senator klobuchar and i have worked on the security act. this was an evidence written in pencil so we could reedit it, as we go through multiple iterations of the act. we do need to deal with the obvious threats. we should have learned a lesson in 2016. this will be a long time to resume on the real results and responses. we do need to deal with these threats. security election acts focuses on improves the states' ability to counter issues that they face. i have zero doubt that the russians tried to influence our electio elections, that they were trying to engage in any way they could to bring instability to our democracy, but i also have no question that our states are not only qualified to be able to handle the elections, but they are constitutionally responsible to handle our eleblgz. the states need to be able to control elections. what senator klobucha are working on what is the election structure 20 years from now? when will we let our guard down? will the focus not be there? to put processness palace to make sure 20 years from now we

ranking member klobuchar and members of the committee. thank you for today's opportunity to be here. i'm grateful for your willingness to engage and take into consideration the vendor's perspective. what i was here to talk about is specifically about my experience in the past as a former election director. i think that's a unique perspective that i can bring, you know, to the table. i wanted to talk about, you know, the different things that we, you know, do to ultimately secure our products, which is an electronic -- electronic poll roster. that basically uses the ipad, you know, that ultimately helps with the security side, you know, and leverages the security of the ios operating system. to kind of sum up very quickly, in order to continue innovating and providing strong security initiatives, we hope that the federal government will consider us a partner. we hope that today's hearing is just the beginning of a new consideration with the committee and the federal government will have with election vendors, together with the local electi

i also would like to thank senator amy clo klobuchar from joining us earlier. i want to thank those from italy, sweden, uk, canada, european parliament and poland, ukraine, the ambassador from latvia, czech republic, uk, minister from estonia and canada incredibly impressive group of legislators. so thank you all for traveling here, some from quite far away to share your knowledge and experiences. for years russia under vladimir putin has engaged in activities aimed at destabilizing democracy in europe and the united states.

senator amy klobuchar for joining us earlier today. i want to thank those from italy, sweden, damian collins of the uk, nathan of canada, european parliament and poland, hannah hopko of ukraine, and ambassador calnias of latvia, czech republic, minister kate rosimona of estonia and canada. an incredibly impressive group of legislators. so thank you all for traveling here, some from quite far away to share your knowledge and experiences. for years russia under vladimir putin has engaged in activities aimed at destabilizing democracy in europe and the united states. the kremlin leverages an asymmetric arsenal that includes

sglfrj >>> and a key democrat on the senate judiciary committee, amy klobuchar, joins us live. >>> plus, america divided. we travelled almost 1500 miles from virginia -- >> i voted for trump. >> how do you think he's done as president? >> i think he's done very well. >> to texas. >> disheartening, discouraging. >> what do voters really think about the president? can a polarized nation come together? we take the pulse of america. >>> plus insights and analysis from our powerhouse roundtable, from the white house to your house, the facts that matter this week. >>> good morning, and thanks for joining us this july 4th holiday week. what a week in american politics. it began with a president in retreat after trump changed course by ending his administration's widely criticized practice of separating families at the border. we'll talk more about that and yesterday's nationwide protests in a moment, but this morning, the president is preparing to change the course of history as he considers his replacement for retiring supreme court justice anthony kennedy. an opportunity to reshape the court

senator klobuchar. >> thank you senator. our job is to th the peoples business and not the president's business and that means that over the next few months, we will be looking at all if the records and we will be looking at those 300 decisions and all of the records for when the nominee was in the white house. that is obvious. but i think our other job is just as important. and that is the job to make the case to the american people that this is an important decision on the supreme court. they've decided who can marry who, where you work and how you vote. the cases coming before them are equally important. we know the administration has argued down in texas that the ban on insurance companies is taking people off of the entrance just because they are sick, just because of their pre-existing condition or medical history is working its way up to the supreme court and when you look at the record of this nominee you see a few things. you see that there is a pattern of decisions that are very conservative. you look at the decisi

