see on the gillibrand amendment and to go nuclear? >> i find this completely extraordinary given the many defense bills that this issue would have risen to the fore that we're not arguing about the number of aircraft carriers or tanks. it just shows the kwult ral change that we've seen in washington and it is just as important as what would force a

cultural change in the military. as for the nuclear option, i do think as senator casey said, the guys to watch are the senior democrats. it's the older guys who have been in the senate to know that the shul be on the other foot at some point. where do they go? ? lois? >> this is a tough issue for anybody to vote against. military assault issue. i think they're they've made a compelling argument on the omni bus bill and i think she has the votes on that amendment. on the nuclear option, the real issue with that for reid is that it cuts both ways. if he uses it now the republicans will use it another time. it's a tough call for him. >> lois ramono from politico. karen tumulty from the washington post. good to have you post. and he is the first congressman in history to be

convicted of cocaine pots session and he got a year's probati probation. at a late-night press conference he apologized to his constituents. >> i believe in faith. i believe in forgiveness and redemption pp, and i hope if there's anything positive that can come out of this, and i know there will be positive that comes out of this it's that i hope that i can be a role model for millions of others that are struggling with this disease. >> the congressman will be donating his salary to charity while on leave. we'll have much more on radel and that road to redemption coming up in our next half hour. also, thousands of african elephants are being slaughtered for their tuvengs. some are calling it blood ivory for its connection to funding terrorism. a new documentary explains and the producer is here along with sigourney weaver. we'll be talking to them coming up. [ baby crying ] [ mom ] be right there, baby.

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another source of fast cash to buy guns and fund illegal activities. they're slaughtering african elephants and selling the ivory tusks for a lot of money. elephant poaching is at its highest level in decades putting the animals at danger of extinction and it's all because of the demand of ivory dubbed white gold. you'll be shocked to learn just how few tusks terrorists would have to sell to pay for a full-scale terror attack. >> only 1.6 tusks would be required to fund a spectacular terrorist attack in east africa today.

the onslaught on kenya's elephants is organized and al shabab is placed in exactly the right position to exploit it. >> actors and activists sigourney weaver joins us with ian saunders with the african environmental film foundation. thank you both for coming in. this was eye-opening even for those of us in the audience at this screening with hillary clinton who think we know about terror, who think we know about what's going on in the world. do you think people are ignorant of what's going on, sigourney? >> there is a huge ivory trade and a huge demand in this country, unbelievably and in china. that confirms a lot of status in asia and people are told here that this is either old ivory that was carved many decades ago or that elephants shed their tusks like deer do antlers and of course, when you see the movie and you know the fact, actually they lop off the entire face of the elephant to get the tusks and they kill the whole

family when they're after these tusks and elephants are being decimated at an alarming rate. >> even if you weren't a passionate animal lover that doesn't even move you, ian, there is a terror link here that most people would be shocked to hear. >> yes, there is. the situation is such that many people are saying can you prove there is a terror link? well, of course, untraceable forms of revenue are very difficult to prove. organizations, extremist organizations don't give receipts and don't have invoices, but just in a similar way the taliban have monopolized much of the opium industry in afghanistan to fund their operations, then organizations like al shabab are looking at natural resources such as charcoal, the charcoal trade which has been responsible for the huge forests in africa, but also because of these organizations and the people that are part of the organizations have co-existed

with the ivory trade for 40 years, one would have to be very naive to think that they're ignoring such a high worth, untraceable form of revenue. >> and names people would know from al shabab to joseph kony, they are organized and have automatic weapons. even if they get caught the the penalties for poaching are very low in most places. >> in many places, but, you know, countries are looking to fight that. back home in kenya there's been a strong movement from the general public to support an increase in penalties and a change of legislation and, in fact, as we speak that has gone through the process and has very much supported by the national wild life authority and the kenya wild life are at the front line and are facing the bullets and grenade launches as with well which we've had used

against us. the reason they can sell it for much money is supply and demand. and here in the united states. i want to play another clip from "white gold." we don't have that clip, but it was the narration by hillary clinton and here's what she says, the current price of ivory in the black market is higher than it has ever been before. we arrest poachers. we kill poachers, but unless we address the demand, africa will be with no elephants in the very near future. how real is the risk for extinction here, sigourney? >> i think the elephant populations are being decimated by 11 diver% to 12% a year and is a certain point to which the population can't recover. ian, i think you told me within five years we won't have any elephants if it continues. >> if people are watching this and they have no idea that the

