senator: senator leahy. senator leahy: thank you, chairman blunt and ranking member murray. and i agree with chairman cochran that we have a difficult task ahead of us, but i know that i point out to all the ranking members and my role as vice chairman, what what senator cochran and i are doing, every cabinet member is going to have a chance to testify before the appropriations committee. so i appreciate this opportunity. i feel very unfortunate the president's proposed budget displays a fundamental lack of you can of the role of government of, for and by the people. lifting up the most vulnerable amongst us and serving our values as a nation. and sequestration had devastating consequences in defense and nondefense consequences which are going to lat a generation or moment. he trump budget deepens those. it can be summed very quickly, abysmal. the submission from the department of education would rezuse federal education by more than 15%. the budget proposed approximately $4 billion in cuts to investments in programs to support public schools. recently re-authorized by the b

leahy: let me ask a question mr. evans, when director coats testified, he --d complaints instances complaints instances are always reported and are always corrected. not everybody feels that way. the fisa court recently said otherwise. courtil the fisa chastised the government for failing to disclose compliance instances. this is in their words, an institutional lack of candor on a very serious admonition. that is tough language for the fisa court. what reforms as the justice department undertaken to ensure there is full and immediate disclosure of the government's activity to fisa? >> thank you senator. as to reforms and measures, i think mr. morris would like to comment on that. the nsa takes very seriously its relationship with the court. i believe with the director of the nsa made some comments as to the additional measures he is taking. justice perspective, compliance incidents do happen. i have been inadvertent. candidly, they are frustrating for us when they happen. they are frustrating for the nsa when this h

david: i cannot wait to hear that interview with senator leahy.onder if you asked about the senate judiciary committees consideration of launching an investigation on the president into obstruction of justice. he is a high-ranking member of the committee. kevin: he is frustrated. he is frustrated they cannot get some of these folks to testify senatethe janet -- judiciary committee. people like james comey as well as attorney general jeff sessions testified before the senate and intelligence committee, but he is frustrated that that is not going on. he also said they need to be more forthcoming about documents. earlier today i reported that jones day, the law firm working with the administration, the transition scene, telling everyone that works with them, old on to those documents. they anticipate there could be subpoenas, and they will have to comply with those subpoenas. kevin cirilli joining us from capitol hill as we monitor the remarks from the president. he says the obama era policy on cuba did not make sense. you continue watching what he i

leahy went down to washington the weekend before he dictated that letter, for one night just overnight, saw ross mcintyre, roosevelt's physician, hoped to see roosevelt but roosevelt was with lucy rutherford. and didn't have time for him. mcintyre clearly told him there would be an announcement the following monday or tuesday and he went back and dictated his letter to posterity saying this was a mistake. i am convinced that letter is significant and gives you an insight, when you think about it, as to who was really managing the disclosure of information on the president's medical condition. more helpful, daisy was a hudson valley neighbor and distant cousin who spent more private time during the war years alone with the president than anyone else including his wife. she survived by half a century, always insisting that she saved no notes, no correspondence. after she died in her 100th year in 1991, a battered leather suitcase was hauled from under the bed in her family's dilapidated mansion on the banks of the hudson, restored and open to the public, just north of here. inside was he

. >> reporter: today democratic senators al franken and patrick leahy released three letters in which they asked the fbi to investigate whether sessions lied to senators about previous meetings between sessions and kislyak, writing, quote, we are concerned about attorney general session lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury. the department of justice responded saying the facts haven't changed. the senator did not have any private or signed conversations with any russian officials at the may flour hotel. former campaign carter page who the president recently tweeted would blow the democrats case away with his testimony was asked about his meetings with keesly yack. >> he was around for several days and -- i don't like talking about confidential information. every one that was in that meeting had agreed that it's off the record and we're not going to disclose that. >> reporter: but the president tweeted today that the big story is about the unmasking and surveillance of people and house intellig