. >> i want to thank senator klobuchar for joining us here this afternoon. now in the president's campaign he promised to things he would appoint a nominee to the supreme court who would undo roe v. wade and he promised he would appoint a nominee who would undo the healthcare so many people depend on. she had two groups, the federalist society and the heritage foundation, one of which is dedicated to repealing roe v. wade and the other is dedicated to getting rid of health care for americans and he chose someone from the list. you can be sure the federalist society didn't allow anyone on the list who would maintain roe. you can be sure that the heritage foundation wouldn't allow anyone on the list who would maintain health care, particularly the ability of families with pre-existing conditions to continue to get healthcare and then why did he choose him when all of these others would have met the criteria that is so offensive to so many americans. he chose the candidate he thought would best protect him from the investigations. he was probably the most extre

and i turn it to senator klobuchar. senator klobuchar: i want to talk to the american people and sometimes they say what do the american people who cares who is on the court. it is the court that makes the decisions and have made the decisions about who where you can marry and work and vote and my grandpa if his workplace was safe. and i wouldn't be here without those kinds of court rulings. this is about what this is about. when you look at this nominee, you see someone who has not upheld those rights so many times. you look at his rulings on health care as my colleagues have discussed. you look at his rulings on reproductive rights. you look at his rights on consumer issues. those people that thought it was wrong when wall street ran amuck and ran all over of us and took the cars and drove off, well, this judge ruled that the consumer financial protection bureau that was set up to protect you, that that was unconstitutional. that is what he said. if peoplep want net neutrality and think people that should have regular

with that i turn it over to my great colleague from delaware. >> thank you, senator klobuchar. thank you for reminding us with very compelling personal stories about how courts matter, about how the decisions of the supreme court matter more than any other courts decisions in ways that impacted you as a mother and as a daughter. the supreme court is a beautiful marble building. this is not a temple, not an academic institution. it is the place where nine justices apply the constitution to our society come to our lives, to our families. and courts have consequences. it didn't have to be this way. president trump could've nominated someone last night not off the new list of those precleared preapproved by far right organizations like heritage foundation and federalist society. we could be a today discussing a nominee who was potentially someone with a wide-open record, someone who might command a bipartisan majority. instead, with someone who we know has a long record of being at the most conservative end of the jurisprudence in our country. but we don't really know his whole rec

senator klobuchar. >> and keeping much mr. chairman. mr. ledger, , there are only for significant wireless carriers left there we talked about this. this transaction would reduce it to three. much of the competition to your credit, both of you, and your predecessors in this market as prickly been driven by t-mobile and sprint. the two companies introduced no contract and unlimited plans as well as lower price options forcing verizon and at&t to do the same, in my mind. a combined t-mobile/sprint would have customer base of 127 million people making it the second-largest of the three potential carriers. why would a combined t-mobile/sprint continue to compete as aggressively with fewer competitors in the space? >> i have said this. what are the things i would like to put forward, especially in the notion of this being four o three is a strongly this is moving from two two to three. this is creating a viable competitor who can compete with at&t and verizon, who has shown historically that the only response when forced to respond. we shouldn't

i pledge that i will continue working with senator klobuchar in the senate across the aisle and my colleagues to get this over the finish line. because there are very few issues that would unite an elizabeth warren and a ted cruz. but this, mr. speaker, is one of them. and i would encourage all members to support this legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. neal: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. neal theal this -- mr. neal: this week has been dubbed health week on the house floor. however, based on the legislation we're considering, it's hard to take that challenge seriously. the bills before us today simply don't do very much. instead, we should be considering measures that go to the heart of what americans need. lower health care costs and high-quality care. that includes lower drug costs and prescription benefits that should be extended to all members of the american fami