faces of elephants have to be hacked off. there is a very moving scene in the documentary where there is a baby elephant on top of its mother and the future for that baby is gone because the mother is dead. so what can people do? >> as sigourney said, the rates now are so increased. areas like the national reserve where it once had one of the largest populations of african elephants in africa, at the current rate of poaching it's probably no longer than four years and seven to ten if those continue. and if people want to help it's very, very difficult, but to support organizations that are working on the ground, we at the film foundation, we look at raising awareness on one side and also proit tekting elephants on the ground on the other because chris, quite frankly, it's moving so quickly if we don't protect what we've got. by the time we change attitude their, and it is an organization that is empowering communities

to protect communities and themselves because the poachers -- are protecting the human populations and terrorizing them. organizations like solid trust, save the elephants and wild aid are doing an amazing job in china. these are the organizations that if people want to get involved. >> hillary clinton talked about the fact that she got involved because there is this are terror link and president obama pledged $10 million to attack poaching in africa. they crushed 6 tons of ivory to ban this process. do people have to stop buying and wearing ivory? >> there is an international ban against importing ivory in all of these countries. there is no domestic ban. ebay has stopped putting it on the website and that's a big step, but i do think that like the crushing of ivory, i think the message needs to get out that if you have a piece of ivory in your living room you

really also have an elephant's dead carcass next to it, and is i know that i worked with the filmmakers in the '80s making "gorillas in the mist" which i think was certainly instrumental of getting the message out of what was happening to these gorillas and these precious creatures and it has helped turn things around just by people understanding who the gorillas are and, you know, they're worth more than some, you know, creepy gorilla ashtray. we had a big trade like that. so i think it's getting the message out domestically out in the u.s. and we talked about having, you know, a celebrity ban on ivory jewelry and just how many ways you can prevent this from continuing in this ignorant way, you know? >> well, you're helping, obvi s obviously by coming on and the documentary is eye opening and riveting. sigourney weaver in saunders,

thanks to both of you for coming around and talking about this. >> hamid karzai says he still does not trust the united states and even after word of an agreement to keep troops on the ground. karzai told the gathering of elders that even if they and parliament approved the security ban he won't sign it until april's elections. the deal would keep 10,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan and would restrict u.s. forces from conducting operations or raids except for extraordinary circumstances. president obama penned a letter to karzai detailing the plan. ♪

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way to being one of the most power willful women in the world. congressman trey radel is making his way into -- at a nighttime news conference radel said he's taking a leave from congress and will donate his salary to charity. >> i'm sorry. i have no excuse for what i've done, and i'm not going to sit here and try to make any excuses for what i've done. i've let down our country. i've let down our constituents. i've let down my family. >> i want to bring in senior fellow for the center of american progress aisha mills and matt schlap. good morning. >> great to be here. >> politico points out that he's made dealing with bad behavior

for his leadership. >> i have to think in a situation like this the best for this man and his family is for him to resign from congress and take the steps he needs to get his life pulled back together again and that's a lot more important than his service in congress. as far as the leadership in the house is concerned, i think the fact that he's entering treatment is a little unique from other episodes, but my guess is if he's going to get intensive treatment he'll realize he'll have to change his life and that will probably mean a new job. >> aisha, do you think if radel were a democrat and the leadership were democratic that it would be any different? >> yeah upon. i'm not sure what the democrats would do in this situation, but what i do know is that what strikes me curious is the entire treatment of this situation by the law enforcement has demonstrated a clear impact in drug enforcement, our drug sentencing as it relates to white man versus a black man. i thought it was very interesting that here he is literally doing a deal with

federal agents, gets caught red-handed and then says why don't you guys come back to my apartment and let's chat about it. can you imagine if a black man and mind you, it's 87% of black men would have said to the folks, come back to my apartment and let's chat about it? i don't think that that would have happened. so i think that here is an opportunity for him if he really wantings to do good in florida and elsewhere to talk about how we can reform our drug policies. >> there is also a conversation going on, matt, about how he apologized and whether he did it because he was trying to keep his job. >> dana describes it that radel's actions suggests that he was mostly sorry he got caught and the 37-year-old self-described hip-hop conservative was trying to make the embarrassment go away as quickly as possible. fair assessment? >> who knows? i don't know this man's heart. i don't know if he's truly contrite and is someone talking