we have now obtained three letters from senators leahy and senator franken.of them have been writing, it turns out, since march to the fbi asking for an investigation into any contacts between attorney general jeff sessions and members of his staff with russian officials, including, of course, sergey kislyak, the russian ambassador here in washington. again, they began writing, apparently on march 20th, asking the fbi to investigate this. and part of their concern was in their letters they say that sessions false testimony when he was going through his confirmation hearing. you'll remember he said that he didn't have any communications with russians in response to a question from senator franken. and at the time, the "washington post" had just published a story back in march saying that sessions had had multiple meetings with kislyak, including in his sent office and at the rnc. now it turns out these two senators have been pursuing this, trying to get the fbi to at least tell them whether or not they're investigating this. they wrote comey gone april 28th, a

host: jeff flake and patrick leahy, two senators in washington are leading a bipartisan group of about5 senators who want to lift the embargo to cuba. the sanctions, rather. how do you think this will fall or be received among the politicians? guest: this is one issue for which there is bipartisan support. jeff flake and senator leahy have presented a bill in the senate that has 55 cosponsors to lift all restrictions on travel. the president is not likely to sign that but it is an indication at a time that there is little republicans and democrats agree on, they seem to agree on this one issue about maintaining the same policies president obama had and to somehow lift restrictions and sanctions on cuba as a way of supporting the cuban people. i think that is very interesting. host: many in the exiled community where you live were opposed to what president obama did because of the ongoing human rights abuses in cuba. have you seen any movement on that front? guest: the polling suggests in the cuban-american committee their support for what president obama did, and in cuba there was quit

patrick leahy is upset he doesn't get to ask jeff sessions about this.ut the intel committee will be asking him tough questions on this. arthel: do you think it questions will be politically motivated or compromised? >> i think they will be politically motivated in that the democrats are anxious to get as many people in the trump administration tarred with the idea of possible russian collusion as possible. republicans have mixed feeling about this. they think there has been some wrongdoing and that's the reason jeff sessions reduced himself from this. they don't want it to look like this investigation is not going to be fair. because they want the truth to come out if there was no collusion, and they want the american people to be confident the investigation was done fairly. >> thanks so as much for joining us. take care. >> there are new details coming to light about the london bridge attackers. british police say the three terrorists wore the fake suicide belts because they were possibly planning to take hostages. but police were able to shoot and kil

a senate source tells cnn senators franken and leahy have not received any response to the letters.etters were released after cnn reported congressional investigators are looking at the possibility sessions had a third undisclosed private meeting with ambassador kizlyak at the may flower hotel in washington on april 27th, 2016. >> if it's true it's extremely disturbing. and i'd rather let it come out. >> the department of justice responded saying, the facts haven't changed. the then senator did not have any private or signed conversations with any russian officials at the may flower hotel. meanwhile, the house intelligence committee issued seven new subpoenas including three seeking details of the purported unmasking of u.s. drents by norm national security susan raise, john brennan and former u.n. ambassador samantha power. the congressional source case the subpoenas came directly from devin nunes despite his pledge to remove himself from the russia investigation. >> this is what the white house wants to see happen. they'd rather be talking about the issues >> chairman nunes fired

they come from senators patrick leahy and al franken. three letters in march, april and may all asking first director comey and then the final letter in may after comey was fired asking the fbi, the bureau itself, to investigate whether sessions had been completely forthcoming even after he had to correct his initial testimony. you'll remember in january during his confirmation hearing he said he had no meetings with the russians. a month and a half later when "the washington post" corrected there were two meetings he had to correct his sworn testimony, admit to those two meetings and recuse himself from the russia investigation. senators leahy and franken went to the fbi again after that admission to say wait a second, in effect, has he been completely forthcoming about all the meetings? are there more meetings to investigate? that is their essential question. i'm going to read from the letter. we are concerned by attorney general sessions lack of candor and his failure to accept responsibility for testimony that could be con tried as p