i urge the adoption of the leahy-klobuchar amendment. mr. president, it's also time for the majority to heed former senator bill frist's advice when he wrote recently in the "washington post," patriotism should always take priority over party. mr. president, i know you know that personally and you've proven it. senator frist went on to say, staying silent is no longer an option. i yield the floor. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i appreciate what the distinguished senator from illinois just said. i'll speak about the same amendment. we'll be offering this amendment. it does provide $250,000,000 for state election security grants. it provides it to protect our upcoming elections, attacks by russia especially but from many other hostile foreign power. we don't do this as a -- as an exercise. we know the attacks have been there in the past and they're coming in the future. look what our intelligence community -- they unanimously said that russia interfered in our 2,016 electio

with senator klobuchar and others we worked on together to find how we handle this issue from coming at us again and it's not so much about the next because there's a lot being paid to the next. it's what is the structure or 20 years from now when we let our guard down and will focus not be there to put some focus in place to make sure 20 years from now we've not forgotten the lessons we should have learned and some basic things have come out of the conversation. one is increasing the communication between the federal government and states. there wasn't enough between the federal government and the states leading up to the time period and there also wasn't security clearance for individuals in the states so when the issues were discovered there was no one to communicate that with that already had clearance. across the nation they do not have auditable there was no way to audit at the end to determine did everything go correctly. it was a best guess of yes there was no way to really know and there are many states that do limit the then after it is overt some states do not. when it's a

senator amy klobuchar joins me next. >>> plus migrant families separated by the u.s.overnment are even farther party, hundreds of parents deported while their children are still here. (♪ ) okay you gotta be kidding me. hold on, don't worry, there's another way. directions to the greek theater. (beep) ♪can i get a connection? ♪can i get can i get a connection?♪ ♪ohhh can i get a connection? ♪trying find the old me but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi.? a more powerful way to stay connected. it gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most wifi coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. it's the ultimate wifi experience. xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome. -we're in a small room. what?! -welcome. -[ gasps ] a bigger room?! -how many of you use car insurance? -oh. -well, what if i showed you this? -[ la

there is legislation by senator klobuchar. there's legislation by senator van hollen. there's legislation by senator harris and others that's necessary. hardly sufficient, but it's necessary to do. we hope our republican colleagues won't just go tsk ts k, but will actually act to protect the security of america and join us in doing it in a bipartisan way. menendez: thank you, mr. leader. as someone who has served 26 years on the senate and house foreign relations committee, on a foreign policy you, i believe yesterday was a day of infamy for the united states. the world saw a supplicant american president capitulating, fawning, and ultimately aligning , and authoritarian leader who orchestrated an attack on our democracy and continues to do so as we speak. the president turned his back on our own intelligence community, which unanimously agrees that the russian government carried out attacks attempting to disrupt and interfere with our elections and continues to do so. it disregarded his own government, disregarded the advice and expertise of foreign-policy professiona

. >> through the magic of television, minnesota senator amy klobuchar joins us now. she serves on the judiciary committee that will hold this critical confirmation hearing for judge kavanaugh's nomination. good to see you, senator. >> glad to be here, andrea. >> the case of the 17-year-old young woman, an immigrant, seeking an abortion in texas, and judge kavanaugh was very much in the minority, overruled by his peers on the d.c. appeals circuit, what does that tell you on an issue of great import to you and other of your peers? >> first of all, our job, andrea, is to do the people's business and not the president's business. and this seat, this swing seat on the supreme court, will decide so many cases that affect people's lives. and i don't see in this nominee someone like justice kennedy who was the deciding vote in roe v. wade, or would have written the decision on allowing marriage equality. that's not where he is. you look at his record, not just the case you mentioned where early clearly overruled by his peers on the court, since this young woman had followed