who has a very serious problem? i think there is a human element here and it's sad to see someone deconstruct like this, and i think the best thing is probably for him to resign. the partisan side of me says it's a republican district and we'll if we'll elect a republican let's take the politics out of it and the best thing. people look at congress and sometimes we're appalled at what we see and it's probably best for everybody if he moves on. >> we have seen more than a few political careers, aisha, ended by scandal. a lot of them involve lying. anthony weiner, for example, but the fact that radel got in front of this situation in the sense that he came out and said i did this. i'm taking a leave of absence. does that realistically, aisha, improve his chances and maybe make a successful run for re-election. >> people reelect people who have had significant mishaps --

>> i'm sorry, aish a we're going to the floor of the senate. harry reid talking about a fundamental change to the filibuster. let's listen. >> counter number 243 as 1356. the bill to amendment the workforce act of 1998 and other purposes. >> following my remarks the senate rell summe consideration of the national authorization act for first-degree amendment to the bill as 1:00 p.m. today. mr. president, i am told that s-1752 is due for a second reading. >> the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. >> 1752, a bill to reform procedures for determinations to proceed to trial by court-martial for certain offenses under the uniform code of military justice and further purposes. >> aisha, let me bring you into this, because we know he's talking about the defense authorization bill and the

sexual assault amendment that kristin gillibrand is pushing that is part of this bill. let me get your take on what you expect to happen here today? >> i've talked about this before, i really expect the democrats to stand firm in blocking this crazy attempt by republicans to continue to thwart the progress of government, to stop doing essentially through filibuster, so i expect that to play out and to happen today and what we've seen all along is this attempt by republicans to really nullify the last election, by thwarting all ability to get business done in the senate so i think that reid and the democrats will tackle it. >> that is something else that will come up even though he was talking about the defense authorization bill just there, just now. matte what do you think will happen here for the nuclear option? >> what's good for the goose is good for the gander. bill frist when he was republican leader considered doing the same thing. we're facing a polarized political action where two

parties won't work together. the great thing about the filibuster is it forces the party to bring in a few from the minority, you will see more and more party line votis and think that's bad for our country. >> aisha moody mills, matt schlap, thank you. what are we expecting to see over the next hour, casy? >> the frustration among democrats has reached a boiling point. so senator harry reid is expected to at some point today possibly as he's speaking on the floor now move to ing br up the nomination of patricia mullet which was an obama nominee to the d.c. circuit. they are influential because they make critical rulings that affect federal agencies and laws and right now there are several open seats and republicans have blocked now three nominees in recent weeks to that circuit court and it's just at the point of boiling over. so what you will see probably today on the senate floor is reid move to change the senate

rules to prevent a filibuster on judicial nominees and on executive branch appointments. it wouldn't affect supreme court nominees and it wouldn't affect legislation, but it would still be a very significant change that would alter the way the senate's operated for years. >> casey hunt, thank you so much and she's going stay there on capitol hill for us and we'll continue to follow what's going on on the floor of the senate and keep you updated right here on "jansing & company." we'll be right back. thrusters at 30%! i can't get her to warp. losing thrusters. i need more power. give me more power! [ mainframe ] located. ge deep-sea fuel technology.

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we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. harry reid on the floor of the senate making his argument to change the filibuster rules saying the american people know the congress is broken and the work of the country is going undone. let's listen. >> they need -- the need for change is so, so very obvious. it's clearly visible. it's manifest we have to do something to change things. in the history of our country

some 230-plus years there have been 168 filibusters of executive and judicial nominations and half of them have occurred during the obama administration. mr. president, 230-plus years, 50%. four and a half years, 50%. is there anything fair about that? these nominees deserve an up or down vote, yes or no, but republican filibusters deny them a fair vote, any vote and deny the president his team. gridlock has consequences and they're terrible. it's not only bad for president obama, bad for this body of the united states senate. it's bad for our country. it's bad for our national security and bad for economic security. that's why it's time to get the senate working again. not for the good of the current democratic majority or some