the senator leahy is with me and said he liked it. >> thank you. >>> a top democratic senator is accusing sessions of running away from him. that senator joins us live in just minutes. we begin with the white house getting blitz from all sides. federal judges once again telling president trump he has it all wrong ruling against the president's controversial travel ban. then, there is this, for the first time in the trump presidency, a democratic congressman circling articles of impeachment accusing president trump of obstruction of justice. check your clock. it is ticking. will president trump before 2:30 p.m. tomorrow invoke executive privilege thereby blocking attorney general sessions about telling the intel committee about conversations he may have had with the president about russia and former director comey and more. >> from the perspective of president trump what role did attorney general jeff sessions play in the firing of james comey? >> i'm not going to discuss private conversations between the president and the attorney general. >> to that end, when jeff sessions testifies tomo

joining me now is democratic senator patrick leahy of vermont.rves on the senate judiciary committee. senator, thanks so much for joining us as always. >> good to be with you, jake. >> i want to start with this letter that you and your colleague senator al franken sent, several letters really, to the fbi to get more information on whether attorney general sessions perjured himself when during his hearings to become attorney general he claimed he had not met with any russian officials. he later clarified he hadn't met with any russians as part of the trump campaign. what are you trying find out with these leters? >> well, then, later we saw a picture of him at a trump campaign event with -- with russians. we just want to get the facts. you know, it's -- this seems to be such a moving target. i think of the years that i served with jeff sessions on the judiciary committee, if he saw somebody who the facts were changing like this, he would want the answers. he'd be writing the same kinds of letters that senator franken and i wrote. all we want are s

. >> senator tester, i understand that you're deferring to senator leahy, is that correct? >> i wasn't going to, but go ahead. >> there's going to be some advantage of being vice chairman of this committee. >> senator leahy? >> thank you. i'll be brief. i'll put my full statement in the record. i do state in there, commissioner, i'm glad you're here today and i appreciate you being here. i was disappointed to see the woefully inadequate budget submission from the fda. when you exclude user fee proposals, mandatory funding to the 21st century cures act, that's about a 34% cut. $119 million cut from monitoring food safety. $55 million reduction medical product safety. i've been here for over 40 years, i've heard repeatedly the fda needs more money. not less. first time i've seen such a huge cut. especially with the price of prescription drugs on the rise and opioid and so forth. so i think the budget, that the president has submitted is abysmal. it assumes deep cuts of the medicaid program it assumes repeal from the affordable care act. it's kind of saying the check's in the

and, in fact, senator leahy who is also on the judiciary committee and i sent a private letter to cia director comey asking -- >> fbi director comey. >> sorry, fbi director comey, asking him and the fbi to investigate whether in fact sessions had met other times with russians, including this meeting that we're talking about in the mayow. >> did you know than meeting in the mayflor when you sent that letter to the fbi director? >> yes. now it had been characterized one way, but we had some reason to believe that it -- that wasn't the case. it had been described in a way that he could plausibly say i don't remember that. but what's coming out today i believe is that that may not be the case. and if this the true, that would be extremely disturbing. >> and your letter with senator leahy to the fbi, you haven't publicly revealed that before. >> no. >> what about tonight's breaking news makes you feel that you should publicly reveal that you've asked for this investigation? >> well, because it's tied very closely to this breaking news. you know, i've been in our -- our office has been in c

and senators franken and leahy, both members of the judiciary committee asking for the fbi to investigate whether sessions had concealed other meetings with russian officials including the russian ambassador. i'll quote from the letter on march 20th. we are concerned by attorney general sessions lack of candor and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury. we are also disturbed that the attorney general has not been forthcoming about his contacts with the russian ambassador. we ask you that investigate all contacts the russia ambassador or any other russian officials may have had with attorney general sessions or with his staff and whether any laws were broken. keep in mind the timing of this. because by march 20th we already knew that in the confirmation hearings in january that he had not disclosed two meetings with the russian ambassador. only in march after those meetings were reported did attorney general sessions then concede that those meetings happened. he submitted corrected testimony to the judiciary committee. this followed t