meets donald trump later today in washington but it's not expected to be an easy meeting with john klobuchar ready to stand firm on brussels tariffs and trade barriers they came into place after america slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from the bloc prompting the e.u. to respond with like for like measures and right before the meeting trump gave some insight on the current state of global trade negotiations tariffs of the greatest either a country which is the united states unfairly on trade negotiator a fair deal where he gets hit with tariffs it's as simple as that and everybody's talking remember we the people in this being rocked or will be great now the trade standoff hasn't exactly helped create a friendly vibe trumpet as far as calling the e.u. commission chief a brutal killer while describing europe as an economic fellow and you had some harsh words of his own. trump told me last week. you are a brutal killer but it is the first time that luxembourg has become a threat to the united states of america he meant that i think as a complement even though i cannot be sure. so n

reid: there is the secure elections act from james lankford and amy klobuchar that would institute information sharing, get security clearances for state officials, really try to streamline the process. i know the bill has been significantly changed in consultation with other secretaries. what is your position on the bill? jim: as i testified, i support the bill as is. whatever that means. i was a former legislator. i know it changes from day to day or could change from day to day but i support what we saw before. the only thing i would like to see is some kind of funding mechanism reinstated. they originally had money in there, but they pulled it out when we received the omnibus bill. it was really left over money from 2002. i do support the bill. there are certain things in the bill that are good for all states. we were asked by the committee to voice our support. it was myself, secretary simon from minnesota, and secretary ashcroft from missouri. the three of us were there. jim: congress has allocated $380 million to states around the country to upgrade voting systems. how are you spending

supposed trade breakthrough brokered wednesday in washington with european commission cheap john klobuchar would have avoided trade war with europe and also help american farmers have a proclaimed deal is light on details and promised just more talks in the future to be sure and there are already signs that not everyone in europe is on board by example or on them that would be good for example in terms of access to the american public markets which are today primarily clewiston we need clear gestures from the united states we need signals of the escalations on the steel and minium where illegal taxes have been applied by the united states and in my opinion that intervention in the subject matters before taking any further steps i think earlier this year trump famously said that trade wars were good and easy to win but not everybody agrees and now the president is finding out that perhaps they're more difficult than he originally imagined gabriels andro how does it washington. well the chronic shortage of trash in zimbabwe is a major concern for voters so why is the ruined economy when thos

we do feel, as senator klobuchar said, he has to answer questions. the old dodge of saying stare decisis has been thrown out the window because justice roberts, alito and gorsuch claimed they follow precedent and the minute they got in the court, they did not. >> if you don't think ruth bader-ginsburg answered questions about roe v. wade and reproductive rights, watch the movie. >>> senate democrats are taking a look at dark money and campaign financing. randi weingarten will talk about how campaign contributions impact the future of unions. 3:30 p.m. here on c-span 3. >>> former head of the fbi espionage section will go before congress thursday to discuss actions surrounding the 2016 presidential election and the clinton e-mail investigation. he led the fbi's investigation into then secretary of state hillary clinton's use of a private e-mail server. live coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3rks online at c-span.org and with the free c-span radio app. >>> c-span, where history unfolds daily.

senators klobuchar and lankford, senators van hollen and rubio have good legislation that would help beef up our election security. we ought to move on. our country, our cyber networks, our election systems are under constant attack from adversaries like the russians. there is a bipartisan consensus we must harden our infrastructure. this legislation i mentioned from klobuchar, lankford, van hollen, rubio, there is other legislation by senators harris and wyden. i urge the republican leader to let us move on one or more of these bills. now, we should do all of these things, not just one or two, all of them. i can't think of a logical reason not to do any of them other than fear of offending the president. but times like this call for us to do more. we have already heard some of our republican colleagues say let's move on after what the president said yesterday, but as i mentioned, his so-called walkback was not a walkback at all, and if we care about our nation's security, we will move forward. the final thing i would say to my republican colleagues is thit will be remembered in amer