future republican majority, but for the good of the united states of america. it's time to change. it's time to change the senate before this institution becomes obsole obsolete. mr. president, at the beginning of this congress the republican leader pledged that, and i quote, this congress should be more bipartisan than last congress. mr. president, we are told in scripture let's take, for example, the old testament, the book of numbers, promises, pledges, a vow, one must not break his word. in january, republicans promised to work with the majority to process nominations in a timely manner by unanimous consent except in extraordinary circumstances. mr. president, exactly, three

weeks later republicans mounted a first in history filibuster of a highly qualified nominee for secretary of defense, despite being a former republican senator, a decorated war hero having saved his brother's life in vietnam. defense secretary secretary chuck hagel's nomination was in the senate a record 35 days more than three times the previous average of the secretary of defense. >> remember, mr. president, our country was at war. republicans have blocked executive nominees not because they object to the qualifications, but because they seek to undermine the very government of which they were elected to serve. take richard cadre to lead the financial protection bureau. there was no doubt about his ability to do the job, but the consumer financial protection bureau, the brain child of elizabeth warren went for more

than two years without a leader because republicans refused to accept the law of the land because they wanted to roll back a law that protects consumers from the greed of wall street. so i say to my republican colleague, you don't have to like the laws of the land, but you do have to respect those laws and acknowledge them and abide by them. similar obstruction continued unabated for seven more months until democrats threatened to change senate rules to allow up or down votes on executive nominations. in july, after obstructing dozens of executive nominees for months and some for years, republicans once again promised they would end the unprecedented obstruction. one look at the senate's executive counter shows that nothing has changed since july. republicans have continued their record of obstruction if no agreement had ever been reached.

the republicans continued their record of obstruction as if no agreement well been reached. there are currently 75 executive branch nominations and they've been waiting of an average of 140 days for confirmation. one executive nominee to the thaejs safeguards the water that my children or grandchildren drink and air they breathe has waited almost 900 days for confirmation. we agreed in july that the senate should be confirming nominees to ensure the proper functioning of government. consistent and unprecedented obstruction by the republican caucus has turned advise and consent into deny and obstruct. in addition to filibustering the nominee for secretary of defense for the first time in history,

senate republicans also blocked a sitting member of congress from an administration position for the first time since 1843. has a senior member of the house financial service committee, congress mel watts' understanding of the mistakes led to the housing crisis made him uniquely qualified to serve as administrator of the federal finance agency. senate republicans simply don't like the consumer protections the congressman was able to immrem. so they denied a fellow member of congress and a graduate of the yale school of law, even the currency of an up or down vote. mr. president, in the last three weeks alone, the republicans have blocked up or down votes on three highly qualified nominees of the circuit court of appeals and this doesn't take into consideration and they twice turned down one of the most qualified people in the 30 years

of the senate that i've seen encompassing for this party. so we have three more to add to that list. the d.c. circuit is considered to be the highest point of the land and he deals with these complex cases, and other things within their jurisdiction. republicans have blocked four president obamas where as democrats approve to the president and it's important to the clerk. >> today, the d.c. circuit court at least the second most important court in the land has more than 25% of vacancies. mr. president, i ask for order, there is a conversation over here that's quite distracting. >> the senate will be in order.

>> he will be heard. >> republicans refuse to give an up or down vote, a simple yes or no vote. republicans simply don't want president obama to make any appointments at all to this vital court. none. zero. further, only 23 district court nominations have been filibustered in the entire history of our country. 23. you know what? 20 of them have been in the last four and a half years. 230-plus years, three in the last four and a half years. 20. that's not fair. with one out of every ten federal judgeships vacant, millions of americans who will

rely on courts that are overworked and understaffed are being denied the justice they rightly deserve. mr. president, more than half of the nation's population lives in parts of the country that have been declared a judicial emergency no one has worked harder than the presiding officer to move judges. no one knows the problem more than the presiding officer. mr. president, the american people are fed up with this kind of obstruction gridlock. the american people, democrats, republican, independents are fed up with this gridlock, this obstruction. the american people want washington to work for american families once again. mr. president, i'm on their side

which is why i'm proposing important changes to the rules of the united states senate. the present republican leader himself said and this is a direct quote, the senate has repeatedly changed the rules as circumstances dictate, closed quote. he's right. in fact, the senate has changed its rules 18 times by sustaining or overturning the ruling of the presiding officer in the last 36 years. during the tenures of both republican and democratic majorities. the change we propose today would ensure executive and judicial nominations. an up or down vote on confirmation. yes, no. the rule change would make cloture for all nominations other than the the spring court, an up or down vote, yes or no. the sen is the is a living thing and to survive it must change as it has over the history of this great country. to the average american adapting the rules to make the senate work again is just common sense.