franken and leahy have not yet received any response to the letters.ess investigators are looking at the possibility sessions had a third undisclosed private meeting with ambassador kislyak at the may flower hoteling in 2016. >> if it's true, it's extremely disturbing and i'd rather let it come out. >> the department of justice responded saying the facts haven't changed. the then senator did not have any side or private conversations at the hotel. meanwhile, the intelligence committee issued seven new subpoenas including three seeking details of the purported unmasking of u.s. residents by susan rice, john brennan and samantha power. a source says these subpoenas came directly from chairman deven nun etz. >> this is what the white house wants to see happen. >> chairman nunez fired back on twitter. seeing a lot of fake news from media leads and others who have no interest in unmaskings. meanwhile russianant vladimir putin talked about president trump at the st. peters berg economic forum. >> he is a straightforward ss man. you can't really classify him

we will talk to senator patrick leahy. joe: let's look at where major averages stand.bigail doolittle standing by. abigail: thanks. we are looking at majorly averages, but the dow is creeping ever so slightly higher, not so far from putting itself on pace for a record close, but the nasdaq taking lower, down near session lows, so that is a bit of a divergence . it exists on the week as well. the dow is on pace for its fourth week higher in a row, while the nasdaq and s&p 500 both lower on the week for a second week in a row. perhaps probably on that tech selloff, which has really taken a backseat to the big news of the day, which we will get to in a moment. here is that tech selloff on the week. apple, alphabet, netflix lower on the week, but facebook higher by about 25 percent. the question here -- which side wins? will the gains we are seeing from facebook continue, or the losses from those other sector names? turning quickly to the big deal on the day. of course, that is whole foods and amazon. amazon buying whole foods are $13.7 billion. paul sweeney, a bloomberg a

. >>> and today, we are learning about a letter from democratic senators franken and leahy asking the fbi back in march to investigate any contacts between sessions and russian officials. with me michael smith, "the new york times" reporter writing about how trump could should he choose attempt to block comey's testimony. robert deets former counselor at the cia and nsa, and ken delaney national news reporter. first ken to you. my eyes have been on for the last couple days the possibility we may see the comey memo at the hearing next week. do you have any more information? is it all likely we're going to see that memo? that will maybe corroborate what he's going to testify to. >> i don't have reporting on this, greta, but i tend to think the answer to that is no because so far the fbi has declined to produce those memos and the justice department has a long history as you know of fighting against producing things that could be evidence in a criminal investigation. >> does -- is it only the fbi that has copies or is there any information that comey made copies himself? >> i don't have

i think senator leahy has a statement. senator leahy: i ask that the statement be put in the record. blend --you german chairman blunt, i'm glad to be here, and senator murray. i completely agree with her statement. i think this is an important meeting. on a personal note, my mother, she she was still with us, was italian-american, and she saw that dr. collins would be here, she am worried about the budget. this affects all of us. you have tohe fact support the middle growth -- middle-class and support the most foldable. has been a shining example, but sequestration has had devastating effects. i think those consequences will last for generations. my children and grandchildren. this budget makes it even worse. deep budget cuts, those have drawn the most bipartisan opposition. said.ard what sen. blunt the most bipartisan criticism has been reductions for the national institutes of health. blunt to commend chairman and ranking member murray in their efforts to bolster the nih budget in recent years. this budget we have been