let me play for you amy klobuchar.s is appealing to a big constituen constituency, that isn't -- it's important numberswise. that's women on the question of the supreme court. take a listen. >> the constitution is no less protected with the people's liberties now than it was 200 years ago. >> when the constitution refers, like, 30 some times to his or he when describing the president of the united states, you would see that as, well back then they thought a woman could be president even though a woman couldn't vote? >> senator, i'm not looking to take us back. >> you can answer that question. it's very important to me. >> of course, women can be president of the united states. i'm the father of two daughters. >> great. >> interesting exchange, maya. can this nomination process help democrats to win over more women who aren't currently voting democratic, meaning mainly white women. women of color are all on this side of the aisle. >> it's a tragedy it's -- women understand that this is a visceral -- viscerally understan

i also would like to thank senator amy clo klobuchar from joining us earlier. i want to thank those from italy, sweden, uk, canada, european parliament and poland, ukraine, the ambassador from latvia, czech republic, uk, minister from estonia and canada incredibly impressive group of legislators. so thank you all for traveling here, some from quite far away to share your knowledge and experiences. for years russia under vladimir putin has engaged in activities aimed at destabilizing democracy in europe and the united states. the kremlin leverages an asymmetric arsenal that includes cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns to influence the outcome of democratic elections and operation of democracy more generally. its meddling requires western government, civil society and the private-sector to take concerted and coordinated and on going steps to build resilience and resistance against disinformation campaigns and election interference. that's highly relevant since in this year alone elections will occur in georgia, latvia, sweden, and brazil among several othe

or we could enact pay for delay, introduced by senator klobuchar and this senator. or commissioner gottlieb of f.d.a. could come up with a plan for the importation of safe prescription drugs from canada and other trusted countries. so, madam president, consumers today are promised the sun, the moon, and the stars if they will simply get a prescription filled. senator durbin and i want to improve transparency in prescription drug advertisement so that consumers can decide for themselves. our amendments would simply clarify that the secretary of h.h.s. has the authority to require drug companies to report the list price on advertisements. and i had a telephone conversation this morning with that secretary of h.h.s. at his instigation, and he suggested that this would be very helpful, not only for him to accomplish the goals that he wants to, but to carry out the president's blueprint. one of several steps in that blueprint to get the price of pharmaceuticals down for the consumer. consumers know the price of every other item they purchase before they make their decisi

myself, and amy klobuchar have worked months quietly trying to get the language right and to be able to work through the process of what does it take to be able to secure our elections for 2018, 2020 and beyond, learning a lesson from 2016. but i do want to remind this body that the elections are not something that happens this november. it's already ongoing. many states' primaries have already been conducted. last night there was a country-off primary that happened in alabama. georgia holds their runoff primaries next week. tennessee the week after that. kansas, michigan, missouri, washington, on tuesday, august 7. it is already ongoing. so while we watch the indictments that just came down from the mueller investigation on g.r.u. officers from russia that were trying to interfere in our elections in 2016, as we've seen the sanctions and indictments that have come down on some of the oligarchs from russia and from the internet research agency for what they were doing in social media trying to be able to interfere with our election in 2016, i think it may be important for us to do a

i'll finish with one question for professor goodman and then i'll call in senator klobuchar. it's my understanding that in addition to the federal elections campaign act, use a need for another change in title 18, particularly section 371. can you explain why you think a change to that session is necessary, and what about the existing statute is insufficient? for example, are the cases that cannot be prosecuted unless the law is changed? >> thank you for the question. so i also agree with ken wainstein that in this area might be better even if it's for symbolic purposes to have a new offense which about for interference a foreign government interference in our elections. in some sense that would be redundant with the existing statute. this existing statute is robust as we're seeing with a special counsel indictment of the russians. i also think it would be a question as to what are the acts that americans might take that would expose them to liability for being involved in that conspiracy? that's an area you could imagine it would be beneficial to have law that updates it to