this is not about democrats versus republicans. this is about making washington work regardless of who is in the white house or who controls the senate. >> to remain relevant and effective as an institution the senate must evolve to meet the challenges of this modern era. i have no doubt my republican colleagues will argue the fault is ours. it's the democrats' fault. i can say from experience that no one's hands are entirely clean on this issue, but today the fortunate distinction is not between democrats and republicans. it's between those who are willing to break the gridlock in washington and those who defend the status quo. is the senate working now? can anyone say the senate is working now? i don't think so. today democrats and independents are saying enough is enough.

to change the rules regarding presidential nominees will apply equally to both parties and when republicans are in power these changes will apply to them just as well, that, mr. president, is simple fairness. and it's something both sides should be willing to live with to make washington work again. that's simple fairness. note the opposite corner. >> the clerk will call the roll. >> mr. alexander? >> and so harry reid arguing americans are tired of partisan gridlock. you only have to look at the polls and ratings for congress to know that's the truth. so he's proposing a change to the rules that would affect executive branch nominees. i want to bring back nbc's casey hunt on capitol hill. what happens next? >> reporter: what you will see next are procedural votes from patricia millett that we were talking about a little bit earlier. whoever is presiding over the

senate will be asked to make a ruling about how many votes it takes to put a nominee through. the chair will say it takes 60 votes and then there will be a motion to overturn that ruling. so the no votes that you see on that critical vote are going to be the votes that will ultimately change the filibuster rules. at this point we're only expecting maybe a handful of democrats to break with senate majority leader shaharry reid. -- he's always been a staunch op bonent on this and many of the senators serving here today have never served on the other side of the aisle. most of the republicans have always served in the minority and many democrats have never known what it's like to serve in the minority. so you've got an intractable gridlock in this particular senate that has led us to this moment. >> and he can afford to lose a few with democrats because there are 54 of them plus bernie sanders, the independent. so we will be watching this closely.

casey, thank you so much and we will be right back. something that runs office and has a keyboard. but i wanted a tablet for me, for stuff like twitter and xbox, so my downtime can be more like uptime. that's why i got a windows 2 in 1 which does both -- works as a laptop and a tablet. so i can manage my crazy life, and also have a life. [ beep ] gotta go. ♪

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that wraps up this hour of "jansing & company." i'm chris jansing. craig melvin is in for thomas roberts. he's up next. i'll see you back here tomorrow. no one could have left this much money here. whoo-hoo-hoo! yet many seniors who compare medicare d plans realize they can save hundreds of dollars. cvs/pharmacy wants to help you save on medicare expenses. talk to your cvs pharmacist, call, or go to cvs.com/compare to get your free, personalized plan comparison today. call, go online, or visit your local store today. great. this is the last thing i need.) seriously? let's take this puppy over to midas and get you some of the good 'ol midas touch.

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to live a more natural life. in a convenient two bar pack. this is nature valley. nature at its most delicious. i'm on their side which is why i propose an important change to the united states senate. the present republican leader himself said and this is a direct quote, the senate has repeatedly changed its rules as circumstances dictate, closed quote. he's right. in pack, the senate has changed its rules 18 times by changing the rules of the presiding officer during the years of the republican and democratic majorities. >> pressing the button and going nuclear. just moments ago senate majority leader harry reid announcing that he wants to change the rules via the so-called nuclear option. it would eliminate the 60-vote threshold for all executive

appointments except the supreme court. good day to you. i'm craig melvin in for thomas roberts today. senator reid saying moments ago that the obstruction in the senate is completely unpre unprecedent unprecedented. so he wants to change the rules. rules that have been in place for about 200 years or so. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is responding in. let's listen. >> the minority leader changes the rules for some judicial nominees, he's effectively changing them for all judicial nominees including the supreme court as senator grassley pointed out just yesterday. so, look, i realize this sort of wishful thinking might appeal to the uninitiated newcomers in the democratic congress who served exactly zero days in the minority, but the rest of you guys in the conference should know better. those of you who have been in the minority before should know better. let's remember how