and you just spoke to patrick leahy of vermont.you talked to him about latest in the obstruction of justice investigation. tell us what he said? been such a busy week in terms of everything happening here in washington -- the shooting, aging sessions sessions, and -- ag telling everyone to hold onto their documents because they think congressional committees like the one senator leahy is on could actually subpoena those documents. i asked him if there is enough evidence were obstruction of justice as a charge against the president? take a look at what he told me. i think we need to look at what is going on. i do not know what mr. mueller has looked at so far. not know what has gone on in the attorney general's office, they have not talked about it. but certainly, there is enough to give a prosecutor reason to start saying -- sending out subpoenas and trying to find out what is there. kevin: and president trump tweeting earlier today that he believes this is nothing more than a "witch hunt." he also believes he is being -- he also c

leahy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i thank the distinguished democratic leader for his comments. and i ascribe to them. madam president, another issue, on june 16, in a campaign-style speech glorifying the failed bay of pigs invasion of cuba in 1961, president trump spoke of freedom and democracy for the cuban people. now, those are goals every one of us in this body share. not only for the people of cuba but for people everywhere. but the hypocrisy of the president's remarks in new hampshire where he announces his decision to roll back engagement between the united states of america and cuba is glaring. if not surprising. this is a president who has praised and offered aid and weapons to some of the world's most brutal investments, a president who when he was in saudi arabia never uttered the words freedom or democracy or women's rights. in fact, he say he did not believe in lecturing of the deposits about such things. freedom house ranks saudi arabia as less free than cuba. this is a president

. >> senator leahy, you have an opening statement? >> i do, mr. chairman. thank you, and ranking member shaheen. the deputy attorney general, i won't mince words -- you're not the witness we were supposed to hear from today. you're not the witness who should be behind that table. that responsibility lies with the attorney general of the united states. attorneys general of the past did not shy away from this committee's questions, regardless of the topic, regardless of the party. attorneys general of the past did not cower to the request of congress to fulfill its constitutional oversight responsibility. and they didn't agree to come and then cancel at the last minute and then send their second in command in their stead because members of this committee may have questions they may not want to answer. until now, that is. so, with respect, mr mr. rosenstein -- and i voted for you, as you know -- you're not who i'm interested in speaking with or hearing from today. i do have questions for the attorney general. i want to know why he has provided false testimony

with me is chris leahy of the strategic advisory firm blackpeak group. thank you forjoining us.engage the chinese on these south china sea dispute?m try to engage the chinese on these south china sea dispute? it seems they are very late in the game. a lot has happened under the 0bama administration. what more can they do at this point? the chinese need the americans and the americans need the americans and the americans need the chinese. there is a political and economic links. i think the chinese realise as well but china has significantly strengthened its hand for its claim in these south china sea as a result of its activity. what about these artificial islands? they were built during the 0bama administration and nothing was done. is there anything the claimant can do together with the claimant can do together with the americans? there are number of claimants. the asean group has tried u nsuccessfully. claimants. the asean group has tried unsuccessfully. the chinese government has been quite clever to undertake bilateral discussions, notably with the philippines. it has score

senator leahy later asked you in writing whether you had been in contact with anyone connected to anyart of the russian government about the 2016 election. you answered i believe with the definitive no. despite that fact -- despite that, the fact is as we discovered later, you did have interactions with russian government officials during the course of the campaign. in march, you acknowledged two meetings with the russian ambassador. yet, there's also been some public reports of a possible third meeting at the may flower hotel on april 27th. i hope that today you will help clear up those discrepancies and we also expect and this is very important, that you'll be able to provide the committee with any documents we need to shed light on thissish w issue, such e-mails or calendars. then there's a topic of the firing of former fbi director comey. last thursday we received testimony from mr. comey under oath he outlined his very troubling interactions with the president as well as the circumstances of his firing. a few disturbing points stood out. first, mr. comey who has decades of experi

we also have another bill called the creates act with senator grassley, leahy, lee and myself that makes it easier to get generics to market by sampling and other things. these are just a few of the examples of bills that i think would be very good if we would consider them, but so far we have done nothing. we have banned seniors from negotiating. there is nothing in the house or senate repeal bill that does nothing about, anything about these pharma issues. and that again is one reason alone to be concerned about these bills. so i was at that baseball game a few weeks ago and saw firsthand that incredible bipartisan spirit, at the women's softball game as well, but the men's baseball game where the players played together and at the end of the game, when one team won, the democratic team, they took their trophy and they gave it to the republican team, and they asked them to put it in representative scalise's office. that's what we need to see more of. not just two teams, but one team. and certainly on an issue as complex as health care, we just can't be playing in our separate ballparks