you saw senator klobuchar say that democrats do maybe need to tamp down this, you know, activism if they can because the problem is not necessarily the enforcement but the policies themselves. if democrats want a more beneficial narrative going into midterms, they have plenty of material coming to donald trump's immigration policies, not i.c.e. itself. >> jason johnson, going to pull up from an article of "washington post," the headline being a political suicide march. that quoting a white house aide saying the democrats having this debate dooms them in the election. we heard the president talking about this, as well. what is your sense of how smart of a strategy this is? >> i am always amused when people keep wanting to get advice from the adversaries. republicans are like don't do that, why should the democrats listen? look. you can pat your head and rub your tummy. the democrats need adds many messages as possible. they need a message about the supreme court, about abortion, a message about immigration, a message about i.c.e. no one message brings everybody out but many will be succes

but amy klobuchar that i agree with that say that is not the problem.hat are the problem. it is the administration that is the problem. you can change the policy and you can vote to change administer rules. resistance is not enough. you have to have a game plan. i disagree with you strongly paired i think if we are looking at exit holemacs , in the primaries especially we are seeing that voters are really concerned about health care. we did not think that they will be talking about health care as much. i think, depending on what happens with the supreme court, it may be become an issue. >> david: immigration and health care are both important. they favor republicans because democrats timidly wants a health care system. things that republicans are pushing for, big results. >> harris: you do a lot with eight seconds. great to see you. we will be right back. thank you. use of the musical ♪ guys, i know it's so hard to trust but you've got to be strong. remember janet? she got cash back shopping with ebates and hasn't been skeptical since. where'd the money

. >> jon: senators like amy klobuchar have said you can't get rid of ice. >> what's going on here isin some ways the base of the party is running away from its leadership in washington. chuck schumer would never have chosen the message to abolish ice. he never would've chose the message democratic socialism, but the voters out in queens, those who showed up, they chose it and this has got a life of its own on social media. it's got a life of its own at the grassroots. way beyond the sort of perception of the senators in the leadership in the house here in washington. i'm not sure they know how to handle it. >> jon: to the president's delight, that is the issue that is making headlines this week. >> democrats are stuck in a difficult position. there is that populist fervor towards this issue, that ice is immoral, it should be decapitated. but on the president's side, he truly believe, and frankly he's probably right, that the margin of the general election, which is ultimately what matters, won't play well if they get rid of law enforcement. >> jon: panel, standby. next up, from mexic

well heard from amy klobuchar and senator duckworth.th told jake yesterday you can't win the white house without the midwest, and you can't win the midwest if you go too far left. that's pretty far down the line. right now many democrats are thinking we have to win primaries. >> you mentioned those two there. the congressional democratic caucus has put out talking points on this, suggesting that abolishing i.c.e. may not be the policy prescription that makes most sense. many democrats are concerned as ryan is saying. unclear what the politics will be here and how it will play out. it is clear to me that the republicans have an easier bumper sticker attack, factually or not to make here, which i think is the concern among democrats than explanatory, this is what we mean and this is what needs to be replaced. that doesn't fit on a bumper sticker. that's why i think it's potentially politically treacherous terrain for democrats, but as ryan pointed out about the well or the muslim ban, we're in an era, john, where perhaps base politics has

talked about how lawmakers are talking about things that may hurt a trump nominee and they quote amy klobuchar, "there are people of had to withdraw over the years because you get information out there and you question them in the public is focused on it and galvanized by it." that's a member of the senate judiciary committee. sounds like she has a plan. >> it sounds like they are going with the a personal attack route almost. and that is worrisome. right now we don't even know who the nominee is. i feel like with at planned parenthood ad they are already prepping. they know what their lines of attack are. they will shoehorn whoever is nominated on monday into that role. they will find something in his or her record, "they will vote in favor of corporations every single time, they will eliminate the right to vote," i been, some of these claims are so outrageous. i don't know where they are going with these. that is just what we have to expect. it's not a -- it's a nasty place. it will be a hard-fought fight. i am just excited that i know that at the end of the day, we will have an excellent, n

there are democrats like amy klobuchar who are calling for that correctly.y support the presidents pillars as well. they get a lot of support. communities of color. congress, i would like to see the republicans in congress get their act together and get a bill passed. >> dana: take a look at president trump yesterday on the idea of abolishing i.c.e. >> i hope they keep thinking about it because they are going to get beaten so badly. i love the issue that they are actually going to do that. they are seriously talking about that. you are going to have a country that is crime-ridden. the boulder patrol come at the border patrol agents, ice, these people are incredible. >> dana: this is one of the things. it is the customs and border patrol, that if you're talking about family separation, they are carrying out the orders. it is not even i.c.e. it is a lot of confusion. >> at the end of the day, it is the president's policies have separated these families. by focusing on i.c.e., specifically, we are taking the spotlight off of him. he is the one who pushed this p

supposed trade breakthrough brokered wednesday in washington with european commission cheap john klobuchar would have avoided a trade war with europe and also help american farmers proclaim deal is light on details and promised just more talks in the future. could be and there are already signs that not everyone in europe is on board by example or on them that would be good for example in terms of access to the american public markets which are today primarily clewiston we need clear gestures from the united states we need signals of the escalations on the steel and minium where illegal taxes have been applied by the united states and in my opinion and intervention in the subject matters before taking any further steps i think earlier this year trump famously said that trade wars were good and easy to win but not everybody agrees and now the president is finding out that perhaps they're more difficult than he originally imagined gabriels andro how does it washington. china's latest vaccine scandalous third a rather lively debate on social media in spite of the strict censorship that's ther

meeting planned with the atlantic council, senator marco rubio, who was with me and senator amy klobucharwe met with parliamentarians from a number of those countries. latvia, estonia, from poland, from ukraine, from canada. all to talk about russian intervention in their elections. this is not a pattern russia just took on with america. they've taken on all of the west because they realize in the realm of cyber incursions and misinformation and disinformation it's asymmetrical warfare and russia's pretty good at that. so there was a lot of evidence from our allies today and concerns that mr. trump might be willing to weaken on his resolve. >> you're the ranking democrat on intelligence, senator. you've got as much clout as any democrat. it's not as much as, say, richard burr, your chairman, on intelligence. how would you -- if you and richard burr got together on that committee, could you insist on seeing those notes of the translator today in that two-hour meeting? >> my hope is we could get a look at the notes in a classified setting. my hope as well is that the senate will act. the se

also on the show, senator amy klobuchar. she's a key democrat on the judiciary committee.hat's all coming up on "this week" right here on abc. diane, over to you. >>> and now to that deadly boat explosion in the bahamas. you can see the flames and thick black smoke coming off the boat as people on a nearby boat attempt to rescue injured passengers. abc's erielle reshef joins us with more. >> reporter: good morning, diane. panic and chaos on board that boat as passengers desperately tried to escape the flames. a deadly nightmare in paradise. [ screaming ] >> reporter: overnight, this tour boat with 12 passengers on board exploding off the coast of exuma in the bahamas. >> can we move this boat? oh, my god! >> reporter: the blast killing one and injuring nine others. >> fwring boats! bring the boats! bring the boats! >> reporter: watch as the thick black smoke billows into the air. >> we need to get away from this area. >> reporter: the blaze engulfing what was supposed to be a scenic tour, sparking panic on board and nearby. >> that one's gonna explode. >> reporter: people

senator klobuchar has legislation, bipartisan. senator van hollen has legislation, bipartisan. senator harris has legislation. we need to move it. leader mcconnell talked about it a little bit. let's move it quickly, but remember, the president still has control because the d.n.i., the director of intelligence, national intelligence has the ability to put out this report and he is, after all, a presidential appointee. i have some faith in the integrity of mr. coats, but he may not even be there after november, particularly given the way president trump treats his employees. his appointees, rather. and so that legislation is good, necessary, but hardly sufficient. i hope our senate will move. i hope our republican colleagues will not just talk the talk but walk the walk. tsk, tsk is not enough when national security is at stake. action, bipartisan action is required. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: mr. president, i rise to follow my leader and talk about this issue of great importance, and let me just begi