. >> the bugaboo with sherman is that grant has been told by leahy he can only negotiate the surrender of the army. this is what gets sherman in so much trouble. it's about surrendering the army. there's no peace negotiation going on at appomattox. this is lee surrendering his army and his army alone. >> remember, the union is arguing -- these are our people. you do not surrender your own eople, you know what i mean? they have to give up arms. there's no negotiation here. this is not a foreign country. that's the basis for the union. do you remember the classic line where lincoln is disgusted, "i can't by generals realize that ?" -- why our territory generals realize that it is all our territory?" >> you mentioned out of the four confederates who held up the train, only two of them were captured. you briefly mentioned the other two work paroled. why were they not brought up on these charges later or executed? >> there's actually no trial. there's no court-martial. nothing happens. the men that are captured are taken back across the mountain and executed that evening. in fact, they call

. >> thank you, senator leahy. at this time each senator will do five minutes of questioning per round and i'll begin the questioning. my first question, chairman pai is about something that was alluded to in your statement, but also in commissioner o'rielly's statement about helping states figure out the best way to deploy broadband, eliminate some of the barriers and i know that you've, this is something you've been working on. could you give me a quick status on where you are on that? and i would like to say my state of west virginia just did pass the semi controversial broadband expansion bill, which i'm very proud the governor signed. >> thanks for your question. madam chairwoman, we've taken aggressive steps to work with states to make sthur that we put broadband deployment front and center at all levels of government. soon after i was set up as chairman, i set up the broadband deployment advisory committee. one subgroup of which is devoted to working with states, helping to find a model code so states can an

flatley meeting with russian officials, both in spoken testimony and in a letter to senator patrick leahy. i think there's room for democrats to circle back and answer more questions. >> bret: we did not learn anything in the hearing other than he firmly does not know, says he doesn't see, doesn't here, didn't know. >> he had an exchange with tom cotton where they ridiculed the idea that a plot like this could be possible and vertically that it could unfold in a reception at the mayflower hotel. i think some democrats felt like it was setting a high bar. cotton said something like been in a hollywood movie, it wouldn't happen this way. democrats were saying it's not that simple. no new information and a strong push back on the substantive question. there is a second tract, heart of the trump white house respond to this story line? >> bret: i should point out there are two panelists at the table who were at the reception at the mayflower. you and byron. >> i spoke to ambassador kislyak, i quoted him in the story. no one has contacted me about it but it's a small calling card i guess. fickl

what we do know is that senator pat leahy another member of the he appropriations committee who actuallysked mr. sessions about his contacting with you russians are very angry, that they are not going to have a chance to go back at him, to ask him why he was not truthful or whether or not he forget meetings we know there were two, there may have even been a third we're not sure, so there is kind of bad will and ever growing bad will among senate democrats, because of attorney general sessions' determination to testify before a forum he thinks obviously going to be friendlier to him than the appropriations committee would be. arthel: is he right thinking that? >> well -- look. i think he is clearly going to do what is in his own interests, or what he perceives to be in his own interests because, as you know, attorney general sessions is really fighting for his political life. this is a man who gave up a safe senate seat to endorses donald trump then to accept a sr., position in his administration he was originally rumored to be under consideration for vice president, that didn't happen. h