i think we should take up and consider the lankford-klobuchar secure elections act to strengthen election cybersecurity. i'd like to see my act taken up and voted on as well. we could build on the $350 million invested in election security. grants provided by this congress to states back in march to help most of their election systems against threats. it's important to remember putin and putin's russia are attacking other democratic processes throughout europe, and as americans, as senators, we need to stand up and fight for our democracy and the rule of law. i had a memorable conversation with a ukrainian leader last year who said to me, if you don't defend your own elections, your own democracy, how can the rest of us count on you to defend ours? this resolution makes clear that on a bipartisan basis, we intend to defend our democracy. mr. president, russia's attacks on our last elections were attacks on every american, republican and democrat. the threat is grave, it is pressing, and it demands that we act. today's resolution is a first step and an important one. and i call on my colle

in a few days a chairman's mark basically just updating to look at senator lankford and senator klobuchar have led on. we've had a number of hearings and rules. intel has been a long time on this issue. i think we all believe, at least i certainly believe that the diversity of the election system continues to be the strength of the system that state and local officials that are both answerable and responsible for what happens on election day continue to be the people most concerned that everything go right. we also i believe are at the point we would want to legislate which is the kind of cooperation and communication between federal officials who have access to information and skills in a like cybersecurity that are fully communicating in ways that local election officials are now comfortable with. largely what we'll will try ton this bill is formalized and put in statute what's happening right now. i think we could be confident that the things they need to secure an election or happening right now for this year, but you knows where we would be two years from now or four years from now i

. >> thank you chairma >> thank you chairman blunt, ranking member klobuchar and members of the committee for the opportunity to testify regarding the department of homeland depad security's ongoing efforts to assist state and local election officials, those wh who own and operate the election systems with improving the resilience of america's elections. later this week tha the leadersp will meet with officials and private sector partners as they gathered in philadelphia the birthplace of our democracy for the national summer conference ansummer conferenceand meetingse coordinating councils throughout my career i worked with state and local officials to defend the use of technology to better serve american voters. in the last three years i served as a commissioner at the assistance commission and now i served as a senior adviser at the dhs focused on the work the department is doing to support the thousands of officials across the country. in this decade of work i can tell you the best part is working with a dedicated professionals that administer elections in the face of sophisticated th

klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to join many of my colleagues who have come to the floor to speak about our country's third branch of government, and that is our courts. senators have a solemn obligation to advise and consent on the president's nominees to our federal courts, and as a member of the judiciary committee, i take that obligation very seriously. but as senator merkley, who is heading up this evening and has brought a number of people together, says it is not just an obligation of members of the judiciary committee. it is also an obligation of senators when they look at who the judges are coming out of their particular state, that we have to make sure that this is a person, whoever the nominee is, who represents our country as an independent voice and someone who respects precedent as a member of the federal bench, whether it is on the supreme court level or whether it is on the circuit or federal district court level. in the united states senate, mr. president, we are here to do t

senator klobuchar is here as well, who saw me wandering the streets last week and gave me a ride, so thank you for that. we'll be hearing from a couple of my other colleagues, barbara lee who is here, john lewis who is here as well, jamie raskin from maryland who just walked in, thank you all for coming. but first, before i get to our next speaker in bradley byrne, he's a -- was kind enough to be the co-host, republican co-host for this event this evening. we had a couple just kind of casual conversations and he mentioned how he followed my grandfather when he was younger and was a democrat way back when. when i asked them to co-host he said yes without even a moment's hesitation which, mr. byrne, i'm truly grateful for. he happens to have a democratic opponent this cycle named bobby kennedy. no relation, i assure you. so, ladies and gentlemen, join me in a warm welcome for congressman bradley byrne. >> it is an incredible honor for me to be here today. 50 years ago, i was a teenager and like hundreds of thousands, if not millions of teenagers across america, when senator kennedy sto