leahy: this is where we can lead the world. not only that, we can make life so much better for our own people. and people around the world. toill fight for every dollar be gained back that i can. and you very much, mr. chairman. >> thank you, sir. dr. collins, we are pleased you are here. we look forward to your opening statements, and when you are through, we will go to opening -- will go to questions. dr. collins: to my right, dr. and thenodes, gordon, andoshua you have already recognized dr. fauci feared on the far nearsighted, gary gibbons. we brought the 18 today. a team today. it is a great honor to be with you today. i am privileged to continue in this role as nih director geared i want to thank all of you for your sustained commitment to nih, a commitment that ensures that we remain a leader in biomedical research. i would like to highlight several areas of exceptional scientific opportunity. i would like to introduce you to a few patients and also talk about some young researchers who are working hard to make these dre

. >> when nancy pelosi told me here he needs more sleep, and should stop tweeting and pat leahy saysthis is the advice of democrats. he may not take it. moving on, president trump about to speak uninterpreted in his new cuba policy. we'll bring that to you live. stay with us right here on msnbc. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? i've been blind since birth. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. learn about non-24 by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com. our 18 year old wase army in an accident.'98. when i call usaa it was that voice asking me, "is your daughter ok?" that's where i felt relief. we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. over hereno!ver here! (dog barking) whoever threw it has to go get it. not me! somebody will get it... ♪ (dog barking) anyone ca

ranking member leahy. distinguished members of the subcommittee. i appreciate the opportunity to discuss the administration's state department and usaid budget request for fiscal year 2018. america's global competitive challenge. the dedicated men and women of the state department and usaid carry out the important and often perilous work of advancing america's interest every single day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. that mission is unchanged. however, the state department and usaid, like many other institutions here at home and around the world, have not evolved in their responsiveness as quickly as new challenges and threats to our national security have changed and our changing. we are challenged to respond to a post cold war world that set in motion new global dynamics. and a post-9/11 world characterized by historic threats that present themselves in ways never seen before enabled by technological tools that we have been ill-prepared to engage. the 21st century has already presented many evolving challenges to the u.s. national security and

would go to judiciary hearings that were perfunctory nomination hearings, there would just be pat leahythe chairman, jeff sessions, and me. i kept coming. jeff was like, he asks good questions. so one day, pat had to go to an appropriations thing. so he asked me to chair. so i got there early, i'm there early, in the chairman's seat and i have the gavel and jeff enters and goes, well, meteoric rise. i said, and well deserved. he laughed. it's hard for me not to like someone who laughs at my -- i'm a comedian. and we, he did some things that were acts of friendship for me. when republicans on the committee would get mad at me for being too hard on one of their witnesses. charlie: looked out for you? al: a little bit, yeah. and it's -- i did -- you can't unfairly demonize someone you're friendly with but that's why -- charlie: don't we need more of that? al: yes. we do. charlie: in our culture and in our political culture, liing is ok now? al: i guess so because this president -- charlie: it's pathetic if it's come to that. frightening. al: and calling the mainstream media the enemy of th

it's an uphill battle with thiscan we administration but we have to think ahead, can we reliant the leahy amendment to challenge military assistance. this is something the united states could do those of us who believe in those are a minority but those of us even though we may be in a minority our voices have to be loud and clear thend united states should not be funding military dictatorships around the world are giving support to leaders who torture and imprison thousands of theiro people. it is very sad in the present at this point. there was once a time in our lifetime, not 200 years ago when people thought about the united states, this is a country of freedom, country of opportunity, this is the country in the world that believes in truth.y, ver it is very sad to see the values that we once respected for all over the world are now being diminished. in th . . small group of us will be in washington later this week meeting with a few senators. we will be seeing senator corker. >> bob corker. moderator: has. >> chairman of the foreign relations committee. moderator: we know it is an uph

senator patrick leahy, or senior democrat on the appropriations committee said he wanted to press sessionstrump made efficiency to fire him as the fbi director, so clearly there were, you know, talks of questions sessions on things that had nothing to do with the justice department's budget. instead had to do with russia. so what sessions is saying here in these letters to congress tonight is he will appear before the committee, the intel committee to clear up anything coming out of comey's testimony on thursday. he said in the letter to the appropriations committee, quote -- in light of reports regarding mr. comey's recent testimony before the senate select committee on intelligence, it is important that i have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum. the senate intelligence committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant classified information. now, obviously the tricky part here is sessions has recused himself from the russia investigation. he did that back in march, and said the dep

can we rely on the late-night amendment -- the lay high -- leahy amendment? is that something? theoretically. it is important, as the president just said, that even though we might be in the minority our voices have to be loud and clear. the united states should not be funding military dictatorships around the world. should not be giving support to leaders who torturing and in prison thousands of their people. somebody has got to -- you know -- what is very, very sad -- again, the president made this point. there was once a time in our lifetimes, not 200 years ago, when people thought about the united states they did think this is a country of freedom. this is a country that -- of upper unity. this is the country in the world that believes in truth. and, it is very, very, very sad that wehat the values once were respected for all of the world are now being diminished, especially in the last few months. moderator: a small group of us will be in washington later this week meeting with a few senators. we will be seeing senator corker. >> bob corker. moderator: has. >> chairman of

chairman. >> thank you, senator leahy. director collins, we're leesed your here and look forward to your opening statements and when you're through with that we'll go to questions. >> let me introduce the folks at the panel table with me. over on my left, your right, dr. richard hoe dus the director of the national institute on aging, next to him dr. vol could have on drug abuse, next to me doug lowie whose the acting director of national cancer institute, joshua gordon, and you've already recognized in one comment at least dr. tony falcci. and at the far left on your side, gary gibbons who is the director of heart lung and blood institute. we brought the a. team today so it's a pleasure and an honor that we were able to host many of you on our campus earlier this month and it's a great honor to be here with you today and i'm privileged to continue in that role as nih director. i want to thank all of you for your sustained commitment to nih, a commitment that will ensure that our nation remains the global leader in biomedi

the senator leahy is with me and said he liked it. >> thank you. >>> a top democratic senator is accusingat senator joins us live in just minutes. we begin with the white house getting blitz from all sides. federal judges once again telling president trump he has it all wrong ruling against the president's controversial travel ban.

can we rely on the leahy amendment to challenge military assistance to some countries where our friends are coming from? nigeria, kenya? this is something the united states could do, isn't it? president carter: theoretically, it could. sen. sanders: those of us who believe in those values are in the minority. as the president just said, even though we might be in the minority, our voices have got to be loud and clear. the united states should not be funding military dictatorships around the world, should not be giving support to leaders who torture and imprisoned thousands of their people. it is very, very sad. the president made this point. there was once a time in our ,ifetimes, not 200 years ago when people thought about the united states, they did believe, this is a country of freedom. this is a country of opportunity. worlds the country in the that believes in truth and it is that very, very sad to see the values that were once respected for all over the world are now being diminished, especially in the last few months. moderator: well, a small group of us will be in washington dc

obtaining letters thursday, by patrick leahy, al franken, to comey before he was fired, asking comeyinvestigate attorney general jeff sessions, a mid concerns that sessions may have had an additional meeting with the russian ambassador to the u.s., sergay. >> it was true, it is extremely disturbing and i'd rather let it come out. >> justice department firmly denying it, sessions said in his confirmation hearing he had had no contact with russian officials during the 2016 campaign. but later admitted he met twice with the russian ambassador, read bin john, cbs-3 "eyewitness news." >> more than 200 remains discovered in old city still waiting to be analyzed and reburied. now archeologists across the region working to prevent problems in the future when the cemetery was discovered earlier this year, experts say certain organizations did not assist with the dig. kimberly more ann, forensic archeologist from rutgers camden, she said she jumped into help. >> initially just a box of bones. so it didn't seem like it was going to be the huge project that it turned into. >> love the fact that